Building links can be among the most challenging aspects of SEO and boosting your website’s ranking. The marketer that gets it done right is the one that puts their website on the map.
Once you get around to taking link building seriously, the correct approach is strategic. It’s the only way to realize long-term benefits. When it comes to SEO, success can result when investing for the long term. However, achieving a high level of SEO success takes time, and it’s not easy.
SEO Link Building Remains Critical
Google’s algorithm is highly complex. It will get even more sophisticated over time. Google has always been about providing the best user experience possible. While there are always those who’ve managed to scam the system, their fleeting success never lasts for long. Once Google’s algorithm becomes aware of spammy tactics, its engineers and scientists make adjustments. It’s always about the user’s experience. Relevant inbound links pointing at your website are critical for SEO. Here’s how:
- Inbound links provide referral traffic.
- Backlinks can also index isolated and orphaned website pages.
- Backlinks help create value for visitors and those reading a webpage.
- Backlinks can help build and strengthen your industry relationships.
Spying on the Competition
Spying on your competitor should be part of your SEO link building strategies. There are tools like Spyfu that reveal a great deal of information. Ahrefs is a favorite of many marketers. It will benefit your company to gain as much information about the quality of links that point to a competitor’s site.
Aside from the competition, it can help your SEO efforts if you can identify broken website links on any website that’s within your field of expertise. You’ll also discover that not every link pointing to a website is worth pursuing. You’ll gain knowledge of whether a link is spam or it originates from an authoritative source.
Advanced Tactics for Building Links
You’ll find that a number of backlinks will point toward your website in a natural way. This is especially true if you focus on creating evergreen content. If you’re not producing consistent quality content, then it’s time to get on board. Investing in good, useful content provides a return for the time and effort that you invest.
Never pay anyone for links. Try to avoid blogs that represent private networks or ones owned by single individuals. Never engage purely in activities to build links. Always build links with the intent to improve the value of your existing content. Here are some tips:
- Reclaiming links is one of the most direct link building strategies. The goal is to create a link back to your site by finding mentions of your brand online. Ask the publisher to convert the mention into a link. Tools like Fresh Web Explorer can help you find those instances across the Web where people mention your brand.
- A Google Chrome extension enables you to discover broken links on any page. Contact the website owner and ask if you can provide updated content with a link back to your website.
Study the backlinks of your competitors to find out why they earned specific links to begin with. Figure it out and come up with ways to write more compelling content. Get ready to produce content that will link back to your site. - The “skyscraper” method of building links entails ranking for a preferred keyword and taking it to the next level in order to rank for a better version of your content. You can utilize infographics, images, or additional content to extend the quality of your current ranking content.
- There is also the “10x” method to consider. This is when you study the Internet and attempt to come up with good content that is 10 times better for a particular subject to get more links. The way to accomplish this against competing brands is to come up with content that’s entirely unique and relevant.
- Search for trending topics and evergreen content and turn that content into an infographic. The new word to consider in this scenario is “guestographic.”
- You could provide an entire library of information about the importance of becoming a thought leader in your field. Thought leadership requires having your finger on the pulse to the point of being able to inspire and educate industry readers.
There are a number of things you can do to become a thought leader in your field:
- Develop a personal and unique brand of communication with audiences. People will begin linking to you as their resource. This also allows them to strengthen their own content.
- Manage your own blog. It’s impossible to show expertise without providing a continual supply of relevant and thought-provoking content. Your blog is the one thing that can help establish you as a thought leader.
- Another way to boost your link building strategies is to conduct your own original research. In addition, your research can add value to your industry. Collect and share data that answers challenging industry questions. Your insights can help others to better target their own audiences.
- If you have the knowledge, or someone on your team does, you might want to consider building widgets and tools that can become an industry resource. The additional traffic and resulting backlinks pointing at your site could possibly lift it to the top of your industry for keywords that are difficult to rank for.
Another great way to start building links is to use traditional approaches like email and paid promotions to drive traffic. It’s a way to direct organic traffic and provide additional value. While some rules of link building may change yearly, inbound links to a website are still among the most important ranking signals.
Get on board and work with professionals who offer link building services. They understand digital marketing like the back of their hand. Most companies simply don’t have the time or resources to deep dive into the methods and practices that will help them drive traffic and increase conversions.
If this sounds like your company, partner with our team of SEO experts and take your online success to its next level!
