Backlinks would always be an integral part of SEO as they are good gauges of numerous positive factors of a site. It’s also become that sole aspect of SEO nowadays that still has a continuing debate, particularly the one that revolves around link building and link earning.
The former, after all, has always drawn flak from whitehat purists who strictly adhere to the guidelines set forth by Google.
The Big G itself has introduced numerous algorithm changes that sought to dissuade the building of bad backlinks.
Thus we come to the questions, “Is it really preferable to just opt for link earning alone?” and “Are the two really that different from each other?”
Link Building and Link Earning: A Comparison
Of course, in order to differentiate the two from each other, both would have to be defined. Link building is essentially the employment promotional strategies online to encourage other platforms to link back to you.
This is done in order to help you build an excellent backlink profile for your site that looks authentic and natural to the major search engines. Link earning, on the other hand, is a more passive approach than the former, but it requires no less effort and time invested in improving the content of your site in order to encourage other websites and relevant platforms to link back to you.
The Two are Fundamentally Similar
That being said, while the two may be different in their approach, their end result (which is to help a site gain a reputable backlink profile) is practically the same.
Taking the said brief definitions into context, it may seem like the latter is essentially harder than the former.
However, that too is an illusion that only the most naïve SEOs would fall for since gone are the days when link building was free from penalties that are just waiting around the corner.
Nowadays, websites that are able to provide the most link juice are almost always extra careful in choosing the sites that they are going to bestow with their backlink blessings.
Most of the time, they take into consideration how their present audience would react to the site that they link to. This is especially true for brands that are already on top of the myriad, vital aspects of SEO.
Any suspicious link that appears to deviate from what the site is normally known for would have significant negative impacts that would only drag the site down.
Every Good Backlink is Earned
It’s for these reasons why the two concepts of link earning and link building (however seemingly different they may be) would always be interrelated with one another.
After all, both requires the SEO to overcome equally challenging obstacles that asks nothing less than the most carefully thought out plans and strategies, which would have to be executed with great care and attention to quality.
This is why regardless of how you were able to earn a solid, authority backlink for your site, whether it’s through consistent guest posting and participation in forums or in a seemingly miraculous manner Time or a big news site suddenly linked back to you, you can certainly commend yourself for there’s no denying that you’re doing something that works.
As a parting note, it’s always important to pay close attention to backlink trends.
After all, there might even come a time when the two concepts of link building and link earning would be amalgamated as one, considering the fact that Google is ever proactive when it comes to improving its various algorithms, which have really reached the point when they are already worthy of being called advanced and sophisticated.
About the Author:
Martin Brown is the Marketing Executive of Top SEO Rankers based in New York. Top SEO Rankers evaluates and lists the top Digital Marketing firms and also gives SEO service providers a direct channel for prospective leads to find them.