Regardless of the type of link building strategy that you’re working on, there are simple improvements that can be made to boost your efforts. It’s crucial that you spend some time on link building because it will pay off. Search drives massive amounts of traffic, and links are responsible for ranking within the SERPs. Good linking brings in good opportunities, which is why you should have dedicated individuals working specifically on SEO and link building. Just as you wouldn’t want to misjudge your SEO efforts, you don’t want to miss out on opportunities for good links.
Let’s take a look at 10 simple ways to create better link building for your company.
1. Choose the Right Partners
Select link partners that your competitors have in their link profile, or at least have a type of partner in mind. Try to work with webmasters who will respond quickly to your requests. Some will take their sweet time and may not have your link placed for several months. One way to find out this information is to look at the number of outbound links the site has each week. This will give you an idea of how willing they are to add links.
2. Personalize Your Communications
Think about the person you are trying to reach. Is it a webmaster who is happy to make quick decisions about placing your link? Or do you have to jump through hoops to make some action happen? If company politics are involved, your wait time could be much longer. Your best bet is to optimize communications by placing a phone call directly.
3. Speak on Behalf of Yourself
Rather than speaking on behalf of your company, be your own voice. Yes, you probably do represent a company, but it’s important to be personable in your communications. If the webmaster understands your position, they will be much more likely to negotiate with you. Check out some of the major social media platforms to aid in your communication. If the partner is active on at least one of them, it will be easier and faster to get a response.
4. Know How the Link Will be Used
If the partner is willing to place your link, that’s great news. But also take a look at the content on the site and determine if your link will naturally fit within the context. Does the site do business or product reviews? Industry news? Resource blogs and listicles? Also keep in mind where your links are coming from: old content or new content.
5. Determine a Ranking Effect for Each Link
To prevent yourself from spending too much time and effort on one link, determine a ranking effect for each one. Then spend only as much time as that link is worth and no more. You can use this approach across several potential link partners, but the ultimate goal is to extend it across various link building strategies and partner types. This helps you build a complete, natural link profile.
6. Provide Information that is Incomplete Without the Link
You may have had this happen to you before: You work with a partner, have the content placed and your company mentioned. However, the link is omitted. To avoid this from happening, provide information that seems incomplete without the link. A good example includes claims that can be easily verified on your site.
7. Address Controversial Topics
A great way to attract more links is to address sensitive topics. You may worry about your reputation (and rightfully so), but you can make mild statements that attract plenty of links without taking sides or voicing your opinion. Draw people in with “what if” questions that drive engagement.
8. Link with Information Rather than Products
It’s easier to generate links with information as opposed to products. Products or services can still attract links, but it takes more effort. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t try to link special services or products, but you’ll see more success linking with information.
9. Look for Relevant Keywords
Relevant keywords provide you with great linking opportunities because they align with your brand but have less competition. Keyword relevance can be found in many places. Also, if a word has multiple meanings, exchange links to help lost visitors.
10. Partners by Association
A final piece of advice is to work with partners that you want to be associated with. If the potential partner links to questionable sites, do you really want to be associated with them? What types of links are they currently providing? Are they mostly non followed? Keyword laden? Blanks? Linking is important, but you want to be associated with good linking partners as well.
Conclusion
Building a strong link building strategy is crucial. It influences how Google ranks your pages, and also boosts SEO and instills trust in visitors. However, quality trumps quantity in every instance. You want to work with strong partners and be proud of your link building efforts, otherwise you could hurt your SEO.
Also keep in mind that link building is not something that can be done on whim. It’s strategic and involves articulate planning and communication, as well as mutual relationships with other webmasters.
What types of success have you had when building your own link building strategy?
