How to Get High Quality Backlinks
In the world of search engine optimization (SEO), backlinks play a crucial role in determining a website’s authority and search engine rankings. A website with a strong backlink profile is more likely to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
In this comprehensive guide, we will explore 12 effective link-building strategies to help you acquire high-quality backlinks and improve your website’s online presence.
Resource Page Link Building
One effective link-building strategy is to target resource pages within your niche. These pages typically contain a curated list of useful resources, such as articles, tools, and websites, relevant to a specific topic. To obtain a backlink from a resource page:
– Identify relevant resource or web pages in your niche by using the search engines with queries like “keyword + resources” or “keyword + useful links.”
– Examine the page for outdated or other broken pages and links.
– Reach out to the website owner, suggest your content as a valuable addition to their website, referral traffic, and their resource page, and kindly ask for a backlink.
Use Content Formats Proven To Generate Links
Certain content formats tend to attract more backlinks than others. Examples include:
– List posts: Curated lists of tips, tools, or resources are easy to digest and share.
– “How-to” guides: Comprehensive, step-by-step tutorials on specific topics provide value to readers.
– Case studies: In-depth analyses of real-life situations or projects can offer valuable insights and make your content stand out.
Broken Link Building
Broken link building is just a link up technique that involves finding broken links on relevant websites and offering a few links to your content as a replacement. To execute this strategy:
| Finding Broken Links: | The first step in building broken links is to find websites in your area that have broken links. There are many tools you can use to help you do this job. You can use tools like Ahrefs or Broken Link Checker to look for broken links. These tools crawl websites and look for URLs that return a 404 error. With these tools, you can get a list of all the broken links on a website. |
| Making or finding high-quality content: | Once you've found the broken links, the next step is to make or find high-quality content on your very own page or website that can replace the broken link. The content should have something to do with the broken link and be useful to the people who visit the website. It's important to make sure that your content is well-written, helpful, and offers an answer or something of value that the broken link used to. |
| Reaching Out to Website Owners: | Once you've found the broken links and made your new content, you need to reach out to the website owners or webmasters who are holding the broken links. Their contact information is usually on their website or can be found by doing a WHOIS search. In your marketing email, tell them nicely about the broken link on their website and give the URL where the broken link is. Also, suggest your own material as a good replacement and explain why it is relevant and useful for the people who visit their website. |
The goal of broken link building is to make sure that both sides come out ahead. By letting website owners know about broken links and suggesting useful content to replace them, you can help them improve the user experience on their site and possibly get a backlink to your own site. If the website owner likes your content, they may replace the broken link with a link to your content. This is called a “backlink,” and it can help your website rank higher in search engines and be seen by more people.
It’s important to remember that building broken links takes time, work, and a plan. Outreach efforts won’t always work, but you can improve your chances of getting valuable backlinks by focusing on relevant websites and providing high-quality content.
Publish Ultimate Guides
Ultimate guides are comprehensive, long-form content pieces that cover a topic in great detail. They are valuable resources for readers and tend to attract backlinks naturally. To create an ultimate guide:
– Choose a topic relevant to your niche and conduct extensive research.
– Organize the information into a logical structure and write a detailed, well-structured guide.
– Promote your ultimate guide through social media, email marketing, and other channels to increase its visibility.
Publish Skyscraper Content
The Skyscraper Technique involves finding popular content within your niche, creating a superior version of it, and promoting it to relevant audiences.
To create skyscraper content:
| Finding Popular Content: | The first step of the Skyscraper Technique is to find a popular piece of content in your area. Tools like BuzzSumo or Ahrefs can help you find content that has been shared, engaged with, and linked to a lot. Look for blog posts, articles, or other types of content that have gotten a lot of attention in your business. |
| Analyzing and improving existing content: | Once you've found a famous piece of content, you should look at it carefully to figure out what makes it good and what makes it bad. Look for places where you can improve the content that's already there, add more information, or add the most recent study or data. Think about how you can make your version of the material more thorough, interesting, and useful for the audience. |
| Creating Better Content: | Using what you've learned from your research, make your own version of the content and make sure it's better and more valuable than the original. Your content should have more details, more tools, better visuals, or anything else that makes it stand out. Aim to make a piece of content that is complete, well-researched, and visually pleasing, and that gives readers a lot of value. |
| Outreach and Link Building: | Once you've made your skyscraper content, the next step is to reach out to websites that have connected to the original content. Using tools like Ahrefs, you can find websites that have linked to the famous piece of content you looked at earlier. Write personalized letters to the website's owners or editors, letting them know about your updated version and explaining why their audience would benefit from it. Ask them nicely if they would link to your content as an alternative or extra reference. |
The goal of the Skyscraper Technique is to make material that is so much better than the original that other sites will want to link to it on their own. You can get more useful backlinks if you reach out to websites that have already shown interest in the topic by linking to similar content.
It’s important to keep in mind that the success of this strategy depends on the quality and value of your content as well as how well you reach out to people. Make sure your content really is better than the original and has more information, and personalize your outreach emails to improve your chances of getting backlinks.
