25 Link Building Pitfalls Everyone Should Avoid

Link building is one of the best ways to gain the search engine rankings you've been looking for. Maybe you already have a link building strategy set up...but are you doing it right?

There is a lot of old information swirling around about building links, and the purpose of this article is to tell you what kind of link building strategies are outdated, which don't work and which are just plain stupid. Please feel free to comment below with your own additions.

You should avoid:

1) Hiding any links off a page. Google doesn't like this little CSS trick.

2) Buying links in the places everyone else in buying them. By buying where everyone else is, you're diluting the value and the effectiveness of the links you're getting.

3) Purchasing links from any link vendor who has their inventory online. Remember: Google can see the same list you're looking at.

4) Using automatic link building software. If you want to leave a damaging footprint, go ahead and use that software.

5) Using the same anchor text repeatedly. Your anchor text should look natural and diverse, relevant to the content of whatever page its on.

6) Overusing the same kinds of links. You want a wide range of links, not just one kind. One-way, reciprocal, site-wide, high or low pr - vary your links accordingly.

7) Having PR patterns in your backlinks that look unnatural. Don't have all high PR or all low PR pages; strike a balance between them.

8) Placing links in sections that are in sponsored or paid areas. Google and friends are getting increasingly good at spotting links in these areas and have started lowering their PR and weight accordingly.

9) Spamming Wikipedia for links. Bad idea all around. Get a link in Wikipedia if you meet their criteria; if you don't, you'll just get kicked out,and possibly banned.

10) Spamming top social media site with fake votes or diggs. This will kill your credibility and label you, quite rightly, a spammer. Produce linkbait that's worthy of being promoted.

11) Spamming forums of .edu or .gov sites. If you want these valuable links, get them by offering the site something relevant they can link to.