The link building is the practice of creating one-way hyperlinks (also known as backlinks ) to a website with the aim of improving the visibility of the search engines.
In this post we will see what link building is , delve into the benefits of link building campaigns and give you some tips to create a successful link building strategy and get valuable backlinks .
Let’s begin!
What is link building?
Put simply, link building is the process by which other websites link to yours and is very important to your SEO strategy.
To get started with a link building strategy, you will need to create valuable content related to your business, products and services. When someone links to your valuable content, you get a backlink or link from that site to yours.
Link building exposes your brand to a much wider audience and generates your site’s domain authority, which can boost your search performance.
Why is a good link building strategy important for your business?
There are many advantages of a link building strategy.
As I said before, link building brings your content and your brand in front of a wider audience. It also helps improve your SEO strategy, as I’ll explain later.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say you run a tech company and publish a blog post about the new software you made. Through link building techniques, which I will also discuss later, a popular industry news site links to your post on your website.
Now, people who read and trust this news site see the link to your website. If they click on it, they have the opportunity to learn more about your product and brand.
People who click on that link are reporting to search engines that your site has interesting content and this can help push it up on search engine results pages. You may even get new leads and sales from the increase in traffic.
Link building is central to your SEO strategy, which brings us to the next section.
How does link building help your SEO strategy?
Link building is a crucial component of your SEO strategy.
Backlinks tell search engines that people trust your site. They act as votes of confidence that your site is worthwhile and deserves top places on search engine results pages ( SERPs). The relevance of your content is a determining factor in how your content will appear in the SERPs, but getting backlinks from reputable sites will also help your site climb the ranks.
We may not know all the ranking factors that Google uses in its algorithm, but we do know that links are one of those factors.
But not all links are created equal and this is where link equity comes into play.
What is link equity (or link juice)?
Link equity or “link juice” refers to the value that is transmitted by a site when it connects to another site.
Different sites have different values due to that measure called domain authotity .
The domain authority gives an idea of how trustworthy your site is to search engines. It’s a numeric value between 1 and 100, so the higher the number, the more trustworthy your site is.
While not necessarily used by search engines to determine your website’s position in the SERPs, the domain authority can help you figure out which sites will pass the most link juice from backlinks.
You can measure your domain authority with Moz tools or your domain rating with Ahrefs tools .
Let’s take an example of how these metrics work.
Surely you have already heard of major news websites like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press? These sites have taken years to build trust and get links to their articles. I think it is fair to say that they are leaders in the industry.
If the New York Times links to your site, it will stream far more link juice than a link from a personal blog launched last week because it has a higher domain authority.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t accept links from smaller websites. Your audience can attend smaller, niche blogs. But remember that different sites have different values from search engines when creating your link building strategy.
Let’s recap. Hence, high equity links can help increase your website ranking. This can put you above the competition in search engines, resulting in valuable traffic that can turn into leads and actual revenue for your business.
Ok, so once you’ve explained the basics of link building, how do you do link building?
5 tips for creating a successful link building strategy
1. Create content that adds value to your site and related sites
Before you start linking, you need content that motivates people to link to you.
If you’re a tech company, don’t stop at a quick 100-word explanation of your new product. Write and share an in-depth post detailing what it can do, make a video explaining its features, add photos, and build excitement.
Your content should excite people as much as you are about what you offer.
Unique and valuable content increases the likelihood that people will naturally link to your site, without you having to ask them to.
2. Research competitors’ content and backlinks
The search for competition as a link building technique is twofold.
First, we recommend that you review the topics that competitors write about online. Then, see if you can identify any gaps or areas for improvement.
Has a competitor company written about an industry development but has left out the main details of how it works?
Take this opportunity and take advantage of it. Write a new in-depth post on this new development and explain how it works. Include a video and photos to add context and make your online post stand out.
Comprehensive content creation will position you as an industry leader and help you invite natural links to your website and blog .
Next, you’ll want to review who is linking to competitor content.
Ahrefs, for example, offers a free backlink tool that allows you to monitor your competitors’ backlinks.
If someone links to a competitor’s site and you offer a better resource, chances are they can link to your site too.
3. Research sites in your industry or niche for link building opportunities
A Google search can reveal sites in your industry or niche that can link to your site.
For example, a quick Google search for “tech blog” returns a list of blogs in that niche.
Consider creating a list of relevant sites and blogs that you want to link to your website. You can also track specific disclosure articles, which we’ll talk about later.
Don’t be discouraged if large sites don’t link to you right away. As your link building strategy gains momentum, you will attract links from a variety of reputable sites in your niche.
4. Promote your content
A key component of your link building strategy is content promotion and dissemination.
Without content promotion, you might get some natural links, but disclosure is your winning ticket to link building success.
