The Link Building Guide for Beginners

Link building can be overwhelming, especially for beginners. The goal is to increase a website's authority by getting high-quality backlinks from other reputable sites.

A backlink is essentially a vote of confidence from another website, indicating that your content is valuable and worth sharing. To get started with link building, focus on creating high-quality, relevant content that other websites will want to link to.

Guest blogging is a popular link building tactic, where you write and publish content on other websites in exchange for a link back to your own site. For example, a guest post on a popular industry blog can drive thousands of new visitors to your site.

Quality over quantity is the key to successful link building.

SEO is a process that helps your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). It's a crucial part of driving organic traffic to your site.

In competitive industries, link building plays a significant role in SEO, helping to drive more organic traffic. Link building, when done correctly, can be super effective.

To outrank other sites, you need to establish authority, which can be accomplished by earning links from authoritative websites, building your brand, and nurturing an audience. This helps search engines understand your content's value.

Google has confirmed that links and quality content are two of the three most important ranking factors for SEO. This means that trustworthy sites tend to link to other trustworthy sites.

Link building is more akin to great marketing, and organizations that understand this are usually the ones who win long-term.

Link building is still important for SEO in 2024. Some links would have come in even if data was listed in a table.

Inbound links, also known as backlinks or external links, are HTML hyperlinks that point from one website to another. They act like real-life reputation, with many links pointing to a website indicating its importance.

Internal links, or links that connect internal pages of the same domain, work similarly to provide a signal to Google that a page is important. A high amount of internal links pointing to a particular page will provide a signal to Google that the page is important.

What Are Links?

Links are the currency of the Internet, acting as a vote for popularity and importance on the web. They're like word-of-mouth recommendations, where people point to a website or page as a trusted source.

Inbound links, also known as backlinks or external links, are HTML hyperlinks that point from one website to another. They're used by search engines to evaluate a website's quality and relevance.

Links can be internal, connecting internal pages of the same domain, or external, linking to other websites. A high amount of internal links pointing to a particular page on your site will provide a signal to Google that the page is important.

Here are some key types of links to know:

Links are still the best way to determine the quality of a webpage, according to Google's PageRank Algorithm. Nearly 20 years later, links remain Google's go-to ranking signal.

Google Penguin is an algorithmic penalty that specifically targets sites that use spammy link building techniques, like shady guest posting and blog comment spam. This penalty is designed to crack down on low-quality links that can harm your website's credibility.

If you're caught using these tactics, be prepared for your rankings to plummet. Google's algorithm is getting smarter and can spot these manipulative techniques from a mile away.

To avoid getting hit by Penguin, focus on building high-quality links that come from trusted sources. This means creating valuable content that people will actually link to, rather than trying to game the system with low-quality links.

Keep in mind that Penguin is just one of the many penalties that Google dishes out, so it's essential to stay on the right side of the algorithm.

Creating quality content is crucial for link building. It's the key that unlocks amazing backlinks. Simply publishing content isn't enough, you need to create linkable digital marketing assets.

Invest in creating content that has high sharing potential. This means content so good, so relevant to the public, that it spreads out independently. Here are a few examples to get started with:

Quality content is the number one rule. It should be easy to understand, engaging, or bring new and original data. Great content supports your link building strategy by earning quality links for you.

Posts with value aim to answer questions members of your audience may have but might not think to ask. They help people make decisions, deep-dive into key industry trends, and address popular topics from fresh angles. They also innovate by leveraging multimedia and interactivity.

To increase the chance of sharing, your content should be promoted in the right ways. This includes posting at opportune times, making the most of social media, and so forth.

Link building strategies can be categorized into three main types: linkable content, expert guest posting, and resource links. Creating high-quality linkable content is a great way to earn editorial links, which are the most valuable type of link.

To get started with link building, you'll want to choose a method that works well for your campaign. Some popular methods include expert guest posting, passive PR, and resource links. These techniques can help you get links fast and show how content creators in your field will respond to your message.

