Link building has always been the core of sound search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. In over two decades of existence, Google has undergone a myriad of changes that have, in turn, given new meaning to link building. At its advent, link building was all about the number of links.
Your site had more links to rank higher on Google search pages. More links meant a higher ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). Today, the game has changed. Google has shifted its focus, putting quality over quantity. With the top page getting a click-through rate of 32%, you need all the techniques to increase your leads. Here are some tips for a link-building strategy that works.
1. Apply Strategic Guest Blogging
Blog posts are of great help if we are talking link building in SEO. First off, readers visit sites to be informed and entertained. The idea behind guest blogging is getting new people to notice you, thus building your audience.
For guest blogging, you write articles in your niche for other websites and insert links to your page on them. That’s it! The articles are posted on other sites where readers can find your landing page, thus increasing your online presence.
Finding guest blogging prospects is relatively easy. Do what everyone else does and look for sites that invite guest bloggers using Google search operators. You may also cold pitch to sites you would like to do guest blogs for. This is often the best way to do it because you know best what kinds of sites you would like to post for, and most sites will let you blog as a guest even if they don’t explicitly state it.
2. Broken Link Building
There are three steps to this stratagem. First, you have to find relevant broken links on websites. Now that you have the broken resources create something similar to these. Invite anyone still linking to the dead resources to link to your resource.
It may sound like too much work for a single backlink, but there are hacks to make things easier for you. Use the Broken Link Checker tool on Ahref to see all the sites with the broken link on them. This is the number of people swapping a dead link for a working one. Hacks like these help you build your broken link-building strategy to get hundreds of referring domains linking to you.
3. Be a Thought Leader
Thought leaders are authority sites in an industry. They are always publishing new content and coming up with new ideas about their field of profession. These are the sites that people will trust and refer to as proof. As such, it pays to be a thought leader in your industry.
In growing your audience, thought leadership also favors your Google ranking making you more visible on search engine results pages. As more people gravitate to your content and resources, Google starts to look at you as an authority in your field.
4. Use Infographics
Among the 56 percent of companies that use infographics, 84 percent report this as effective for link building. That’s because most people will head for the infographics before looking at the rest of your content. One feature of infographics that makes them such a gem is that they cram up lots of information like statistics, research, data, and findings you want to tell your audience.
When they came out, infographics would go viral for the simple fact that they were infographics. Now they have become commonplace, so you must do more to get yours out there. Make sure to add share buttons to your infographic and make it good. One way to make your infographics even more captivating is to use Gifographics as much as possible. Gifographics use the same model but with gifs for added visual appeal. The way to do it is to find a graphic designer to make one for you. This will cost you a pretty penny, so you should know beforehand that it doesn’t come cheap.
5. Cultivate Your Social Media Presence
Social media is big now and has revolutionized SEO in more ways than one. These days companies are using social media to gain traction because it works like a charm. Social media networks can significantly boost your link-building strategy and effort at guest posting. Your brand needs a social media presence because this is one of the most viable options for sharing new updates, images, and posts.
The other thing about social media is building engagement since you can interact with your clients one-on-one. Make targeted posts about the helpful information your audience finds and add links to it where they can click to reach your site. The key is to keep information terse to build curiosity among your post viewers so they click on links.
Final Word
Content is the driving force behind your online business. One of the challenges to creating content is frequency. With an excellent link-building strategy, the content you put out today could serve you for years. It is important to remember that link building has moved from quantity to quality. With the tips outlined above, you can improve your link-building strategy to enhance your ranking on search engines and your authority in your industry. Be smart about combining these; you will be surprised just how well they work when put together.