Once you’ve compiled a list of sites you want to link to you, reach out to relevant blogs, influencers, reporters, or other industry professionals. Be sure to explain why your content is valuable to their readers and invite them to share and link to your website.
You don’t have to stop there. Share your content with your audience. Use the channels you already have to put your pages in front of potential linkers.
Do you use social media? Share your recently published blog posts with your followers.
Do you have an email newsletter? Submit new content, along with your business updates.
The more people see your content, the more likely they are to read, share and link to your pages.
5. Never ever buy links!
Never, never, never. Unless you want to remove your site from Google search results, which you don’t want to do. It may seem like a cheap and quick way to create links, however, these links are often of extremely low quality.
If you buy links for your website, Google could penalize it, relegating it to the bottom of the SERPs or removing it completely.
Frequently asked questions about links, backlinks and link building
Have more questions about linking? Read this FAQ:
What are links?
Links, also called hyperlinks, are HTML objects that allow users to get to new locations or pages when users click on them.
What does a link look like?
The formula for a link is URL and anchor text.
The URL allows users to navigate to a specific page, while the anchor text is what they will actually click on.
Think of the internet as a city. The pages of the site are buildings and hyperlinks are roads that connect them.
This example shows the importance of links for browsing the web. Without them, pages would be left isolated and users and search engines would have a hard time navigating your site.
With links, users have a GPS route to get directly to where they want to go, whether it’s more information on your page or sites with the information you recommend.
Indeed, this is the difference between internal links and outbound links.
One keeps the user on your site and the other sends them to other places on the web.
What are black-hat links?
Black-hat links aim to fool Google. In other words, people come up with ways to check backlinks in an effort to rank higher in the SERPs. Control methods for creating black-hat links include:
- Buying backlinks from websites or web directories
- Alternative links with different sites (I connect you, then you connect me)
- Buying sites to start a link farm
- Creation of fake profiles to post links
- Posting of spam comments with links
While not illegal, these types of links are certainly harmful because they take away the value of backlinks, and Google has made great efforts to punish black-hat links by deleting those sites from SERPs altogether.
In other words, black-hat link building might bring short-term benefits – your site might rank on the first page for a week or two – but soon after that your site’s traffic will drop and you may even be penalized by Google .
What are natural backlinks and how are they acquired?
Natural links are the backlinks your site has earned from other sites, without any interaction or by reaching the sites and asking them to link to your content. These are the types of links that matter to your page rank .
Gaining recognition by getting natural links is perhaps the best way to build awareness for your brand. With natural links, you will appear higher in the SERPs and become famous within your online community.
Some links will earn you more recognition than others due to the amount of trust they have. These types of links are considered to be of high quality if they come from influential people in your online community.
The best technique for creating natural links is to create quality content and then promote it. Promoting your content can be as simple as:
- Publish them on your blog
- By adding a link to it on your social media page
- Send it to a site as a guest post
Even simple natural interaction within your online community can serve as a promotion. You will become known as an expert in your field and users will go to your site to find out more.
Getting customer mentions and reviews is a little more complicated, but it’s another way to build links.
The better the reviews you have for your services, the more likely people are to notice, the more they will talk about you, especially if they are satisfied with your services. They are likely to mention you in conversations outside of standard review sites.
The way to create natural links using reviews is:
- Read the reviews you have already received. What do people say? If the reviews are negative, see where you can improve your services. If the reviews are positive, find out which parts of your services users like and see how to make them better.
- Ask customers to review. After a customer purchases your service, ask them if they wouldn’t mind taking a couple of minutes to review the experience. Not all customers will provide a review, but simply requesting reviews from your customers will generate more than if you didn’t.
Similar to reviews, you can create natural links by asking friends, partners, and influencers in your community. This is just one way to start building backlinks.
The best way to create natural links is still to create content. Valuable content can by itself generate natural links. Once you are known for producing good content, people will start searching for your content and creating natural links to your web pages without you having to ask for anything.
What is the difference between internal links, inbound links and outbound links?
Internal links are a great way to guide users through the pages of your website. These types of links remain within your site, never leaving it. They will direct users to other relevant content that you provide on your site.
Internal links are great for organizing information on your site so that users can access it quickly and conveniently. It’s also a great way to guide users to information similar to what they’re already reading.
Outbound links , on the other hand, are links that go from your website to another website.
Outbound links drive people away from your site. Use them when you want to recommend additional information from informed sources.
Inbound links are the opposite of outbound links. They are links that lead to your site from someone else’s site. They are important because they act as a recommendation from another source telling a completely different audience that your information is useful and reliable.
When a site has many inbound links, Google notices this and ranks it higher in the SERPs.
When other sites link to yours, they generate inbound links, also known as backlinks.
Start getting valuable links today!
Using all five of these link building strategies will put you on a path to getting relevant and relevant links to your website and improving your rankings, helping you gain valuable traffic.
Good luck and see you next time!
