Stop with the misconceptions about link building

The world of link building is tough and very complicated when you start reading about the subject for the first time. It is however one of the 3 pillars of the web that allows you to develop your rank on Google. The universe of backlinks is based on the codes of "word of mouth" that Google applies on the Internet.

Before we start, let's remember what is netlinking and the difference with other terminologies such as link building, backlinks and external linking.

What is link building ?

It is a strategy which objective is to increase the number of backlinks on your website to improve its popularity. You will gain in visibility and traffic.

Link building is not just a backlink. It consists in thinking about the choice of sites on which you want to make backlinks while ensuring to diversify your anchors, to avoid a penalty from Google Penguin.

Is reputation based on the entire site or on only one specific page?

That's another misconception. Reputation is based on a site in its entirety! This is also why we talk about Domain Influence and not Page Influence. 

So, no matter which page your backlink points to, it is your site as a whole that will receive the reputation.

That being said, it is recommended to use several URLs when making backlinks, rather than always pointing to your homepage. This will avoid the suspicion of the penguin ;)

Should we prioritize quality over quantity?

The world of backlinks follows the codes of "word-of-mouth" that Google applies on the Internet. You will often meet people telling you that quality is more important than quantity. They will be right in fact. But it depends on what we are talking about.

You have to see backlinks as real life. If people are talking about you, that's great. But if they are not good influencers, that's when it becomes a problem.

In reality, you can have a presence on many websites, including those with low Domain Influence. 

"After all, people are talking about you... right?"

But you have to be careful about the toxic sites, the ones with high Spam Rating. Because they are responsible for generating a bad reputation. Such a link must be disavowed as soon as possible. "If it's a bad person who talks about you? What will people think of you?, right?!
 

Moreover, what are the elements to take into account to develop your reputation ?
 

1. The authority of the website that contains your link: It is obvious that a site with high popularity, which is therefore recognized and widely read by Internet users, will give you more popularity.

2. The anchor assigned to the link: Make sure that the anchor is consistent with the subject of the landing page

3. The density of backlinks on the page: Let's say that the authority juice is divided by the number of backlinks present. The less links, the more juice you will receive.

4. The position of the link on the page of origin: If you are on the top of the page, your link will be more privileged.

5. The theme of the website: A site that makes a backlink to your site and that is on the same theme as yours will have more impact. If you sell cakes and you get a link from a site of vehicle parts, where is the logic? Google is vigilant on this point.

6. The diversity of links and anchors: Make your number of backlinks last in length and avoid a large number of "one shot", under penalty of being blacklisted by ... The Penguin! ;)

It is quite complicated to have the perfect backlink. Besides, it is impossible to have all these elements perfectly working
 

How to find this information on Cocolyze?

It' s very easy! With the "Domain info " on each Domain reference.

Should I have several backlinks from the same domain or from several domains to develop my reputation?

For your reputation, it is better to have several backlinks from different domains, than several backlinks from the same domain.

"If only Batman is talking about you, your reputation would stay the same. On the other hand, if Batman, Wonderwoman, Inspector Gadget, Sangoku, and Snow White are also talking about you, you will explode your reputation! "

For your reputation, there is no point in having several active backlinks on the same site. Only 1 is enough to be taken into account.

Do not confuse Link Juice with Reputation

 They are two totally different things but very complementary.

The Link Juice is the flow of transmission of reputation of a referrer domain on one web page through the backlink.

How does the transmission of reputation from one link to another work?

Links are all about juice!

Consider that each page of a website has 100% juice, we will talk about Link Juice. Depending on the number of links on a page, the juice will be divided.

If a site has two links, the authority juice will be divided into 2 on each site and vice versa with 3 links etc etc..

If you pay for backlinks, you can get blacklisted by Google

Google does not want us to pay for backlinks. It is because backlinks must be built in a natural way. But nature needs a little help from time to time! 

Google has no way of knowing if you are paying for a backlink. And remember that you are paying people who will spend time for you to find the right backlinks. It's not the same thing ! :)

The only way to be blacklisted is to act like a barbarian.  Google on the other hand knows what is happening on its search engine.

Imagine that it receives 100 backlinks in 2 days pointing to the same URL and the same anchor, from toxic sites, while usually you generate 3 to 4 backlinks per month ... There would be something to believe in an unnatural practice.

Recap

We have seen that :

1. Each site domain has its own reputation and it transfers a part of its reputation according to the number of backlinks present on its page.
2. this transmission is called the Link Juice.
3.  it is the balance between the quantity and quality of links that will improve your reputation.
4. That you improve the reputation of your site as a whole (= your domain) and not the reputation of each URL of your website.
5. The anchor of a backlink corresponds to a keyword that promotes consistency between the keyword, the link and its destination content.