In this guide, we review the aspects of Link Building for SEO, importance of link building in seo, types of link building, and how to create link building in seo.
Link building is an essential part of any SEO strategy, but it’s not just a quick fix. Link building can help you find new prospects and build relationships with people who are influential in your industry, which can lead to more customers. However, link building takes a long term effort to be successful—don’t expect immediate results when starting out!
Link building is also important because it helps with your search engine rankings. Search engines like Google use links as signals to determine what pages are most relevant for certain keywords or phrases. So if you have more links than your competitors have pointing at your website, then that means that Google will rank you higher than them in the search results pages (SERPs).
Link Building for SEO
Link building is one of the most important aspects of SEO. It can be difficult to understand, though, so I’m here to help you get a handle on what link building is and how it works.
What is Link Building?
Link building is the process of acquiring backlinks to your website.
A link is a reference to your content or site, and backlinks are links from other websites that point back to your site. Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors in Google, which means that they could help you rank higher than others in search results. There are many different ways to earn backlinks:
- Social media shares and likes
- Forum posts
- Press releases
Why Do You Need Link Building?
Link building is the most important thing you can do to improve your search engine rankings. Links are the only way for people to discover your content, and they’re also the only way for them to share it on social media or email with friends. You need links!
- Links are still very important for SEO.
- Links help Google find your content on other sites, which helps with their search algorithm (and therefore rankings).
On-Page vs. Off-Page SEO
On-Page SEO is the work you do on your website to improve its search engine ranking. Off-Page SEO is the work you do to improve your website’s ranking in search engines by creating links to your website from other sites.
On-page SEO includes:
- Creating backlinks (links pointing at your site) with anchor text that matches the words used in Google’s search algorithm.
- Ensuring that each page on your site has a unique title tag and meta description, so that it appears as relevant when someone searches for it.
- Optimizing images with ALT tags and titles so they are recognized by crawlers as relevant content instead of just images or information about an image (metadata).
Types of Backlinks
When building links, there are three main types of backlinks you should look to create:
- Internal links: Links that link one page on your site to another. An internal link is any hyperlink that points from a web page to another internal page on the same website. This can be used for navigation between pages or can offer additional information about a topic in the current page’s content.
- External links: Links that lead away from your site and point to other websites, usually as a way of providing more information for readers interested in learning more about what you have to offer or need more detail on particular topics related to yours (such as when referencing an article on Wikipedia).
- Nofollowed links: These are the most common type of backlink because they don’t count toward search engine rankings but still help build credibility among visitors who see them listed at the bottom of each post or article. While they don’t influence search engines directly, they do affect how people perceive your site through social media sites like Twitter and Facebook—so it’s important not only for SEO purposes but also branding ones too!
White Hat vs. Black Hat Link Building
White hat and black hat link building are two ways of acquiring links to your website. The difference between them is in their approach: white hat means you follow the rules; black hat means you don’t.
White Hat Link Building is a process that uses methods such as finding relevant websites and contacting them directly, asking for an editorial link in exchange for something of value (i.e., a guest post). It’s more time-consuming, but it also has more long-term benefits because every effort is made to ensure no spammy tactics are used (which may result in penalties from Google). The best part? You can do this yourself!
Black Hat Link Building involves using methods such as paid backlinks or buying users on forums with your content so they can upvote your posts. While there was once evidence that these tactics were effective, Google has cracked down hard on black hat practices, making them extremely risky—and possibly useless—methods of getting links these days.
importance of link building in seo
While SEO and link building have always gone hand-in-hand, the importance of building high-quality links has never been a higher ranking factor. It’s often the single reason that one page ranks more highly than a competitor’s. As a result, it’s essential to understand the importance of link building as part of a high-quality SEO campaign to compete for online visibility and links to your site.
Whether you’re new to link building, or you’ve been building backlinks for a while now, this blog is designed to help you understand link building, its importance, the types of links you can acquire, and how link building can benefit your business.
Specifically, our latest blog will cover the following points:
What is Link Building?
Link building is simply the process of building hyperlinks from other websites back to your own. Search engines crawl the links between the individual pages on your website and the links between entire websites to determine what counts as a good link.
A link to your site sends a signal to Google that your website is a quality resource on the subject, worthy of a citation. Sites with more backlinks tend to earn higher rankings from Google. SEOs often refer to this as “link juice”.
There are many types of link-building techniques you can use, and while they all vary in difficulty and complexity, link-building is one of the time-consuming parts of an SEO’s job. And not all links are created equal. For example, a link from the Guardian or a .gov address will be of a lot more value to you than one from an unknown travel blogger’s website.
