Ward says the biggest change is that in the early days, there were no engines that looked at or analyzed links. Rankings and links had nothing to do with one another, so you built links with people in mind. Then Google came along and recognized that there was a value in those links that they could measure. Suddenly, Ward says, that meant your links had two audiences – the people that could click them and the engines that could count them. The downside, he says, is that a whole industry has grown around building links purely for search rank. You know the story.

Before Google came along, links were often paid for, and they were basically just ads. People would just buy links from each other with the intent of people actually clicking them. It wasn’t about rank.

As Eric notes, Google has never actually said don’t buy links. They just say don’t buy our PageRank. Don’t buy the PageRank measure that they’ve assigned to a site. Buying a link would make sense just like buying a banner would’ve made sense ten years ago. If your motivation is click traffic that’s fine, says Ward. If your motivation is that you want to buy a link from a high PageRank site so that you can rank high, then you’re in the area that Google doesn’t like.

Ward contemplates what things would’ve been like had Google never released the toolbar with that PageRank number. It’s an interesting question, considering that Google pretty much tells people to ignore it. The company has even now eliminated PageRank from Webmaster Tools.

In this WebProNews: The Insider video, Managing Editor Mike McDonald connects with Ward via webcam to discuss the finer points of link building today, what constitutes good link bait, and creating a good balance of organic and paid links.

What is linkbait?

Linkbait can be anything – anything that inspires somebody at another website or blog to link back to it. The only boundary is creativity.

What makes something linkable? We can only speak with examples and general guidance, but:

Whatever it is, it should be clever and useful to the end-user, either by “interestingness” or by its ability to solve a problem.

Widgets, then, make sense as great linkbait.

Good linkbait is pure, not coming off as “slimy” or “cheesy.”

“In the long run,” says Ward, “the end user votes with the mouse.”

How do you develop a linking strategy?

Strategies should mesh with the intent and market of the website being promoted.

Any link is not necessarily a good link. Quality links matter. The right audience matters.

Timing is important. If you want to promote something for next week, organic SEO isn’t going to work. You may need to buy some links or bid on some keywords.

Use organic SEO for promotions far in the future (if for the Christmas season, begin in September).

There is no optimal balance of paid and organic links. It depends on what the end goal is.

Get the content in front of the audience you care about.

GoConference offers the lowest cost conferencing solutions for large enterprises…
Contact Herb Levitin at 1.800.288.9807