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Gain Links Or Make Friends – Which is Better Online?

There’s much to be said about the respective values of social
media and SEO, both as individual entities and a collective. A
cornerstone of search engine optimization is linking, while
social media is all about being, well, sociable. But which is
better today?

That’s very much a question that’s open to debate, depending
on who you ask, you could expect to hear a whole range of
answers. Networking has become ingrained in the Internet
marketer’s psyche, building relationships while interacting
with your fellow professionals and consumers. But can it really
compete with building an impressive linking infrastructure when
it comes to marketing your website online?

Let’s start with the positives…

Both techniques work in very different ways. You build links by
making requests, payments (only to the right people -
directories and the sort) and creating content that causes a
stir. Networking can of course help this process. When you get
noticed by more people, they may be inclined to link to you;
there’s no guarantee of course, but social media is a way of
raising a profile and showing off your expertise to the world -
prime link bait conditions.

There are easy ways to get links and hard ways. Even if you
create a fantastic blog, a great new piece of shareware or a
stunning design, there’s no guarantee that people will find
you. Quality links are often those that happen organically, the
kind of thing that you can’t force. Article submission and
press releases will guarantee at least one (sometimes more) link
back to your site; while the every little bit helps strategy is
a good one, that link can take time to gain and time is precious,
particularly when the outcome doesn’t quite justify the means.

Of course the main reason most people create an article or
release, at least in an SEO capacity, is to get it picked up and
syndicated across a number of sites. The dream ticket is a major
news agency picking up a story on their newswire and sending it
global; this, of course, is extremely rare. For this to happen,
it needs to be relevant, it needs to be interesting and it needs
to offer something new. Regurgitating the same stuff over and
over again may save time, but that could well prove to be a
false economy.

But once again we’re thrust back into the realms of Web 2.0. If
you want to get people talking about your content, you may first
need to start shouting about it. Herein lies the weakness though
of social media.

…Now for the negatives

There is still a cloud of mysticism that hangs over the social
side of the Internet. Just how effective is it? If you have the
time to dedicate to interact with the wider community day in day
out, then the benefits can’t be argued. Normal people have
become celebrities, while the celebrities themselves have been
out there growing legions of new fans. All very positive. But
what is the value of a follower or a friend? Commenting on
blogs, reciprocating tweets and conversing offers a fantastic
community spirit; allowing users from all around the world to
get involved in a continuous conversation.

What all this won’t do, necessarily, is improve your site and
its strength. You might get traffic, in fact you will almost
certainly get traffic, but if this comes from the same basic
group of people, none of whom have the slightest interest
in using your business or buying your products, is it really
worth the investment of time? Friends and followers aren’t just
an ego trip; it shows a level of influence and provides a wider
sphere of influence. A strong linking strategy though goes
further.

Every link you earn will join a wider group of inbound pointers.
Google likes websites that people like pointing to. Therefore,
Google likes nothing more than a site with links going to all
pages, coming from a variety of sources and in a natural
fashion. While there are dangerous links out there, toxic ones
that will cause more damage than good, these can be avoided and
banished if need be.

Whether it’s on a directory, bolted onto an article or has come
from a respected source organically, the power of the link is
hard to question. Aside from a permanent new gateway for
targeted traffic to find you, it adds vital strength to your
website’s overall profile. PageRank maybe all but defunct, but
that doesn’t mean that links are treading the same path.

We would never discourage people from using social media; it has
fantastic potential and is evolving all the time. But if website
promotion and search engine marketing is what you’re looking to
do, the tried and trusted link may well prove a more
constructive use of your time. It maybe a quieter way of going
about things, anti-social even, but links get you seen on search
engines and search engines get you seen by consumers.

Your online profile may ebb and flow, your popularity wane, but
when you build a strong link profile you create stability and
open the door to continued development. They are the foundation
to any successful site; so while it’s always nice to have
flighty friends, the stability and long-term benefit of a link
is still very much the method of choice for most.