Backlinks are a critical part of SEO strategy
Quality backlinks, links that point from one website to another, are critical part of SEO strategy. And any SEO expert will tell you building backlinks is very important to your overall SEO strategy.
Organic traffic is driven by backlinks
In fact, about 91 percent of all web pages never get any organic traffic from Google, and that’s mostly due to the fact that they don’t have backlinks. Don’t be one of those pages.
It is important to focus on quality not quantity
We all want to improve the search engine ranking of our website, but when it comes to getting others to link to you, it’s easy to feel lost. Plus, you don’t want just any backlink for your site. Quality, meaning that the backlink is coming from a trusted website, is important as well.
Here are seven tips that can help you grow quality backlinks for your website and improve your ranking.
Submit a pitch to guest blog
Instead of reaching out to websites and publications to ask if they will backlink to you for any number of reasons, you can switch up your pitch to vie for a guest blog or article spot on their site.
DailyStory accepts pitches for guest blog posts and backlinks.
Includes backlinks back to your website
Why? Because as part of your byline and/or author bio, a backlink can be included pointing to your website. You also could have the opportunity to include a handful of backlinks to your site within your content, depending.
But a successful pitch requires a bit more than offering free content.
Do you research
First, you’ll want to do your homework on the website you’re pitching to. Who is their audience? How would your content address something that not only appeals to that audience but also isn’t already being covered by the website itself?
Know who you need to reach out to and how. Many websites actually have “how to pitch to us” directions available that include what email address you should send your pitch to, as well as any other expectations they have of pitches.
Sign up for Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is a service that connects journalists with a variety of sources but also gives you the opportunity to get useful media coverage for your business.
Pitch your expertise
HARO distributes more than 50,000 journalist queries from highly respected media outlets each year seeking experts just like you, and you can pitch your expertise in hopes of being a source for any one of them (as it relates to your industry).
Audit your backlinks and your competitors
You can find websites that others are getting links from by conducting regular backlink audits with tools, such as SEMrush.
These websites are the most likely to accept pitches and add backlinks to your site’s content.
Create sharable and interactive content
Quality backlinks truly stem from quality content on your end. One of the highest engaging types of content is visual, and of that, infographics easily draw in an audience (and backlinks).
Infographics for popular content
People following directions with text and illustrations do 323 percent better than people following directions without illustrations.
In short, infographics are simply an effective method of visual communication.
Converting some of your blog/article information into a helpful infographic raises the value of what could have been a text-only post. Other websites will more likely share or refer to your infographic via social media or backlinks.
Videos are great ways to explain concepts
In addition, videos are a great form of engaging visual content.
About 54 percent of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support.
Depending on the video, other sites could see a lot of value in adding backlinks to you.
Post more interactive content
Just like with visual content, interactive content is more engaging and more likely to generate backlinks.
Interactive content has a wide range from quizzes to slide shares.
Because interactive content is not used as often as you might think, its uniqueness can help draw backlinks.
However, beyond backlinks, interactive content can increase a user’s time on page, which is also a positive signal for your page’s search engine ranking.
Mention and link to industry experts
As you’re creating content, consider quoting (and linking to) what the experts are saying about your topic.
It might take a little research, but it will raise the quality and trustworthiness of your own content.
The better the content, the more likely others will link to it themselves.
Give a backlink to possibly get a backlink
This can also be done first hand by interviewing an expert for your blog or article. Again, a bit more effort is needed on your part, but the payoff is that the expert could then share and/or backlink to your article as well.
Update your evergreen content
Evergreen content is content that is not necessarily time bound and is relevant either on an ongoing basis or repeatedly (seasonal content, for example).
Examples of evergreen content
Types of evergreen content include (but are not limited to):
- How-to guides
- Suggested tool lists
- History breakdowns (possible timeline formatting)
- Industry term glossary
- Infographics
While evergreen content is highly valuable for your website and the potential for backlinks, it’s all too easy to forget about it and not regularly update.
Freshening up your evergreen content is critical to keep up its relevance for others.
Offer a fix for broken backlinks
This method can be time-consuming and is not as commonly used. However, it can be incredibly effective.
Start by finding broken backlinks
Identify a few relevant, trusted websites in your industry and see if you can find any broken links. (These are more likely to happen the older the content.)
Offer a replacement link
Then, contact that website to offer your own relevant link as a replacement.
While you can speed up the process of discovering broken backlinks by using a free tool, such as Dead Link Checker, you may have to invest time in content creation if you don’t already have a relevant page to offer.
While these tips can help you grow quality backlinks, remember that there’s much more to great SEO than backlinks.
