Common myths surrounding backlink usage and acquisition
Search engine optimisation continues to be rife with myths, especially in backlink building. Since search engines keep their algorithms shrouded in secrecy, there’s a lot of misinformation spreading about various SEO practices.
Nofollow links offer zero value in SEO
Nofollow links are often used to instruct search engines not to follow a certain link entity. They are tagged with rel=“nofollow”.
Many SEO experts abhor nofollow links, even when the links are obtained from sources that can drive relevant traffic. They feel as though using this type of link is a waste of effort.
However, the truth is nofollow links can send valuable referral traffic to your website. Additionally, they’re part of the natural link building practices you need to diversify your backlink profile.
Websites must have a domain authority (DA) of 30+
It’s safe to say that no one knows how search engines analyse the quality of a site. Not even Moz, the creator of Domain Authority (DA), knows exactly what websites need to rank highly on search result pages.
You should take third-party statistics with a grain of salt. Just because a link’s DA score is below 30 doesn’t mean the link isn’t useful to your backlink building endeavours.
Link building is dead
Some people believe that link building is no longer a beneficial practice in search engine optimisation. There are many instances where people have predicted the death of links as SEO tools.
None of these predictions came to pass. Hence, links remain essential to websites that need to rank on the top pages of various search engines.
Directory and forum links are spam
A few years ago, blog comment links, directory links, and forum links were the backbone of link building. These days, many people view these links as out-dated SEO tools. However, they forget that backlink building requires strategy as much as it requires certain tools.
Using forum and directory links in a strategic manner will allow you to boost quality traffic.
Links must have keyword rich anchor text
Google advises website owners against overusing keyword rich anchor text. To place more value on your links, use branded anchor texts and natural variants of your keywords.
