Do you ever hear digital marketing jargon thrown around and wonder what it means for you? There might be some which make you scratch your head, such as SEO or link building, but with some simple explanations, these terms can be understood. Link building is an important part of any SEO strategy, and it is important to understand the terminology.Â
When you are working on a link building strategy it is important to remember these terms. Link building is the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own in order to improve the authority of your website. It can be done by sending guest blogs to other websites so they can link back to you or by adding your business to free business directories. Below are just some of the terms you should know when it comes to link building.Â
Anchor Text
Anchor text can be understood as the words or keywords used that represent the link you have placed in your text. The text could say “click here†or “learn moreâ€. The link in the anchor text will take you to a target page which could be on your website or a separate landing page.Â
Authority
In the link building world, authority refers to the trustworthiness and popularity of a website. A website with a high authority is the best option for sending guest articles to, as it will improve the authority of your own website. For example, if you run a financial or corporate business, a link from Forbes is ideal for you because Forbes has such high authority in that industry and on search engines.Â
Backlinks
Backlinks can be understood as links that point to your website from another one. There are other names used for them, such as referring links, inbound links, and incoming links. They can help to improve your online visibility and the authority of your website as well as your business. Backlinks can be both earned and paid for, depending on what the guest posting or directory guidelines are.Â
Brand Mentions
If your brand is mentioned in a review or even in a social media post without a link, this is a brand mention. These can help with link building in that they improve your SEO ranking, but it is best to contact the person who made the review and ask them to insert a link to your brand when your brand is mentioned, so your link building strategy can improve.Â
Content
If you have worked or been around the digital marketing industry for any amount of time, you have likely heard the word “content†more than a few times. Content refers to everything we actively search for on the Internet, from conspiracy theory blog posts to cat videos, to everything in between. Content does not only refer to text, but to images and video, too.Â
Citations
No, we are not talking about the academic referencing here, but rather a very simple but effective SEO tactic. Citations are mentions of your business’s name, address, website, and telephone number. They are not usually linked but they can be if you use business directories. Citations are often used by search engines to gauge how trustworthy a business is, so be sure to only use correct and up-to-date information.Â
Directories
Directories are websites that have lists of other businesses’ websites on them in various categories. The local business directories are extremely valuable for improving your online visibility to those in your area, but some directories are considered to be spammy and should not be used. Be sure to do your research into which directories provide quality links.Â
Disavow
When you disavow a link, you are telling a search engine that you do not want it to point to your website or credited to your website. You can send disavow lists straight to Google for speedy results. Disavowing links should be done when you know there is a harmful or spammy website pointing back to yours or when there is an unexpected and sudden drop in traffic to your website.Â
Do-Follow Links
Do-follow links are links that are automatically followed, or which provide authority or “link juice†to the website they are linking to. Unless you specify it as a “no-follow†link, every link will be do-follow, but many guest posting websites will only offer one do-follow or “followed†link per article, especially if it is a promotional piece.Â
Guest Posts
Guest posts are articles that are written by people who do not usually contribute to a website. They are effective for link building but you should always follow the guidelines of the website and not overstuff the piece with keywords and links. Guest posts should always be relevant, valuable, and not written as a hard sell for a service, product, or company.Â
No-Follow Links
A no-follow link is a link which is not counted towards the site it links to, meaning that no authority, ranking, or “juice†is sent to the linked website. No-follow links are commonly used for promotional content and for social media content. They are a common part of link building and SEO and it is often seen as inferior, but it is unavoidable.Â
Outreach
Outreach is the manual process of reaching out to target websites to ask about guest posting or link building opportunities. It is usually done via email and should never be too pushy or generic. It is best to start out with a pitch for an article (if asking about guest posting) or an offer to link to their website if asking about link building.Â
Final Words
While this list is by no means exhaustive, it can come in handy for those who might not fully understand the ins-and-outs of link building and some of the terminology used therein. If you would like to build your online presence, speak to the NetMechanic team about our search engine optimisation options.Â
