Not all back links are created equal.

A 'quality' back link is one that is going to provide a lot of 'link juice'. In other words Google is going to see it as a very positive endorsement of your business and reward your ranking score accordingly.

So what elements make up a 'quality' back link ?

1. Anchor text with keywords

Firstly we have to think about the keywords you want to target.  For Essentee, it might be something like "Web design".   The anchor text for the link would preferably say something like "Good web design as described by Essentee.....". The words web design would have the link on it (ie is the anchor text).

Note: recent changes to Google's algorithm have penalised 'over optimisation'. You should mix your anchor text up in a combination of 'branded' (ie your business name) and 'keyword rich' ones.  What the ratio is up for debate, but the old adage 'variety is the spice of life' is probably worth following.

2. High Authority sites

For a back link to be a quality one it would need to come from a site with good authority. Authority is one that has high search ranking in their own right and has been around a while. A back link from Stuff.co.nz or the new Zealand herald would be nice.

A link from a high ranking site that is related to your industry would be even nicer.

For example in our case we could approach Richard MacManus, founder of ReadWriteWeb – a least he's a New Zealander.   We could write a kick-arse article and pitch it for publication to Six Revisions, Net Magazine or Smashing Magazine (all relating to web design) .

You should also leverage any relationships you have with the government or universities but government agencies are quite careful to remain neutral and don't want to be seen to endorse a particular company (at least, not without good reason).

Universities you will have to give something in return.

Any of these avenues would require establishing a relationship and building trust over time – they're not likely to link to you just because you ask. Their websites will have a purpose, and if you can help them achieve it they are going to be happy to oblige.

3. Relevancy

A link from a site on the same topic as yours is best. The search engines use on-site signals to figure out what a site is about and if they are talking about the same topic. So for us, a link from a company involved in web design or marketing will be a better than one from a hairdresser. Such a link is an indicator that we are thought leaders in our industry.  

It is probably more realistic to look at who you already know and do business with. Not only will it be more natural to talk about linking, but they are also likely to be located in the same geographical area. This is useful if your business targets a local market, as domain location is moderately important. You are more likely to be able to negotiate the placement and wording of your back link.

Again, industry bodies are useful as you are more likely to be involved and they will be relevant to your business.  Other businesses that are part of your supply chain would also be useful.

4. Do-follow

Many large sites like the NZHerald have 'no follow' links on their sites. This tells the search engines not to pass on any 'link juice' to the destination site. This prevents abuse, and in the case of media sites they can be seen to be impartial. However, even no-follow links from big brands are thought to enhance your link profile.

If you are using blog commenting as a link building tactic, many social media sites and blogs have no-follow back links because so many people abused this tactic. (Blog commenting for SEO is not a tactic we recommend).

You can still find the odd blog who are willing to give follow links, but will be moderated so your comments need to be thoughtful and add value to the conversation.

5. Trustworthy

A trusted domain is one that has high ranking, has been around for a while and is not in 'a bad neighbourhood'. This means that it is not located on the same hosting server as sites that are engaging in dodgy behaviour such as email spam.

6. On it's own

A link on a page that has hundreds of others means it is not a unique endorsement of your specific business and is going to be a general directory (or ee-gads, a link farm) of some sort. It is preferable that the link to your site is on it's own on the page, or at least only one of a few.