Yes, you are reading it well, I use the L-word, link building: linking to your website on other websites so that your website gets higher in Google.
If you read the blog articles about SEO, it sometimes seems like it’s no longer allowed to work. But the people who wear their shoes in the daily SEO mud know that your website will not rank without backlinks.
Good positions in Google
For clarity: Google’s good positions start with keyword research and ensure that the site is technically sound and optimized for your key terms. This is called ‘on-page SEO’ and is becoming increasingly important. But this article is not over.
This article is about what you can easily do outside of your own website to get higher in Google. That’s what they call ‘off-page SEO’, and in the past, it was called ‘disrespectful’ link building.
What can you do?
There is a lot to read, maybe too much. But this article is about what you can do easily, and then there’s a lot! Because once you’ve tried it, you know. 90% of what you read online about link building is unusable for most readers of this blog:
- You do not have ‘top content’ yet.
- You do not have that expensive tool at your disposal.
- You do not have a network of own Link Exchange websites.
- You do not have hundreds of hours available.
- You do not have the budget to enable a desk.
Content Marketing
Due to the above reasons, content marketing for many website owners is not feasible. Do not get me wrong; I also think that content marketing should be the driving force behind your online presence. If you are doing well, you will find relevant and strong backlinks.
You can already do a lot to improve your rankings without setting up a comprehensive content strategy. That’s why I’ve put the methods I know for you in a row.
Things to watch out for
In order to make no red flags go to Google, it’s important to note the following points in 2017-18:
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Do not go for volume
Go for relevancy and reputation. 20 to 30 relevant links from different websites of a fair amount of quality are often enough to rank highly for most search terms.
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Note your subcontractor
Do not assign someone to link building if you are not 100% sure that he or she does not use software to automatically build a large number of links for you.
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Try to get links from “respectable” websites
See the website and follow your feelings; is this spammy or not? (Or ask an SEO specialist to check their backlink profile.)
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Try to get links from different websites
Note that there are not many links from the same website, but do not make your presence too “thin” on forums and social media sites.
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Change the anchor text
Use the search term in no more than 30% to 40% of the backlinks.
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Use Tools for Better Results
To see how strong pages are from which you get a link, you can use the Moz toolbar. This is free to install for Chrome and Firefox. This toolbar shows you how strong a page is through the Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA). To see which strong backlinks your competitor has, you can use Moz Open Site Explorer.
Existing relationships and services you use
Create a list of companies you work with, and consider how to get a link from them. You can ask suppliers to exchange a testimonial for a link. Imagine with the buyer or networker of the case (you may be) that he or she is always on the verge of acquiring links.
Claim your link
Google your business name, and see where your name is without having posted a link to your website. Mail the owner to request a link. So well-groomed, great chance of success!
Social Media Profiles
Sign up for relevant social media websites. On your profile page, you can create a link to your website. In any case, think of Google+, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest.
Press releases
Less difficult than it seems, and if you often spend one, you will surely see results. Think of topics like innovations, product launches, contests, lectures, company news, and so forth. You can think of a press release for every company!
Make sure that your blog contains a background article that you refer to in the press release. For example, the results of the survey or the conditions for the match. Then you get a lot of backlinks in one go.
Make a list of addresses of the media relevant to you. Think of the regular newspapers and magazines, but also the specific journals from your industry, or the industry of your customers.
Think of local publications, both on paper and online.
Forum Links
Find out which forums are relevant in your market. Google otherwise finds the name of your market with ‘forum’. For service providers, you can think of Higher level.
Join in discussions on the forums. Respond to new posts, preferably as one of the first. If possible, give the final answer. Do this as widely as possible and possibly with links to substantiation on other sites.
In forums, those comments often contain a link to your profile page where the link to your website is. Reacting is actually internal link building on that forum, which makes the link to your website ever stronger!
Bloggers
Create a list of bloggers from your niche. Find the blogger’s email address. Build a relationship by making sure they know your name, giving them something. Submitting subtly to placing a link. First, build an (online) relationship with them:
- Respond to their blogs a few times or retweet something.
- Please promote a blog on Twitter and ask for the review.
- After a couple of contacts, make a suggestion:
- Offer them your product or service free of charge, say what it’s normal and ask in return to reshare something on their blog.
- Scan their site on broken links with the Broken Link Checker, and report it.
- Suggest a guest blog. There are bloggers usually open to it.
Buy Links
Google does not like purchased links. So you cannot do it better. But the practice is that your link profile requires a handful of stronger and relevant links. So what I recommend is:
Look for the strongest backlinks of websites that rank high on your keyword. Use the Open Site Explorer in the free 30-day trial of Moz Pro. Send a message to the website owner and ask if you can get a “do follow” link on their website (because you have an important website that belongs to it, etc.).
And you will find that it costs a lot.
Collect a number of offers, compare the Page and Domain Authority with Open Site Explorer or Moz’s toolbar, negotiate as you can and choose. Often you have to pay a year, and if you buy more links you get a discount. Make sure you do not collect more than 10 to 15 links in this way to minimize the risks.
Bonus: Local Search Results
If it is important for your website to go up in Google local search results, please update your address on as many websites as possible.
Make sure that the name and address are exactly the same, which is important.
One more note …
I recommend that you check your starting position before you begin by checking an SEO specialist:
- what search terms should you target
- Whether your website is technically in order;
- Whether your on-page SEO is good;
- or the backlinks you already have are in order.
If there are any problems, your work will produce little results! There is no harm in discussing the link building approach with the specialist, he will give you some valuable tips. With a couple of hours of research, he will come to the conclusion.
Success!
