Link Building Risk Assessment

We all know that backlinks are enormously significant in the ranking of websites in Google’s organic search results. If you need a reminder this post from link-building guru Wiep Knol tells it like it is: Need More Proof that Links are (Still) Important?

But building links can be a risky business. Recognising and taking steps to minimise those risks should be part of any proposed linkbuilding strategy.

What is Risk Assessment?

We are all risk assessors. From the moment we get out of bed in the morning we are carrying out a whole series of risk assessments. From walking down the stairs to crossing the road we are intuitively assessing the hazards involved, the harm that we might experience, the chance that we’ll meet with a hazard and what we might do to reduce the risk. This is risk assessment.

Hazards and Risks

A hazard is anything that could cause harm. In the context of link acquisition this might be a penalty imposed by Google. To money making websites a Google penalty can be disastrous. Link-building activities that may trigger a penalty include:

• Buying Links
• Engaging in link exchange programmes
• Acquiring links too quickly
• Building an unnaturally high volume of links that all use the same anchor text.

And it’s worth remembering that Google penalties and filters can take many forms, from suppressed ranking for specific search queries to a complete ban from the Google index.

Another relevant hazard might be the harm that links from certain sources might cause to a site’s reputation.

A risk is the chance, high or low, that a website will be penalised, or suffer in some way as a result of any of the proposed link building activity.

The most important part of any risk assessment, is to decide whether a hazard is significant. For example, if a website is established and already holds some strong positions in the Google SERPs then the risk of a penalty might be considered more significant than if a site is new, currently has no rankings in the search results and is not intended to have a long life.

Five Step Link-Building Risk Assessment

Step One: What are the hazards?

Identifying the hazards associated with proposed link acquisition activities for a specific website is the first thing to do. Some backlink sources, such as directories, are not particularly hazardous. Others, like link exchange programs or buying links, present potentially significant hazards.

Step Two: What might be harmed and in what way?

There is a huge difference between the harm that might be experienced by an established money site and that which might be experienced by a brand new site. If a site already has some strong, money-making positions in the Google SERPs it’s worthwhile considering whether these will potentially be harmed by any of the proposed linkbuilding activities.

Step Three: Evaluate the risk

This is the stage at which you evaluate the likelihood that any of the proposed link acquisition techniques will result in running into the hazards and experiencing the harm identified in the previous two stages.

For example, there would not be many hazards associated with establishing links to a site from a whole load of reputable directories and there is not likely to be much, if any, harm experienced through doing so. Therefore this linkbuilding activity would be considered very low risk.

However, buying links is recognised as hazardous and could potentially be harmful. Therefore this would be considered a high risk activity. Nevertheless, in some circumstances this risk might be considered worth taking.

Step Four: Record and communicate

This is the stage at which you ensure that everyone who needs to be informed is fully aware of the hazards and risks associated with each of your proposed link building activities. If you are working on behalf of a site owner it is important that they should fully understand the link building options available and the risks associated with each.

While you may consider a certain activity to be too risky the site owner may have a different opinion. By making certain they are informed and involved before you embark on the link building work the responsibility for any harm that might be experienced is shared.

Step Five: Review the risk assessment and revise your link-building plan

You may have determined that certain link acquisition techniques involve too much risk and as a result choose not to use these at this stage. Instead you might choose to stick to safer techniques such as introducing attractive content to the website that others will naturally want to link to.

Alternatively you may have determined that your link-building plan is overly cautious and that to meet the intended objective (e.g. Top of page #1 for a specific search query by a specific date) you will need to take more risks. If the site owner is fully aware of the risks involved and the harm that may be suffered but is happy to take those risks then you are good to go.

Conclusion

Various link acquisition techniques have risk associated with them. Indentifying those risks, taking steps to minimise them and ensuring that everyone involved is adequately aware should all be part of any link acquisition strategy and planning.

Tagged as: backlinks, Link Building