Module 1 — Foundations: how links actually work

Before you build a single link, understand what a link is, what it does, and what it does not do.

 Checklist

-   Open your own site in a crawler or in Google Search Console and confirm every important page is reachable by following links from the homepage.
-   Pull your own backlink profile in at least one tool and write down two numbers: total links and total referring domains.
-   Divide links by referring domains. If the ratio is above about 20, find out which domain is inflating it before you trust any other number.
-   Check the top ten referring domains by link count and identify which of them are sitewide placements rather than editorial mentions.
-   Read the rel attribute on five of your existing backlinks and note whether each is followed, nofollow, sponsored, or UGC.
-   Define one commercial page you want to rank and write down the query it should rank for.
-   Search that query and list the sites that currently rank, along with the number of referring domains each has.
-   Write a single-sentence goal for your first quarter that names a number of referring domains, not a number of links.
-   Decide in advance how you will judge the campaign a failure — and what you will do if it is.

 Lessons

1.1. How links actually work — https://www.advancedlinktraining.com/course/foundations/how-links-work/
1.2. PageRank, Penguin, and what changed — https://www.advancedlinktraining.com/course/foundations/pagerank-penguin-and-what-changed/
1.3. What links actually do for rankings — https://www.advancedlinktraining.com/course/foundations/what-links-actually-do-for-rankings/
1.4. The vocabulary you need — https://www.advancedlinktraining.com/course/foundations/link-building-vocabulary/
1.5. Setting a realistic first goal — https://www.advancedlinktraining.com/course/foundations/setting-a-realistic-first-goal/

AdvancedLinkTraining.com — a resource by Hartzer.com