Why is Link Building Important for SEO?
Link building is an important part of SEO services because it helps search engines discover new web pages, and determines which pages should rank higher in the SERPs.
Google says of link building:
“In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by creating high-quality sites that users will want to use and share.”
Meaning that when using link-building strategies, your focus should be on earning links because you’ve created great content that your users want to share – and not just link-building to improve your position on search engines. Link building is one of the most important ranking factors for Google, alongside:
White hat SEO vs Black hat SEO
When it comes to link building, there is a right way and a wrong way. For the long-term viability and performance of your website, your link-building tactics should be done naturally, and follow the webmaster guidelines set in place by Google.
White hat SEO is the process of using organic link-building tactics to better your online visibility in search results. These techniques get a thumbs up from Google, but usually take more time than black hat techniques. White SEO link-building techniques could include:
Black hat SEO methods are unethical practices that help your website rank on search engines. These methods are generally frowned upon by Google, and, if Google finds that your techniques violate their quality guidelines, your site could get hit with a manual penalty. These can cost you your hard-earned rankings and take a lot of time to remove and get SEO performance back on track.
Black hat SEO techniques include:
And basically anything malicious or spammy.
What Kinds of Links Are There?
In SEO, links are classified depending on what kind of attribute they have. Attributes can be added to links that tell Google’s algorithm crawler how to “count” this link. Traditionally, there were only two kinds of attributes – ‘follow’ or ‘no follow.’ However, in 2019, Google announced that they were expanding this lineup to include ‘UGC’ and ‘Sponsored’ attributes.
Follow Attribute
Follow is the standard attribute assigned to every link automatically – meaning that every link on the web is automatically a ‘Follow’ link unless specified otherwise. . Follow links are a vote of confidence to Google, particularly when that link comes from certain websites.
‘No Follow’ Attribute
There is also a “no follow” attribute that can sometimes be applied. Note the rel =”nofollow” attribute below:
This tells Google not to pass any PageRank, or “link juice” to this link. Essentially, you’re telling Google not to trust the link and that it shouldn’t be considered in your backlink profile.
Why might you use a nofollow? They are more useful than you might expect. Nofollows allow websites to gain total control over the links that are added to their pages.
Remember the Black hat SEO tactics we mentioned?
Well, in the times before the nofollow attribute, spammy SEO techniques were rampant, with SEOs trying to artificially boost their websites. With the introduction of the nofollow, most spammers won’t bother posting irrelevant links since they know they won’t get a “follow” link.
While you still see spammy blog comments and websites, it dampened the practice and weakened the effect it has on more authoritative websites.
You might be wondering where these “no to follow” links belong. Nofollow links can be used in:
These are the types of places where users can freely post and add links. Since it isn’t practical to moderate every single spammy link, you can choose to add a “no follow” to all links posted by other users, however, this is down to the discretion of the website. For example, you might choose to reward a user who regularly engages with your discussion.
‘UGC’ and Sponsored Attributes
We spoke before about the two new attributes introduced in 2019 – ‘UGC’ and ‘Sponsored.’ However, it’s probably more truthful to think of these two as extensions of the traditional ‘No Follow’ attribute. This is because, like ‘no follow’ links, they don’t pass PageRank like ‘Follow’ links do.
Why did Google add two new attribute categories? It’s because these two attributes were developed for two specific use cases:
Sponsored
As its name suggests, the Sponsored attribute was designed for sponsored links – advertisements. The web is filled with a lot more advertisements in the 2020s than it was in 2005, and as the importance of links has only increased in the past fifteen years, more and more site admins have become wary of low-quality links on their websites.
In the past, linking admins may have attributed these links as ‘No Follow’ – which meant they were non-existent in terms of SEO and Google’s benefit – or left them as ‘Follow’ – which could risk a target site’s PageRank.
So, to maintain the balance between the need for advertisements and the need for good-quality backlink profiles, Google introduced the Sponsored attribute. As a result of this introduction, both Google and site admins can sort untrustworthy ‘No Follow’ links from useful ‘Sponsored’ backlinks.
UGC
We might be past the days of forums dominating the internet, but there’s more user-generated content on the internet than ever. Between Reddit, Quora, Youtube and the like, the internet is jam-packed with folks creating content.
