When it comes to getting your website at the top of the search engine results pages, there isn’t any silver-bullet that you can rely all your efforts on with full confidence. Yes, writing great content helps, but it’s not going to do much if your website takes too long to load or it’s not mobile-friendly. Likewise, a pristine website is not enough if your content doesn’t match search intent.
SEO elements live in a state of symbiosis, influencing, and helping each other. So, in today’s article, we are going to take a look at backlinks and we are going to talk about their role and how to get them.
Before anything, it’s important to understand that building backlinks is one of the most important Search Engine Optimisation actions to get organic traffic and to rank higher in Google and other search engines search results. When other authoritative websites link back to you, that is a strong indicator of the quality of your site. There are several ways you can get backlinks, but it’s important to remember that using black hat methods can actually hurt your rankings. This doesn’t mean that all you have left is to cross your fingers and hope that good websites will link back to you.
We will go through some of the best ways to build high-quality backlinks, including some very simple measures you can include in your SEO maintenance routine.
Why Is Backlinking So Important for SEO?
Having a good link building strategy pays off, as Google and other search engines rate websites by the value they bring to their audience. And having authoritative websites link to your site is a great endorsement.
One of the most effective ways to build links is by creating valuable content that other sites are happy to share, not by spamming or using other black hats methods. Those are not only outdated and won’t work, but can get you in a whole lot of trouble with Google.
Check What Your Competitors Are Doing
It doesn’t matter if we are talking about keyword research or link building. Knowing what your competitors are doing is paramount for your SEO strategy.
You can easily see what backlinks your competition is getting by using online tools like Monitor Backlinks. It will give you a comprehensive report about the pages that link back to websites in your industry.
Follow your main competitors and see what they publish, get inspiration for the keywords you want to include in your content, and try to figure out what they did to earn their backlinks.
Report Broken Links on Other Websites and Offer a Solution
Picture this: after half an hour spent looking for the right gift for your colleague, you’ve finally found the one on a handmade crafts blog. You click on the link and, surprise, surprise, the page doesn’t load. Understandably, you are very frustrated.
Here’s how you can turn this type of situation around. You could report the broken link to the webmaster and offer them a helping hand.
Let us explain further.
Identify websites in your niche or related to your content that have resources pages and you would like to include on the list of websites linking back to you. Check if they have any broken links and offer your own content as a source for those links. If your website doesn’t address the specific subject the broken link should redirect to, you can publish a new article or blog post (which already helps you by filling in information gaps and giving you fresh topic ideas).
Contact the webmaster with a broken link problem and propose your own content as a good quality external link. Don’t be too pushy, though. Be friendly and helpful and let them decide if they will include your content or not.
Broken link building will not work every time, as webmasters may choose not to publish your content, but it’s worth trying as this strategy might get you a few good backlinks. Just keep your communication friendly, without being pushy, and you will be fine.
Build Internal Links and Choose the Best Anchor Texts
If other methods of link building are beyond your control and depend on what other people decide, creating internal links within your own website is entirely at your discretion. Link to other posts you have written to drive traffic to them and show your readers that you have knowledge and expertise in your industry.
Make sure to choose relevant anchor texts to compel readers to click on the links. For example, since we are on this subject, we can redirect you to a helpful article about internal linking on our blog that explains this tactic in depth. As you can see, instead of turning the generic word “article” into an anchor text, we chose keywords that are relevant to your needs and this article.
Create Infographics on Relevant Topics for Your Audience
Infographics are a fantastic way of boosting your link building strategy, as they are engaging and easily shareable on social media and other channels. The topics you choose for your infographic should be informative, engaging, and easily summarised. Statistics are perfect for an infographic, and there are a lot of great ways of converting them into visuals that are easy to understand and compare.
A big part of creating an infographic is actually gathering the data that will go into it. Focus on a clear subject for your infographic and collect data that will shed light on it. After all the data is collected, it’s time to visualise it and decide how to group it, present it, and transform it into attractive, colourful graphics. If you have been postponing infographics because you are lacking the artistic skills, try to outsource this project to a graphic designer, for example. You can easily find freelancers who can bring your ideas to life, or even use a tool to build the infographic yourself.
