Link Building for Google.co.za Guide - Part 1

I think I've been working in this industry for too long. When I first started reading BLOGS and doing my research on SEO and how to best optimise your site for Google (in fact my very first search terms was something on the lines of "how to get website visitors to my blogger blog) I read an article that said something on the lines of .... "you know you've been working in SEO for too long when Google updates have made a full 360 degree turn and come back to the point that you started learning about SEO..."

WELL, I'm kinda sad, but happy to say that I think I'm there.

Link Building circle of life

1. Always have a well balanced link strategy (according to every guy who does whitehat seo), this way you'll never have a problem
2. 2008, Competition heats up, people start sharing links with each other (reciprocal links become the thing)
3. 2009, reciprocal links no longer play a big role (Google update)
4. 2009, everyone starts building links using BLOG comments, WORDPRESS and BLOGGER become the biggest sites on the web because of this
6. Directories the biggest thing since sliced cheese.
7. Google slaps directories accepting money from submissions. Probably slapped all directories.
8. 2010 Wordpress and Blogger add "nofollows" to their BLOG comments
9. Social bookmark links, FREE one way links, FREE and easy!!!
10. Google stops relying so heavily on these links unless they actually have a bit of weight behind them
11. Panic stations nobody knows where to get links, so they start paying for them. Indian companies offering free links
12. In fact these companies get so clever they start getting people to pay for subscriptions and you can get as many one way links as you like. FOR FREE. See Build my rank closes it's doors.
13. CIRCLE OF LIFE - if only we had stuck to the well balanced link building strategy, none of these would have affected us and we'd be ok.

Google over the couple of months have released more updates to their search algorithms than God has sheep and it's about time that the experts, especially in South Africa start sharing this information with those out there who are starting off with their first BLOG, website, whatever it is you're trying to do in an attempt to gain traffic for your website.

I am going to skip all the boring juicy bits about, meta data and on-page optimisation, I'll go back to that at some point but let's be honest folks.... RANKING is alot about links. The problem is if you follow the trends and reply to every link builder from New Delhi that says he can get you links for $15 a pop, you're going to end up regretting it at some point..... WELL, this is not to say that these links don't work, but there's a very methodical process to link building that you should follow.

A very famous and well known "link Jesus" actually follows a process of link building. A process that works DARN well or he wouldn't be the guest speaker at every conference on link building.

What's my current issue

I'm pissed off that's it's taken Google so long to figure out who the hell is buying shit quality links and who is not. It's pathetic and it should not be allowed. I do alot of work in the insurance industry and I can tell you now that sites like Carinsurance.co.za should not be ranking 1st for "car insurance". Cheapcarinsurance.co.za should not be ranking 5th for car insurance and so on. Google team, if you want a list let me know...

So in an attempt to share some of my knowledge and input I would like to point out what I believe is a good process or starting point for link building...

This is the end of part 1... stay tuned for more!

Part two...

Starting Your Link Building Process...

Google Ranking Fluctuations

Not sure if anyone else is noticing this but the rankings in Google for some highly competitive keywords are changing on a daily basis and I'm not sure why...

I know that Google Panda and the new updates were meant to bring more relevant data to Google and users searching but I've noticed some big keywords moving from positions: 14th to 6th within 6 days of each other and then moving back again.

Other things I've noticed as well is that Google maps is popping in and out of the South African listings. There is absolutely no stability in the Google.co.za rankings nor their search results and to be honest is freaking annoying.

Anybody got some insights here?