The February 24th change to Google’s search algorithm dropped the article directory sites that many website owners relied on to promote their content right out of most search engine results. Unfortunately, this caused many good websites relying on backlinks from article directories for promotion to suffer rank drops as well. Website owners who need search engines to send traffic to what they offer still have to get backlinks, but article directories are no longer the best place to start.
Why Contextual Backlinks Are Important
When you get links that point to your website, you have two options that will yield different levels of results. The first choice involves a stand alone link that simply points to your site with the site’s title or address listed as the name in a list or directory style area.
These links can help your site a little bit, but they do not really tell a search engine your site is important. The better option for backlinks is setting a link somewhere inside a relevant blog post or review that is about something directly related to the subject or niche your website occupies.Contextual links using search engine friendly keywords located in relevant content give search engines the information they need to know exactly what your site is about and how important the link hosting site thinks your information is. While placing articles with links in old fashioned directories like Ezine Articles and Articlebase may no longer be a viable website promotion technique, high quality contextual backlinks embedded in related content is still the best possible way to get your website to rank well. Every relevant link posted inside good content on a page Google is not intentionally penalizing can help your website stay visible when people look for what you offer.
Blogs Can Get You The Links You Need
Unlike large article directory sites that have been punished by the February 24th content farm algorithm change, small blogs written for a specific niche by dedicated site owners are still ranking well in search engines.
By putting your contextual links inside blog content relevant to your niche, you can start watching your website’s content rise in search engine results for the keywords you choose. A few links from high quality related blogs can be worth an endless pile of low quality content farm contextual backlinks.Unfortunately, getting links from related blogs can be harder than it looks.
Many niche blogs don’t like to link to related websites because they are just as interested in ranking well for certain keywords as you are. Even when your site can add specific value to their content, these blog owners will hesitate to send searchers to you when they can instead use these searchers to earn money with on site advertisement or the services they may offer.
Blog Advertising With Contextual Links Solves The Problem
One of the best ways to get high quality backlinks from relevant blogs that may have been reluctant originally is to approach a blog advertising site that will help you place contextual links inside reviews and other blog article style content. Through a blog advertising site that will place your links inside original content on blogs in your niche, you can start rebuilding the backlink strength you may have lost after the content farm update.