Back-link building or creating inbound links has become a great preoccupation for web masters and search engine optimization professionals. Backlinks or inbound links are links found on another web site that would lead anyone clicking it to your web site. Backlinks have grown so important that software for auto linking have become just one of the many link building tools in the search engine optimization arsenal.

Why are inbound links so important?

Links leading to your site create the impression that your web site has something worthy and relevant to say and offer. It doesn’t matter whether or not you agree with this generalization. The search engines do – and that’s what matters! In the formula – the algorithm – that search engine use to quantify whether or not a web page is important, relevant links into that page is extremely important.

Inbound links from quality and relevant web sites give your site high link popularity ratings and the search engines will let this count towards your page ranking. The more inbound links you have from these quality and relevant web sites, the higher your link popularity becomes, and the more they enhance your total page ranking.

Valuable inbound links

Let’s now talk about the quality and relevance of the web sites from which you should obtain these backlinks. A web site is quality web site when it has a high link popularity and page rank itself. The more reputable the web site is, the higher its quality and the more valuable it would be to have an inbound link from that site to your web site.

Build links from relevant web sites

A relevant web site is one that operates in a similar or the same industry as yours. Say you are running a web site that sells antiques. In this case, inbound links from other online antiques stores or web sites that provide information on antiques are more relevant than inbound links from pet shops as an example.

You have to remember that the quality and relevance of your inbound links are more important than quantity of inbound links. Of course the ideal arrangement would be to have many quality and relevant links, but failing that, you should aim for quality and relevant backlinks rather than countless weak inbound links.

Reciprocal linking

Some web masters solicit inbound links from other web masters through reciprocal linking. Reciprocal linking happens when one web site contains a link to another web site that also contains a link back to the former web site. This was the ideal arrangement for web site administrators were are having a hard time obtaining inbound links; that is, however, until search engines became more aware of the practice.

Now, search engines consider inbound links and outbound links together when grading link popularity and page ranking. The former raises your score while the latter often actively dilutes it. This new scoring system could be detrimental to web sites whose SEO strategy hinges on reciprocal linking without consideration to the quality and relevance of the other web sites it’s reciprocally linked to. If your web sites are linked to unpopular and irrelevant web sites, then the inbound links that these generate do not count much, if at all. On the other hand, the outbound links that point to these same web sites would still be counted against you. The result is decreased link popularity and page ranking.

Link farms and site interlinking

To obtain inbound links, some web masters have stooped to building web pages or sites that provide only one-way links to other web pages or sites. Others have created other web sites which are heavily linked to the original web site. Creation of link farms is intentional SEO practice while site interlinking usually is mere ignorant practice. However, both of these practices are unacceptable backlink building strategies that have corresponding consequences.

The Link Building Problem

Search Engines are becoming more and more aware of ‘underhand’ practices from Search Engine Optimization companies who artificially raise the prominence of their clients’ websites by obtaining links from low reputable sources. Although this may help in the short-term, it could result in a high number of penalties being applied to the website that is being artificially lifted.

The Link Building Solution

There is only one way to build links to your website in a manner that will be respected by search engines in the longer term. And that’s the quality orientated slow and steady approach. Any other way could significantly harm your online business in the future.