An effective link-building campaign requires a good investment in time, effort, and money. Moreover, it can be an overwhelming process, especially if you have just started a business. Whether you are clueless or seeking to enhance your knowledge of backlinks, you are headed on the right track. This article brings to you a collection consisting of more than 20 essential elements so you can master the art and science of link-building.
Link building in the field of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comprises the actions a business engages in to increase the number of inbound links to their webpage. The primary goal is to enhance the search engine results page rankings, resulting in higher brand awareness. In fact, links are extremely significant that the most frequently used search engine, Google, states that links are the number one ranking factor alongside engaging content.
Now that you understand the crucial role of link-building, you don’t have to go through all the blood, sweat, and tears to build an effective link-building campaign. We have it right here for you!
Essential Elements for An Effective Link Building Campaign
#1. Evaluate Your Resources
Before you commence your link-building campaign, assess your situation. Firstly, do you have an adequate budget allotted to link building? A typical link-building investment could be anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 dollars. Secondly, do you have ample time for it to be successful because it requires software, plenty of research, and content?
#2. Evaluate Link Opportunities
It’s important that your link targets involve individuals or organizations that can link to you. Identify various types of link candidates such as bloggers and trade organizations based on their capacity to link to you. Following this, work out the link candidates which is suitable for your business, always avoiding competing for business blogs. Lastly, formulate strategies to attain links, for instance, by directly reaching out to candidates or registering your website if you are a trade organization.
#3. Work with Your Existing Fortes
Recognize what is already working well for you and strategize your link-building campaigning considering that. For example, you can start with an existing list of customer email addresses. In addition, you can use a more economical approach by offering prizes, coupons, and free membership, this way, you will be more inclined towards your existing assets.
#4. Integrate Your Business Goals with Link Building
If link building has to be highly effective, then it is advisable to align it with other business goals. For instance, if one of your objectives is to market the best beauty products in your area, then you can reach out to beauty bloggers or individuals who review products for feedback on your products. So, this way, every review helps you attain a backlink and bring you closer to accomplishing your goal of marketing the top beauty products in your area.
#5. Measure Its Success
To ensure that the link building is a success, you need metrics in place to measure its effectiveness. Obtain reports on ranking improvement, social visibility, number of links/referring domains, and more such crucial aspects.
#6. Build Context
As simple as it sounds, makes sure you fully comprehend the Context of your business because this is the foundation for you to build well-established strategies.
To accomplish this, be confident in the following features of your business.
· The brand
· Products or services sold
· Target audience
· Company’s objectives
· Decision-makers of the company
· Company’s link building history
· Any existing Google penalty
· Stakeholders to work with
· Internal politics of the company
#7. Create A Marketing Strategy for Content
The content marketing strategy should be deep-rooted so when implemented, and you don’t have to waste time on specifics such as who the audience is, the purpose of writing, and so on.
For an effective strategy, you should include the following.
· Topics
· Article headlines
· Frequency of posting
· Length of articles
· Schedule of the articles
· Sources for inspiration and research
· Call to action for each article
#8. Fix the Broken Links
Find out which links are broken on your website with the aid of Site Explorer. Broken pages are important to tackle because they can result in decreased traffic, rankings, and link juice.
#9. Exercise Internal Link Building
Review all the pages on your website and ensure that each one leads to any other page with similar and relevant topics. This can be achieved by using relevant anchor text to link the pages that can offer valuable information to a user on these pages. In addition, ensure that your website is well organized into categories and that important pages are present on your home page.
#10. Transform Mentions into Links
BrandMentions is a valuable tool that is specialized in helping you track and analyze your brand mentions on the internet. When you discover mentions, simply contact the author of the article or webmaster to add a link to one of the references of your brand. Chances are they will do it, seeing that they are already attracted to your business/products.
#11. Craft Timeless Content
There are high chances for you to easily gain links from your influencers and existing customers if you create timeless content. By finding out what drives your audience, you can create timeless pieces that are bound to be shared and linked. A simple method to find topics that receive the most emotional response, devote your time on online forums such as Facebook pages and a variety of blogs to understand what type of content engages the audience.
#12. Variety Is the Key
Infographics can be easily shared and linked back to your business, so incorporate them into your content. Moreover, infographics are so powerful in expressing a subject that they can capture a reader’s attention within a few seconds. So, don’t just have written content; ensure to integrate infographics for a visual appeal and better audience engagement.
#13. Show Them ‘How- To’
In this day and age, most people are willing to seek new knowledge and develop skills, creating the perfect opportunity for you. Produce tutorials showing people ‘How-to’ do things, and the potential of great linking and social share is sky-high. To understand what topics to create tutorials on, use Google’s autocomplete feature to explore what people are searching for. Then, use this valuable information to produce ‘How-to’ videos or even guides.
#14. Create Surveys
Surveys are an effective tool to collect data from your users to better understand them and be aware of their interests. However, it doesn’t stop there! When you find surprising survey answers and publish them, it can give birth to other interesting articles. You might even be able to gain links from high authority websites directing back to your survey.
#15. Use Blog Reviews
When you write positive reviews about other great blogs and websites in your market, you are likely to gain the attention of the leading players in the industry, who will link back to you.
#16. Competitors’ Links
CognitiveSEO competitive analysis enables you to look into your competitors’ links so you will be able to find new link prospects for your website. Think about it, and if they are already linking your competitors, chances are they would also be interested in your business. Contact them and present your work, and you just received an opportunity to be mentioned.
#17. Participate in Forums/ Comment on Blogposts
Actively participating in forums or blogs relevant to your business and adding value to the discussion is a great way to showcase your knowledge, skills, ideas, and even creativity. If people enjoyed your valuable inputs during the discussion, chances are they will be drawn to your website.
#18. Build Relationships
There are numerous opportunities out there for you to expand your contact list. A great way to accomplish this is by actively participating in online communities, forums, blogs, and social groups. This enables you to connect with people that share your passions. Moreover, you can acquire knowledge and gain new perspectives and ideas to help build your website.
#19. Write A Guest Post
There are a plethora of websites and blogs that will provide you with an opportunity to publish your article. This will be a great platform for you to portray your professional knowledge and engage people with your proficiently written content.
#20. Catch the Big Fish
Invest your time and efforts into finding link prospects with high authority to increase traffic and bring SEO benefits. They also have a high link rank and a greater number of referring domains that direct to your website.
#21. Go Testify
Many businesses provide an opportunity to testify about your experience using their products or services. This is a perfect chance for you to gain a backlink and potential traffic from that site. In addition to this, it is also a great way to build customer trust. It’s a win-win situation.
#22. Be on Top of The Game
Always try to be creative and never settle for the same ideas, even if they provide positive results. Travel on a different path and explore new approaches. Most importantly, stay on top of the game! Constantly update yourself with new link-building techniques, be flexible, and adapt.