Creating backlinks can be quite challenging.
As one of the key factors in SEO, link building plays a crucial role in helping websites rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
The fact is, not all backlinks are created equal, and it takes a strategic approach to build a quality backlink profile.
In this guide, we will explore more than 30 link-building strategies that will greatly assist you in creating a relevant and strong backlink profile.
Effective Link-Building Strategies & Techniques to Boost Your SEO
Let’s dive into the list of link-building techniques.
Write Guest Posts (Best Backlink Strategy)
If you are looking to expand your website’s reach and attract more traffic, guest posting can be a fantastic way to earn links from other websites.
The best part is, you don’t need any technical or coding skills to make it happen!
All you need to do is find a website that publishes content related to your industry or niche.
You can get list of guest posting websites here.
Than you have to pitch them an article idea via email.
If they think your pitch is valuable and relevant to their audience, they will likely publish your article on their site and give you credit as the author.
One of the great things about guest posting is that it allows you to include up to two backlinks within your article.
These backlinks can direct readers back to your own website, increasing your visibility and driving more traffic your way.
So if you are looking to grow your website’s presence and reach new audiences, guest posting can be a powerful tool in your arsenal.
Just be sure to choose your target sites wisely, and pitch their ideas that are both relevant and valuable to their readers.
Compile Industry Relevant Statistics Data
One of the most effective ways to do this is by creating a central hub of statistics that is relevant to your industry.
Why?
Well, content creators are always on the lookout for statistics to back up their content.
Making these statistics easily accessible can save others a lot of time and effort, and can increase the likelihood of them linking back to your website.
Don’t worry if you don’t have the data yourself – you can still compile a great resource by citing secondary sources in a clear and concise way.
Creating such a resource will provide value not just to content creators but also to anyone who wants to gain further knowledge about your industry
Think of it as a one-stop shop for all things stats-related within your field.
Curating this kind of content will demonstrate your expertise and provide a useful service to your audience, resulting in increased traffic and engagement – two things that are guaranteed to pay off.
Host competitions and giveaways
Running a contest or giveaway is definitely worth considering as an SEO link-building strategy.
To incentivize people to share your link with their followers and friends on social media, you can offer them the chance to win a prize or reward.
This can help spread the word about your brand and drive more traffic to your website, ultimately leading to more leads and sales.
Additionally, contests and giveaways can also help you build high-quality backlinks to your website, which can improve your search engine rankings and make it easier for people to find you online.
To get the most out of your contest or giveaway, it’s important to choose your prizes carefully and promote the event through the right channels.
Consider partnering with relevant influencers or brands to amplify your reach and leverage their audiences.
Overall, contests and giveaways are a great way to generate buzz and increase your visibility online.
Just be sure to approach them strategically and with clear goals in mind to maximize your chances of success.
Creating and promoting videos on YouTube.
Creating and promoting videos on YouTube can be an effective way to build backlinks, increase visibility, and engage with your target audience.
To make the most of this strategy, focus on creating high-quality, informative videos that offer real value to your viewers.
Once the video is complete, promote it on social media and other relevant platforms to attract views and make backlinks.
Backlinks building from relevant websites
Firstly, when acquiring links, it’s important to consider the relevance of the content.
The content you link from should be related to your own site’s topic, so visitors can understand why they are seeing content about your site on the page they clicked from.
Secondly, you should also check the domain authority (DA) of the website you are linking from.
This indicates the value of the site to search engines, and a higher DA means the link you receive will also have a higher value.
To ensure you acquire valuable links, be sure to check the DA and organic traffic of the website before linking to it.
Considering both content relevance and domain authority ensures that the links acquired are both relevant and valuable for the website’s search engine optimization.
Create impressive content & get natural backlinks
Content marketing is an affordable and effective way to build links for your website, as it involves creating and sharing valuable content to attract visitors.
If you want to grow your business and increase revenue, it’s worth considering incorporating content marketing into your overall strategy.
To get the best results from your content marketing efforts, it’s important to ensure that your content is relevant to your target audience.
Without high-quality and relevant content, your link-building campaign won’t generate interest or engagement, and you won’t be able to attract visitors to your website.
So, focus on creating compelling and relevant content that resonates with your audience to maximize the impact of your backlink tactic.
