Link building is an important component of business marketing

Link building has become a lucrative industry ... it should not be that way... Linking in exchange for a reward is not what should happen.

Linking should be about giving people a genuine hint to look at online content that might interest them.

Content is what drives the Internet. Social media users generate unimaginable numbers of conversations each day. User content as it is known, is what drives Twitter.. Conversations generate more and more contributions from people who want to have a say.

Instagram is about images... some would say that it is also about 'image".. being seen.  It is about looking good and being seen to look good, which is why text or captions on Instagram are not a big feature.

Businesses should use Twitter and Instagram to generate interest in their products or services. When they do, it is important to tell as many people as possible about their text or image post.

The same rule or suggestion applies to gaining attention to new content on websites. That is a role for link building.

Link building practitioners, operators and link creators should and do provide links on a spread of websites.

What can and does happen is that dodgy link builders will pay a website that is mainly about gardening to publish a link in an article that links to content about beauty products. The link looks dodgy and it will offer no benefit to the readers of the gardening website.

For the owners of the beauty products, their brands are not being seen in the right places and their reputations suffer.

I am reminded of why some people stay in five star accommodation... not because of the facilities or the views but because that want to be seen to be at a five star resort. That same vanity goal applies to link building.

For people looking to use links for business marketing, be seen in the right places for maximum reach and avoid paying dodgy operators who, for a fee, will create a link in all the wrong places.