Netlinking & backlinks: Essential for your SEO?

Netlinking, how does it work? The basics you need to know

Definition of netlinking

Netlinking, also called link building or external linking, is the obtaining of a link from one website to another website. Obtaining this link makes it possible to generate traffic to the site to which it points, but also to transmit some of the “power” of the web page to which the link is pointed. This is called the juice of a link.

In other words, it is an SEO technique that helps you improve the visibility of your site.

Backlinks or netlinking?

One time we hear the term netlinking, another we hear the word backlinks, it makes you wonder if there is a difference between the two terms? To put it simply, no, there is not much difference.

To be picky, we can say that backlinks are one of the components of netlinking. What do we remember? It is the same thing.

The types of links (Nofollow/Dofollow)

As you have understood, netlinking is therefore based on links. There are two types of links, Dofollow links & Nofollow links. These are the attributes that will determine whether or not links are followed by search engines.

• Dofollow attributes indicate that these are links that are followed by search engine robots.
• Nofollow attributes indicate that these are links that are not followed by search engine robots.

To summarize, a dofollow link will have more weight than a nofollow link. But the latter should not be overlooked either, knowing that Google takes into account these two typologies to establish its link profile.

What is domain authority (or DA)?

The natural referencing of a site is not enough to give it a good place on the SERP (Search Engine Result Page). A website also needs to have enough domain authority. In short, domain authority (DA) corresponds to the trust that search engines (more particularly Google) place in your website.

For the record, the term “domain authority” was invented by MOZ.

Referring domain

In SEO, we talk about a referring domain for each domain name that sends an external hypertext link to a given site.

Not talking enough? Let's take an example: a site can have 100 backlinks from 70 different sites, but only 30 referring domains.

Note that in natural referencing, the number of referring domains is more important than the total number of backlinks.

Trust flow & citation flow: definition

Data/metrics set up by the tool Majestic, trust flow is an indicator that evaluates the quality of backlinks from a site (or just a page). It gives a trust score ranging from 0 to 100. A grade above 40 is considered to be very high, but if your grade is between 20 and 39, you're in for it.
For its part, the citation flow is used to assess the quantity of backlinks.

However, you have to take a pinch of salt with these metrics. Indeed, despite the fact that these sites benefit from a strong reputation and are used a lot, they have not yet demonstrated a real understanding of the Google algorithm.

Use netlinking to improve your natural referencing

If your question was “is setting up netlinking campaigns good for my SEO?” , the answer is yes. But be careful, it's not that easy. Indeed, this strategy is only useful if it is well thought out and implemented. I'll tell you more about it below.

What is the use of backlinks in SEO?

To put it simply: backlinks are useful for improving the domain authority of your site, and therefore the positioning of your site on the SERP (Search Engine Result Page).

To go a little further, you should know that the Google algorithm uses backlinks as a “vote”, and this is what we call PageRank. PageRank is a relevance criterion that allows it to analyze both the quantity and the quality of links that point to a page.

However, be careful, unlike a few years ago, it is no longer the quantity of links that counts, but the quality.

When should you start your netlinking strategy?

Very good question Jean-Jacques, so I will be happy to answer it.

Before talking about the netlinking technique, let's see the prerequisites.

Indeed, if you do not have content within your site, the links will have no content to push. And this will generate 2 important points:

• the link won't be able to convert (and that's a shame isn't it?)
• there will be no scalability

And yes, remember that content is not just for SEO, but first and foremost for the user.

Big 1: Optimize the technique of your site

KESAKO? By optimizing the technique of your site, we mean that you need to have a website efficient and meets Google standards.

For those who have not read our article on natural referencing, here is a reminder of the few technical points in SEO:

• The loading speed of your site
• A site that meets security standards (HTTPS)
• A good structure
• Metadata
• Internal networking 
• ...

And to find out if your is well optimized, we do not hesitate to make a full SEO audit to assess performance and blocking points.

Big 2: Work on the content of your site.

Once your website is technically optimized, you need to think about contents. And yes, it is essential to have quality content on your site. Both for search engines, Internet users but also for sites that will put links to yours.

So there are two types of content to work on:

1. The content of your main pages
2. Your content strategy (usually your blog)

And only then, after working on these first two components, can you start your netlinking strategy. And that's quite simply because links will naturally be created in the direction of your site, this is what we call bait linking (we'll tell you about it below).

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On which site to get backlinks?