Instead of wasting hours in Photoshop, trying to figure out why your infographic looks off, create it using specially designed tools – they enable you to translate information in a form with a high-visual impact by using templates. Your freedom to customise it will be limited, but you will get a professional-looking graphic that does its job. Make sure to promote your infographic too and encourage people to share them on social media.
Write Guest Posts on Websites Within Your Industry
Guest posting is one of the oldest methods of building backlinks and one of the most effective if we can dare to say that. However, guest posting requires more caution and a clever approach nowadays if you want to see any real results.
First, you will need to find websites that accept guest post submissions and publish content related to your industry. A great way of finding such websites is to check where your competitors get published, as you have a good chance of being accepted by the same sites.You can find the websites that might host your guest posts with a smart Google search, by checking where your competitors have been. Some SEO tools can also help with this, while also providing crucial information about each search result, like the domain rating, referring domains, and organic traffic.
Once you have a list of websites that have been publishing content from your competitors, check if there are any guidelines you should be aware of, and search for contact info they provide for submissions.Now that you know who to contact and what they need, you can make an informed, valuable proposal to them. Remember to emphasise the value that you can add to their website and submit a piece of content that is aligned to their guidelines. Also, make sure that the backlinks to your website are included in the content in a natural way.
Create Skyscraper Content and Promote It Efficiently
Skyscraper content is an inbound marketing tactic that involves finding trending subjects that do very well in search engine rankings and on social media and writing a better version of it. Brian Dean’s SEO tools list is a fabulous example of a good skyscraper post.
Start by identifying the content pieces in your niche that are already doing great in terms of backlinks, ranking, and content value. Evaluate and analyse the article or post that you could base your skyscraper post on, and identify its most valuable points and the ones you can add to.
● Write a longer post, as Google and other search engines do like a vast approach to a popular subject;
● Add an original intake, such as your own data and reports, a behind-the-scenes view on the subject, etc.
● Make the content more interesting and engaging, by using attractive infographics, pictures, interactive elements
● Add any additional information that you found lacking when reading the content you are about to improve
Once you have your final post, be sure to promote it in the right places, and let people know about your fresh take on the subject they were already interested in. Reach out to websites or authority figures in your niche, give your audience teasers and announcements that something great is coming up, and follow-through by sharing your new skyscraper content across your industry’s network.
Create Good Quality Content. All the Time
This piece of advice seems a bit redundant at first sight, right? Well, many websites we have visited seem to make compromises when it comes to the quality of their content. Creating lots of content or hiring inexperienced content writers might be good immediate solutions for a growing business, for example, but poor quality content hurts your SEO in the long run. Content marketing is not about each post you make, but all the things that you publish online, how they interconnect, and how they present your brand.
With every article that you publish, make sure that it’s relevant, accurate, written well, researched thoroughly, and optimised for search engines. Google’s algorithm will always prioritise high-quality content because its goal is to satisfy users, not site owners. If your content provides value to readers, it will get promoted by search engines. With every post that you are about to publish on your website or submit as a guest post, remember that it’s a reflection of your brand and organisation as a whole. You should aim at receiving a high score in Google’s terms of EAT: expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Getting a good domain authority score should be one of your long-term goals.
Promote Your content Efficiently
There are countless ways you can promote your content. Be creative and step outside of your comfort zone if you feel that your content is valuable, but doesn’t get the reach it deserves. Use business social media accounts and be in touch with your audience, providing answers to their problems and questions. Don’t focus solely on promoting your brand, but use the 80/20 – only 20% of your posts should directly promote your business.
Creating a solid relationship with your audience and responding to their needs in a language your readers relate to will most likely convince them to click on the content you publish.
Also, keep in touch with other website owners in your niche, present yourself and your content and show them how you can add value to their resource pages. As long as your content is original, well-written, and valuable to the readers, there is no need to directly ask for a backlink. In fact, etiquette states that the decision is theirs to make, so asking directly for a link can be perceived poorly.
Need Help Building Good Quality Backlinks?
Are you not getting enough backlinks, even though you did your best to promote your content? Are you not sure how an infographic or a skyscraper article should look like?
The digital marketing experts at Australian Internet Advertising have been in the industry for many years, and are up to date with the SEO best practices. With their help, you can promote your brand across your industry and drive others to link back to your page, improving your ranking and domain authority.
Contact us for a free proposal and start improving your backlink building strategy right away.