Build Links From Outdated Resources
Some content becomes outdated over time, and this presents an opportunity for some link building campaigns. To capitalize on outdated resources:
– Identify outdated content within your niche by using search queries like “keyword + outdated” or “keyword + old version.”
– Create a fresh, up-to-date version of the outdated content on your website.
– Reach out to websites that have linked to the outdated content and suggest your updated version as a replacement.
Create High-Quality Content That's Link-Worthy
By consistently producing high-quality content, you increase the chances of attracting natural backlinks. Focus on creating content that is informative, engaging, and valuable to your target audience. Some tips for creating link-worthy content include:
– Thoroughly researching your topic to ensure you’re providing accurate and up-to-date information.
– Using a clear, concise writing style that’s easy to understand and digest.
– Incorporating visuals like images, charts, and infographics to enhance your content’s appeal and readability.
– Regularly updating your content to keep it fresh and relevant.
– Make Use of special Tools for creating high quality Content, like for example Surferseo
Use Branded Strategies and Techniques
Developing your own unique strategies and techniques within your niche can help you stand out from the competition and attract backlinks. Examples of branded strategies include:
– Creating a proprietary method or framework related to your industry.
– Developing a unique data-driven research report.
– Introducing a new concept or term within your niche.
Promote your branded strategies and techniques through blog posts, guest articles, and social media to increase their visibility and attract backlinks.
Link Gap Analysis
A link gap analysis is a process of identifying backlinks your competitors have that your own website still lacks. To perform a link gap analysis:
– Use a free tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush to analyze the backlink profiles of your top competitors.
– Identify high-quality websites that link to your competitors websites link but not to your site.
– Reach out to site owners of these websites and pitch your content as a valuable addition to relevant sites, requesting a backlink.
Use Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
HARO is a platform that connects journalists with industry experts. By signing up as a source, you can receive requests for expert opinions and insights from journalists. Providing valuable input can earn you backlinks from reputable publications. To use HARO effectively:
– Create a profile on the HARO platform and select relevant industries or topics.
– Monitor HARO emails for queries from journalists in your niche.
– Respond promptly to relevant queries, providing detailed, valuable insights.
– Include a brief bio and a link to your website when responding to queries.
Write Testimonials
Many businesses showcase customer testimonials on their websites, often including a link back to the customer’s site. By providing a genuine, positive testimonial for a product or service you’ve used, you can potentially earn a backlink from the company’s website. To write testimonials:
– Identify products or services within your niche that you’ve used and had a positive experience with.
– Reach out to the company, offering to provide a testimonial for their website.
– Write a brief, authentic testimonial highlighting the benefits and value of the product or service.
Use Infographics to Get Backlinks
Infographics are visually appealing, easy-to-understand representations of data or information. They are highly shareable and can attract backlinks from websites that find them valuable. To create and promote infographics:
– Identify a relevant topic or data set for your infographic.
– Design a visually appealing, easy-to-understand infographic using tools like Canva or Piktochart.
– Publish the infographic on your website, along with an accompanying blog post that provides additional context and information.
– Promote your infographic through social media channels, email outreach, and guest posts on relevant websites.
Building high-quality backlinks is a critical aspect of SEO and requires consistent effort and strategy. By implementing the 12 effective link-building strategies outlined in this guide, you can improve your website’s authority, increase its visibility on search engine results pages, and ultimately drive more organic traffic to your site.
Find Broken Links to Build Backlinks
Broken link building is a strategy that involves identifying broken links on other websites and suggesting your own relevant, high-quality content as a replacement. This not only helps the website owner by fixing their broken internal links, but also provides you with valuable backlinks. Here’s how to implement broken link building:
– Use a tool like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Check My Links to find broken links on websites related to your niche.
– Analyze the broken external links to determine if you have existing content inbound links that could serve as a suitable replacement or if you need to create new content.
– Reach out to the website owner, informing them of the broken link and suggesting your content as a replacement. Be polite and helpful in your approach, emphasizing the value your content can provide to their audience.
Use Google Search Console Reports
Google Search Console is a powerful tool that provides insights into how your website is performing in search results. One of its features is the ability to generate reports that show which websites are linking to your content. You can use this information to identify potential backlink opportunities and expand your link-building efforts. Here’s how to use Google Search Console reports to get backlinks:
– Sign in to your Google Search Console account and select the property (website) you want to analyze.
– In the left sidebar, click on “Links” to access the Links report.
– In the “Top linking sites” section, you’ll see a list of websites that are linking to your content. Analyze this list to identify high-quality websites that are with relevant content to your niche and could potentially provide more backlinks.
– Reach out to these websites, thanking them for linking to your content and suggesting additional pieces of content they might find valuable. You can also propose guest post opportunities or collaboration projects to strengthen your relationship and increase your chances of earning more backlinks.
Take Part in Interviews
Participating in interviews is another effective way to build backlinks and expand your online presence. By sharing your expertise and insights with a wider audience, you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and earn backlinks from the websites that host the interviews.