Here are some popular link building techniques to consider:

Remember, a successful link building strategy should match your unique goals and be tailored to your specific campaign.

Earning links is a powerful way to build high-quality backlinks.

Editorial links are the most valuable type of link, and they're earned naturally when content creators find your content valuable and link to it without your direct request.

To earn links, create content that creators want for their audience. If the content is optimized to be linkable or shareable, they are likelier to share, discuss and ideally link to it.

Typical methods to distribute the content to earn links include social ads remarketing, social ads, social media organic shares, and Google Ads.

In contrast to link building outreach, earning a link does not require a request to place a link or share content.

Creating high-quality content that people genuinely wish to reference is essential for acquiring earned links.

This is where creating 10X content (extremely high-quality content) is essential! If you can provide the best and most interesting resource on the web, people will naturally link to it.

Naturally earned links require no specific action from you, other than the creation of worthy content and the ability to create awareness about it.

Here are some methods to distribute the content to earn links:

By consistently producing incredible content, you can earn editorial links that are entirely organic and haven't been requested, paid for, or traded for.

Nofollow links tell search engines not to count them as an endorsement, while dofollow links are the opposite - they're considered a vote of confidence.

Dofollow links are the default, transmitting link juice and helping to boost your website's authority.

You can use nofollow links to cite dubious websites without sharing your authority with them.

Nofollow links are commonly used in social media links or blog comment boxes to prevent transmitting authority to potentially spammy links.

If you've ever received a "you link to me and I'll link to you" email, you've likely been targeted for a link exchange. This type of exchange is generally not recommended by Google's quality guidelines.

Excessive link exchanges and similar partner programs conducted solely for cross-linking can trigger penalties. However, on a smaller scale, this type of exchange might not trigger any link spam alarms.

It's perfectly fine to link to people you work with or have a partnership with, and have them link back to you. This type of affiliation is valued by Google.

The problem arises when you exchange links at a mass scale with unaffiliated sites. This can warrant penalties, so be cautious of large-scale link exchanges.

Black hat SEO is pretty easy to spot: if the links go against Google's Webmaster Guidelines, they're probably black hat. I personally don't recommend black hat link building because the risk doesn't come close to justifying the reward.

To avoid black hat SEO, only build white hat links. There's data to show that you can dodge Penguin by minimizing exact match anchor text, but it's more about trust. The easiest way to avoid Penguin is to avoid shady links, regardless of anchor text.

No one outside of Google knows how sites get targeted for manual penalties, but my take is that an algorithm spots a website that's potentially gaming the system and bubbles it up to someone at Google for a manual review. To avoid a manual penalty, you need a squeaky-clean link profile.

You can recover from a manual penalty by disavowing links and filing a reconsideration request.

Practices like buying links or engaging in a link exchange might seem like the easy way out, but doing so is dangerous and could put all of your hard work at risk. Google penalizes sites with spammy link profiles, so don't give in to temptation.

Off-page SEO encompasses all search engine optimization strategies beyond a site's pages, including backlinks received from other sites. It's a broader concept that goes beyond link building.

To build a strong network of links, you need to consider both on-page and off-page SEO. On-page SEO is under your control, but off-page SEO is not directly within your control.

Google evaluates links beyond quantity, considering quality based on various criteria. The algorithm uses a multitude of factors to rank pages, including link evaluation.

Here are the main link building techniques to consider:

A link building strategy is a plan to improve a website's reputation in search engines and readers, leading to better rankings. It involves three parts: analysis, guiding policy, and steps.

Link building tools can be overwhelming, but don't worry, I've got you covered. There are several tools out there that can help you identify partnership and linking opportunities, or recognize problems to correct.

Moz Pro is one of the tools that can help you build better links. It's a paid service, but you can learn more about putting link building into practice with it.

Developing a link building strategy requires the right tools, and Ahrefs is a key SEO platform that can help. It's not free, but it offers some extremely useful features for link building, including Site Explorer and Content Explorer.

