What is Link Building?
Link building means getting more links from other websites to point to your site. Bloggers use link building to gain backlinks, improve their search rankings, and boost organic traffic.
There are two types of link building: active and passive.
Active link building is when you take steps to get other sites to link to you. This could be as simple as asking them to link to your content or through methods like link exchanges, sponsored posts, and guest blogging.
Passive link building happens when someone finds your content useful and links to it on their own. This type happens naturally, without any effort or outreach from you.
Importance of Link Building
Backlinks are a Google ranking factor. The more backlinks a site receives, the higher it is likely to appear on Google search results pages. So, bloggers often want more backlinks to improve their search rankings and traffic.
Link building is also a great way to build relationships with other bloggers. Many bloggers reach out to other bloggers as part of their link building campaign. While this may not always result in a link, it could be the beginning of a relationship that may result in future business and collaborations.
Link building also improves the exposure of the site receiving it. This is particularly important for nofollow, sponsored, and user-generated links. These links may not help with your search rankings, but they lead to brand mentions and could be considered a form of advertisement, which makes others more aware of your brand.
8 Link Building Strategies
It is crucial to understand that link building could be white hat or black hat. Black hat link building techniques violate Google Search Essentials guidelines, which could result in Google demoting or deindexing your site. So, it is best to stick with the white hat link building techniques mentioned below.
1 Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is a link building method in which you create and publish articles on other websites within your industry or niche in exchange for backlinks to your site.
Guest posting allows you to tap into the established audience of the host blog and earn valuable backlinks. It also acts as a form of brand mention, which informs potential visitors about your blog or business and enhances your credibility and authority in your field.
2 Broken Link Building
Broken link building is a link building method that involves finding broken links on other websites and requesting the site owner to replace those broken links with links to your content.
The broken link building technique benefits both parties: it provides valuable backlinks to the site receiving the link. As for the site providing the link, it helps to remove broken links from their site, thus improving the user experience for their visitors.
3 Resource Page Link Building
Resource page link building is a technique for getting your content listed on resource pages on other sites. This approach works best when your content is highly informative, authoritative, and directly relevant to the topic of the resource page.
4 Skyscraper Technique
The Skyscraper Technique is a link building method that involves creating content that is better than existing successful content and then promoting it to earn backlinks. This technique is effective because it leverages proven content while providing even greater value to readers, which makes other sites more likely to link to your content.
5 Outreach Link Building
Outreach link building involves contacting other bloggers and requesting they link to your content. This link building technique is typically conducted by sending personalized emails to other bloggers and explaining how linking to your content would benefit their site and audience.
6 Directory Submissions
Directory submission involves adding your site’s URL to relevant online directories. The process typically involves finding directories relevant to your niche, topic, industry, or location and submitting your site’s details, including its URL and a brief description.
Some directories allow you to submit for free, while others may charge a fee. However, you want to ensure the directory is high-quality and relevant to your blog.
7 Social Media Link building
Social media link building is the practice of getting your links on social media sites. This technique can be elaborate, involving processes such as adding links to your social media profiles, sharing your links on social media, encouraging visitors to share your links, and gathering reviews on your business page.
8 Press Releases
Press releases involve distributing newsworthy information about your business to journalists and media outlets. For example, you might send a press release when you launch a new product or win an industry award.
When your press release is picked up and published, it often includes a backlink to your site. To maximize the impact of press releases, it is essential to target reputable media outlets and distribution channels relevant to your industry.
These are just some of the link building techniques available. You can refer to this guide on other methods for building links to your site and content.
4 Qualities of a Good Link
All links are not equal. So, if you are trying to build backlinks to your site, then it is crucial that you understand the qualities of a good link. That way, you can focus your efforts on acquiring links that provide the most value and positively impact your site’s SEO and authority.
1 The Link is Dofollow
Dofollow links pass PageRank and link equity. Google considers them a form of endorsement, and they improve the rankings of the sites that receive them.
On the other hand, nofollow, sponsored, and user-generated links do not pass link equity or PageRank, and have little to no effect on your search rankings. However, they are a good source of brand mentions and can get others to know your site.
2 The Link Has Descriptive Anchor Texts
The anchor text should help visitors and search engines better understand the content being linked to. So, it is always a great idea to use descriptive anchor texts.
For example, if you were linking to the homepage of a site named Your Domain, you should use “Your Domain” as the anchor text instead of using some generic anchor text like “click here.”
3 The Link Originates From High-Authority Sites
Backlinks from high-authority sites are great for your rankings. These sorts of backlinks typically indicate that your content is high-quality enough to be linked to from a high-authority site.
These sites and pages also typically have higher PageRanks, which is much better for your SEO efforts. In many cases, backlinks from a few high-quality pages are often better than links from large numbers of low-authority sites.
Backlinks from high-authority sites are great for your rankings. These backlinks typically indicate that your content is high-quality and worthy of being linked from a reputable site.
Such sites and pages usually have higher PageRanks, which benefits your SEO efforts. In many cases, backlinks from a few high-quality pages are often more valuable than links from many low-authority sites.
4 The Link is Relevant to the Content
A good link must be relevant to the content it links to. Specifically, the best links come from sites in the same or a related niche. These sorts of links signal to search engines that the linked page is trustworthy and helpful, which improves the ranking of the site receiving the link.
3 Link Building Best Practices
Link building can be strenuous and time-consuming, especially for a new site. So, to get the most out of your efforts, it is essential to follow certain best practices to ensure your links deliver the desired impact on your site.
1 Stay Away From Link Schemes
Link schemes refer to any link building effort that violates Google Search Essentials guidelines. Link schemes can earn you a manual actions penalty, which could result in Google demoting your rankings or removing your content entirely from search results pages. So, it is best to stay away from them.
2 Tag Sponsored, Affiliate, and Guest Posts as Sponsored
Google requires bloggers to mark the links in sponsored, guest posts, and affiliate content as nofollow. In the case of affiliate links, Google requires bloggers to include the nofollow link, whether the link was generated manually or dynamically.
That said, this does not negate the effect of guest and sponsored posts on link building, as they remain a great way to get brand mentions and advertise your site.
3 Include a rel=canonical Attribute in Republished Posts
Some bloggers publish the same or similar content on multiple sites as part of their link building campaign. This is common with link building techniques like press releases.
In such situations, Google recommends you include a rel="canonical" attribute to these articles. This helps Google identify which version of the article you want to be considered canonical. Google also recommends adding a rel="nofollow" attribute to these articles.