Whether you’re just getting started with link building or you’re just looking for some fresh ideas, one thing is clear, it’s hard. As one of the most important elements of search engine optimization, link building may be dreadful, but it is necessary. Luckily, we’ve been doing this for a while, and we’ve come up with some great ways for small businesses and large companies alike to earn or build links to their website.
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What is Link Building?
Link building is the process of implementing relevant hyperlinks to a website from external sites. From a top level, link building requires another site linking to your website, so search engines see your site as authoritative and will therefore rank your page higher in search results.
From a top-level, link building requires another site linking to your website, so search engines see your site as authoritative and will therefore rank your page higher in search results.
How to Earn or Build Links for SEO
Once you have a better understanding of link building, it’s time to get started. One of the most important things to keep in mind when creating content for link building is to create content that will be helpful to users and worth sharing with their readers. Rather than reaching out to brands and websites looking for guest posts and backlinks, here are five ways you can earn links to your website:
1. Create videos and graphics
Visual content continues to perform best on the web, making it a great avenue for link building. By creating original visual content, like videos, infographics, or gifs, your brand has a more authentic identity. Because the internet is such a visual medium, interesting videos and graphics are more likely to be linked to than plain text. Studies show that infographics can help increase website traffic by up to 12%, and blog posts incorporating video attract 3x as many inbound links as blog posts without video.
2. Publish exclusive data
While not possible for all businesses, those with access to industry data or customer insights have an advantage for link building. Publishing unique industry-specific research is a great link-building technique. People are always looking for stats and data to link to in their articles and posts.
3. Offer a free tool
Do you have a template, guide, calculator, checklist, or conversion tool that users can access for free? These tools can easily be linked to a listicle or article for users to find. If you don’t have a free tool yet, think about what your brand can offer to the audience and make it accessible.
4. Respond to popular topics
Build authority by responding to a current trending or popular topic. Whether your response is positive or negative, a response should be authentic and demonstrate to readers that your brand is an expert on the topic, including any links to other content or sources. Responses can be a blog, video, graphic, or whichever way you publish your content.
5. Update links in relevant posts
Audit your site and older content for links that may be broken or leading to outdated content. Keeping your content updated will allow for search engines to see your site as more authoritative and it is more likely to be linked to.
Link Building Tips
Don’t forget to sign up for Google Alerts for mentions of your business, brand, or organization. If there is a positive mention and no link, ask the poster to link to your site. This should be a simple way to build links on content that’s already been created.
For more information on link building and search engine optimization, contact SMA Marketing.
