High quality link building is all about earning links from authoritative sources that are relevant to your industry. This approach can help improve your website's visibility and credibility online.
Guest blogging is a great way to earn high quality links. According to a study, 72% of marketers consider guest blogging to be an effective link building tactic. By writing high quality content for other reputable websites, you can build relationships and earn links that will help drive traffic to your site.
Relevant and high quality links can also be earned through resource pages. Resource pages are lists of recommended resources on a particular topic, and they can be a great way to earn links from authoritative sources. For example, a study found that 63% of marketers have successfully earned links from resource pages.
By focusing on high quality link building strategies, you can improve your website's SEO and drive more traffic to your site.
What is Link Building?
Link building is a set of SEO strategies that aim to build a network of links to a page to drive traffic and strengthen its authority in search engines.
Links can be either external or internal, with external links coming from other sites, also referred to as backlinks or inbound links.
The more links received from trustworthy and popular sites, the more relevant Google considers the site in its area of expertise.
Links show Google a site's popularity and authority in the market by investigating the links leading to the site to see how often it's cited and the quality of those references.
The algorithm's intelligence also considers the anchor text, the content around the link, its page position, and other factors.
Link building also includes internal links, those included on the site's pages, which may target pages on or off the site.
Google evaluates these links to understand the quality and relevance of a page and whether it merits a better ranking in search results.
Links are primarily a way to improve the user experience by allowing them to discover additional content while browsing a page.
The more high-quality backlinks a page has, the higher it tends to rank in Google, as links are a very strong signal in Google's ranking algorithm.
Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to pages on your website to boost the "authority" of your pages in the eyes of Google.
How to Build High-Quality Links
Building high-quality links requires a strategic approach. You can use the Semrush Backlink Gap tool to find sites that link to more than one of your competitors, increasing the likelihood of getting a link from them.
To identify links that are actually worth building, look for sites with a high authority score, such as PageRank or Domain Rating. These links will have a bigger impact on your search engine rankings.
Here are some key factors to consider when evaluating links:
- Authority of the page linking to you
- Relevance of the site and page to your own
- Link placement and anchor text
- Page content and quality
Remember, links from authoritative sites that are closely related to your own will carry more weight in the eyes of Google.
How to Build Power
Building power in link building means creating high-quality links that drive traffic and boost your search engine rankings. This requires a strategic approach that focuses on relevance, authority, and quality.
To start, you need to understand that links from other pages to your website carry more weight in search engine evaluation than internal links. This is because Google trusts a site more based on what other sites say about it, rather than what it says about itself.
A high-quality link is one that comes from a relevant and authoritative source. This means getting links from sites that are closely related to your niche or industry. For example, if you run a website about The Paleo Diet, getting a link from an authoritative site about unicycles won't count as much as a link from a site about paleo nutrition.
You can create high-quality links by producing content that is relevant, informative, and engaging. This can include infographics, interactive content, posts with lists, complete guides, and research results. The key is to create content that is so good, it spreads out independently and generates links without you having to struggle to generate them.
Another way to build high-quality links is to create valuable link roundups. This involves listing posts that showcase other people's awesome content and giving them a shoutout. This not only helps you build relationships with peers in your industry but also provides valuable content to your readers.
Here are some key considerations for building high-quality links:
- Relevance is key: Get links from sites that are closely related to your niche or industry.
- Authority matters: Get links from authoritative sources that have a high PageRank.
- Quality content is essential: Produce content that is relevant, informative, and engaging.
- Link roundups are valuable: Create lists of posts that showcase other people's awesome content.
- Personalization is key: Reach out to the right people with personalized emails and requests.
By following these tips and creating high-quality links, you can build power in link building and drive traffic and boost your search engine rankings.
Cost
The cost of building high-quality links can vary greatly depending on the type of link and the website it's coming from. One quality backlink from a DR60+ website with 10K+ monthly traffic can cost between $250-$300.
Guest posts require additional resources, which can drive up costs. If you work with a US-based SEO agency, the costs can be between $300 to $900 per link.
Backlinks from domains with a good Domain Rating (DR) and high traffic will always be more expensive. Expect a backlink from a site with a DR 90+ and 1 million visitors to cost more than one from a DR50 website with 5K traffic.
Building links in competitive industries like web hosting and VoIP requires large budgets. You'll need more links to rank for keywords, which pushes up the cost of your campaign.
Operating in-house may initially be cheaper than hiring an agency, but the hidden cost of learning and mistakes along the way quickly add up.
Link Building Strategies
Link building strategies can be categorized into four main buckets: adding links, asking for links, buying links, and earning links. Adding links involves manually adding your link to other websites, while asking for links requires sending emails to website owners and asking them to link to you. Buying links is not recommended, as it can put your business at risk. Earning links, on the other hand, involves creating and promoting high-quality content that naturally attracts links.
There are many link building tactics, but some of the most effective ones include guest posting, co-marketing, and email outreach. Guest posting involves creating content for other websites, while co-marketing involves partnering with other businesses to create content and link to each other's websites. Email outreach, as seen in the case study of Julie Adams' blog, Our Beautiful Planet, can be an effective way to build links by creating and promoting high-quality content and reaching out to other website owners to share it with them.
Here are some advanced link building tips:
- Create a target site list using SEO tools to discover websites linking to other sites within your niche.
- Use a press office strategy to build relationships with media outlets and earn links on news portals and press sites.
