There are many strategies that can be done to improve a website’s ranking on Google. There’s on-page optimization, the simplified version of which is optimizing web pages by writing high-quality content, incorporating keywords with high search volumes, and improving page title tags and meta description. There’s also off-page optimization, which refers to all actions that improve off-site ranking factors. The main goal of off-page optimization is to improve how search engines and Internet users perceive a website.
Off-page optimization aims to improve a website’s visibility, popularity, trustworthiness, relevance to search queries, and authority on a subject matter. One of the best methods for achieving them is through link building.
What Is Link Building?
Link building is all about getting other websites to link back to yours. Ideally, the referral sites for link building should rank well in Google Search, have high domain authority, are widely recognized as authority sites in the industry, and have high traffic and visitor engagement.
When high-ranking and authoritative websites share links to your site, visitors will consider the recommendation as valid and reliable. They will click the URL to your site, thus increasing your traffic volume. Google’s algorithm will also have the same interpretation. Building links with high-ranking sites creates a trickle-down effect that benefits your site. Essentially, each high-quality backlink increases your site’s “link juice” or link equity. This is how the search engine’s perception of your website — that it’s an excellent source of relevant information — improves.
Link Building Methods: How to Begin
The most convenient method of doing link building is to hire an experienced link building specialist or team. It’s because link building takes a lot of work. Unless you have all the time in the world to strategize, do keyword research, produce or optimize content, and do outreach marketing, outsourcing your link building will be your best course of action.
There is, however, value in understanding how link building works and knowing what the best strategies are even after you’ve handed over the reins to your trusted SEO company. More importantly, your role as a business owner can also play a huge role in the success of your link building campaign. How? Take a look at these time-tested examples of link building methods and you’ll learn why the participation of business owners is crucial to their success.
- Build relationships – You might have noticed that we mentioned outreach marketing earlier. It’s because link building is essentially relationship building. You have no control over the referral sites. You can’t tell them to include a link to one of your blog articles or internal pages. The best you can do is request, and to do that, you have to establish at least a friendly relationship with the other website’s owner.
- Build relationships locally -The SEO community considers official websites of government offices (.gov) and educational institutions (.edu) as top-level domains. Inbound links from these sites can give your own a substantial rise in search rankings. Earning .gov and .edu backlinks is often challenging. If your business or company participates in activities sponsored by your local government, schools, or universities, there’s a higher chance that you’ll get mentioned in their official press releases. These then are prime opportunities for top-value link building.
- Create high-quality content – Many high-ranking websites that are content-driven, like e-magazines and industry blogs, accept offers for sponsored editorial content. You can offer to write a blog targeted at their readers and drive traffic to their site. In return, you can arrange for a do-follow link to your website.
- Diversify your link profile- Now that we’ve mentioned “do-follow” links, it bears mentioning that it might do your site more harm if all your backlinks are do-follow and come from the same two to four websites. Backlinks only become trust indicators when they come from many authoritative sources and are integrated into the referral sites naturally. This means that a 60-40 ratio of do-follow versus no-follow links would appear more natural than a 100% do-follow link profile. Also, no-follow links can still be good exposure for your site.
Get a good start on your link building efforts. Find an experienced team and brainstorm on the best ways to get link equity for your site. You can begin with the examples above.
