Even though link building has been a trade for more than a decade, it’s clear that there is still an enormous amount of confusion around it.
Every so often, there is a large kerfuffle. Some of these controversies and arguments arise simply from a necessity to fill a content void, but some of them arise from genuine concern and confusion:
“Don’t ask for links!”
“Stick a fork in it, guest posting is done!”
“Try to avoid link building!”
SEO is an everchanging industry; what worked yesterday might not work today. Google’s personnel doesn’t always help the cause. In fact, they often add fuel to the fire. That’s why I want to play the role of “link building myth-buster” today. I’ve spent over ten years in link building, and I’ve seen it all.
I was around for Penguin, and every iteration since. I was around for the launch of Hummingbird. And I was even around for the Matt Cutts videos.
So, if you’re still confused about link building, read through to have ten of the biggest myths in the business dispelled.
1. If you build it, they will come
There is a notion among many digital marketers and SEOs that if you simply create great content and valuable resources, the users will come to you. If you’re already a widely-recognized brand/website, this can be a true statement. If, however, you are like the vast majority of websites — on the outside looking in — this could be a fatal mindset.
In order to get people to find you, you have to build the roads that will lead them to where you want. This is where link building comes in.
A majority of people searching Google end up clicking on organic results. In fact, for every click on a paid result in Google, there are 11.6 clicks to organic results!

And in order to build your rankings in search engines, you need links.
Which brings me to our second myth around links.
2. You don’t need links to rank
I can’t believe that there are still people who think this in 2019, but there are. That’s why I recently published a case study regarding a project I was working on.
To sum it up briefly, the more authoritative, relevant backlinks I was able to build, the higher the site ranked for its target keywords. This isn’t to say that links are the only factor in Google’s algorithm that matters, but there’s no doubt that a robust and relevant backlink profile goes a long way.
3. Only links with high domain authority matter
As a link builder, you should definitely seek target sites with high metrics. However, they aren’t the only prospects that should matter to you.
Sometimes a low domain authority (DA) might just be an indication that it is a new site. But forget about the metrics for one moment. Along with authority, relevancy matters. If a link prospect is perfectly relevant to your website, but it has a low DA, you should still target it. In fact, most sites that will be so relevant to yours will likely not have the most eye-popping metrics, and that is precisely because they are so niche. But more often than not, relevancy is more important than DA.
When you focus solely on metrics, you will lose out on highly relevant opportunities. A link that sends trust signals is more valuable than a link that has been deemed important by metrics devised by entities other than Google.
Another reason why is because Google’s algorithm looks for diversity in your backlink profile. You might think that a profile with over 100 links, all of which have a 90+ DA would be the aspiration. In fact, Google will look at it as a suspect. So while you should absolutely target high DA sites, don’t neglect the “little guys.”
To read the full article, click here: https://moz.com/blog/10-link-building-lies-you-must-ignore