Get on “best of” lists
One of the benefits of being included in “best of” lists is that it can give your product or service validation and a valuable link from a reputable source.
To find relevant lists to be featured on, you can use a tool like Online Backlink Checker to analyze your competitors’ websites and identify dofollow backlinks that include terms like “best” and “top.”
To get included in these lists, you can reach out to the writer or site owner to learn about the process. While some lists require payment for placement, others are at the discretion of the editors.
Providing a compelling description of your product or service can increase your chances of being featured on the list and keep the content fresh.
Incorporating this strategy into your link-building efforts can help improve your site’s authority and drive more traffic to your site.
Connect with your industry experts
Engaging with others in your industry is a great way to increase the visibility of your website and content, potentially leading to more backlinks.
This can be done through various channels, such as attending events or utilizing social media.
For example, joining relevant Facebook Groups can provide an opportunity to participate in discussions and share helpful information and links.
However, it’s essential to avoid coming across as overly promotional, as this may turn off other members of the community.
Instead, focus on providing valuable insights and information that may lead to others linking back to your site.
Staying active in online communities can also help you discover opportunities to collaborate with other members.
For instance, if someone mentions writing a blog post related to your business, you could offer to work together and potentially gain valuable backlinks as a result.
Quality link building using images
Using eye-catching images such as infographics, graphics, or product photos can help attract more attention and encourage people to click and share your content.
This can result in more backlinks to your website.
However, it’s important to make sure that the links point to the page where the image is located, not just the image directory.
To check for image directory links, use filters in your SEO tool to search for URLs that end in image formats like .gif, .png, or .jpg. If you find any, ask the site owner to update the link to the page where the image is hosted.
You can also use Google Images to find sites using your images. If the site is credible, you can ask them to add a link to your site.
But if the site is untrustworthy, it’s best to ask them to remove the image entirely. Remember, quality backlinks matter more than quantity.
Don’t forget about local SEO
When your business appears in search results in local places, people are more likely to share your website with friends when they need relevant services.
To rank your website well in local search results, optimizing for local keywords is crucial. Here are some tips to help you with Local SEO:
- Include local keywords in the title tag of your homepage or landing page.
- Use relevant anchor text on your site’s HTML code, using exact phrases or keywords that users will type into their browser window.
- Create compelling content with local relevance, such as reviews of local restaurants, hotels, or attractions.
- Add locally relevant social media buttons to your website’s pages, making it easier for people to find and connect with you on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google My Business.
- Link to other websites that are also optimized for the same keywords, which can increase your chances of ranking higher in local search results.
It’s important to remember that while ranking well on Google or Bing is crucial, optimizing for local search can help you reach new customers and generate new leads.
Prioritizing local SEO as part of your overall SEO strategy can attract more local traffic and help grow your business.
Re-gain missing backlinks
It’s not enough to just get new backlinks, you also need to make sure your existing ones are still working.
You can use SEO SpyGlass to check for lost backlinks by updating your Backlink Page Info and recrawling selected pages.
Ahrefs is another helpful tool for tracking lost backlinks under Site Explorer > Backlink Profile > Backlinks > Lost.
There are a few reasons why backlinks can go missing, such as:
- The backlink is replaced by the site owner
- Backlink page is deleted or restricted from indexing
- Website is temporarily down
To recover a lost backlink, you need to contact the site owner and ask for help.
Depending on the issue, you may ask them to place your link on a different page, restore the backlink if it was removed, or remove any no-index directives from their pages.
Keeping an eye on your existing backlinks can help you maintain a strong link profile and improve your website’s search engine ranking.
Reach out to journalists
One effective way to do this is to collaborate with journalists, who can use their extensive network and influence to link to your content.
Journalists can be viewed as valuable partners in link building, offering unique opportunities to connect with a wider audience and improve your search engine optimization.
Building relationships with journalists and providing them with valuable and relevant content can secure quality backlinks from authoritative sources and enhance your online presence.
Leverage link-building communities
Link-building communities offer content marketers a unique opportunity to gain backlinks, connect with other industry professionals, and increase their online visibility.
These communities are made up of bloggers, website owners, and other content creators who are focused on building their online presence.
