Get Your Links Slowly for More Traffic than You Can Handle

<< Step 5 - Why You Need a Ton of Backlinks <<

Before you're tempted to drown your site in thousands of backlinks in a couple days, read this for a more efficient strategy that will actually work.

Because even though it's true that a ton of backlinks pointing to your site is usually good thing, getting most of your links all at once will cause problems and HURT your rankings!

By the end of this article you will be able to glide through the process of backlinking and slowly rise to the top of the search engine rankings.

Why Should You Go Slow?

I'm sure that by now you've seen those package deals where you can get thousands of links pointing to your site within days and software that will automatically get you a ton of links, but you must resist the temptation! I know that they are offering you what you really want, but that isn't the way to go about it. Always remember that Google isn't stupid and their algorithm is set up so that people can't cheat the system for long.

Obviously the easiest way to get a ton of links is to get them all at once, so that your linking is done in a couple days, so Google is watching for these kinds of behaviors. And once you catch the big G's attention, by getting a few thousand links in a day, they might not punish you at first, but they're going to keep their eye on you. Because hey who knows, you might have created an awesome page and people love it and are going to share it thousands of times every single day.

But if you don't even get 100 links the next day, doesn't that seem a bit shady? And what if you don't get more than 10 links within a month after that lump sum of links in one day? Well, if it hasn't already happened, you'll probably get a lovely Google slap to the face! Why? Because when you got that lump sum of links you were really setting a pace for your site, in Google's eyes; a pace that you probably can't keep up. But if you could get around the same amount of links you did in that lump sum, every single day, then there would be nothing wrong; that's just the pace that your site naturally gets links.

But when you get that spike in backlinks and then it never reaches that amount in a day again, Google has to protect its rankings and, if it seems like you got all those links yourself, they have to put you in time out for a little bit. You still could have "gone viral" for that day and you had nothing to do with all those links but, to be safe, your site will be put on a probationary period and watched, to see what you do.

At this point Google either knows that you were trying to beat the system, through getting a ton of links yourself, or they think that your site isn't as relevant anymore, because people have stopped linking to it. But if you keep creating content, and links keep trickling in, then maybe Google will end your punishment eventually, but why don't you avoid the slap completely?

Now, I don't think there is some magical, safe number of links that a site should be getting each day, because every site is different, but you can come up with your own strategy, in a logical way. You don't want slapped, right? You want Google to think that you deserve all those links, and you probably do... so, let's look at things through a real-world point of view.

If people saw that you got a TON of money (backlinks) all at once, they are either going to think that you won the lottery (went viral) or that you stole it (black hat marketing). So, they will probably talk a lot of trash on you and put you down (Google slap). But if you were always working hard, and you gradually saved up (gradually got links) and eventually were rich as could be (#1 spot on Google), then they're probably going to assume that you deserve it. They saw that you put in the work and that you didn't get rich overnight, so no one (not even Google) is going to question your success.

So, think about how many links you could continually get to for your site, on a daily basis. And if you have some automated software, don't be tempted to go with 2,000 a day. You might as well stop using shady linking programs like that, if you truly want to be natural. But do you think you could get 10 backlinks a day to your site? That wouldn't be that difficult, right? That way you're slowly rising up in the search engine rankings, you're getting traffic, people are seeing your site and Google assumes that you're still relevant.

And guess what? If you created good content, like I told you to in Step 4, then eventually you don't have to get your own links anymore! After a while other people will be getting links for you, because they like your site, and they will take the reigns, and you'll have more time to do other things with your site.

So all you really need to do is decide on an average number of links you can realistically get to your site every day, or every couple of days, to help get you a little exposure. And if you keep the links coming, eventually you'll have enough exposure that others will get those daily links for you and keep your site relevant in Google's eyes. But, before you get started, let's go over the type of links you need to be getting.

>> Continue Reading Step 7 - Add Variety to Your Linking Strategy >>