In much the same way as advertisements created a problem for site admins, this user-generated content also proved problematic. Certain sites may not wish to provide the editorial endorsement that backlinking provides to Reddit, for example. And while a site admin could have just set these links as ‘No Follow,’ this provIded no tangible benefit to Google or SEOs. UGC attributes solve this problem.
types of link building
Digital marketing plays an important role in the new normal of electronic marketing these days. Much of digital-link marketing is rooted in search engine optimization (SEO). One of the proven techniques of SEO is link building. After completing your website with the best design and content, check if the website includes link bait or content that attracts backlinks. A backlink is a link that allows you to go to another website in just one click. Creating these backlinks to promote something is a process called link building.
Among the most common link-worthy content baits are informative guides, an in-depth analysis, newsworthy videos or articles, controversial writeups, or anything that helps people visualize something that is hard to grasp. You don’t need to ask; people will want to refer to you by creating backlinks.
Different Types Of Link Building
If you are a first-timer and you feel that link building is something difficult, no worries. This article summarizes seven (7) different types of link building to try.
1. Community Site Link Building
In digital marketing, there are so many channels that you can use, so you need to pick the right platforms and channels. If your website has a community and you want people to discuss your products, services, or contents, one type of link building that will suit you is called community site link building.
In community site link building, you’ll be building your links on forums and message boards such as Reddit or Quora. On these social media platforms, you’ll find communities that share the same passions and interests as the ones on your site. This way, you’ll be able to target specific audiences on these forums and message boards.
For example, on Reddit, find a forum with a topic related to your website. When you find people in that forum who are interested in what you write about, engage with them, and create a link to your website.
2. Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is one of the most common types of link building. You write an article for another website with content that relates to your website. Then, in the article, you create a link to your website. This link should look natural or organic and not out of place. You can benefit from the viewers and followers of that website. This has proven to be an effective method for building links.
For instance, the XXX website is more popular than yours. You can write an article featuring a topic that involves your blog’s specialty. Then, with the approval of the owner of the XXX website, it will be published on the XXX website.
3. Outreach Link Building
Another common type of link building is called outreach link building. This is perfect when you’re just starting out in digital marketing for your website. Try and contact as many bloggers and website owners as you can.
You need to contact blogs or website owners to help and create links from their websites to yours. The challenge is convincing them and giving them a reason to do so. You need to be relevant so that people will be interested in linking to your website.
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4. Advertorials
Advertorials are another type of link building where articles are published on a website as a form of advertisement. You will need to pay someone to write an article about you and then pay to post it on a website to get more traffic to your website. For instance, you can find influencers who accept payment and write testimonials, reviews, or how-tos about your products or services.
5. Self-Created, Non-Editorial Link Building
Self-created, non-editorial link building uses different ways to insert your links through unconventional ways. Some examples of these are:
6. Top-List Link Building
Top-list link building is another type of link building where you find major keywords and use these in your content to draw more visitors to your website.
To do this, you need to check your website and analyze its major keywords. Then, identify the top keywords that the members of your target market often use. Combine the two and create content that includes these top keywords.
If your article is time-sensitive, then you need to pick the right time to post your content. Utilize the right keywords at the right time to get the most views and visits to your website. Link bait can help you out with this type of link-building.
7. Podcast Guesting
A digital audio file that you upload for others to download is called a podcast. There are websites dedicated to podcasts that serve as avenues where you can build your link. Podcasts have become very popular around the world, and podcast audiences are people who love listening to them.
Participating as a guest on a podcast platform will let you speak to your targeted audience. Try and access one of the podcast sites and ask if you can be a guest. Of course, a little research can help you choose the podcast sites that best fit the niche of your website. You can even provide a pitch and see how it works out.
how to create link building in seo
Backlinks are an important part of any SEO strategy, but they’re not a set-it-and-forget-it kind of win. Backlinks can disappear, become toxic, or just become less relevant as time goes by. That means you have to continue to find new backlink opportunities to keep your search ranking high.
I spend all my working hours thinking about SEO and helping people improve theirs, so I’ve learned a lot of creative strategies for getting backlinks. Here are the seven I recommend the most.
1. Replicate your competitors’ SEO backlinks
Figuring out who’s linking to your competitors is a huge win. Competitor backlinks will almost certainly be on sites that are relevant to your niche, so you know they’d be quality backlinks for SEO.
This could be a massive manual project, but there are tools (free and paid) that help you analyze the backlink profiles of your competitors. I’ll use my free tool, Online Backlink Checker (part of Link-Assistant.com), as an example, but the process would be pretty similar for any other software.
All you need to do is open the tool, enter the competitor’s URL, and click Check backlinks. The tool will audit the domain and generate a backlink profile, including the number of backlinks, the percent of dofollow backlinks, and historical data. Here’s what that might look like.