Content marketers can share their content and potentially secure high-quality and relevant backlinks by engaging with these communities.
Some popular link building communities include Reddit’s r/linkbuilding, GrowthHackers, and Inbound.org.
These communities often have guidelines in place to ensure that all links are of good quality, which can help to improve the overall quality of your backlinks.
However, content marketers should approach these communities with a genuine interest in building relationships and providing value, rather than just focusing on gaining backlinks.
Content marketers can create long-lasting connections that benefit their online presence in many ways by focusing on building relationships and providing value.
Benefits include attracting new customers, building brand recognition, and increasing industry authority.
Key takeaways:
- Link-building communities are made up of bloggers, website owners, and content creators interested in building their online presence
- Engaging with these communities can lead to valuable backlinks and connections
- Popular link-building communities include Reddit’s r/link building and GrowthHackers.
- Building relationships and providing value is crucial to success in these communities
- The benefits of participating include attracting new customers, building brand recognition, and increasing industry authority.
Skyscraper Method
The Skyscraper link-building technique gained popularity in a very short period.
Skyscraper method is all about:
- Finding top-performing content in your industry
- Creating something even better
- Then contacting the websites that linked to the original content to ask them to link to your improved content instead.
Here are the steps to execute the Skyscraper technique:
- Research high-performing content in your industry: Look for content that has a lot of backlinks and engagement, and take note of what makes it successful.
- Create something better: Use the existing content as inspiration and create something that is more comprehensive, up-to-date, or visually appealing.
- Outreach: Reach out to websites that are linked to the original content and pitch your improved content as a resource they might be interested in linking to.
Content marketers and SEOs can improve their chances of earning high-quality backlinks and improving their search engine rankings with the Skyscraper SEO backlink technique.
Offering to contribute to round-up posts or expert interviews.
Another effective way to build backlinks is by offering to contribute to round-up posts or expert interviews on relevant websites.
Sharing your expertise on a particular topic can establish you as a thought leader in your industry and build valuable backlinks in the process.
Influencer marketing strategy
Influencer marketing is a marketing strategy that has been effective for many years, and it still works well in 2023.
The ability of influencers to connect with potential customers who may not have been reached through traditional marketing channels is still very powerful.
If you’re looking for a way to expand your audience without spending on traditional advertising like billboards or magazine ads, working with influencers can be a great option.
In addition to being skilled at driving traffic to your website, influencers can also help with building high-quality backlinks.
When influencers promote your brand or content, they typically include links on their social media profiles, which can bring in more visitors to your website.
This increased traffic can also improve your search engine rankings, leading to even more backlinks.
Overall, influencer marketing can help you build your brand and attract more customers through targeted and authentic engagement.
So, if you want to take your marketing strategy to the next level, partnering with influencers is definitely worth considering.
Creating Shoulder Niche Content
Creating shoulder niche content is a powerful way to attract backlinks to your website.
Developing content that relates to your niche and other relevant niches can help tap into a wider audience and attract more links from related websites.
For example, if you run a blog about fitness, creating content about healthy eating habits could appeal to not only fitness enthusiasts but also those interested in healthy eating and cooking.
This could result in links from food and cooking blogs in addition to fitness blogs, thus increasing your backlink profile.
To start creating shoulder niche content, research related niches and identify topics that could appeal to both your target audience and those in those related niches.
Make sure the content is high-quality, informative, and provides value to the reader.
Once you’ve created the content, reach out to relevant websites in those related niches and let them know about the content.
This can encourage them to link to your content and help you attract more backlinks.
Writing testimonials for businesses and requesting a link in return.
One effective way to build high-quality backlinks to your website is by writing testimonials for businesses that you have worked with or used in the past.
When writing the testimonial, make sure to highlight the specific benefits and positive experiences that you had with the company.
Once the testimonial is complete, reach out to the business and ask if they would be willing to include a link to your website in exchange for the testimonial.
This approach can not only help to build valuable backlinks, but it can also help to establish strong relationships with other businesses in your industry.
Offering Discounts
It can be a great way to attract backlinks to your website.
Providing discounts to customers can incentivize them to share your website with their audience, resulting in more backlinks and increased traffic.