To take part in interviews, follow these steps:
1. Look for websites relevant forums, blogs, and online publications in your niche that conduct interviews with industry experts.
2. Reach out to the editors or interviewers with a pitch highlighting your expertise and the unique insights you can provide on a particular topic.
3. Prepare for the interview by researching the platform, understanding the target audience, and being ready to answer questions thoroughly and thoughtfully.
4. During the interview, provide valuable information and insights, and mention your website when relevant.
5. After the interview is published, share it on your social media channels and engage with readers in the comments section to increase its reach and visibility.
Start Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is a popular and effective way to build backlinks and increase your website’s online presence. By writing high-quality, valuable content for other websites in your niche, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field, gain exposure to new audiences, and create backlinks to your own website.
To start guest blogging, follow these steps:
1. Identify relevant websites and blogs in your niche that accept guest posts. Look for websites with a good domain authority and a high level of engagement from their audience.
2. Research the type of content they publish and the topics that resonate with their audience. This will help you pitch relevant and engaging content ideas.
3. Reach out to the website owner or editor with a well-crafted pitch, outlining your proposed article topic, a brief summary, and an explanation of why it would be valuable to their audience. Make sure to personalize your pitch and showcase your expertise in the subject matter.
4. Once your pitch is accepted, write a high-quality, informative article that adheres to the website’s guidelines and includes a few relevant keywords that link back to your website, usually in the author bio.
5. Share your published guest post on your social media channels and engage with readers in the comments section to increase its reach and visibility.
Do Guest Appearances on Podcasts
Podcasts are a popular and growing medium, and being a guest on relevant podcasts in your industry can help you build backlinks, increase brand awareness, and reach new audiences. By sharing your expertise and insights on podcasts, you can establish yourself as an authority in your niche and earn backlinks from the podcast’s show notes or website.
To be a guest on podcasts, follow these steps:
1. Identify podcasts in your niche that feature guest speakers and have a good listener base.
2. Research the podcast’s format, topics, and target audience to ensure it aligns with your expertise and objectives.
3. Reach out to the podcast host with a well-crafted pitch, explaining your background, the value you can bring to their audience, and potential topics for discussion.
4. Prepare for the podcast appearance by familiarizing yourself with the podcast format, researching the host’s style, and preparing talking points on your chosen topic.
5. During the podcast, provide valuable insights and information, and mention your website when relevant.
6. After the episode is published, share it on your social media channels and engage with listeners in the comments section to increase its reach and visibility.
By leveraging guest blogging, interviews, and podcast appearances, you can create valuable backlinks and expand your online presence, ultimately boosting your website’s SEO performance.
Frequently Asked Questions Backlinks
Although it may not look easy it is still the easiest way to get backlinks: Creating and sharing high-quality, valuable content. This amazing content can include blog posts, articles, infographics, or videos. When your content is informative, engaging, and relevant to your target audience, other websites are more likely to link to it, providing you with organic backlinks.
To get backlinks for free, focus on creating valuable content and using link-building strategies like guest posting, engaging in online communities, and promoting your content on social media. You can also use tools like Help a Reporter Out (HARO) to contribute quotes and insights to journalists and earn backlinks from reputable websites.
To create a backlink for SEO, identify relevant websites in your niche and reach out to them with a request to link to your content. You can do this by offering guest posts, suggesting your content as a resource, or collaborating on content projects. Make sure your content is high-quality and provides value to websites linking their audience, as this increases the chances of them linking to it.
No. It is not. But while it is not illegal to buy backlinks, it is against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and can result in penalties if detected. These penalties can include demotion in search rankings or removal from search results altogether. It is best to focus on organic link-building strategies to avoid penalties and improve your website’s SEO performance.
To create a backlink, identify websites that are relevant to your niche and offer value to their audience. Reach out to these websites with a request to link to your content, either through guest posts, resource suggestions, or content collaborations. Ensure your content is high-quality and provides value to their audience, increasing the likelihood they will link to it.
A backlink is a hyperlink from one website to another. For example, if a blog post on Website A includes a link to an article on Website B, this external link creates a backlink for Website B. Backlinks are important for SEO, as they help establish a website’s authority and can improve its search engine rankings.
To find backlinks to a URL, you can use SEO tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush. These tools allow you to enter a URL and generate a backlinks report showing all the websites that are linking to it. You can then analyze these backlinks to identify high-quality websites and potential link-building opportunities.
Yes, YouTube videos can count as backlinks. When you create a video and upload it to YouTube, you can include a link to your website or a specific web page in the video description or as a pinned comment. This creates a backlink to your relevant page or website.
However, it is essential to note that the backlinks from YouTube are nofollow links, meaning they do not directly contribute to your website’s SEO in terms of passing link equity or “link juice.” Nofollow links are often used by websites to indicate to search engines that they should not take the link into account when ranking websites.
Despite being nofollow links, YouTube backlinks can still benefit your SEO indirectly by driving traffic to your website, increasing brand awareness, and potentially leading to additional organic backlinks if users share your content on other platforms.