Scroll down, and you’ll see the actual list of backlinks. To get the most powerful prospects, you can filter the results by Page InLink Rank and Dofollow.
Take a look through the backlink pages, pick the most powerful opportunities, and then reach out to those sites to see if they’d be willing to link to your site. Just one thing: before you reach out, check to see if you already have a backlink from those providers—if you do, acknowledge that before asking for another.
2. Use the broken link building strategy
Broken link building is the process of finding backlinks that lead to 404 pages on other sites, contacting those sites, and suggesting they replace the 404 link with the one leading to a similar page on your website. It’s a great way to get backlinks while also offering value to the site giving you the backlink.
There are two primary ways to find these broken backlinks:
Find broken backlinks from your competitors
You can use a backlink analysis tool (mine is called SEO SpyGlass) to do this kind of analysis. You’ll be able to filter results to find high-authority dofollow backlinks that are throwing a 404 error.
These backlink providers are now your prospects. Visit the page the broken link comes from, see if you have a relevant page to replace it with, and if so, reach out to suggest the replacement. If it truly is relevant, they might use your link because it helps them eliminate a 404 without having to take the time to find a good replacement.
Analyze the website you want backlinks from
If there’s a specific site you want backlinks from, you can analyze it to see if it has any relevant broken links. In my tool, WebSite Auditor, this information is presented in the Site Structure > Site Audit > Links > Broken links module.
Once again, if you have a relevant replacement, offer it up to the site owner. If you think it would be a valuable enough backlink, you could even create new content that you then offer them—but keep in mind that there’s no guarantee the effort you put in will be rewarded.
One last thing: be transparent with the people you’re reaching out to. Don’t make it sound like you’re just trying to help them—be clear that the link you’re suggesting they use is from your website, and that you think it would be a relevant replacement. The person making the decision is a real human who will see right through you if you try to hide that.
3. Try to regain missing backlinks
In addition to getting new backlinks, it’s also worth spending time figuring out which of your previous backlinks are broken or have gone missing. In SEO SpyGlass, you’d go to Backlink profile > Backlinks and update the Backlink Page Info for your website.
The tool will recrawl the selected pages and tell you if some links got lost.
If you’re using Ahrefs, another great tool, you can view the site’s lost backlinks under Site Explorer > Backlink Profile > Backlinks > Lost:
There are plenty of reasons your links may have disappeared:
The link may have been replaced by the site owner (link is missing).
The backlink page may be gone (page not found).
The website may be down at the moment (site is down).
The page may be restricted from indexing.
To restore a missing backlink, you’ll need to contact the site owners and ask them for assistance. Depending on what the problem is, you might ask them to place your link on another page if the previous one has been removed, restore the backlink if it was deleted, or remove the noindex directives from their pages.
4. Build links with images
Images grab attention and take up space, so it makes sense that people click on them. This is why it’s worth creating images (infographics, graphics, product photos, comics, you name it) and promoting them to attract more backlinks.
But if you use images as backlinks, you want to be sure that the link points to the broader page the image lives on, not to the image directory. Image directory links (ending in .gif, .png, .jpg, etc.) are dead-end: all the traffic that goes there is just wasted.
To see if any of your backlinks lead to image directories, set up filters in your SEO tool to see if any target URLs contain images formats.
If you find any, ask the site owner to replace the link with the one that leads to the page with the image. If you’re letting them embed your image on their site, they should be ok linking to the right place.
In fact, you can even do a Google Images search to see if anyone is using your images. If the site is credible and you’re ok with them keeping it there, you can ask them to add a link. (If it’s a sketchy site, it’s worth asking them to take it down.)
5. Write guest posts
Guest posting will boost your credibility and get your brand in front of a new audience, but if you can include a link to your website within the content, it’s also a great SEO strategy. Take a look at this article on how to guest post for SEO for more details about how to find the right opportunities and get your guest posts published.
6. Get on “best of” lists
Getting on “best of” lists is of course a great validation of your product or service, but it also puts a link to your site on a relevant, authoritative site.
To find the lists you might be a fit for, use a tool like Online Backlink Checker to check a competitor’s website, and pay special attention to the dofollow backlinks that contain phrases like “best” and “top.”
You can contact the writer or site owner and ask about the process of getting added to the list. Sometimes it’s paid placement, and other times it’s up to editorial discretion, but sometimes if you provide them with a convincing blurb, they might put you on there to keep their content fresh.