A common piece of advice given to webmasters by Google is to create a site as if search engines did not exist. In the world of search engine optimization (SEO) this hint carries a good piece of value when it comes to link building practices. Basically, if you are soliciting links, but not providing links from your own site, you are going to look like a “link hoarder.” When you consider that search engines base part of their algorithms on the relationship between sites, hoarding links can be counterproductive.

Search engines like to index sites that they believe will be useful to the average person. These sites have certain attributes in common, such as references to other sources of information on the World Wide Web. Originally, some of the most popular sites on the Internet, like Yahoo, were basically categorized lists of web pages that were recommended by other users. Similarly, early incarnations of Google made a greater use of the DMOZ directory in its results. Even today, Wikipedia results generally show up at least once in the top 10 for a query, which indicates the value of a reference resource.

Ideally, the link profile of your site should indicate an entity that gives and receives links. The whole idea of a “web” indicates interconnected sites that reference each other. If your site receives links, but does not give any out, then it is going to resemble a dead end or a black hole. Even if your links are fairly unobtrusive, and go to informational sites (as opposed to competitor sites) you can create a more natural looking site profile as you build your link portfolio.

Lastly, it pays to avoid complex (or not so complex) interlinking to your own sites, or to “web rings” which all link to each other. In the eyes of a search engine algorithm, these relationships are easy to spot and can work against you. Your link building profile should make your site look like a great source of information that isn’t afraid to refer users to other sites for further study. As an added bonus, users tend to go back to websites that help them find what they’re looking for, and that goes right back into the directive to “build a site as if search engines did not exist.”