We are not going to procrastinate for this answer: a backlink must always be done on a site that is in your theme.

And yes, wouldn't you find it odd on the Peugeot site to have a link that leads to a pair of shoes?

To go into a bit more detail, there are several components to consider when choosing the site:

• Choose an authority site:
  An authority site is a trusted site, such as a government site or a reference site in the field.
• A site in your theme:
  Again, be careful, a site may be in your theme but of poor quality. Consider looking at the type of content they produce, if they don't have too many outgoing links, but also their Page Rank and Trust Flow.

But what is a site in your field? It is a site that addresses the same themes as you.

If we take the example of Peugeot again, it can choose a site specializing in bodywork, mechanical parts or even a car comparison site.

How do I get backlinks?

There are various solutions to obtain incoming links, there are two families:

• Natural links: to be provided,
• “Artificial” links: to be handled with care.

To take stock, we detail everything below.

The link exchange

Exchanging massive links between two sites is a practice that should be banned. On the other hand, a simple link exchange (i.e. 1 or 2 maximum) can be a good idea, as long as it is not done at the same time.

And yes, you have to appear natural in the eyes of Google, so as not to give it the impression of ripping off its algorithm, that's why you can do them a few weeks apart.

Buying links

“It's forbidden!”. And yes, Google is against buying links to get quality links.

However, there are many sites that have developed their business on link building.

Here, we think it's all a matter of common sense! You can buy links, but as long as you choose them carefully:

• Take a site in your theme
• Don't over-optimize link anchors
• Do not abuse it
• Do not bet everything on one and the same page

Social networks

Remember earlier, we talked about “Nofollow” backlinks. And that's the case with social networks! But that doesn't mean they should be overlooked. For some time now, Google has been taking Nofollow links into account in its algorithm. And another positive point, making publications with them on social networks, with links to your site brings you traffic, which is good for your SEO.

So feel free to post on LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

The directories

Good or bad idea are links on directories? Just like buying links, it's a matter of common sense. Do not abuse them and choose quality directories!

The Link Baiting

It's the best strategy of all: link baiting.

But is that what it is? Link baiting means “link bait.” It is an SEO technique that aims to create content with high added value, in order to encourage other websites to link to the site that produces this content.

You will therefore naturally acquire incoming links to your site!

A good backlink = quality links

A quality link is an incoming backlink from a web page that is authoritative in its field of activity and that deals with a topic related to your page.

But there are also other elements that come into account:

• The landing page
• Link anchors
• Google Penguin

On which pages to netlink?

Now that you have all this information, you need to ask yourself which pages to netlink on? Don't worry, we'll tell you everything.

Before starting any explanations, let's keep in mind that netlinking helps you boost a page that is already well positioned, but it's not everything.

That's why at Sales Odyssey, we assume that you have to start your campaign from the moment you have a page or An article which is indexed, but stagnant and struggling to move up the SERP.

Example: You wrote an article 10 months ago on “How to choose your parquet”, this one has been in 14th position on Google for 3 months and is having trouble climbing.

It's perfect for creating backlinks!

Attention all the same: Do not bet everything on one and the same page, vary the pages and be consistent (and yes, we do not do everything in 1 month, but we aim for the long term!).

Link anchors

A link anchor is a word or part of text to which a hypertext link is attached, which points to another page or site. It is this anchor that allows you to create the backlinks of your netlinking.

In your strategy, this anchor is very important. There are 4 different types of anchor:

• The “brand” anchors : These are anchors relating to your brand or site.
  Example: peugeot sells cars.
• The “long tail” anchors : It's an anchor with a group of words.
  Example: Peugeot sells cars red, blue, black and green.
• The “exact” anchors : With the target keyword.
  Example: Peugeot sells cars red, blue, black and green.
• The “neutral” anchors : Peugeot sells red, blue, black and green cars, click hither to find out more.

In order to appear natural in the eyes of Google, you need a good distribution of these anchors:

• “Brand” anchors: Around 35%
• “Long tail” anchors: Around 30%
• The “exact” anchors: Around 15%
• “Neutral” anchors: Around 20%

The diversity of links is therefore an essential element in your campaign.

Google Penguin penalties

Google Penguin is a Google algorithm/robot whose mission is to search for websites using fraudulent organic referencing techniques (netlinking and optimization). Indeed, Google does not want its algorithm to be manipulated to promote its referencing.

This is why it is important to follow all the steps and rules mentioned above, in order not to penalize your site, and not to be downgraded.

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