What is link building, and how did it begin?
Link building is a marketing strategy in which you try to get a link to your website placed on someone else’s website to enhance SEO. This practice began in the late 1990s after the birth of search engines such as Alta Vista and Yahoo. Before this time, Links had little influence on search engine ranking; they were indeed just a way to traverse the World Wide Web with the least amount of typing. When Google appeared, along with its legendary PageRank algorithm, link building became more and more important.
At first, link building was a strange world, with links being acquired with various practices of little substance. Most people would be happy to link to your site if you provided a link to theirs, no matter how relevant the sites were to one another. Some people would use systems such as link farms that existed only to create a network of interlinked pages, which would feature very little content or content of no value. Then, of course, you could pay websites to host a link to your site. All sounds more silly than strategy now, doesn’t it?
Well, times have changed, and so has the way we obtain links. We can all thank Google for that. As Google tightened the link-building belt and cracked down on manipulative link-building strategies of the past, everyone had to adjust how they acquired backlinks. I don’t know about all of you, but I’m glad it happened; too many times as a teenager, I would be crashing Chrome with too many tabs open, and too many times, the words “aww snap” got drummed into my head as I had to restart my browser, ahh nostalgia. Nowadays, when you are on a website, you can expect any links hosted within to take you to relevant parts of the web that will actually help you on your quest, not just waste your time; hallelujah!
Well, that’s enough of a history lesson for all of us. So, let’s take a look into the world of link building today and how to gain cyberspace real estate fairly and honestly!
The Current State of Link Building in 2024
Quality Over Quantity
Where once we strived to gain as many backlinks as possible, the tides have truly turned. Search engine rankings are not affected simply by how many links there are to your page but by the quality of the links themselves. When seeking to acquire links, you should set your sights on pages relevant to your own that feature high-value content; the optimal placement for a backlink would be on a page that is seen as an authority in your field.
Natural and Organic Links
Natural and Organic links are very similar to each other. Natural links generally occur with no intervention from the website or its owners. These links can be from all parts of the web, including social media. These links occur as someone is interested in your website or company and wants to tell others about it. You can expect to have a natural source of these links that will grow steadily over time as long as you provide high-value content and people like your brand.
Organic links are very much the same. However, these usually occur after some effort on the part of the brand, be it a marketing strategy that is aimed towards creating content that people want to share or via tactics such as outreach, guest blogging and promotion. These are not links obtained through any outdated practices, such as directly purchasing backlinks. Both these types of links are very valuable to a business as they usually come from relevant sites, therefore positively contributing to your search rankings.
Strategies for Obtaining Backlinks in 2024
High-Quality Content
It should be a rule of thumb that if you are going to produce content, you should make it high-quality content. Thinking this way helps not only with obtaining backlinks but also with all of your marketing efforts. There simply is no need to produce content just for the sake of producing content. Do you really want to sit and read something that is of no value to you? Are you going to discuss that content with others or share it on your website or social channels? The answer is no. So, how do we produce that high-quality content?
Research
A good way to create high-quality content is to research the content you are producing; organizations have whole sections dedicated to research and development; why? Because it works. The more you know about something, the better prepared you are to apply it to your business. Treat content the same way. Highly researched blog posts, industry reports, or comprehensive guides have a lot of value. Would you rather read “A Brief Guide to Marketing,” or would you like to read “The Ultimate Guide to Marketing”? If you can create content that can be viewed as a go-to reference, many different sites will link to your content.
Case Studies and Success Stories
Real-world examples are a great resource for your audience. If you relate a process to a real-world example, such as a case study, the topic automatically becomes much clearer and more relevant in a person’s mind. The same goes for success stories. This type of content is highly shareable as it is more credible than simply sharing the strategy or initiative itself.
Linkable Assets
Infographics
Infographics can be a great feature to add to your content. If you are able to explain a complicated topic in an easy-to-understand infographic that saves people time and effort, they will want to show others! However, it doesn’t have to be just complicated topics. Displaying statistics in the same way can be just as appealing. Just make sure you are choosing valuable statistics that people in your industry want to know about.
Video content such as tutorials and demonstrations can be very valuable to your audience. As long as you are providing high-value content, communicating it in an easy-to-consume way such as this is another great way to get you seen.
Interactive Tools/ Calculators
Providing a resource that people can use to help them in their everyday lives or business processes is one surefire way to make your content shareable. How many of you use tools such as Google’s Currency Converter or perhaps a BMI calculator? Little things like these can make your life a whole lot easier. If they are of worth to an individual, you can find your content referenced in blogs and social media. If your content helps a business, it may also appear in industry articles or news websites.
