In SEO, link building takes the lion’s share in terms of resource and time allocation and for a good reason. An effective link building campaign significantly increases a website’s authority. Link building has other benefits such as referrals, keyword rankings, page optimization etc. Getting an inbound link is perceived as a vote of confidence by search engines.
However, effective link building is not an easy task. It’s no secret; most content creators are always trying to outsmart the search algorithms; a good number of them don’t succeed. Which side would you like to be on? The losing party or the winning side? According to the link building agency: Healthy Links, here are four core principles you can follow if you want to be on the winning side.
1. Where are Your Backlinks? – Define Your Audience
Link building is more about marketing and less about technicalities. It’s not about creating anchor text and getting as many backlinks as possible. This is why it is crucial to define your audience and place your links where they will have a more significant impact.
Your link building strategy should follow this principle in helping you research and identify your website’s targeted audience. Once you have that, your next steps should involve getting backlinking opportunities from platforms that appeal to that audience.
Make it your goal to have links on authoritative and relevant websites in your niche. A single backlink on that website can do wonders for your site’s SEO – especially if you’re doing blogger outreach. Authority sites can be major news outlets, popular blogs, big social media pages, etc. Hint: there are types of content that can get you on such platforms quick. Press releases, industry-specific reports, and major disclosures are examples of such content.
Also, make a point of participating in discussions within your industry or niche. This will improve your visibility in those circles and possibly lead to valuable links.
2. What Do Have to Offer? – Content Is King
Before you think about link building, you must first create relevant content that is link-worthy. Content alone can be used as an effective link building strategy. You cannot have backlinks to thin content; it is not worth it. The best performing backlinks are those that link to your most valuable web assets.
As an example, you should not focus too much on creating backlinks to your homepage. Instead, you should aim to have the most informative blog posts or articles being mentioned and linked to across the web. Pillar article, infographics, in-depth reports, resource articles, exclusive content, and other link-worthy material will always get strong links.
Content is king, and content should be your number one tool when it comes to link building. Search engines are wary about backlinks pointing to thin content. In fact, ranked thin content might end up hurting your site’s overall authority due to low dwell times. Moreover, ranking thin content, such as a homepage, adds no real value in terms of conversions.
3. Keywords and Competition – Where Do You Want to Be?
It’s one thing to create good content and get backlinks but another thing to rank the content. Take time to research your keywords and see how your competitors are using them. For instance, where are their backlinks domiciled? Can you outsmart them by getting linked by more authoritative websites?
Still, on keywords, you must match your keywords with your website’s niche. There is no use getting a ton of high-quality links for a keyword that is not relevant for your audience. Also, realize that highly competitive keywords are hard to sell when it comes to manual link building. No one would want to add outbound links to assets they have a business interest in.
4. Finally, Don’t Fake It – Merit-Based Link Building Is the Best
In real sense, effective link building is just marketing. Do not fall into the trap of automated backlinking campaigns. They are all over, promising instant results and thousands of backlinks… Only one thing doesn’t add up, are they smart enough to fool Google and other search engines? Probably not.
Your link building initiative should follow the rules of natural marketing and merit. Use your web assets to market your website to the right people, and you will be in a good place. If your content adds value to the other website’s audience, they will link to you, and vice versa.
In Conclusion
Every SEO project needs a solid link building strategy. A good link building strategy has its rewards, and the opposite is also true. What would you like to achieve?
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