Whether you possess a wealth of knowledge in search engine optimization
(SEO) or you’ve just heard about it in passing, you probably know the phrase “link
building” and how crucial it is to your website’s success.
If you don’t know about link building don’t sweat it, you’re
in the right place.
In general terms, search engine optimization (SEO) is the
process of increasing your website’s visibility in a search engine's (such as
Google) un-paid ("organic") search results. Search engines such as Google have algorithms
that are applied to websites in order to rank them. The higher your page rank, the higher up your
site appears in search results. Page
rank algorithms heavily favor sites with many inbound links, especially inbound
links from other high ranking sights (like a yahoo.com or cnn.com).
(Graphical display of Google Algorithm courtesy Wikipedia)
A popular and effective SEO tactic is to increase the number
of inbound links, known as link building, to increase your site’s prominence on
the web.
Google recently cracked down and decreased the search engine
rankings of websites that violated Google’s Webmaster Guidelines particularly
those participating in link schemes.
While it is never recommended to pay for your links or to use “black
hat” tactics, the very option appears to be off the table for the time being.
Link building in the financial industry is even more
difficult because of the constraints of compliance. CFTC and NFA regulations dictate that you are
responsible for the content on any outbound link on your website. Therefore, if you link to an outside site
that is in violation of regulations, you are also in violation of said
regulations. Consider it the
felony-murder rule of the financial World Wide Web.
Since you are responsible for content on the outbound sites
you link to, link swaps, a popular way to link build, are a lot more difficult
and very risky. If your company doesn’t
have deep pockets to buy online advertising and web directory listings, your site’s
search engine visibility doesn’t have to suffer. You just have to roll up your sleeves and
work a little harder.
Try these easy ways to build links:
- List your website and blogs on free directories and indexes.
- Create profiles on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube page, LinkedIn, etc. with links back to your site
- Create a blog with links back to your website
- On your social media pages, have your posts include links back to blog and website
- Guest blogging and link swaps (Remember to check with your compliance officer)
- Create good, original content on your blog that others will share and spread across the internet
- Incorporate anchor text into your webpages and blog posts