Majestic is another tool that's focused on analyzing backlinks from other sites. It's not free either, but it offers a complete analysis of the backlinks profile of a page, including proprietary indicators like Trust Flow and Citation Flow.

Link Explorer, offered by Moz, is a free tool that helps with link building strategies. It analyzes any page you choose and reports on backlinks, competitors, broken links, anchor texts, and link building opportunities.

Here are some of the main link building tools to consider:

Measuring success in link building is a quality game, not a numbers game, so patience is key.

Tracking and analyzing factors like the count of quality links obtained from influential content creators is crucial.

Focus on analyzing the messaging and how the contacts are responding or not responding to get an accurate read on the success of your efforts.

Measuring success in link building is ultimately a quality game, not a numbers game. This means you need to focus on the quality of your backlinks rather than just the quantity.

Patience is key in building a robust catalog of quality backlinks. It takes time to develop a strategy and see results.

To get an accurate read on the success of your efforts, track and analyze factors like the quality of links obtained from influential content creators.

Focus on analyzing the messaging and how the contacts are responding or not responding to your outreach efforts.

The total number of links is a direct way to measure your link building efforts, and tracking its growth can be done with tools like Moz's Link Explorer.

This tool allows you to pop in a URL and see month-over-month link growth, making it easy to track the success of a specific page or resource.

You can also use Link Explorer to track link growth for a root domain, subdomain, or specific page, providing a clear picture of your link building efforts.

The more links your site receives, the more relevant it is considered, as this demonstrates its popularity on the web.

However, it's essential to remember that receiving numerous links from irrelevant sites won't boost your relevance.

Link building is a crucial part of SEO, and it's essential to understand the difference between link building and off-page SEO. Off-page SEO encompasses all search engine optimization strategies beyond a site's pages, while link building involves building a network of links to strengthen pages' authority.

You can't just focus on building links; you need to look at both on-page and off-page SEO when planning your link building strategy. On-page SEO is under your control, and you can edit your pages and optimize your internal links to best suit your objectives.

To establish authority and outrank other sites, you need to earn links from authoritative websites, build your brand, and nurture an audience who will help amplify your content. Google has confirmed that links and quality content are two of the three most important ranking factors for SEO.

Here are some basic link building techniques to get you started:

Keep in mind that social shares are not the same as links, but they can result in links and promote an increase in traffic and new visitors to your website, which can grow brand awareness and trust.

Link building campaigns should always match your unique goals. It's essential to tailor your approach to what you're trying to achieve.

Using Moz Pro can help you build better links. This tool can provide valuable insights and guidance to make your link building efforts more effective.

There are many shapes and sizes to link building, but some popular methods tend to work well for most campaigns. These methods can be a good starting point for your link building efforts.

Visit Moz's blog posts on link building for more detail on this topic.

Earning quality links is an ongoing process, and it's essential to measure the returns on your link building investment to see what's working and what's not.

Measuring the effectiveness of your link building efforts can be done by tracking metrics such as the number of new links acquired over time.

To sustain quality backlink growth, it's crucial to focus on long-term strategies rather than short-term gains.

Regularly reviewing and adjusting your link building tactics can help you stay on track and avoid plateaus.

By continuously monitoring and improving your link efforts, you can ensure that your website remains competitive and visible in search engine results.

A link building strategy is a plan to improve a website's reputation in search engines and readers, leading to better rankings.

To create a link building strategy, you need to analyze three parts: identifying the tactic and messaging, establishing a guiding policy, and outlining the steps to execute the strategy.

A strategy has three parts:

You can start by choosing one of the following link building techniques:

Creating a list of sites, analyzing them, and customizing your pitch for outreach using these techniques will help you show your company or expertise and experience.

Before diving into link building, it's essential to define your goals, target audience, and strategies. Ask yourself:

Refine your messaging to understand the wants and needs of the content creators in the specific niche.