Almost every business organization is aware that establishing connections with potential customers is an integral part of digital marketing and sales. They connect consumers with other companies and different teams. These connections create brand awareness and loyalty and enhance the trust factor among users and, more importantly, with search engines. This is precisely what link building does with the website and online content. It is all about ranking high and visible.
But what is link building, and why should I implement it?
Link building is building connections and links with other websites and businesses to increase online visibility. It is an essential element that integrates within most SEO Software. While it can be a slow process, the results of the plan will stay with the website. It can lead to more clicks, longer dwell time, and ultimately an increase in conversion rates!
This SEO tool is mainly used by companies that want to become competitive in their respective fields. In simple terms, this tool is about building that connection with other trustworthy sources, as judged by the search engines that marketers try to impress.
When you think about the internet, every website with a URL is a link. Without search engines and SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages), users would have to manually type this link in to access websites, which is why building a good reputation through link building is critical.
Search engines use an algorithm process called ranking – they score links by the relevance of the content, the website's usability, and keywords used. The websites are ranked in a list when a user searches for them. Creating an effective link building strategy will ultimately increase your website's chances of ranking better in the organic search results as the links and content gain more authority.
"What are the links?"
When you start using the link building strategy, you will find three types of backlinks-
- Inbound links,
- Outbound links,
- Internal links.
Inbound links: A link is an Inbound link (aka Backlink) when someone else links your website/content in their blog article. In other words, an Inbound link drives traffic to your website from other websites. You can do this through guest blogging, brand mentioning, expert roundups, newsjacking, volunteering to be a case study, etc.
Outbound links: A link is an outbound link when you link someone else's website/content in your blog article. In other words, Outbound links drive traffic away from your website. Now you might ask, then why should I include outbound links in my link building strategy? Well, because while it drives users away from your website, it also increases your domain authority and adds value for your readers.
Internal links: A link is an internal link when you link your website/ content in your blog article. Internal links are an excellent way to let your readers know about the different services you offer but don't just stuff all the links of your website in all the articles. Be mindful! Inbound links can be your website or content found within search engines, but to increase users' likelihood of finding your content, you need to build connections.
What is Link Building And How To Start?
The misconception of link building is that it's hard to implement and difficult to start without a systematic approach. Link building may take time, but the plan is relatively easy to create - all you need is relevant and personalized content. Much like social media, users are drawn to engaging and informative content, and it doesn't have to be complicated! The strategy focuses on approaching one thing – getting your website and brand to be seen as a trusted figure in the eyes of search engines like Google.
Focus on your business
The next crucial job is to bring your products, services, and knowledge into the content. It's essential to write down your USPs and how you can inject that into the content. For example, if you make and sell shoes, you can create a helpful list of different types of shoes, including links to your products and best for other occasions.
A part of your strategy needs to be about researching your competitors and understanding what kind of content does well for them. This includes other popular websites in your field, which aren't necessarily business competitors – lookout for bloggers or writers and see how they build links effectively! This could be through things like sponsored posts and social media posts. This can quickly be done by software available like Ahrefs and Moz Pro.
Blogs
Now that you have content ideas start building those links to post. As mentioned before, publishing your blog on your website is essential. Managing and writing your content will allow you to control how it's perceived and the method of targeting it.
Once users have followed these links, it is time to highlight your business. The blog's content gets searched online and is more likely to get linkedor mentioned to other users’ or businesses' websites. These backlinks will lead to people trusting you, increasing your search engines’ visibility, and expanding your link-building strategy!
Brand Monitoring
Brand monitoring is an integral part of link building. It's important to know that not all bloggers or website owners necessarily link when they mention you. They may refer to your content or even your name but not add the link to direct those users back to you. This is where the practice of brand monitoring comes in, and you can use SEO Software and websites like Mention or SEMrush to monitor your brand mentions, and then you can ask them to add the link. It is known as 'link reclamation.' Through brand monitoring, you can also find ideas and suggestions on which websites or individuals to contact to collaborate.
Guest Posts
Another useful way of link building is through guest writing. It is critical to collaborate and team up with a leading organization that caters to your business arena. This is one of the best and easiest ways to strengthen your link building.
You can implement this strategy by collaborating with top research and review websites, such as GoodFirms, and start writing content for them, much like your blog. The difference is that you don't post the content; but, your content is shared to thousands of users on a single platform and their social media channels. It leads to the creation of backlinks that directly links to your website. The more backlinks you have on high ranking websites, the closer you will get to your link building goal.
Once you've built up that trust and authority, users and search engines alike will deem your links useful.
Social Media
Although social media isn't necessarily the best practice for building links, it can still broaden and improve your brand awareness, which will lead to those other sources trusting you. Creating and posting impactful content will engage your target demographic; you can use other social media tools to help you. For example, for verified accounts on Instagram, you can use a 'swipe up' feature on your stories. Once you've built a loyal audience, they will more likely 'swipe up' and instantly engage with your link.
It is just the beginning in terms of link building and expanding your SEO strategy. If you take these first few steps, you will have already laid out a solid foundation for your process.
Even if you don't have much experience in link building or SEO in general, don't panic! Take one tactic and suggestion at a time, and you will soon see results in your strategy.
Conclusion
Link Building is no rocket science but an essential element of SEO strategy that improves your website ranking. You may incorporate different viable SEO tactics, but implementing the SEO Software helps drive faster and more reliable results. You can even check out the top free and open source SEO tools to give your business an edge. You can also go through the survey about advanced and highly effective link building strategies leveraged by top digital marketing experts.
