Tips to optimise off-site linkbuilding for your e-commerce site

The main challenge with linkbuilding for an e-commerce site is to get external links from relevant websites that are related to your sector. In this article we’ll give you the main keys to achieving this.

Linkbuilding for e-commerce sites is a process that takes some work, but you should never skip it. It consists of obtaining external links (which we call off-site) from relevant web pages that are related to the sector your site occupies.

In previous articles we have already discussed what linkbuilding is and how it can affect an online store. Once we understand the main concepts, it is important to get started and define a clear strategy for our dropshipping store. Of course, the main goal in any linkbuilding strategy is to obtain links that direct traffic to your website externally. However, not all approaches are worth the effort and there are certain keys and tips that can help us to optimise our strategy.

Which is the most important for Google: the quantity or quality of the links?

Google modifies its algorithm every day, albeit in a very subtle way. However, it periodically makes profound changes in its strategy and one of the most important was the new version of the Google Penguin algorithm.

What does Google want to accomplish with Penguin? To Detect and fight bad practices when it comes to acquiring external links, among other things. These bad practices include the following in relation to off-site linkbuilding:

• Creating a large number of external links that point to the same keyword or have the same anchor text.
• Strange or unnatural increases in the number of off-site links not relevant to the business sector to which they are directed, or from pages considered to be of low quality.

Google is already penalising websites that continue to put old strategies into practice that seek a large number of external links rather than those of quality. So if is the case with your strategy we recommend that you start making some modifications as soon as possible.

How do you know if a potential external link is of good quality?

It is important to be aware which links Google will be considered quality and which ones not. This is not always a simple task, as there are certain subjective factors that we cannot be totally certain about. However, we can establish some key points to identify those websites whose links Google will consider negative and punishable.

• Websites considered “bad” in terms of content: the first advice we’ll give you is to stay away as far as possible from websites with “sensitive” subject-matter: sexual content, magical Viagra-like products, strange medical remedies and so on.
• Spam websites: if you enter a website with a few spam comments nothing will happen, this is quite common. But take note: if the page is really overflowing with spam it would be better to distrust it and not to attempt the creation of any link, as the site may be harmful.
• Link farming: this practice has been penalised for quite some time, but if you find any website with thousands and thousands of nonsensical outgoing links, you should distrust it. If you are also asked for money to place your link, you should distrust it even more.

Anchor texts, dofollow and nofollow links

As we have seen, not all links from external websites are the same or have the same value for our site. Once we know the difference between quality links and non-quality links, it is important to be aware how the websites that interest us create their external links. It is therefore essential to know the following terms:

• Anchor text with a good profile: the anchor text is the visible part of the link, or the underlined text on which you click to change the page. The theory goes that the more the anchor text resembles the keyword we want to position, the better positioning we’ll get, but it doesn’t always work out like that.
• Dofollow or follow links are a type of link that transmits the “link juice” of the original web page where the link is, in other words the relevance or importance of its domain. A dofollow link from a relevant website and related to our particular area of interest is the best type of links since, apart from attracting traffic from people who click on it and access our online store, it also improves our SEO positioning.

Nofollow links: however, if you see the tag rel = “nofollow” in the link source code, it means that the “link juice” is not being transmitted. Although these links do not transmit the relevance of a website, they do attract traffic and are also very positive when it comes to looking for a balance with our links, which we will be talking about next.

For an SEO external linkbuilding strategy it is essential to implement a correct and balanced anchor text, with follow links as well as nofollow links. This requires not appearing “unnatural” from the point of view of Google, which means having different types of links, not only those that are considered the best.

How can we obtain quality external links to our dropshipping store?

Linkbuilding for quality external e-commerce is part of a long and complicated process. But whether we like it or not, it can make a difference with regard to getting ahead of the other online stores which comprise our competition. It is essential.

Here are some really useful tips on how to go about obtaining external links:

Ask for links: be practical!

One of the most common practices in obtaining external links is to ask for them directly. How to ask and what to offer in exchange depends on you. Would you like a clue? A very common term in the business of SEO is “linktonics”. You can imagine what that might mean.

Exchange links

Until a while ago, the exchange of links was very common. However, Google Penguin is also going after this practice and, if you want to try it, you should be very cautious.

Buy links

Within every SEO budget there should be an allocated part, whether that be larger or smaller part, that is designated for paying for sponsored posts or links. Choose the website carefully that you want to pay to insert a link to your own. If make the right choice, you’ll notice the benefit.

Take part in guest blogging

There are a whole number of blogs in existence on topics that are similar to the products you offer in your online store. You can colaborate with these and obtain links in exchange for writing certain articles.

In short, e-commerce linkbuilding strategies are almost endless and require plenty of dedication. Plan well, be patient and do your work the right way. We’re sure you’ll see results!