Last Updated on April 17, 2020 by
For the companies out there who’s priority is to get more people to purchase their link building software, please keep in mind that the purpose of this article is not to hurt your business. At the same time, we feel obligated to tell anyone out there that might be using software to build backlinks to their website that there are dangers associated with doing so.
Sure, there have always been and will probably always be ways to automate the link building process that is otherwise quite tedious and boring, but far too many digital marketers don’t fully understand the consequences of trying to implement this practice for their digital marketing campaign.
So why are we suggesting that anyone using backlink building software should stop now? Consider 4 reasons:
1) Using Backlink Building Software For Link Building Usually Ends In A Search Engine Penalty
One of the primary reasons people are interested in using software to automate backlink acquisition is that most digital marketers know that backlinks are still one of the most important metrics search engines, like Google, look at to determine how well a site ranks organically. With that being the case, so many SEO’s assume that getting more links is always better than having fewer links. While that is true when it’s applied to 100% relevant and authoritative links, just about every backlink software out there is not focused on relevancy or authority… instead, the priority is only increasing the number of backlinks a website has. We’re not suggesting that developers of backlinks software aren’t interested in creating a program that provides quality backlinks, however, at this time most users of these programs are not using them for that purpose.
Using this type of strategy for a link building campaign has produced positive results for many marketers doing SEO, yet in most cases that success is short lived at best. At the end of the day, you’re better off looking into trying to automate certain steps of the link acquisition process instead of the whole process, because it’s “safer” and can have a powerful impact. Focusing on using software automating things like:
– Identifying websites that link to your competitors.
– Identifying websites that link to broken URLs that should be removed, and possibly replaced with your website.
– Identifying the contact information for the websites you want to contact.
– Identifying websites that are related to your own that you can ask about adding value to their website and goals, and in return getting a backlink.
– Identifying websites that have enough authority for their website profile, that a link from them would help your site from an SEO perspective.
2) The Links Created Add Very Little, If Any, Value To Internet Users
One of the biggest problems with using link building software is that at present, most of them are unable to get a sense of how relevant a website is to your own. The reason that’s important is that the backlinks that are the most impactful, safe, and logical for you to pursue are those that are related to the theme of your website and industry. One of the best ways to determine whether or not you should want a backlink is if having a link from the referring site is going to add value to a user that is visiting the referring site.
Also, it’s important to keep in mind the types of backlinks the referring site has linking to it as well as the other websites it links to. These and so many other metrics should be considered before ever wanting a backlink from another site. This is largely what makes the link building process tedious, and at this time humans are best suited to take the reigns of this aspect of search engine optimization; not software.
3) The Low Quality / Spammy Backlinks Most Often Created By These Programs Are Usually Impossible To Remove
As mentioned and widely accepted by anyone that knows anything about SEO, bad / spammy backlinks can be the quickest way to not ranking organically in the search engines and having a penalty applied to your website. When this happens as a result of pursuing spammy backlinks using software or otherwise, more times that not it’s quite difficult or impossible to get those backlinks removed.
Of course, some digital marketers will say that you can simply do a disavow in Google to make Google no longer associate those links with your website any longer, although the links still exist on the linking website. However, why not consider avoiding links that you might need to end up disavowing and hurting your SEO strategy in the first place? It’s a thought to consider and take seriously.
Our Advice As It Relates To Link Building Software Is… If You’re Using This Type Of Software To Get Actual Links, Consider Using It To Help Speed Up The Process Of Getting Good Backlinks Instead!!
As mentioned above, there are many ways that software can be used to speed up the link acquisition process. If you’re unsure of which software to use or which aspects of link building you should automate, consider making a list of the different steps you would normally take to get backlinks and then look for a piece of software that does one or a variety of those tasks.
The point is, never forget how important the human element is when it comes to link building. At the end of the day, the search engine algorithms used for organic listings are designed in a way that makes them question the logic behind one website linking to another. If that logic and reasoning are ignored during your pursuit of backlinks for your site, it’s only going to result in more fails than wins… even if you’re using a “well known” backlink building software.
For those of you looking for recommendations of how you can use software to help with this aspect of SEO for your particular niche and/or website, leave a comment below or reach out to us and we’d be happy to provide you with a few recommendations. Nomvo!