Building links is an important part of search engine optimization (SEO). In fact, without backlinks that point to your site, it isn’t likely that it will rank very high at all. This makes the matter of link building all the more important for success online!
In this article, we’ll discuss:
Why is Building Links so Important?
Google, the king of all kings when it comes to search engines, values links very highly. Therefore, if you want to rank well in Google, you’ll need to build quality backlinks to your website.
Google’s PageRank Algorithm was the game changer that led to the need for link building. While search engines in the past had just examined the content of a website in order to rank it, PageRank took into account backlinks (one-way hyperlinks to a website) pointing to a site in order to determine its quality. Backlinks pass power to a website and demonstrate trust, all important factors in Google’s ranking system.
Google’s algorithm determines how webpages across the internet are indexed and ranked. To keep on top of the constant changes, here are Google’s Top 10 Major Algorithm Changes You Should Know About.
Building Links – 10 Effective Techniques
Link building isn’t always easy. It can be difficult to know where to start, let alone build a quality backlink that points to your site. But, we’re here to help! Here are 10 white hat strategies you can use to help create quality links:
1. Ask
Asking never hurt anyone! Do you know someone who has a website? Ask them for a link! Reach out to other site owners too – just be sure that your content is relevant and useful to their site in order to have the best shot at obtaining a link and at it being helpful to your portfolio!
This can be one of the easiest and most straightforward ways to gather links however, you need to be sure that the website providing the link is relevant and trustworthy. Links from sources that are not will not be helpful and may actually result in penalties from search engines.
2. Guest blogging
Guest blogging is very common and can be super helpful when trying to build links. Find a relevant website and create an awesome article for them to post. Or, develop your content first and then conduct a Google search using your keywords to see which sites come up on top. Contact these sites to pitch your post! Make sure that your article is well-written, useful, high-quality and that it doesn’t solely focus on promoting your business.
A great article can have awesome results, help to build a quality backlink and can bring traffic to your site. However, a poorly written one can negatively reflect on your brand and can even get you penalized by search engines. Make sure to focus on quality and ensure that the website you are guest posting on is of high quality as well!
Guest blogging is a form of earned media that can drive traffic to your website and raise awareness for your business. It’s free, effective and part of an effective marketing strategy. Read “Why What is Earned Media? a Guide to Expanding Your Reach” for more information.
3. Quality content
By creating useful, high-quality content on your site you can help the link building process perpetuate itself! Other websites will be lining up to link back to you in the case that you provide fresh, innovative and useful information for their users.
This is one of the best strategies to focus on in a link building campaign because the results can be so positive and long-lasting. However, creating quality content can be very time consuming – and time is money. Make sure to review your resources and determine what is possible in terms of content creation so that you can focus on what will be the most successful.
4. Infographics
Not everyone likes to consume information in a written form. In fact, sometimes it’s just easier (and more fun) to see something presented visually. Visual representations of information can be eye-catching and pleasing to a wide audience. On top of that, visual content is often more shared than written and will generate long-lasting traffic for your site.
While creating infographics can be a great way to get others to share and link to your site, they can also be quite expensive to develop. In the case that you need a graphic designer to help, a standard infographic may cost around $2000.
5. Pillar content
It can be difficult to keep up with the frequency of posts required for your online audience. This is where pillar content comes in handy. Rather than worrying about creating a new article each day, create an in-depth and comprehensive article on a given topic. This will allow you to have content that you can share and breakdown in many different ways (e.g. into additional blog posts, infographics, social media posts, etc.).
This type of content is particularly useful because it attracts backlinks due to its high-quality and ability to remain topical.
Link building is an essential part of SEO. Learn more about the impact of link building and how it can improve site traffic by visiting “Link Building – How Link Building Can Better Rank Your Website.”
6. Directories
Online directories can be a great place to create backlinks to your website. Seek out quality directories, such as Google My Business, and start creating profiles with links back to your site.
Directories can be helpful in creating an awesome link portfolio and can help users to more easily find your website online – just be sure that the directories you are using are of high quality. Bonus if you can create a profile and link in a directory that is directly related to your website.
7. Social media
Not yet on the social media train? You should be! Social media is a great place to share your content and to have other people share it as well. By becoming active on social sites, you will be exposing your brand and your website to a wide audience who may, in turn, share your content or url with their audience.
Again, while sharing on social media can help to build your link profile and increase awareness and interaction rates, it is important that you are sharing quality content in order to receive quality backlinks. Failing to produce quality content always runs the risk of a negative impact in the SERPs.
8. Examine the competition
Take a look at your competitors’ backlinks. This can help you get a good idea of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to link building in your industry. It may even offer suggestions of where to create links and what sites to approach with guest blogs.
Many tools are available online that can help you learn more about your competitor’s link profiles. For example, Moz’s Link Explorer can help you determine where your competitors’ links are coming from. Just enter a competitor’s url in the search box and click “Get free link data”. Create a free account and start getting link building ideas!
9. Broken links strategy
The broken links strategy refers to a link building strategy in which you find links that are broken on relevant websites and ask the site owner to create a link to your similar content to replace it.
This strategy is great if you cannot create enough quality content all the time. Just be sure, as always, that the site you are requesting a link from is of high quality in order to avoid negative repercussions.
10. Link Roundups
What is a link roundup, you might ask? A link round up (also commonly referred to as link love) is a list that is created that showcases relevant blog posts from other quality bloggers. You can create a link roundup by coming up with a topic and creating a list of the best articles (along with a link to these articles) relating to that topic.
This is a great way to start to build a relationship with fellow bloggers, in hopes that they will return the favor and share links to your site or even share the resource you have created. Again, it is very important that you select quality websites to share in order to avoid penalties.
Key Takeaways On Building Links
Building links to enhance your link portfolio and improve your rankings in the SERPs can be a difficult task – but less so if you know some strong strategies to get you started.
Here are 10 of the best link building strategies:
- Ask for links on relevant sites
- Create a blog post for another site and ask if you can post as a guest blogger
- Create quality content that others want to share
- Make infographics
- Write pillar content
- Create links in relevant, high-quality directories
- Become active on social media and share your content on there
- Examine the competition and where their backlinks are coming from
- Ask site owners to replace broken links with a link to your relevant content instead (this is referred to as the broken links strategy)
- Create a list of the best blog posts on a given topic with links pointing back to other sites (this is known as a link roundup)
