Link-building is a lot like magic in a way; some people don’t believe in it, while those who do tend not to be very good at it…and then there are the link-building wizards! The backlink aficionados! The hyperlink heroes!
In this article, we’re going to share some link-building best practices in 2023. It’s all about those fantastic links and how to build them…
What is link-building?
Link-building is a critical aspect of SEO. In essence, the more links you have pointing toward your website, the better.
In recent years, however, the shift turned from quantity to quality. Now you need the ideal balance of high-quality links in as much volume as possible.
When you have quality links in great numbers, it indicates to Google that yours is an authoritative website. After all, if other reputable websites with a high page rank are pointing to your website, there must be a good reason for it!
Google sees this as a positive ranking factor and will reward you with greater visibility as a result.
But of course, it is far easier said than done.
Attracting tonnes of high-quality links to your website isn’t something that comes easy or happens overnight.
With that in mind, here are some best practices to consider…
When creating a link-building strategy…
When creating a link-building strategy for your website’s SEO you must:
- Analyse your website and identify what you do well and which areas need improvement.
- Conduct extensive audience research. What are their biggest problems? How can you solve their issues? What information can you provide them with?
- Audit your existing content. Do you have awesome content that doesn’t get as much love as it deserves? Are there certain blog posts that could use improvement? Do you have some gaps in your content creation?
- Build a list of target websites that you would love to receive links from (they must align with your content, industry, and target audience). When you better understand who you want to attract links from, creating awesome, link-worthy content they would be interested in referencing will be much easier.
Top link-building strategies
There are many link-building strategies at your disposal, some better than others. Here’s a few we recommend for the best results:
- Produce ‘share-worthy’ content: this is without question the most effective link-building strategy of all. Do you want to encourage loads of websites to link to you? Then give them a bloody good reason to do so! When you produce amazing, high-value content packed with statistics and infographics and all manner of delicious information, you’ll significantly increase the likelihood of other websites sharing your content and linking back to you. As the saying goes: “Build it and they will come!”
- Conduct outreach: another good tactic is to look for other websites who might be interested in linking to you. For example, if you have amazing blog posts that would be relevant to their audience, they may feel obliged to create a hyperlink within their existing posts to add even further value for their users.
- Be newsworthy: stir things up in your industry, establish yourself as a thought-leader, and get tongues wagging. Creating new and innovative solutions, hosting charitable events, or offering internships are all effective ways of attracting attention from third-party publications.
The don’ts of link-building
Don’t try to cut corners. In link-building (and SEO in general) there are no shortcuts. If you want to be effective and achieve the best results, avoid:
- Buying links: 5,000 links for an absolute steal is not a good deal. They are fake websites with poor quality content and it will catch up with you.
- Spamming links in comments.
- Misleading redirects.
- Unsavoury ‘link schemes.’
Again, while there are many ways to attract links to your website, not all of them are effective – or positive. If you want to achieve the best results and keep the search engine gods happy, make sure you keep everything above board.
Create ‘share-worthy’ content and guest blog on reputable, industry-relevant websites.
If you have no idea where to even begin, hiring an SEO agency to outsource these requirements certainly can’t hurt. Just make sure you do your due diligence and that you hire an SEO agency that uses white-hat link-building strategies.
