The Basics of Effective Link Building
Is your website ranking too low on Google search results? Many website owners make the common mistake of ignoring backlinks in SEO. Link building is an essential strategy if you want more organic traffic to your site, period. Here is a quick guide to everything you need to know about backlinks and link building in 2023:
What is Link Building?
Link building is a type of online marketing/SEO strategy where you try to get links to various pages on your website published on third-party websites. The links that lead visitors to your site from other websites us called a backlink, or inbound links.
Here is how link-building works in practice:
1. Create compelling content in your chosen niche and publish it on your website.
2. Identify blogs, websites, and influencers who can potentially link to your content.
3. Reach out to these sites and explore opportunities for adding backlinks.
4. Convince them to add your backlinks, maybe through partnerships/collaborations.
5. Monitor the flow of traffic to your site from backlinks.
6. Identify things you can improve and make relevant changes.
When many websites add your backlinks, it is a bit like having many people vouch for your brand. Link building is an essential strategy if you want to improve your site SERP results on Google. If you don’t have any backlinks, your site will suffer from poor visibility to search engine bots.
Backlink Types and Why They Matter
There are major differences based on the origin site, the quality of links, and the nature of the linking process. Some of the most common backlink types include links posted on authority websites/blogs, social media platforms, review sites, webinars, and even comment posts.
You can create effective backlinks using a diverse array of linking-building tools available online. However, exercise extreme caution when choosing a source for your backlinks. Having fewer backlinks from high-authority sources is better than having dozens of links from obscure websites.
Popular (and Effective) Link-Building Methods
Adopting a multi-prong approach can help improve the odds of success in your link-building strategies. For maximum visibility on search pages, the following methods are recommended:
· Guest Posts — Creating a high-quality post and getting it published on other websites or blogs in your niche.
· Broken Links — Offering your content links as a replacement for broken links on other websites and blogs.
· Resource Pages — Finding websites that have resource pages relevant to your niche and convincing the site owners to add links to your web content.
· Influencer Outreach — Collaborating with social media influencers or industry leaders in your chosen niche to share content and backlinks.
Success in link-building hinges on your ability to identify and build genuine relationships with other content creators and publishers in your niche. Avoid taking shortcuts as they generally involve spammy tactics that harm your website in the long run. To learn more about the dos and don’ts and SEO best practices related to backlinks, check out our in-depth link-building guide.