Great Content and Link Building: A Perfect Marriage
To build links, it is important to have as many links as possible from other websites that lead back to your own website.
Using Great Content to Improve Link Building
In the world of digital marketing, you’ll hear over and over again that content is king. That’s true for a lot of reasons, but one of the ways that great content matters is its use as a key player in your strategy for link building.
To build links, it’s important to have as many links as possible from other websites that lead back to your own website. If you have a company that sells women’s shoes, for example, you might also have a website where all of your products are listed for sale. Every time a website, digital article or blog post links to your site, that counts as a backlink. Keep reading to take a closer look at how to build links, why it matters and how great content can be the key to your strategy.products.
Why Do Backlinks Matter?
The first question to ask might be: Why do you want or need more backlinks? If you have a great website that contains magnificent photos, wonderful articles and solid products or services for sale, how will it be seen?
There are two major ways that you probably receive traffic to your website. The first is through direct links. That is, when a friend shares your link on Facebook or you advertise your company online and offer a click-through link.
The second way links can drive traffic to your website is by boosting your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). With billions of internet users worldwide, many of whom use major search engines like Google, it is no surprise that getting ranked on the first page of these search engines is a big deal. Each search engine has its own regularly changing algorithm to determine what websites make it to the top of the SERPs. However, backlinks are a key part of those algorithms.
If you want to get more traffic and be found among top search results organically, then link building will need to be part of your strategy. While building links on the internet can be an art form, there are plenty of great tips that can help you get started.
With Link Building, Great Content Means More Backlinks
Getting more backlinks can involve a number of steps, some of which can seem complicated at first. However, the simplest and most effective way to build links is to have high-quality, relevant and attractive content. The best way to have your links get shared on websites, in blog posts and even in the digital press is by having something to say that other people want to see, hear or read.
Think for a moment about your own social media accounts. You might be a Twitter fan, or maybe you stick to Facebook to catch up with family photos. Think about the kinds of content that you share on your own social media. Most of the time, you probably share things that you think your connections and followers might like as well. Whether you tweet a link to an interesting news article or share a funny story on Facebook, you’re sharing great content with your wider audience.
Now, think about the content you are creating for your business. Is it something that you would want to share on your own social media profile? Is it engaging, interesting, informative or otherwise valuable? If not, rethink your content strategy. If your articles are packed with spelling mistakes, consider hiring a professional author who can fine-tune your company content and project a better brand image. In short, great content is the fast track to having more people add your business website links to their own blogs and websites organically.
Get More Backlinks Through Partnerships and Link Building Strategies
Having great content is just the first step in any strategy for building links. From there, you can try out a variety of ways that might encourage other websites to include your links in their content.
To start, you may want to add links to other companies’ webpages in your own content. A lot of businesses shy away from this because they are worried about promoting their competition. However, reciprocal cooperation can go a long way. That is especially true if you can work with a complementary business. If you’re in the real estate industry, for example, you might choose to review a furniture staging company and include their links in the content. They may then decide to do the same and help your brand with link building, too.
Another strategy is to contact any friends, family members or colleagues that have their own websites or blogs. If there is a way for them to organically link your website address within their content, it can be very helpful.
Finally, don’t be afraid to be direct with people who might be able to help your brand build links. If you write a blog post about a big upcoming event at your company, contact the local paper to let them know. They might write a digital article for their website about your event and share a link in the process. If you manufacture products or offer services for sale, contact blogs that review those products and services and ask them to include links to your website in their reviews.
Not All Backlinks Are Weighted Equally in Search Engines
When it comes to backlinks, quantity does matter. At the same time, however, quality of those backlinks also matters. When a search engine like Google takes all your backlinks into account, it analyzes them and categorizes them in order to determine their overall value. Links that come from social media may not have as much weight as links that come from reputable websites. Links from a brand-new website will not make as big a dent as links from a well-established blog. If a domain or a website has a high trust score, their links count for more than a handful of links from low-trust websites.
It is also important to learn the difference between standard links and no-follow links. Sometimes, websites allow for comments or contributions from the general public. In these cases, they don’t want to vouch for any backlinks added by users. An example of this could be the comments section at the bottom of a news website’s article. If you leave a link to your website in a comment as anchor text, Google will count it as a no-follow link, which means that it doesn’t boost your website’s ranking or trustworthiness. If you want to build links out to your website, focus on high-quality links rather than lots of low-quality links.
Use Your Own Content to Add in Internal Links
So far, all the links we have discussed are external links. These are the most valuable, but you can also build links within your own content. This means that you can add anchor text and include internal links directing readers to other pages on your website.
For example, you might have a blog for your clothing company and publish a post about the top trends in women’s fashion in 2019. When you describe certain trendy items throughout the content, you can add links that go directly to those items on your website. This is a quick and effective way to drive users right to pages where they can purchase products. Those internal links also add value to your rank in search results.
Of course, you have to have content in order to add in internal backlinks. What you do not want is a blog stuffed with keywords and links that don’t look natural. It is often best to work with a professional who understands how to organically weave certain keywords and specific internal links into great content to tell a story, add value and still accomplish some SEO goals in the process.
Have a Solid Website to Link Back To
Before implementing your new strategy for increased backlinks, focus on what your website looks like. Once users click those backlinks and are directed to your website, will they like what they see? To start, it is important to have a clean, sleek and easy-to-navigate homepage. Beyond that, make sure you have plenty of content so that visitors will be likely to stay for a while.
If you don’t yet have a blog for your website, it’s time to get one started. A blog is an endless supply of content that you can share with your audience. It’s also the ideal content to link back to because you can customize each blog post to reflect what you’re selling, your current events or anything else that is going on with your business.
Make sure that when users visit your website for the first time, they know how to respond. Your blog posts should have clear calls to action that direct users to take the next step. Your products should be easily purchased online, or there should be clear instructions showing buyers how to contact you for more information. Whether you’re promoting an event, a cause, a collection of products or even a person, your content is a way to connect. Make the most of your connections by only disseminating great content that is applicable to your business and to the lives of your intended audience.
Link building doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, and it is a long-term strategy that can have incredible benefits for your business and your website. While there are many tips and tricks to employ in your quest to build links, the most important is simply to have great content. If you have something that people want to share, they will do so organically. With more backlinks, your website can get an SEO boost and see more direct traffic at the same time.
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