Link Building Strategies

A backlink is a link from another website to your website. Google and other search engines consider backlinks as “votes.” More quality links, relevant anchor texts, and high-quality content add weight to these votes. Backlinks are also Google’s primary ranking signals. Websites that rank high on Google will almost always have robust link profiles. But how are you supposed to get quality backlinks? We have prepared the following tips to help you get started with your link building strategies.

Link building strategies may sound complicated at first. However, you will set yourself up for success once you have laid the groundwork. Here are a few link building strategies to help you.

1. Create Skyscraper Content

Skyscraper content is one that utilises popular trends and content. You will create content that follows the same theme but does it better. Begin by searching a content topic on Google and checking each result to see who links to it and what audience it targets. Read the content and determine how you can create a better piece. Aim to create five or more times better content than what you see on the results page. Remember, you will target the same audience. So, your content must be more engaging.   

Promote the content by contacting organisations, individuals, or tools mentioned in your piece. Some may check and link to your content. You can also use tools like BuzzSumo to see who is talking about the content you used as inspiration. Contact these people and let them know about your piece. Another promotional strategy is to contact influencers and get recommendations. This will lead more people to your content, which means even more links.

2. Become a Resource for Journalists

Do you have content that a certain writer may find useful? Please get in touch with them and tell them about the information. You can use tools like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and Sourcebottle to help you reach journalists. HARO and Sourcebottle are networking tools that connect bloggers with people who want backlinks.

3. Ask for Mentions

Sometimes, people write about your brand or products without linking to your website. You can ask the writer to add a link to the mentioned product. Use Google or other search engines to search for your products or brand. Look for articles that mention you and email the website owner to link to your website from the content. Ensure you make the email as personal as possible and avoid spamming the same message to everybody on your list. Also, tell the publisher the importance of giving you a link. In other words, open a conversation that hopefully leads to asking for the link.

4. Create Excellent Gated Content

Gated content prompts the reader to take action before accessing it. For instance, you may have to fill out a form before accessing an article. However, this must be highly valuable content since it must be a link magnet worth sharing. The content must be so good that people want to read it and link to it.

5. Guest Posting

Guest posting is an excellent way to earn links. However, some people have misused the strategy by sending hundreds of low-quality articles to different websites. The best thing to do when guest posting is to add your voice to other websites in a helpful and valuable way. Guest as much as possible and only post on authoritative sites within your industry. As such, you must be picky with your guest posts. Additionally, ensure that the site offers relevance and credibility to make the link worthwhile.

6. Testimonials

Testimonials are an excellent marketing strategy since they tell readers that people have tried and loved your services or products. However, you want the testimonials to give you links. So, start creating testimonials instead of soliciting them. Write a testimonial for any brand you use and say good things about it. The brand will put it on its website. The website will want to show that the testimonial comes from a real person. As such, they will link to your website to show readers that you exist. The brand will get positive word of mouth, and you will get a new backlink.