SEO is vital for every brand’s digital success.
More and more people turn to the internet for answers; businesses ought to take the multitude of opportunities this offers — growth, visibility, and success. That’s where building links come in.
One should have a good understanding of what it is and how it works to fully maximize its potential. Advanced Digital Media Services is here for you. Discover the importance of link building, why you should do it, and what link building tools are perfect for you.
External SEO Link Building: What Is It?
External SEO Link Building is a process of getting hyperlinks from other websites on the internet back to your website. It allows users to navigate from one website to another with ease. When search engines crawl the web, they use the links on each of your website pages and the entire website itself.
When you browse pages on SERPs, you’ll notice that not all attempts to build links are created by SEO experts or digital marketers. Some of the instances are:
- An influencer who tried out a product and included a link to the seller’s website
- A journalist reporting a story and linking to another source
- A travel blogger who recommended a coffee shop and included a link to the company’s website
Acquiring hyperlinks that you didn’t ask or pay for is what businesses should aim for — as it is one of the precious gems of search engine optimization. Businesses should focus on building links in the long run. There are ways to make sure other websites will see you as link-worthy.
External Link Building: What Are Effective Strategies to Get Other Sites to Link to You?
1. Promotion and Content Creation
One way to attract people’s attention is by creating content that is one-of-a-kind, compelling, and of high quality. If they get the information they need, they’re likely to reference and link your content.
Of course, for other websites to find you, you need to promote, promote, promote. Once other websites know you exist, start revamping your link building campaign. (Talk about exposure, right?)
2. Ask Friends
Grapevine communication is applicable in the online world as well. If you want to get the maximum exposure on the web, ask friends to link your site, if possible. You can do this while still keeping things relevant.
Google will find links on websites from the same industry or niche more valuable compared to links found in completely random and irrelevant websites.
3. Mentions and Reviews
Another valuable link building strategy is through mentions and reviews. You can turn to influencers in your industry. They can give your products or services the exposure they deserve by promoting them on their social media accounts and personal websites.
Building External Links: Why Is It Important in SEO?
During the not-so-ancient times of the internet, Alta Vista and Yahoo! were the leading players. Google’s PageRank algorithm, however, changed the landscape of search engines and the Internet as a whole. Of course, analyzing the content is a given, but Google also looked at how many others have linked to a particular page.
Over the years, quality backlinks have remained one of Google’s signals in determining the quality of a webpage. Aside from the quality of the links, Google also focuses on the quantity. The more websites link to your pages, the better it is for your ranking for your targeted keywords.
SEO link building is essential in increasing your website’s authority and driving traffic. Even with the ever-changing algorithms of Google, quality backlinks remain important. Google sees external linking as a sign that your website is an excellent source for quality information. It helps search engines ascertain which websites should rank for every keyword. Websites with good quality backlinks tend to rank higher compared to other websites with fewer or no backlinks.
Internal SEO Link Building: What Is It?
As the word “internal” suggests, internal links are links that will bring a user to another page in the same domain. They are, of course, as important as external links.
If you want an easy start to your journey in building links, look into your internal linking. This is an effective way to improve your website’s rankings.
Internal Link Building: What Are the Best Ways to Do It?
1. Link to Important Pages
When you link a page from your website to another, the page earns link authority.
Although internal links are not as powerful as external links, they still impact your website’s ranking. The right strategy in building internal links is to link to the important pages on your site.
2. Utilize Keyword-Rich Anchor Texts
Anchor texts help users, and Google understands what a page you’re linking to is about. Although there’s nothing wrong with using the same anchor texts, you don’t want your pages to look spammy. Applying variations in your anchor texts will help avoid this problem.
3. Avoid Using the Same Anchor Texts for Two Different Pages
When you use the same anchor texts for two different pages, Google’s algorithm gets confused. The same anchor texts for different pages make the impression that the content on those pages are the same. To avoid this confusion, use unique, descriptive anchor texts for every page on your site.
Building Internal Links: Why Is It Important in SEO?
As you know, quality links will bring you success in the digital world. Incorporating internal links in your website’s content will greatly help search engines like Google to find, index, and understand all the pages in your website.
If you know how to use them in a strategic manner, important pages on your site will receive page authority. Simply put, internal SEO link building is as important as building external links. It is one of the keys to improving a website’s ranking on the SERPs.
Link Building Campaign: How to Do It?
Before you start building links, it’s essential to know you’re not starting on the wrong foot. Just like with any other aspect of search engine optimization, there’s a right way to do it that guarantees quantifiable and quality results.
If you want your business and your website to thrive in the digital world, look into natural ways to build links. Know how to “earn” links rather than utilizing black hat SEO tactics or purchasing them. These practices are a no-no as they can get your website banned from gaining a ranking on SERPs.
At the very beginning of your link building campaign, the first step is to understand that not all links are one and the same. A link from an established website will have a more significant impact on your ranking than a link from a small, almost new website.
The thing about high-quality backlinks is that they’re like finding a needle in a haystack. Keep in mind that SEO link building is non-negotiable when it comes to achieving a solid ranking in organic searches.
Link Building Campaign: How Else Can It Benefit Your Brand?
Aside from improving rankings and bringing traffic through organic searches, SEO link building has other benefits that can influence the growth of your brand. Building links isn’t an independent activity. The benefits of building links for your website go beyond the superficial changes you see.
Here are other benefits your brand can get:
1. Relationships
Link building takes time, effort, and connection. More often than not, you may need to reach out to different people running websites within the same niche you’re in. Remember that exposure is key to getting quality links — for a product, service, or content.
