Natural vs. Free-for-All Linking

I was reading a blog this morning about best SEO practices, which I love to do in order to see if there’s anything new that’s come to the market and just to validate against what others are trying. The content was pretty great and included a fairly comprehensive list of the top 20 tactics to be implemented by anyone wanting to see real results in the search engines. Yet, in the middle of all this greatness, something truly surprised me. This statement:

“Leverage free-for-all linking wherever you can get it.”

Whaaaaa???? This statement made me go back up to the top of the blog to check the author’s credentials again. Yes, it’s that big of a mistake.

So, here’s the difference between natural linking and free-for-all linking and why you do not want to use the latter. Natural linking is the process of building reputable links that you can place with other related sites. You can even exchange them (reciprocal) with associated or partner sites. Free-for-all linking, on the other hand, is just as rebellious as it sounds. It’s the practice of using a software to place your links on hundreds or even thousands of sites, whether they’re related or not.

The best way to look at free-for-all linking is like breaking the rules. It’s essentially “spamming” and no one likes spam.

You want to approach SEO as above-board as possible, and natural linking is the best way to do so. Because if the engines catch wind of free-for-all linking, it’s possible they might not even give you just a warning…your site could get permanently blacklisted for employing such shady tactics. And we all know what that means…Au Revoir to that URL.

We know the ins and outs of natural backlinking and will always protect your URL. After all, that URL is part of your brand and the last thing you want is to do business with a marketing company that doesn’t understand that. Call us today and start your climb to the top.