A Link Building Strategies Guide

It is significantly important to build links in the world of Internet marketing. The reason is simple, Google considers links as an important factor in its ranking algorithm.

Thus, a certain amount of effort must be aimed at earning links if you want to see your website rank well.

Consequently, link-building as a strategy has always been a hot topic for discussion in the SEO community. You might hear numerous ideas on how to build links. Perhaps, you know a few solid strategies that you implement yourself on a daily basis. But why limit yourself to one or two strategies?

I am sure you are familiar with the basics of link-building so, I won’t bore you with over churned information that you can find anywhere on the web, instead my purpose is to introduce you to 20 awesome link-building strategies that you can implement today to improve your search engine rankings. Read on to find out what these strategies are,

Let’s start!

Sidenote: if you are interested in how to do keyword research in 2017, you should check out this comprehensive guide.

1. Broken Link-Building

When I first heard about this strategy I was curious about the name “Broken” link-building. It’s a great name as it’s exactly what it says, so what does it mean?

Source

Firstly, let’s presume you stumbled upon a website with links to any useful resources. Due to various reasons, these links have disappeared, they are no longer available or the sites that are linking to have been abandoned. It’s great finding a “broken” link, it means an opportunity to present your link in its place. If you have a valuable piece of content you should reach out via email or social media and offer yours as a replacement. You could reverse engineer this strategy and find the “broken” link first, then create your valuable piece of content to fit.

A website’s owner will appreciate that you’ve helped with identifying this “error” and as a reward, he or she might accept the link you’re offering instead.

This is the essence of the broken link-building strategy.

2. Link Bait

The name of this strategy speaks for itself. In contrast to other strategies, this one is focused on creating content that will attract links, thanks to their quality and wealth of information. This strategy reflects white hat link-building.
So, for those who prefer more “trashy” ways to build links this strategy is definitely not for you.

Source

You should remember that you won’t get links without proper promotional work. This strategy requires you to create engageable content, then work out a promotional strategy to reach out. If your content is exceptional it will gain links.

The Linkbait method requires time and a fair amount of effort to gain popularity your niche community

3. Link Reclamation

I can say this strategy involves 3 constituent elements in itself. You may notice this strategy echoes itself within the broken link-building method.

Source

So, what are 3 elements am I talking about?

The first one is identifying your brand mentions, which have no links back to your resource. In other words, someone who is familiar with the service you offer (or even use it) mentioned your brand in a particular article but decided to avoid including a link to the source.

Following the first element of this strategy, you should get in touch with the person who has mentioned your brand and ask them politely to consider adding a link. 9 times out of 10 this will work.

The second element is a notification about a copyright infringement. For instance, you’ve noticed that someone used your authorised material. It could be images, photos or, even, expressions. Normally, you could notify the person who violates the terms of use and ask to remove the material. But not in this case. You can ask to point out the source. As the result, this “scammer” will have two ways to resolve the issue – to remove the material or to add a link.

And the third element I’ve already talked about is to find and fix broken links. I’ve already covered this strategy so let’s move on.

4. Ego Bait

The core principle of this strategy is to build mutually beneficial relationships. Elementary psychology! However, this is not as easy as a pie when we’re talking about marketers. Especially, experts. But the link from these professionals is so desirable, isn’t it?

Source

So how do I go about getting noticed in an expert field? I will reveal this method below;

Expert roundup. Note: if you are a newbie and you’ve just entered into the world of Internet Marketing, you won’t get any results, nobody knows you. But if you have some experience and it’s possible to find a thing or two about you on the web, you do have a chance. Simply reach out to the expert and ask to share his or her thoughts on your topic. Mention the expert’s ideas in your blog post, making a reference to their website, you can count on the same in return. I am not talking about including you in a roundup but instead linking back to some of your content or a website.

Top 10 list. Create a list of Top 10 influencers in your niche linking to the person you want to get a backlink from. Then reach out to this expert presenting them with your post.

This works for any niche and any guru of that niche will be pleased to see themselves part of others thoughts. This should help to convince them to give you a backlink.

Interview. Here you must have some “weight” in your industry or just be very lucky. If you manage to get an interview, you’ll get a link (100% guaranteed). The best way to get noticed is to provide something unique.

5. Guest Blogging

It’s one of the most “traditional” ways to earn links. Guest blogging or posting is a white hat strategy if done correctly. It’s best to write the link into the content, this method is called “Contextual backlinking” It needs to read naturally within the content. Google will pay more attention to this way of backlinking rather than a link at the end of the article. “guest blogging” is the number one link-building strategy in the market and is extremely powerful if implemented right.

Source

Writing an exceptional post is just the beginning, you will also need to promote the hell out of it! There are loads of informational resources on outreach (thinking another blog post here!) that will help you push your article in front of the right people at the right times.

6. Newsjacking

We will start by giving you a definition to the term “newsjacking”. Newsjacking is the process of injecting your own ideas into a breaking news story. It could be an “injection” of the product or service you provide.

Source

Newsjacking can bring you some quick, surprisingly great links from authoritative websites. Timing is of the essence when using this.

7. Infographics

The idea of infographics is to easily present information in a more convenient visual way. No need for long-form content. Just a visual element that contains everything your consumers need.

Source

Infographics still work in all industries if done correctly. Again this method is saturated and you will need to produce something amazing to gain links. Publishing on infographic directories and places like Pinterest will help push your graphics o there.

8. Interviews

Slightly different to the “ego bait” strategy. this involves direct interviewing with an expert and a roundup. This strategy involves podcasts and webinars. The formats are different but the purpose is still the same. Grow your brand visibility and get links.

Source

Again make sure you already have some credibility in your niche. Otherwise, the marketing “beasts” won’t give you a chance.

