Natural Link Profile

Mixed Phrase and Natural Linking

Build a Natural Linking Profile

In the past few months we have been asked over and over again what to do about the Google Penguin algorithm. We have a simple answer; when it comes to backlinks the linking profile needs to be natural.

What does natural mean? Natural means:

Natural Link Profile – Keyword Natural

To gain backlinks that are not focused on a small set of specific keyword phrases. Imagine if a very large percentage of your links are comprised of 2 or 3 specific keyword phrases? Would this look natural to you?

Natural Link Profile – Link Velocity

A natural rate means to gain links at a rate which is natural for your website in its marketplace.

So how do you get your linking profile to be natural?

Here are some guidelines to help you to create a natural linking profile.

1. Create great content and let the links happen naturally. If you do this then you will end up with many links that are not keyword phrase links but rather are made using phrases such as “click here” or “visit website” or just your domain name. Google will gain insights into the keyword emphasis by considering the context of the link. If the link is coming from content that is closely associated with the page receiving the link then this is a great natural link.

2. If you have a linking program where you are actively seeking links then variations in the keyword phrase are certainly acceptable. Therefore, in your request for a link make sure that your request allows or even encourages wording variations.

3. Google has become quite good at deriving meaning from synonyms. Google looks closely at the content and can understand that a word such as “environment” is similar in meaning to the word “surroundings”. Google understand meaning from context so make sure that your links come from relevant content.

4. You also have to be aware of link velocity. This is the rate at which you acquire backlinks. If you do not get any links for a few months and then in a single month acquire 25% additional links then this may raise a flag. It is better to acquire backlinks at a rate consistent with the size of your site. It is better to acquire links at a steady rate rather than to gain a large number of backlinks over a short period of time followed by a period of time with very few backlinks acquired.

5. Gaining backlinks that mesh with your content creation plan is also a very natural approach. If you never create new content but gain large relative numbers of new backlinks then this looks suspicious. However, if you create some great new content and gain new links in time sync with this new content then this would be quite natural. Naturally, new links occur with new great content so you need to create fresh content as part of your linking plan.