Before you even think about building links, you need to know what kind of links Google is looking for.
Their Penguin update placed an embargo on low quality and paid links. This means you can’t just grab links in an arbitrary fashion. It’s pointless and could even result in penalties for your site.
Here are a some key factors you must keep in mind if you want to build high quality backlinks:
Domain Authority
When applying for a job, who’s a better reference: your Aunt Joan or your former employer?
The bottom line is that your former employer’s authority reflects more positively on you. The same goes for backlinks. The higher the domain authority, the greater the value of a backlink.
Relevance
Let’s say you have an e-commerce store that sells bicycle parts. A link from a blog about styling wigs is going to have significantly less value in Google’s eyes, than one from a cycling blog.
Anchor Text
When SEOs found out that anchor text affects your ranking, they started to keyword stuff. And that’s spammier than a spam sandwich.
But it doesn’t mean you have to avoid keywords in anchor text altogether. Brian Dean at Backlinko says,
“In short, I don’t recommend building links with keyword-rich anchor text. But if you do get a link with your keyword in the anchor text, it’s time to celebrate.”
Contextual Links
Backlinks need to appear naturally within a piece of content. Ideally, they should be editorially placed. Google considers unnatural links to be against their guidelines.
Dofollow vs. Nofollow Links
Google doesn’t count nofollow links. So, if it’s link juice you’re after, you want dofollow links.