The Guide Marathon #1: Link Diversity and it's importance

Hello,

So yesterday i was thinking of an idea of a "guide marathon", in which I create one guide every couple of days until I reach 50. This is my little thank you to this forum

Today I will be talking about link diversity.


First things first: What exactly is link diversity?
For those new to IM, you keep hearing about it but don't exactly know what it is. Link Diversity is essentially all the different types of backlinks a site has. Different types of links include Guest Posts, Text Links, Social Signals, Forum Links, Press Releases, comments, and Web 2.0's. There is also something called anchor text diversity, which I will get into in a future guide.


Why is link diversity important?
Well, this is a complicated and often debated question. To put it simply, your goal when doing blackhat/greyhat SEO is to make it look as REAL as possible. Real sites don't have 100 links ONLY from guest posts. They probably have some social shares, different social media profiles, and backlinks from many different mediums. If you want to avoid a pretty obvious footprint, you will have to emulate the backlink profiles of the large, authority sites.


What can I do to "diversify" my backlink profile?
There is no magic formula. The types of backlinks you need depend on the types of sites you have. For example, a blog will probably have more social shares than a static site. The general idea is just to have as many different types of quality links as possible.

Below I have added a comprehensive list of sites/mediums that can diversify your profile. Feel free to comment below if there are any other ones you know of.


Web 2.0:

https://wordpress.com
https://weebly.com
https://blogger.com
https://livejournal.com
https://tumblr.com
https://blogspot.com

These are the more popular ones, however there are hundreds of other web 2.0 sites you can utilize.


Social Signals:

https://twitter.com
https://facebook.com
https://instagram.com
https://pinterest.com
https://linkedin.com
https://plus.google.com
https://vk.com
https://reddit.com
https://flickr.com
https://stumbleupon.com
https://buzznet.com
https://nextdoor.com
https://myspace.com
https://stumbleupon.com
https://storify.com

As always, there are much more than what's included in this list. Generally speaking, the more the better


Authority Outreach:

https://blogher.com
https://huffingtonpost.com
https://huffingtonpost.co.uk
https://engadget.com
https://tech.co
https://techcrunch.com
https://medium.com
https://venturebeat.com
https://rebelmouse.com

These are sites that have very high DA, PA, TF, CF, etc. They may require some work getting on but they look amazing on your backlink profile. Do keep in mind it's not necessary, so don't be using up your entire budget on one of these links.


News Sites (Press Releases):

https://abcnews.com
https://news.google.com
https://nbcnews.com
https://foxnews.com
https://cbsnews.com
https://thehill.com
https://cnn.com
https://rueters.com
https://mic.com
https://bbc.com
https://newyorktimes.com
https://usatoday.com

Quality press releases can go a long way and get you some seriously powerful backlinks that look great and diversify your profile. I always submit a press release for all my sites at least once every 2-3 months. So far, it's working great! (Make sure you don't go cheap on the content for these. The better the content and the better the site you plan to link to, the higher chances you are of gaining a link on one of these sites.


Other Ways to diversify:

https://wikipedia.com - although wikipedia is nofollow, the authority it provides is second to none. You get a great looking backlink that can bring you REAL traffic

.edu sites - Profiles on different .edu sites are also great ways to diversify your backlink profile. That being said, make sure to avoid the spammy .edu's, especially the .edu.tw (had a terrible experience with these)

Forum Signatures/Profiles - Although often nofollow, these links can increase exposure, diversify your backlink profile, and bring you traffic.

You're the man. Thanks bro.

I also like to throw in a few other things like -
Video sharing: YouTube, vimeo(even if your videos are talking head of you reading your blog post)
Doc sharing: slideshare, issuu, 4shared(make a relevant eBook, PDF, slideshow)
Audio sharing: SoundCloud, 2shared, last.fm(heck, make the audio you just reading your blog post, call it an audio book)

Great guide though, can't wait to see others.

Nice share, should you use all bare urls when linking for diversity?

Thanks for this guide

What do you think of this - http://diggitymarketing.com/the-truth-about-link-diversity/ ?

He (in some ways) counter acts the argument stating (in some cases) "link diversity is completely unnecessary".

Personally I always include social, press releases, authority links you mentioned and citations (if local) to work alongside PBN links - it just works.

I haven't used web 2.0's for a while though and in most cases are doc sharing sites, audio sharing etc even worth the time?

Amazing stuff man.
Bookmarked!!

Great sharing...Bookmarked for future reference.

Thanks for the insane guide!

great words and nice share