Building high-quality backlinks is crucial for ecommerce websites, as it can significantly improve their search engine rankings and drive more traffic.
A well-executed link building strategy can increase website traffic by up to 50% and boost sales by 20%.
The key to successful link building is to create valuable and relevant content that attracts links naturally.
According to a study, 71% of ecommerce businesses believe that link building is the most effective SEO tactic.
Link Building Fundamentals
Link building is still important for SEO in 2024, just like it was in the past. This means that even with the ever-changing landscape of online marketing, links remain a crucial factor in determining a website's search engine rankings.
In Chapter 1, we explored the fundamentals of link building and defined what it is. Link building is the process of acquiring high-quality backlinks from other websites to increase the credibility and visibility of your ecommerce website.
The question of what link building is has been answered, but it's equally important to understand why it matters. Link building helps drive more traffic to your website, increases brand awareness, and ultimately boosts sales.
By understanding the fundamentals of link building, you'll be better equipped to develop effective link building strategies for your ecommerce business.
Understanding Authority
Authority matters a lot in link building, and it's determined by the authority of the page linking to you. According to years of testing, the authority of the page linking to you matters more than any other factor.
A link from an authoritative page passes more authority, also known as PageRank, to your site. Although Google doesn't share PageRank information publicly, they still use it as the foundation of their algorithm.
You can easily check a proxy indicator of PageRank, called PageRating, using Semrush. Simply pop a URL into Semrush and check out its Authority Score.
A link's quality is also determined by a domain's sitewide authority. A link from a site like NYTimes.com will have a much bigger impact than a link from a no-name blogger.
Getting links from authority sites that are closely related to your site is key. According to an ex-Googler, relevance is the new PageRank, so even if a high PageRank page links to you, it might not count if the site's theme is unrelated to yours.
Link Placement Strategies
To increase your link placement on search engine results pages, you should focus on quality over quantity. Guest blogging and creating useful content are two effective strategies to earn high-quality links.
Guest blogging can help you reach a wider audience and get your brand in front of potential customers. Creating useful content is also a great way to attract links from other websites.
To get the most out of your link building efforts, you should also optimize your content for mobile. This is especially important if you're targeting a younger audience, as many of them will be accessing your site on their mobile devices.
If you're trying to develop a good link building strategy, it's essential to identify your target audience. This will help you create content that resonates with them and attract links from relevant sources.
Here are some of the best link building strategies you can use:
- Guest blogging
- Creating useful content
- Resource page link building
- Replacing broken links
- Posting on forums and social media
- Linking existing mentions
- Internal link building
By incorporating these strategies into your link building efforts, you can improve your link placement and drive more traffic to your ecommerce site.
Getting High-Quality Links
Creating original, engaging, and helpful content is a fundamental SEO strategy to earn editorial links from high-authority sites. By creating relevant content, you can attract links from other websites.
High-quality, shareable content is the foundation of a successful e-commerce link-building campaign. Developing informative blog posts, product guides, tutorials, or videos that your target audience will find useful and shareable increases the likelihood of other websites linking back to your content.
Visual content, such as infographics, can be highly shareable and attract backlinks. Creating visually appealing and informative infographics related to your industry or product niche can earn you high-quality links from other websites.
Infographics and visual assets enhance your content and serve as linkable assets that others may use in their articles or blog posts. When they do, they’ll link to your website as the source.
Focusing on quality over quantity is crucial in link building. Prioritize creating content that offers valuable information to your target audience and only link out to reputable websites that offer value to your readers.
Data and research link building is a strategy that leverages data and research to attract links. Creating a valuable piece of content that uses data is an easy type of content to promote and share.
Remember, every backlink is a new chance for someone to stumble upon your website and buy.
Finding and Reaching Out
Use Hunter.io to find email addresses associated with a domain, making it perfect for small sites and one-person blogs.
Enter a site into Hunter.io and it'll show you all the email addresses associated with that domain.
Use VoilaNorbert as an alternative to Hunter.io.
Pro Tip: Avoid using a site's contact form as a last resort, as it's like a black hole.
Use specific search strings in Google to find resource pages, such as "Keyword" + inurl:links or "Keyword" + "helpful resources".
These search strings will help you unearth resource pages that can provide valuable links for your ecommerce site.
Find Email Addresses
Finding email addresses can be a challenge, but it's a crucial step in reaching out to potential linkers. Use Hunter.io for small sites and one-person blogs, as it can show you all email addresses associated with a domain.
It's worth noting that using a site's contact form should be a last resort, as it's often a black hole. Enter the site into Hunter.io and see what you get.
VoilaNorbert is another tool that can help you find email addresses, especially when Hunter.io doesn't deliver.
Edu and Forum Opportunities
To find edu link building opportunities, try offering discounts to university students and faculty for your e-commerce store. This can lead to valuable backlinks and direct conversions.
Edu links are particularly valuable because they're challenging to build, but carry more ranking power. You can find other sites commonly listed on educational websites by exploring options and submitting your company details.
Every day, thousands of people turn to forums for advice on various topics, including helpful tips. You can create valuable content around these topics and share it with users on the forum, delivering value to both users and your e-commerce company.
To find forum link building opportunities, simply type in "your keywords + forum" on Google. For example, "best running shoes + forum" can show you a list of results of people asking for advice in your niche.
To build long-term links on forums, focus on new links, but responding to old posts is okay if other people are still trying to find answers. You can also focus on building the most powerful links instead.