9. Content Repurposing

Re-think how you can improve your content. If you wrote a post, create an infographic on this topic. If you published an eBook, shoot a video course on it. The reason why it’s worth doing this is, every time you re-purpose your content, you give a new life to it and on the flipside, Google loves content that gets updated regularly.

Source

Here are ways of repurposing your content:

• eBook
• Infographic
• Video
• Slideshare presentation
• Audio format (podcast)

10. Content Syndication

In a nutshell, content syndication is when you publish your own content on 3rd party sites, typically as snippets, thumbnails, links, and articles.

Source

Content syndication is great for link-building if you know how to do it properly. The formula to this strategy is simple. Create quality content → find a quality website → pitch your article.

To be sure your syndication strategy will work, you will need to customise the title and introduction section for each website.

11. Directory Submissions

Directory submissions used to hold their weight in Googles, these days they still play a part in the ranking factors and shouldn’t be looked over as a link building strategy. Make sure you find directories with a good trust score.

Source

But, please, don’t rush into adding submissions, it’s significantly important to choose the right directory. You should pay attention to the following criteria:

• Directory’s age (the older – the better)
• Backlink profile of the directory (make sure it has no spammy links)
• Websites’ the quality of other sites in the directory
• Google’s cache (make sure it’s cached by Google)
• A proper review (it’s important to verify that all links that are added to the directory have been reviewed by a human)

12. “Image” link-building

I like bright and crisp images, how about you? I am sure you do too. Content is dull and hard to read without images thus, it’s an awesome idea to use images as a link-building strategy. Why not?

Source

There are a few ways to build links with images;

• Memes. If you are fond of the funny stuff, apply it to your content, you could create memes that go in line with your niche.
• Charts. Charts have always been in favor. A great way to present information.
• Quote images. Use quotes from famous representatives in your niche and add them to a visual element
• Pinnable images. Believe or not, lots of marketers love linking to pinnable images. Make sure they are the correct sizes.

13. Local Citations

Local citations are mentions of your brand including address and contact details.

Source

Focus on business directories, there are paid and free versions. Google tends to trust business directories more than other types. Be sure to check out their weight in Google before filling out your information.

There is an opinion in the SEO community that these types of mentions (without a link) can be considered as an “inferred link”. This could help with rankings.

14. Press Release Distribution

Press release distribution is part of a PR tactic, it also brings a link-building opportunity. To make this method work you need, your content to be interesting to your community. Or create some newsworthy material. Make sure the content is of the highest quality and is written from a third party perspective.

You then need to find a channel for further distribution of your press release.

Source

There is no need to use anchor text links. Instead, rely on branded type links.

When your press release goes live, you will see a kind of chain reaction which in turn provides you with links.

15. Niche Forums Contributions

If you’re a professional marketer or in fact, this works with any niche, you must take part in conversations in niche related forums. There you will be able to interact with other professionals from your field and meet potential new customers. Some forums have “dofollow” links but I think Google pays attention to “nofollow” links too.

Source

This link-building strategy brings you benefits without having to do the “big” steps. Stay on topic, share your experience, engage in discussions. Besides building links, you will build trust in a community that is invaluable.

16. Blog Commenting

Perhaps this strategy is the easiest way to gain links. It’s not about mass commenting it’s about being selective. Pick a few blogs and be a regular commentator there. Google appreciates such activity.

Source

A blog commenting strategy resonates with niche forum contributions and it is considered as a single strategy, the only difference being, commenting on forums and commenting on blogs, but having the same benefits.

Most forums and blogs have rules. Normally you can only get away with posting a direct link in your comments by adding real value to the reader.

17. “Question-Answer” Platforms

I bet your first thoughts were “Quora and Yahoo” and you’re of course right! Quora permits adding “nofollow” links. Which means you won’t get any “link juice” but it’s a wonderful way to build a nice backlink portfolio and gain brand trust.

Source

18. Partaking In Niche Community Websites

Do you share your published content on such resources as Growthhackers, Reddit or Inbound.org? If you don’t, you should. These community websites serve to introduce the freshest content in a particular niche.

Source

The trick here is, if your publication gets decent numbers of upvotes, the link to the source becomes a “dofollow” type. Cool right?

I highly encourage you to share the links to your publications throughout these platforms straight after they go live. It makes sense in terms of crystal-clear link-building.

19. Sponsored Content

Sponsored content is a widely used practice in the world of Internet marketing. Many bloggers show their interest in writing about your brand for some benefits in return. It could be a payment, a free account for using your service, or anything else.

Source

Why could it be considered as a link-building strategy?

Because the person who wants to write about your service can put this content on a particular website linking back to your resource. In other words, you buy links on mutually agreed conditions.

Nevertheless, there is one “hold up” here. Google states that sponsored content must contain “nofollow” links. It’s up to you whether you follow this Google warning or not.

20. Sponsorship

Link-building via sponsorship has a more “legal” effect in contrast to “sponsored content”. It could be named “charity”. Don’t get me wrong if you thought this kind of link-building comes from a pure heart then you’re wrong, it costs money to do. However, these paid links stand safely in terms of Google’s link building requirements.

Source

Furthermore, you can try to build business relationships with a charity web resource and offer your service in exchange for publishing your content on their blog (of course, putting in a link).

Conclusion

Definitely, link-building is not an easy process. It demands creativity, efforts and a considerable amount of time.

The chances that you succeed in your link-building campaign are very low if you are a follower of a single strategy.

But being armed with these 20 strategies and carefully executing them one by one, your link-building progression will get off the ground in no time and you should expect to see some good results.

If you have any input to these strategies, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

And don’t forget to share these strategies on your social media accounts to help others. 🙂

Are you looking for SEO in Norfolk or SEO Services? If so please contact us for more information.