Completing all other aspects of your website’s technical SEO but still not getting traffic? Link building might be that missing puzzle piece.
The late 1990s marked the introduction of links as a search ranking component, which simultaneously facilitated Google’s rise in the search engine industry. Google’s competitors struggled to provide relevant and useful search results because, unlike Google, they did not incorporate links into their algorithms.
Search engines do not limit their crawling to just web page content when indexing a site. They also pay attention to the external backlink metrics. Looking at this guide will give you a better understanding of the SEO strategy discussed above:
What is Link Building
Link building is the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. Search engines perceive backlinks as affirmative votes suggesting that your site holds significance. The objective is to boost the standing of your website and gain traffic through organic searches on search engines.
Here’s what backlinks can do for your website:
- Ensure better search engine optimization
- More organic traffic
- Enhanced credibility
- Broader audience reach
- Better visibility
- Connection building and growth opportunities
How to Gain Backlinks
Now that you know link building is important, let’s explore some ways you can gain backlinks.
Create Link-worthy Content
Investing time in crafting high-quality content for your site can earn you backlinks and improve your standing online. Content that has value should be easy to share. Start with thorough research and keyword analysis to discover valuable topics that can be your content focus.
SEO professionals encourage offering specialized content such as deep insights and how-to guides for a specific industry to attract backlinks from bloggers and other website owners. Depending on your niche, adding case studies and personal anecdotes can enhance relatability.
SEO experts encourage adding visuals to improve readability, including charts, relevant images, and even videos. Strive for originality by avoiding AI and plagiarism tools so your text is clear and concise. Implementing all these strategies will make your content valuable enough to earn free backlinks.
Publish Skyscraper Content
You can also create skyscraper content by locating top ranking articles, and making an even better version of it. For any article to be written, there should be a detailed discussion of every conceivable angle on the issue. Detailed articles keep readers engaged and are enticing enough for other bloggers to want to link to you.
Such content also has better chances of getting noticed by search engines, too. First, you need to promote your content in some way after creating it. This is called the Skyscraper Technique. It consists of contacting pages that link to the original articles and suggesting your article instead.
Avail Guest Posting Opportunities
Guest blogging remains one of the most effective ways to do link building. A lot of websites maintain a “write for us” or guest contributor section. Contact such websites and ask what type of content you should provide. The blog will publish your article, and you normally can use a backlink to your site in the text.
Make sure that website domain has a high Domain Authority (DA) which shows the probability of the website doing well in search engine rankings. Don’t do guest blogging en masse just for the backlink as this will be flagged as spam by search engines.
Finding relevant websites, creating content, and communicating with publishers is an exhausting process. Consider working with a top link outreach company that will take care of everything. Guest blogging is a long-term SEO strategy, and working with an outreach company will ensure the process runs smoothly in the background, allowing you to focus on more pressing matters of your business.
Mend Broken Backlinks
Every web page includes specific pages that are not functional. Broken backlinks are a type of link that does not work and sometimes may be functional due to a variety of reasons like the source website removing the links or links having incorrect URLs. Regardless of the reasons, these broken backlinks may be integrated into your link building strategy.
Restoring broken backlinks entails finding broken backlinks through automated tools and searches, contacting the website owner, and proposing your content as a substitute which gives everyone a win solution. It is beneficial for both you and the website owner.
Use Infographics
As well as photographs, images, graphs, and charts create infographics that simplify intricate information into engaging visuals that can easily capture a user’s attention. To get attention, strive to design precise infographics that are visually captivating.
Connect with influencers and bloggers that have covered the same subjects and propose your infographics for them to share. In return, they will give you backlinks.
What Makes a Good Link?
Various categories of backlinks influence the rating of your webpage differently. Nonetheless, there are five criteria that determine the quality of an SEO backlink:
Authority
Receiving a backlink from Forbes and receiving a backlink from your friend’s home improvement website are not equal. Forbes holds great authority in the search engine ranking which means their backlink can grant you greater exposure. This is how authority determines the quality of a backlink.
Relevance
For someone running a tech blog, having links to other websites and pages related to the topic will hold more value from Google compared to a link from a fitness website. If you’re taking up guest posting opportunities, relevance matters even more.
Anchor Text
Anchor text refers to a clickable piece of text that serves as a hyperlink to other pages. Search engines such as Google use anchor text to get the general information of a page. Never attempt to create an anchor text that is too word-compressed. Use simple and organic anchor texts instead. Google might penalize you for manipulative anchor texts.
Placement
The placement of the target link is another factor that affects the authority of the page. Readers are more likely to click an anchor text placed at the beginning or middle of the content.
Destination
In link building, there are three possible destinations where you can point the readers. This includes:
- Your homepage
- Your linkable assets
- The actual pages you need to rank well in search engines
To increase their chances of gaining a lead, most website owners prefer ranking informational pages over commercial ones to provide value to the readers. You may opt for a page to rank based on your SEO strategy.