To effectively use this strategy, consider the following steps:
- Create a dedicated landing page on your website that explains the discount offer and how it works.
- Reach out to bloggers and website owners in your niche and offer them a discount code to share with their audience.
- Encourage bloggers and website owners to include a link to your landing page in their content, which can lead to more backlinks to your website.
- Monitor your backlinks to ensure that they are high-quality and relevant to your niche.
- Consider offering the discount for a limited time to create a sense of urgency and encourage more people to take advantage of the offer.
Press release creation and submission to relevant outlets
Press releases can be an effective way to generate buzz and build backlinks for your website.
To make the most of this strategy, focus on creating informative and newsworthy releases that will be of interest to journalists and other industry influencers.
Once the press release is complete, submit it to relevant outlets and promote it on social media to attract attention and create valuable backlinks.
Email Signatures for Backlink Building
Using email signatures to get backlinks can be an effortless yet effective way to drive traffic to your website.
Simply adding a link to your website in your email signature can attract over 50 additional visitors to your site each month if you send out 100 emails daily.
The key advantage of email signatures is that they require no extra effort, as you’re already sending out emails daily.
Your email signature should be simple, professional, and unobtrusive, with a clear link to your website.
This link will appear in all the emails you send out, increasing the visibility of your website and potentially attracting more visitors.
Keep in mind that your email signature should also include your name, job title, and contact information, such as your phone number and email address.
These details can help to establish your credibility and make it easy for people to get in touch with you.
Overall, email signatures are an easy and low-cost way to drive traffic to your site and increase the number of backlinks to your website.
Obtaining Links From Scraped Content
If someone copies your content without giving you proper credit, it’s called scraping, and it’s a serious issue.
In such cases, it’s crucial to reach out to the webmaster and ask for a link back to your site.
Scraping content without attribution is a form of copyright infringement, and it’s important to take action to protect your intellectual property, just like with images or infographics.
Many websites will agree to add your link or remove the scraped content to avoid DMCA complaints.
However, keep in mind that most scraper sites are not known for their quality, and getting a link from them may not bring much value to your website.
Nonetheless, taking steps to get proper attribution for your content can help increase its visibility and authority, which can ultimately benefit your website’s rankings and backlinks.
Posting internships and job openings.
If you are interested in obtaining .edu backlinks, one strategy is to leverage any job or internship openings you may have available.
For instance, if you work in the field of environmental science and have a research assistant position open, you can use it as an opportunity to secure a link back to your site.
It’s also beneficial for agencies to keep track of these opportunities in a spreadsheet, organized by industry category (e.g., healthcare, technology).
This approach can be particularly helpful when you acquire a new client in a specific niche, as you’ll already have a list of potential .edu link sources to draw from.
By utilizing this approach to simplify and expedite the link-building process, you can save valuable time and resources while still generating high-quality backlinks.
Creating and promoting webinars
Webinars can be an effective way to engage with your target audience, share your expertise, and build backlinks.
To make the most of this strategy, focus on creating informative and engaging webinars that offer real value to your viewers.
Once the webinar is complete, promote it on social media and other relevant platforms to attract views and create backlinks.
Local Listings
Adding your website to local listings can be a powerful way to acquire backlinks.
While larger platforms like Yelp can be helpful, it’s essential to keep an eye out for niche directories that are tailored to your region, city, or state.
These listings can be highly relevant and offer a great opportunity to obtain local traffic and visibility for your website.
The good news is that there are thousands of local listing sites to choose from, so it’s worth investing the effort to find the ones that will provide the most significant advantage for your website.
Target relevant local directories and submit your website to them to improve your link profile and enhance your website’s authority in your specific location.
Specific Niche-based Directories
One strategy for building backlinks is to leverage niche-specific directories.
Niche directories differ from general web directories like BOTW in that they only accept websites that are related to a specific industry or topic.
This makes them an excellent resource for acquiring relevant and high-quality backlinks that can boost your website’s search engine ranking.
Submitting your site to these directories establishes you as an authority in your field and increases your visibility within your particular niche.
It is important to do your research and identify niche directories that are relevant to your industry, as this will help ensure that your backlinks are valuable and effective.
Offline Marketing
Venturing outside of the digital realm can be a great way to increase brand awareness, drive traffic, and acquire more backlinks for your website.