Guest Blogging
Helping out another website by providing free content for them in return for a backlink is a practice that goes back many years. Not only does the website get free content to add value to their site, but you will also get a chance to add a brief bio section to your post with a link to your website or social media. It’s a win-win all round. Concentrate on providing content for websites or blogs that focus on your industry to gain valuable, relevant backlinks. If you can write a guest blog for a site that has a high authority in your industry, that’s even better!
Collaborative Content
Interviews and Opinions
People love to hear the views of others, especially when they are recognizable figures. Try seeking out an interview with an industry expert or an influencer in your field and documenting that on your website. You provide information to your reader and give the person you interviewed a resource they can link to their audience. It doesn’t have to just be industry experts or influencers either; perhaps there is a business you admire for its processes or an industry standard they have set; you can reach out to its marketing department and ask for an interview with someone on the topic. If the content you produce is going to be a positive marketing resource, they will normally be happy to oblige and, in the process, give you another backlink.
Newsworthy Content
Press Releases
Press releases are a great way to update your audience on the goings on within your company, be it new company initiatives, company strategy changes, or new product reveals. They are also a great way to get the attention of sites such as Google News. Most of the content on Google News is collected from sources that are signed up to the program as a news provider; however, content such as press releases often make its way onto the service via Google’s regular crawling activity. If Google deems the content newsworthy, it will appear on Google News. This will, of course, provide not just a backlink but a high-profile backlink that will drive lots of traffic for a short amount of time.
Surveys and Polls
Is there a topic within your industry that you think needs a little more attention, such as an underrated process or a new initiative? Then, try looking into how people are capitalizing on this and back up your findings with a survey or poll that provides more insight into the topic. If the result of your survey provides new information to the world on the topic you have chosen, you may find yourself being referenced by other websites, providing you with some nice backlinks in the process.
Additional Strategies
Broken Link Building/ Replacement Content
This link-building strategy is slightly different from the others we have mentioned. Broken link building is a process in which you search for websites with broken links then offer your content as a replacement for the broken link. Don’t worry. You don’t need to go through every site manually to do this. Utilizing tools like those available on Semrush can help you identify broken links on different websites. From there, you just have to contact the website offering your content as a replacement. You can offer up existing content or go one step further and create an in-depth piece of content specifically to chase that link. It all depends on how much time you have and how beneficial it would be to have a link from your chosen site.
However, with this idea in mind, you don’t just have to target broken links. If you can provide more comprehensive content for an existing working link on a website, the website may be willing to replace the link with a link to your content instead.
Updating and Republishing Old Content
Sometimes, you don’t have to just write new content. The film world is a perfect example of this. Many old films have been rebooted and still earn a lot at the box office. Sometimes, the new version even outperforms the original. Some pieces of content will always be interesting, although you may have to update them a bit to keep up with current technology or trends. Or even add to them to make them an even better resource for your audience.
Utilizing Social Media and Community Engagement
Cross-promoting your content is always a great idea, and social media is a great way to do this. However, don’t just limit yourself to one channel. If you have a presence on three or four different types of social media, then why not take advantage of the free advertising? You don’t have to stop at regular social media channels like Facebook or Instagram. Social platforms such as Reddit and Quora are brilliant in the fact that they provide the world with answers to everyday questions. On Quora, people will ask questions about something and wait for the world to reply with their information and opinions. Offering up your experience and a link to relevant content as solutions to their problems can be a great way to build backlinks. The answers you provide are seen by the person asking and the rest of the platform. The same goes for Reddit; Reddit can be particularly advantageous as it often has different areas for different topics and can concentrate on very specific niches. Give problem-solving a try. It can be very beneficial.
As you can see, there are many different strategies for gaining backlinks that can result in credible links. While you can concentrate on one strategy, using multiple really does have its benefits. When you are producing your content, just remember that content optimized for mobile will be a more shareable asset than that which is not.
Key Takeaways
- Link building is a process that has truly evolved since the first days of the internet and search engines; the focus has turned away from manipulative link-building strategies and towards gaining credible links on relevant authoritative sites.
- The quality of a link is far more important than quantity when it comes to search rankings.
- Focus on creating High-quality, well-researched content that resonates with your audience, and people will link to it.
- Providing shareable assets such as infographics, videos and online calculators and tools can be a great way to increase your backlinks.
- You can gain backlinks by guest blogging for other websites in your niche. This not only increases your links but your authority as you are seen by their audience, too.
- Try collaborating on content and providing your audience with interviews and opinions from other sources.
- If you publish newsworthy content such as press releases, sites such as Google News can pick up on this and highlight your content, driving high amounts of traffic.
- Broken link building can be a good strategy for gaining extra links by offering your content as a replacement for the broken link.
- Utilizing social media for cross-promotion and spending time engaging with the community can give you lots of opportunities to gain new links.