Although the main goal is to get links, you start building a bond or a relationship with different influencers. Over time, your brand may do them a favor or the other way around. This also gives a sense of trust or regard to all the parties involved.
2. Referral Traffic
Referral traffic is another bonus you’ll get when other websites link to yours. If the link on a website is related to yours, chances are they’re looking to make a purchase or avail of services similar to yours. If they find what they’re looking for, it will increase your business’s revenue.
As you can see, link building is not just about optimizing your website to secure a ranking on SERPs. It’s also about your target market. Users will click through the link, and they get redirected to your website. Even if they don’t make a purchase right away, your brand awareness increases.
3. Branding
With link building comes the opportunity to promote who you are. It also allows you to establish an excellent standing within your niche. The simple act of publishing high-quality content will drive your business to success.
Publishing content about essential industry information gives you the chance to become popular among other websites belonging to the same industry.
Link Building Software: What Are the Different Tools You Can Use?
Now that you know the fundamentals of link building, the next on our list is the different link building software available. These tools will make it easier for you to start your journey in building links — both internal and external.
Here are some link building tools you should know about:
1. Google Search (Search Operators)
First on our list of link building software is Google itself and its search operators. Search operators help a regular search query deliver more specific and targeted search results. It helps newbie link builders find opportunities such as:
- Guest posts
- Link roundups
- Resource pages
- Journalists
With search operators, you’ll need to run a search in a specific way — adding commands to each of your queries, so it returns specific search results.
2. SEMRush Backlink Gap Tool
Among the popular link building tools is the SEMRush Backlink Gap Tool. This tool is essential for those starting to build links. It will allow you to run a gap analysis between your link profile and your competitor’s.
Using this tool, you’ll get access to opportunities that are still untapped. Through insights from your competitors, discover websites that are linked to others in the same niche as you.
3. Google Alerts
Google Alerts is another link building software that is free of charge. It’s a powerful tool that newbies and veterans should know about. Here are some of the benefits of using Google Alerts:
- Be notified when users mention you online. This will give you the chance to reach out to them. You can collaborate or convince them to convert mentions into links.
- Find out when your competitors are also mentioned by users. Discover who mentions them and the intent behind the mention.
- Get alerts when content mentioning the main keywords you use are published. This gives you an easy way to track bloggers or journalists that write content related to your brand. Find out what topics are popular as well.
- Once you’re done setting up Google Alerts, you’ll receive everything straight to your inbox.
4. Hunter
When you have an opportunity to build links with a prospect, but you can’t find their e-mail, that’s where Hunter comes in. Hunter is one of the many link building tools that is guaranteed to make your life easier. When using Hunter, all you need to do is to type in the company name or domain name.
Hit the “find email addresses” button. From there, you’ll see the e-mails of people on the website. When you have a list, you get a gist of the general format of their e-mail — making it easier to take a guess. If you’re lucky, Hunter might be able to find the correct e-mail address.
5. Respona
Respona is an all-in-one blogger outreach platform outfitted with all of the necessary tools to set up and launch an email campaign of any kind, be it for link building, digital PR, marketing, or even sales.
The tool will be especially useful to link builders, as it was initially used to help Visme scale their link building outreach efforts, helping the website gain over 2 million organic visitors a month
6. Scrapebox
Scrapebox is useful in combination with particular Google Search Operators. This is one of the link building tools that can provide you SERP results in a matter of seconds. Save yourself some time with Scrapebox.
Say goodbye to the tedious process of manually compiling URLs. This tool will send you the results — giving you more time to reach out to your prospects. Get the results you deserve by including this tool in your campaign.
7. SEMRush Link Building Tool
This all-in-one tool is suitable for launching and managing an outreach campaign. It is designed to help
you find and get quality backlinks within your niche. It has a Prospects tab that gives you access to several opportunities. The SEMRush tool also allows its users to customize email templates — making outreach campaigns uncomplicated.
Once you get a backlink, the tool will allow you to monitor it. With this tool, always acquire the first-row seat when it comes to backlink opportunities — while tracking the progress of your efforts.
8. Google Sheets
Although Google Sheets is not really a link building software, this will come in handy for you. This will make your management tasks easier because you can use it to:
- Track your prospects list and your progress
- Record links that you earned
- Analyze data on SERPs to find influencers
If you are not working on your campaign alone, Google Sheets makes it easier to collaborate with your team. Anyone who has access to the sheet will be able to tap valuable information at any time. Having one place where people can access the information helps make the process efficient.
9. SEMRush Brand Monitoring Tool
There are times where other websites will mention your brand online, but there are no links that users can click. Although that’s still good exposure, it’s no match if the mention also comes with a link. This tool is an excellent opportunity to strengthen your brand’s PR efforts.
The SEMRush Brand Monitoring Tool is a link building software that makes it effortless to find mentions of your company, products, or services on the web. It also comes with a “link to website” filter so you can see which of those mentions don’t link back to your website.
Once you filter out the “missed opportunities,” it’s time to bring out your charisma and persuade the website owner to include a link to your website.
10. HARO
HARO is a tool that journalists utilize to find credible sources when they publish an article. When you sign up as a source, you will receive requests. If the request is related to your industry or expertise, send a detailed response.
Don’t forget to make your pitch why they should consider you a trusted source. As much as you want to get maximum exposure, limit your response to categories aligned with your expertise.
Advanced Digital Media Services Is Here to Help
Now that you know effective link building tools, you can now begin your journey to building quality internal and external links on your website.
As experts in search engine optimization, ADMS is here to lend our hand and expertise. Together, let’s maximize your brand’s potential in the digital world. Schedule a call with us today to know more!
