This content was provided by the editor at Betastic.co.uk, a UK focused gambling and betting portal.
If you have a gambling domain and are currently marketing it as either an operator or an affiliate, then you probably have a good idea what links are and the part they play in ranking in Search Engines.
Links are such a fundamental part of SEO and gaining good quality links should be seen as a large part of your SEO strategy.
Gaining links is not always the issue though, as many marketers will know. There are several places online where links can be acquired. Some website owners and marketers choose to use the route of ‘purchasing links’ as it presents the quickest way to achieve the goal of high rankings with the least amount of effort. However, many casualties will testify that this method of building links is likely to draw attention and potentially lead to penalties for your site. Remember: it’s not only the Search Engines that are checking your back links, your competitors will be monitoring your every move and will not hesitate to drop you in it if you have a less than natural link profile.
If you choose to follow the path of acquiring links, then you have to be prepared to face the potential consequences. However any website owner or marketer can create a much more natural looking link profile, which is less likely to lead to penalties and more likely to head towards better search engine rankings.
Here are some actions you can take to creating a natural looking link profile:
Seek Out Different Sources of Links
When building links to your domain it can be very easy to become fixated on links from other websites, especially those in your niche. However, this is far from natural, as you are purely obtaining links from one source – other websites. However, this is not how the internet works as links come from a variety of sources. A good example of this is where you might see links to YouTube videos. Personally, I’ve seen them all over the place, such as Facebook, Twitter, Forums, Blogs, News sites, websites, press releases, emails etc etc. You have to get the same mentality with your website and seek out links from all different sources. This doesn’t mean spamming the hell out of the CAP forum and the GPWA, but by contributing and adding links where they are appreciated. If you have news, guides and blog posts on your site then you will find it easier to contribute links to your content through social media and forums. This is where good quality fresh content plays its role and plenty of it.
Don’t Keep Filling the Anchor with Your Keyword
If you are hoping to rank for the keyword “casino” and every single one of your links has the anchor text “casino” then there is a good chance you will rank very highly for that keyword – for a few days. Then you will likely receive a 50 point penalty and end up on page 5 of worse. Why? Because it is completely unnatural. Sites ranking for the keyword “casino” generally have a variety of keywords in the backlink anchor text which are normally a mixture of brand name, keywords and other phrases like “this site”, “click this link”, “click here”. They will also have direct links with no anchor text as part of their backlink profile. By analysing the backlink keyword profile of the sites that rank well for your chosen keyword you will get a good understanding of what your profile should look like. A useful site that allows you to check the backlink anchor text of a particular site is http://linkdiagnosis.com. You will need to download the Firefox addon last time I checked, but it’s free and very comprehensive.
Don’t Have Every Link Point to Your Homepage
It’s a common mistake for marketers to try and exclusively link to the homepage of their site. This is largely due to the homepage commonly being the highest authority page on the site, therefore making it easier to rank for high-traffic keywords. This technique however is very ineffective as it is quite an unnatural link profile. Having links pointing to sub pages, as well as your homepage is much more advisable as it will create a better link profile. If you have reviews and news content on your website then you will find that social media and forums are a good place to attract links to these lower level pages in your site.
If You’re Not Already Doing It, Start Networking
Fortunately, not all links need to be bought or exchanged– there are other means and ways. Getting yourself out there and meeting people in your industry is one of the best ways of building up your link profile. For example, writing articles for blogs, testimonials for affiliate programs, reviews on forums will improve your link profile. By networking and meeting the people who can give you these opportunities you will enhance your link profile dramatically and ultimately be more successful in ranking for high value keywords. I have found conferences like LAC, ICE and G2E particularly good for this, but you may prefer to do your networking at forums and other online communities. Either way, it’s the relationships you build that will allow you the opportunities.
And remember, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. If you enjoyed this article, please link (as naturally as possible please) to my site.