Link Building — Tips and Tricks
Until the 90-ies, link building was not needed. There were search engines that ranked websites based on their content only. However, when Google came into the business, things have changed. Since then, links play a major role in the ranking of a website. Therefore, if you wish your website, page or blog rank in the top, you need to make yourself acquainted with some of the most significant link building tips.
Earlier, the principle was simple. An SEO specialist`s target was to get plenty of links, and the top ranking for the website is guaranteed. However, in 2012, rules changed significantly. Google Penguin, an update for a Google algorithm was announced. Since then, link building practices have changed forever. They have changed to such an extent that many specialists started insisting that link building is dead.
This is not the truth though. Links are still a crucial factor if you want top ranking for your website. Though now, they should comply with some requirements. We have selected the most important link building SEO tips. You will see the main ideas that are incorporated into the new rules and achieve the best optimization results:
- Do not use irrelevant links: even though you cannot avoid such links completely, try to do your best to avoid them.
- Do not post links on public networks: some of them do not advertise themselves as public. But you should understand that if a home page has a lot of outgoing links (more than 60), it is not normal. If the links are absolutely irrelevant to the network, it is also one of the red flags for you.
- Do not allow do-follow comments for your blogs: commenting on a blog is good, there is no doubt about it. But if you allow do-follow comments, you will face a problem with spammers. They like such blogs because they can comment there with links to their products/services. Google doesn’t like it.
- Don’t use footer and sidebar links: such links look like paid links. Google forbids selling and purchasing links for ranking purposes. So, this will influence negatively the ranking of your online resource.
Link Building Tips and Tricks for the Best Ranking
We have checked what you should avoid when building links. Now, let us have a look at the strategies to build high-quality links and to get to the top. Some SEO specialists ignore these methods. It happens because many experts still believe that since Google Penguin was introduced, link building is not used anymore. Other specialists do not follow these tips because they still try to use old techniques. But old strategies do not work with the new search algorithms. Hence, we recommend you to follow the best tips for link building for top ranking of your online resource.
Real Relationship Matters for Link Building
This is the most disregarded strategy even though it is one of the most efficient. The good relationship brings you:
- A good amount of links;
- Links of the top quality.
If one is in a good relationship with somebody, you aren’t forced to beg for links. They will be glad to publish your content or to mention your resources whenever it is possible. Anybody would be kind to you if you are kind to him/her.
You might want to know how to find those right people. There are several most popular ways to do so:
- Look for them on LinkedIn vs. Twitter;
- Like and share their posts;
- Comment on their posts in social and professional networks;
- Reply if they comment on your post or if they reply to your comment;
- Don’t hesitate to ask them important questions and to engage them in a dialogue.
This process is far too slow. It is its main disadvantage. But this is the case when your efforts pay off. You not only get relevant and valuable links but you can count on the same relationship for any of your new projects.
Ask Others for Links
One of the main link building tips is asking for links. Many people would believe this is intrusive. There is nothing bad in asking for a backlink on an online resource that has already links to websites like yours. It should be not necessarily a contextual link. You can get a link on any relevant page of the website.
The target is to ask people to provide a link to the needed resource without spamming. Then, most bloggers or other relevant persons do not mind doing it. Moreover, they definitely will be glad to link you if you provide valuable content on your resource.
Research Content Helps to Get Links
There are several kinds of content that are complicated to create. That’s why they are highly valued. One of such content types is research content. The most popular examples of such content are:
- E-books;
- Articles;
- Reports.
The best thing about such kind of content is that you don’t even need to ask to get links. This kind of content is highly credible. All the websites and blogs love to have links to the highest-quality content. Hence, your resource will attract a lot of links if you publish such kind of content.
However, this content should not be too technical. Many specialists still believe that the more technically the text is written, the better it is. This rule does not apply to the web. If you are writing for the web, your text should be easy-to-read. It should be engaging enough to keep your reader until the last word of the text. That’s why write in a simple language.
Case Studies Will Get You Backlinks
The best linkbuilding tips are those that help you to get valuable links without significant efforts. Publishing of case studies is one of the best strategies to get links. Initially, you need to invest some time and effort to write a case study. But in the end, it pays off.
You can get in touch with your customers, some potential customers, partners to check if they want to participate. Later, they might want to mention the case study on their own websites. It is especially useful when your case study is about a product or service. It can also help to develop a particular kind of business or useful for those who work in a particular field.
Infographics Can Help Immensely
We all know the importance of guest posts for link building. However, we know one more way to get the needed links: infographics. The main target of both guest posts and infographics is to be published on external sources to get links. However, infographics are more comfortable in this regard. Many websites publish it even without being asked for such a favor.
The problem is that some websites might publish your infographics but do not give a link to the source. Your task is in such a case to approach them and remind them to provide a link. An efficient link building advice is also to look for online resources that have infographics that look like yours. Suggest them to publish your infographics, as well.
Use List-Based Articles
List-based articles are everywhere on the web. People read them, share and comment on them most frequently. Therefore, they get so many links.
Don’t overdo with them though. Just a post with huge lists doesn’t bring you much. There are a lot of such posts: packed with lists but with no value at all. Your task is to create articles with lists that have lots of value. Make them easy to read, too. Then, people will read your articles and will not hesitate to link to them.
You might be thinking about how you can write a valuable list-based article that can be shared and linked to? These tips will assist you in making your article valuable for both people and a search engine:
- The headline should be engaging and inform what the reader will get if he/she reads your article until the end;
- The introduction should explain what your reader can expect from the article;
- Lists should be logical and clear;
- Each paragraph should be useful, bring some value;
- Use short paragraphs, it will make the article easier to read.
These articles are easier to write than any other type of article. This is their advantage. But because of this, they are also more frequently not accepted. That’s why make sure you work properly on each of your articles and create valuable content.
Provide Testimonials
If you have a look at different websites, you will see that they publish testimonials very willingly. Provide genuine testimonials to companies, businesses. They will publish them on their websites gladly. Do not limit yourself to the products or services that you have been using for quite a while. If you have just started using a product or want to try it, they might be willing to give you a free or a discounted option in exchange for a testimonial. Google likes such links. For you, they don’t cost a single penny.
Now, it is time to choose the companies that can assist you with it. To do so:
- Make an extensive list of products and services that you are applying;
- Contact the businesses and ask them if you, as their customer, can provide a testimonial;
- If you haven’t used their products yet but would like to, ask for a free sample/copy or a discounted version;
- If they reply positively, provide them with a testimonial.
Some Words to Wrap Up
Here, we haven’t listed all the possible link building strategies and methods. You can start tough with the mentioned ones. Then, you will get those needed links that work. The provided link building tips might boost your ranking, Later, if you want, you can learn more about links and link building.