Whether it’s by chatting with others at industry conferences, handing out business cards, or even putting a sticker with your URL on your car, there are many ways to spread the word about your site.
Exploring new avenues of promotion can help you reach out to new audiences and potentially discover new link-building opportunities.
Offering to be a guest on relevant podcasts.
Guest appearances on relevant podcasts can be an effective way to build backlinks and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
To make the most of this strategy, focus on identifying podcasts that are relevant to your industry and target audience, and offer to share your expertise on a particular topic.
Creating and promoting tutorials
Tutorials can be an effective way to engage with your target audience and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
To make the most of this strategy, focus on creating informative and actionable tutorials that offer real value to your viewers.
Once the tutorial is complete, promote it on social media and other relevant platforms to attract views and build backlinks.
Creating & promoting reviews of products or services
Reviews of products or services can be an effective way to build backlinks and establish yourself as a trusted authority in your industry.
To make the most of this strategy, focus on providing honest and informative reviews that offer real value to your readers.
Once the review is complete, promote it on social media and other relevant platforms to attract attention and make valuable backlinks.
Conducting product demonstrations and promoting them on social media.
Product demonstrations can be an effective way to engage with your target audience and promote your products or services.
To make the most of this strategy, focus on creating engaging and informative demonstrations that offer real value to your viewers.
Once the demonstration is complete, promote it on social media and other relevant platforms to attract views and create backlinks.
Creating and promoting case studies on social media.
Case studies can be an effective way to demonstrate the value and effectiveness of your products or services.
To make the most of this link-building strategy, focus on creating informative and in-depth case studies that offer real value to your target audience.
Once the case study is complete, promote it on social media and other relevant platforms to attract views and build backlinks.
FAQs on Link Building Strategies
What are link building and its type?
The process of obtaining links from external websites to your own website is known as link building.
This helps to improve search engine ranking and drive traffic to your website.
There are various types of link building, including broken link building, guest posting, and content syndication.
Primary difference between link-building and backlinks?
Link building refers to the process of acquiring links from other websites to your own, while backlinks are the actual links pointing back to your site from external websites.
In other words, link building is the process and backlinks are the end result.
Why is link-building difficult?
Link building can be difficult because it requires a lot of effort and time to acquire high-quality links.
It can also be challenging to identify relevant websites and develop relationships with industry influencers.
Additionally, search engines constantly update their algorithms, making it necessary to stay up-to-date on best practices for effective link building.
What are linking strategies?
Linking strategies, also known as link-building strategies, are methods used to acquire links from other websites to improve a website’s search engine ranking and increase traffic.
These strategies involve various tactics, such as guest posting, broken link building, and influencer outreach.
How do you start a link-building strategy?
To start a link-building strategy, it is important to first identify the goals and target audience of the website.
This will help determine the most effective linking strategies to employ.
Additionally, conducting competitor research, creating high-quality content, and using social media can also aid in the success of a link-building strategy.
What are some crucial elements of a successful link-building strategy?
Creating high-quality content, identifying target audiences, and conducting thorough research are among the key elements of a successful link-building strategy.
Other important factors include developing relationships with industry influencers and implementing various link-building tactics, such as guest posting and broken link-building.
What is the difference between link-building strategies and tactics?
Link-building strategies refer to the overall approach and plan used to acquire links, while tactics refer to specific techniques used to execute the strategy.
For example, broken link-building and guest posting are both tactics that can be employed as part of a larger link-building strategy.
What are the six tips for creating effective links?
Six tips for creating effective links include:
- Creating high-quality content
- Using descriptive anchor text
- Avoiding spammy tactics
- Focusing on relevant websites
- Building relationships with industry influencers
- Continually monitoring and adjusting your link-building strategy
What are the don’ts in link building?
Some don’ts in link building include:
- Buying or selling links
- Using link farms or automated link-building tools
- Using irrelevant anchor text
- Spamming forums or comment sections with links
- Neglecting to monitor the quality of your links
When should I start link building?
Link building should ideally begin as soon as your website is launched.
It is an ongoing process that takes time to see results, so the earlier you start, the better.
Read:
How Long Do Backlinks Take To Work in 2023?