- Learn from your competitors by analyzing their backlinks and identifying their go-to strategy.
- Use tools like Ubersuggest or Backlink Gap Tool to get a read on where your competitors' backlinks are coming from.
Note: The above list is a summary of the advanced link building tips mentioned in the article section examples.
Off-Page SEO vs On-Page SEO
Off-page SEO refers to all search engine optimization strategies that are applied beyond a site's pages. It encompasses backlinks received from other sites, part of a link building strategy, but also includes brand mentions without links, which is an additional ranking factor for Google.
Off-page SEO is not just about receiving external links; it's also about building a network of links to show Google your relevance. This involves receiving external links and adding links on your pages.
Link building is only one part of off-page SEO. It's a way to strengthen pages' authority by building a network of links. The type of link matters, with dofollow links transmitting link juice and nofollow links not transmitting authority.
Here's a key difference between link building and off-page SEO:
In a link building strategy, you need to look at both on-page and off-page SEO. On-page SEO is under your control, and you can edit your pages and optimize your internal links to best suit your objectives.
2: List Posts
List posts are a game-changer for link building. They pack a ton of value into digestible, bite-sized chunks.
According to BuzzSumo, list posts generated more backlinks than other content formats when they analyzed 1 million articles. This is because list posts are easy to consume and share.
A great example of a list post is "19 NEW SEO Techniques", which has generated a ton of shares and comments. It's also a link magnet, with over 5,000 links pointing to it.
This post ranks in the top 3 for the keyword "SEO Techniques", which is a testament to the power of list posts. They're a great way to earn links and drive traffic to your website.
Here are some key benefits of list posts:
- They're easy to consume and share.
- They generate more backlinks than other content formats.
- They can drive traffic to your website.
- They can help you earn links and improve your search engine rankings.
By incorporating list posts into your link building strategy, you can increase your chances of earning high-quality links and driving traffic to your website.
#Best Strategies
Here's the article section on "#Best Strategies":
Creating linkable assets is a great way to attract links, and one example of this is industry surveys. The folks at Aira, a digital marketing agency, run an annual "The State of Link Building Report" by surveying hundreds of leading industry professionals, which has brought them backlinks from over 600 different websites.
Original research is another powerful way to establish yourself as an authority and earn links. Conducting thorough research that provides value to an audience is priceless, and you can do your own research or hire a team to do it for you.
To create linkable assets, start by brainstorming ideas based on common types, such as industry surveys, studies, online tools, and infographics. For example, a blogger survey I did for my personal blog was a great way to attract links.
The Skyscraper Technique is another effective strategy that involves creating something amazing and using email outreach to build backlinks. This technique works well because it's just as much about building relationships as it is about building links.
Here are a few examples of linkable assets that you can produce:
- infographics
- interactive content, such as quizzes, calculators, and assessments
- posts with lists
- complete guides
- research results you’ve found
Ultimately, the best strategy is to create high-value content that people can't help but mention and share with their own followings. This can be done by creating content that helps people solve problems, reach goals, and get better at things they want to master.
To secure links for your website, try using the "Link Intersect" tool to uncover likely linkers, which can be found using Semrush's Backlink Gap tool. This tool will show you who links to all of your competitors.
By focusing on earning editorial links, which are entirely organic and haven't been requested or paid for, you can build a strong link profile for your website. This can be done by consistently producing incredible content that helps people solve problems and reach their goals.
10. Use Haro
Signing up for HARO gets you an index of request summaries based on your registered interests and expertise. You can then click on a request that matches your expertise to see the query description, submission deadline, and requesting publication.
HARO can be a great way to earn backlinks from high-quality news sites. However, there's a significant drawback: backlinks aren't guaranteed.
Link Building Tools and Resources
Link building is a crucial aspect of high-quality link building, and having the right tools can make all the difference. Ahrefs' Free Backlink Checker is a great starting point, showing you the top 100 links pointing at any website or URL.
Google Alerts is another free tool that can help you find relevant link prospects by notifying you whenever a specific word or phrase is mentioned on a newly published page. This can be a game-changer for your link building efforts.
Ahrefs offers a range of link building tools, including Site Explorer, which shows you all links of any website or URL, and Content Explorer, which helps you find thousands of relevant websites for link requests and guest posting.
Pitchbox, BuzzStream, and GMass are popular email outreach tools that allow you to send personalized emails at scale. Hunter.io and Voila Norbert are also useful for finding contact details of websites at scale.
Free tools are valuable linkable assets that can attract authoritative links and traffic to your website. For example, Surfer's free SEO Chrome extension led to a ton of backlinks from high-quality websites.
Ahrefs is a very handy tool for link building, offering various tools to help you find high-quality backlink opportunities. The Keyword Explorer tool can help you find associated keywords that other high-ranking pages in your niche incorporate into their content.
You can use the Link Intersect tool to find sites that link to your new targets but don't link to your site yet. The Site Explorer can also help you find growing pages and see the pages on each target URL or competitor's site that are growing the fastest.
Widgets are an overlooked link-building strategy that can generate an astounding number of backlinks. For example, a social proof widget for an insurance company can direct users to linked pages.
Here are some free link building tools to get you started:
- Ahrefs' Free Backlink Checker
- Google Alerts
- Pitchbox
- BuzzStream
- GMass
- Hunter.io
- Voila Norbert
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