Link-Building Techniques that Will Become More Risky in 2018

Link-Building Techniques that Will Become More Risky in 2018_Single Grain

Which link-building strategies will still work for you in 2018 and why should you always implement long-term plays into your marketing strategy?

Three Key Points to Keep in Mind

  • Google is continuously improving how well they track and catch PBNs.
  • Content marketing is a long-term play and if done right, will gain you the audience that will link to you.
  • Marketing plays will change significantly in 2018.

PBNs Become More Risky

I should mention the things that are gray hat/black hat, because even though they’re working right now, Google is catching on. PBNs (private blog networks) still work, though we don’t know for how much longer, so it’s easy to slot this into 2018. Google’s had a difficult time actually catching the people that make it work. They work for some big companies, but that’s because they’re smart about it. But overall, I think PBNs will become more risky just because Google’s continuing to get better.

Guest Posting Not as Effective

Same with guest posting. Although you’re not supposed to use this technique for link building, a ton of marketers are. And, sure, guest blogging is amazing, especially if you’re doing it on relevant sites that can drive you visitors and business. But it’s not going to be as effective for link building in 2018. Most of these popular blog networks, like the Huffington Posts of the world, have started no-following all their links. In addition to that, Google knows when they are contributor-based posts, and they’re not counting the links the same way. At least that’s my gut inclination.

Link Spam Is Devalued

Building on a whole example of PBN, link-spam will continue to get devalued, so you have to be careful there. Whatever kind of scheme that you’re trying to use right now, who knows how much longer it’s going to last for, right? I mean, you can always go for a short hustle — you can make some dollars that way — but if it doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not worth doing. You want to focus on the concept of doing something for the long-term. It’s harder to do, but it feels right.

Short-Term Win vs. Long-Term Scaling Up

When you’re doing content marketing the right way, like value-laden blog posts, podcasts, videos, speaking at conferences, etc., you’re doing things the right way and that’s when you know you can scale it up. I’ve tried those other things in the past, like link wheels, buying links from these forums, all these other things, and they work a little bit, but they never work for the long-term, and you’re just better off thinking about the long-term.

Yes, quick and easy techniques might help your rankings right now, but anything that is quick and easy isn’t going to last. Also, keep in mind, that you might be penalized for it in the future. So, don’t focus on anything that’s a quick hit. Focus on long-term strategies.

For example, create amazing content, build your brand, create a community, partner up with other people and do joint webinars, joint podcasts, etc. That’s what will help you get an audience. That’s what will help you build your social profiles. And, eventually, great content and a reputable brand will cause more people to go to your site, and some of those people will decide to link to you.

The post Link-Building Techniques that Will Become More Risky in 2018 | Ep. #480 appeared first on Marketing School Podcast.

Full Transcript of The Episode

Recording: Get ready for your daily dose of marketing strategies and tactics from entrepreneurs with the guile and experience to help you find success in any marketing capacity. You're listing to marketing school, with your instructors, Neil Patel and Eric Siu.

Eric Siu: Welcome to another episode of marketing school. I'm Eric Siu.

Neil Patel: And I'm Neil Patel.

Eric Siu: Today, we're going to talk about link building techniques that will become more risky in 2018. Perhaps, we should continue to talk about the things that are gray hat/black hat, just because, even though their working right now, eventually Google might catch on, or Google is catching on. The concept of PBNs, right? PBN's still work. These are private blog networks. We don't know how much longer they're going to work for, so it's easy to slot this into 2018. Google's had a difficult time actually catching the people that make it work.
Neil and I actually met two SEO's. One was ... well, I guess we won't talk about what companies they're from, but they do have a really powerful PBN. They work for some big companies, and they make good things happen. The things is, they're smart about it. When I wanted to ask them questions about their PBN, they're like, "We'll talk to you about it, but you have download Telegram first." They switched the messages to encrypted secret messages, and those messages self-destructed in one minute. That's how secretive and protective they are about their PBN.
Anyway, I'm digressing right now. But, PBN's, I think they'll become more risky just because Google's continuing to get better.

Neil Patel: Same with guest blogging. Although you're not supposed to use it for leaking building, a ton of marketers are. And, sure, guest blogging is amazing, especially if you're guest blogging on relevant sites that can drive you visitors and business. But it's not going to be as effective for link building. Most of these networks, or popular blog networks, whatever you want to call them, like the Huffington Posts of the world, they started no-following all of their links. In addition to that, Google knows when their contributor based posts, and they're not counting the links as the same way, at least that's my gut inclination.
When I built up a lot of my sites back in the day, when I used to guest post, I didn't do it directly for link building. But, what I found is, it would sky rocket my rankings. Nowadays, when I have a brand new website, and I'm throwing in some links from some guests posts, it does not work the same as compared to what it used to a few years ago.

Eric Siu: Building on a whole example of PBN, link-span will continue to get devalued, so you just have to be careful there. Whatever kind of scheme that you're trying to use right now, who knows how much longer it's going to last for, right? When Neil and I, when we talk about it, we talked about live actually at the conference that we did. It's the concept of doing something for the long-term, right?
You can always go for a short hustle. You can make some dollars that way, but if it doesn't feel right, it's probably not worth doing. You want to figure out something you can do for the long-term. That's why it's easier, it's not easier, it's harder to do. But it feels right. So, when you're doing content marketing, you're doing it the right way. You're doing podcasts like this, you're doing videos, you're speaking at conferences, you're doing things the right way and it doesn't feel dirty, that's when you know you can scale it up.
We've tried these things in the past where, PBN's, you tried these things like link wheels, all these other things. You buy links from these forums, right? They work a little bit, but they don't work for the long-term, and you're just better off thinking about the long-term

Neil Patel: Anything that is quick and easy isn't going to last, and you can assume that, yeah, maybe helping your rankings right now. But it doesn't mean that you can't be penalized for it in the future, and it doesn't mean that they won't count those links in the future. So, don't focus on anything that's a quick hit. Focus on long-term strategies.
For example, creating amazing content, building a brand, creating a community, partnering up with other people and doing joint webinars, joint podcasts, whatever it may be. That's what will help you get an audience. That's what will help you build your social profiles. Then, when you put out more content, you make changes to your website, eventually, it'll cause more people to go to your site, and some of those people will decide to link to you.

Eric Siu: All right, before we go, we have a 90 day free trial of Crazy Egg to give away to each and every one of you. All you need to do is go to singlegrain.com/giveaway to learn more. You can also learn more about how you can win a one year annual subscription to Crazy Egg. With that being said, we will see you tomorrow.

Recording: This session of marketing school has come to a close. Be sure to subscribe for more daily marketing strategies and tactics, to help you find the success you've always dreamed of. Don't forget to rate and review, so we can continue to bring you the best daily content possible. We'll see you in class tomorrow, right here on marketing school.

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