Link building is a crucial aspect of search engine optimization (SEO) as it helps search engines understand authority and credibility. When reputable websites, i.e. websites with strong SEO rankings, link to your content, it signals to search engines that your site is credible and offers value to users. This can be further pronounced when your website receives backlinks from authoritative sources within your specific industry or niche. Outperforming competitors in link building can give your website a competitive edge and contribute to higher rankings. While it may be tempting to pursue a large number of backlinks, it's essential to prioritize quality over quantity. For this article, we will review some best practices to support your business increasing its backlink quota.
Create and Promote High-Quality, Shareable Content
One of the most effective ways to earn backlinks is by creating high-quality, helpful content that others want to link to. Content that educates, entertains, or solves problems has a greater chance of attracting natural backlinks.
Google's Search Quality Rater offers guidance on how the search engine assesses the expertise of content creators. The acronym “E-E-A-T” portrays the key components of the assessment, standing for the pillars of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google places high importance on first-hand or real-life experience regarding the subject matter of a webpage so leverage your own experiences, learnings, or data, to augment the subjectivity of the topic.
Leverage Social Media to Connect with More Backlink Opportunities
Leveraging social media platforms can amplify your link building efforts by engaging further with your own audience or finding opportunities to foster new relationships that may lead to more backlinks to your website.
Build relationships with other website owners, bloggers, and influencers by commenting on their blogs or posts or share their content. By establishing rapport, you increase the likelihood that they will link to your website in the future. You can also actively participate in relevant online communities and forums to establish your presence and acquire natural backlinks.
Utilize Guest Posting as an Outreach Strategy for Link Acquisition
Guest posting involves writing articles for other websites within your niche in exchange for a backlink. Look for reputable websites that accept guest posts and ensure that your content aligns with their audience and guidelines. Additionally, reach out to bloggers, influencers, or industry experts who may be interested in featuring your content or linking to your website.
Conduct Competitor Research
Analyzing your competitors' backlink profiles can provide valuable insights into successful link building strategies within your industry. Tools like SEMrush can help identify the websites linking to your competitors and offer opportunities for outreach. You may be able to offer newer findings or more comprehensive content related to some key backlinks your competitors have.
Audit Other Websites' Broken Links
Identify broken links on relevant websites and offer your content as a replacement. This tactic not only helps the website owner by fixing broken links but also provides you with an opportunity to gain a new backlink.
Regularly Audit & Update your Existing Content
Regularly monitor your backlink profile using tools like Google Search Console or SEMrush to identify any spammy or low-quality links pointing to your website. These links can harm your SEO efforts so it is critical to disavow them using Google's Disavow Tool.
On your own website, ensure to implement a robust internal linking strategy to create a hierarchical structure within your website. Internal links help distribute link equity, improve user navigation, and signal the importance of specific pages to search engines. Learn all about internal links here. Furthermore, diversify your anchor text to avoid over-optimization and to create a more natural link profile.
By following these best practices, including focusing on quality over quantity, creating valuable content, conducting competitor research, and building relationships within your industry, you can improve your website's visibility, authority, and rankings on SERPs.
