Link building is the process of getting another website to place a hyperlink pointing to your site.
People have been using link building to help rank their sites for the last 20 years. And since then, the signal has only been getting stronger.
If you’re not sure why you have to build links, or you don’t know how it all works, keep reading; all will be revealed.
In this article:
Do I Need To Build Backlinks?
In short, yes, you do need to build backlinks, but only once you have a site worth linking to.
Spammy links will break, not make the site!
Let’s expand on this a little further:
Links signal to Google that your site is worthy of ranking in the top positions. The more links you have, the better your ranking position will be.
As long as they are built correctly.
Google originally introduced links as a ranking factor to their algorithm in 1998, and at first, it didn’t matter where the links were coming from, as long as you had them.
Now things are a little more tricky, although this isn’t a bad thing.
Over the years, Google has cared less about how many links you have. Instead, they like to focus on the relevance and quality of the links.
And as mentioned earlier, this isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it cleared up the internet by reducing the number of people spamming their links wherever they could.
The problem is, it has made it a little trickier to find solid backlinks that help you rather than hinder your progress.
Luckily the next section holds all the answers for finding and winning high-quality links.
DIY Link Building Strategies
A lot of people are opting to use link building services to help them win high-quality links. And who can blame them? It makes your life so much easier.
But, it can take out a massive chunk of your budget, which you might not be in a position to spend.
If you want to take full control of all your link building efforts and save money along the way, keep reading:
Utilize Testimonials
If you’re looking for a quick way to score some backlinks, this might be the strategy for you.
Using this strategy, you can build powerful links and you may even get lucky with a link from a homepage. It sounds too good to be true, right?
The idea is to reach out to products or services you use for your blog and offer the company a testimonial in return for a link.
Here’s a quick look at how it works:
- Make a list of products or services you use that are related to your website
- Find their contact address using Find That Lead
- Pitch your idea to the company
- Write your testimonial explaining what worked well and why it helped
- Enjoy your ranking boost
And that’s it; if you get stuck trying to think of services you can use, you can always check out what your competitors are using.
Guest Posting For The Win
You’ve probably come across this strategy before; it’s one of the most popular among SEOs and small business owners.
Guest posting can be very effective if done right.
However, blog owners have woken up to the power that links hold. This means they may charge a publishing fee, as long as this is responsible compared with their site authority and organic traffic then you should consider investing.
For this strategy, you’ll need to follow these steps:
- Find relevant websites you want to publish your content on
- Check the sites domain authority using Ahrefs
- Message the right person; you can use Find That Lead again
- Negotiate the topic, writing guidelines, price etc…
- Write awesome content the website owner would be proud to publish
Once those steps are complete, you can submit your content to be published, just make sure you have placed your link naturally within the content.
Find Broken Links
Most websites will have broken links on their website, and most of the time, the owner will have no idea they are not working.
Broken links break the user experience and kill your SEO efforts, so it pays to get them fixed.
And this is where you come in; you see, finding broken links for a site that you want a link from, opens up a unique opportunity to steal the link for yourself.
You see, finding the broken link for the owner is really doing them a favor and helps build a relationship with them.
Taking advantage of this strategy is simple; just follow these simple steps:
- Find websites you’d like a link from
- Find broken links using Ahrefs or Check My Links
- Message the site owner saying you found a broken link and you wanted to let them know
- Go for the kill and suggest replacing it with one of your links
- Score the link
It’s another straightforward strategy you can use to win quick links to your page. The most important thing to remember here is to be realistic about your targets.
Analyze Your Competitors Backlinks
This technique involves working smarter instead of harder, so what’s not to like about this strategy?
Your competition will be spending a lot of money developing their backlink profile. So why not use this knowledge to your advantage and save yourself some time and money.
The idea is to find out what links your competitors have and use that data to compete with/beat them.
- Find the people ranking in the top positions for your keyword
- Use Ahrefs to find the backlinks they have
- Find out which links are worth stealing
- Figure out how they got the link and replicate it
Remember, not all the links your competitors are using will benefit your site, which means you need to check each one to see if it’s worth building.
Get Features On Resource Pages
Most websites have a resource page that shows guides, tools, and services they feel are useful. You’ve probably seen them around without thinking too much about it.
The best thing is, it’s super easy to get listed on these pages; you just have to show your worth:
- Find resource pages related to your target page
- Message the owner with your pitch
- Get it posted on their website
This technique is super easy, but what makes it better is once you’re listed on a few resource pages, new sites within the niche will probably add you automatically.
Wrapping Up
These are just a few strategies you can use to build links, but there are so many more you can try out too.
You can learn more here.
Remember, link building only works if you have a site that’s worth linking to. This means you need to get all your SEO ducks in a row before you start building links.