You can use search overlay tools to find pages or domains with the most links and ranking power. Alternatively, drop popular forums into a backlink tool and search the organic keywords it ranks for in your niche.
To track your responses, keep a spreadsheet to avoid responding to the same forum post twice. This way, you can also go back later and see if your post comment got approved.
By exploring edu and forum opportunities, you can create valuable content and build long-term links that deliver value to everyone.
Link Building Strategies
Link building strategies for ecommerce are essential for increasing visibility and driving traffic to your online store. Guest blogging is a viable option, but be cautious of spammy tactics like paid guest posts or exact match anchor text.
To build quality links, focus on creating original and engaging content that provides value to your target audience. This can include infographics, surveys, or statistics that are highly shareable and linkable.
Guest blogging can be effective if done correctly, with red flags including paid guest posts, exact match anchor text, and unrelated sites. However, publishing a high-quality guest post on an authoritative site can still earn you a valuable link.
To create high-quality, shareable content, develop informative blog posts, product guides, tutorials, or videos that your target audience will find useful and shareable. This increases the likelihood of other websites linking back to your content.
Here are some effective link building strategies for ecommerce:
- Guest blogging and content contributions
- Influencer marketing and product reviews
- Creating useful content, such as infographics and visual assets
- Creating data-driven content, like posts on the most popular running shoe brands
These strategies can help you earn editorial links, natural links from high-authority sites generated organically based on the quality of your information. By following these tips, you can build high-quality links that drive traffic to your ecommerce store and increase your online visibility.
Ecommerce Link Building
Ecommerce link building is a crucial aspect of any e-commerce website's online presence. Backlinks directly impact your bottom line in many ways, including building your authority and increasing referral traffic. According to recent link building statistics, only 2.2% of online content is able to acquire multiple backlinks, making it essential to stand out from the competitive backlinking landscape.
To kickstart your link-building efforts, try data and research link building, which leverages data and research to attract links. This strategy is considered the "most efficient type of content for building your link profile." You can use public data sources to gather insights and stats used to create a data-driven post.
Here are the best link building strategies for e-commerce websites:
- Guest blogging
- Creating useful content
- Resource page link building
- Replacing broken links
- Posting on forums and social media
- Linking existing mentions
- Internal link building
Ecommerce Importance
Backlinks play a crucial role in search engine rankings for any type of website, especially e-commerce sites. E-commerce is more competitive than certain industries due to transactional value.
The challenge with building links to an e-commerce site is that many websites don't like linking to commercial sites. This leads many e-commerce store owners to build low-quality and spammy links in hopes of ranking.
You want to focus only on building links that drive long-term results and build value for the end users and the web. By focusing on long-term e-commerce link building strategies, you can gain positive brand visibility, rankings, and referral traffic.
Only 2.2% of online content is able to acquire multiple backlinks, making it essential to have fresh tactics to stand out from the competitive backlinking landscape.
Here are the benefits of link building for e-commerce:
- Improved search engine rankings
- Increased organic traffic
- Enhanced brand reputation
- Better conversion rates
These benefits can significantly boost your website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs), attract more organic traffic, and reach a wider audience.
Site Relevancy
Getting links from authority sites is crucial for ecommerce link building.
Authority sites with a high PageRank used to be valuable, but today relevance matters more.
Relevance is the new PageRank, as an ex-Googler pointed out.
You want to get links from authority sites that are closely related to your site.
For example, if you run a website about The Paleo Diet, a link from an authoritative site about unicycles won't count much.
Getting links from relevant sites will have a bigger impact on your site's visibility.
Relevance is key to getting links that will actually help your site.
Ecommerce Strategies
Guest blogging is a great way to earn quality backlinks, and it's especially effective when you provide valuable content to reputable blogs or industry publications. Consider looking for blogs that accept guest contributions and provide relevant content to their audience.
Creating high-quality, shareable content is essential for ecommerce link building. This can include infographics, surveys, or statistics, and it's a great way to generate links from relevant websites. Visual content like infographics can be highly shareable and attract backlinks.
Collaborating with influencers in your industry can help you secure high-quality backlinks. Consider reaching out to influencers who align with your brand and have a substantial following. Offering them your products for review or sponsoring their content can lead to valuable backlinks.
To build links with data, you can use public data sources to gather insights and stats. This can be a powerful tool for building links, and it's especially effective when you create a valuable piece of content that uses data. You can also search for infographic building services on freelancer platforms to gather data for you.
Creating useful content is a fundamental SEO strategy for ecommerce link building. By creating original, engaging, and helpful content, you can earn editorial links from high-authority sites. One way to generate links from relevant websites is to create highly shareable content like infographics, surveys, or statistics.
Here are some ecommerce strategies to consider:
- Guest blogging
- Creating high-quality, shareable content
- Collaborating with influencers
- Building links with data
- Creating useful content
These strategies can help you build high-quality backlinks and improve your ecommerce website's authority and credibility.
Reverse Image Search
You can use Google reverse image search to find sites using your images without attribution. This tool is a game-changer for finding "bonus" links.
Publishing visual assets like infographics and charts can lead to others using your images without giving you credit. A friendly email can often turn these opportunities into valuable links.
Google reverse image search is a powerful tool that can help you discover which sites are using your images. It's a great way to find new link opportunities and get the recognition you deserve.
You should celebrate if you find others using your images without attribution - it means your content is valuable and worth sharing. Just send a friendly email and see if they'll link back to you.
By using Google reverse image search, you can easily find sites using your images and turn them into valuable links.
Featured Images: pexels.com