This is the second article in a series of articles on how to improve your SEO. Our last article 'The Foundation Steps Of How To Improve Your SEO' gave you a solid basis to move from. This article looks at another foundation step that you will encounter in SEO, 'backlink building'. So is backlink building important in 2020? Well, the short answer is yes! Google is always updating its algorithms and it amasses an amazing amount of data points to decide on what content rises to the top. In the old days, people stuffed their websites with keywords, added a few backlinks and it was an SEO hit. But times have moved on, and although Google does not lean on the backlinks like they once did, they are still a very important side of improving your SEO.

Today it is more important to build high-quality links rather than go for masses of low-grade spammy options. Google is a lot smarter than it used to be in this area. Old techniques that previously worked, like submitting your website to web directories and getting a link in return are not the way forward anymore! They were starting to be abused, so Google stopped giving this style of link as much value. Recently, Google has actively penalised the rankings of websites who attempt the overuse of spammy techniques in link building, often referred to as 'over-optimisation'. We don't currently fully know how much link building is part of the search algorithm, but the general consensus among SEO practitioners is that it is still one of the biggest constituent parts, and remains within the top three of ranking factors of the algorithm.

So What Are Back Links?

Backlinks are a link created when one website links to another, usually to a piece of related content or something the other website wants to highlight. Link building is the process of gaining these hyperlinks (let's just call them links for now) This is a way for website users to navigate between pages on the internet. Backlinks are also called 'inbound links' or 'incoming links'. They are important for SEO as they represent a 'vote of confidence'. They are a signal to search engines that others hold your content in high regard. If many websites link to your website, webpage or blog content, then search engines can deduce that your content is worth highlighting. This then helps it gain a higher placement within the 'Search Engine Results Page'. So we can now build a picture of why backlinks are so important as they have a positive effect on your website's ranking position.

Building backlinks

Building backlinks will be part of your 'Off-Site SEO Strategy' which we will go more into detail in later posts. The process of gaining these links is known as link building or earning. Now, not all backlinks are cut from the same cloth! Some backlinks are a lot more valuable than others. Backlinks from in-demand, trustworthy, high-authority websites carry much more weight than backlinks from low-authority, potentially spammy websites.

If people follow links to your website and stay around for a bit, this is an indication to Google your content is valid. But even just being mentioned by a high-quality website without people following the link can give your website a major boost. That can be the difference between a high-quality link to a low one.

Understanding A Link

Search engines use links in two different ways, one to discover new webpages and the second is to help them with how well the page should rank. When they are deciding on ranking, search engines will not only look at the content of the page; they will also look at the number of links pointing to that page from external websites. So, you will be ranked on the quality of those external websites, the number of links and the quality of the content.

How do we start

Backlinks can be a time-consuming pursuit and they are often regarded as one of the harder jobs of creating good SEO. If you are new to these strategies or have known about it but just have not got around to implementing them, they can be difficult to know where to start. But mastering your backlink strategies can put you apart from your competitors. Do not fear we are here to help with some backlink strategies and tips!

First Things First, The Rules of Engagement - Play Nicely!

When building backlinks do not take shortcuts or eventually you may be found out and your ranking could plummet. Your backlinks should be well editorially earned, be from relevant high ranking websites and not be paid for in any way. This is a good rule of thumb.

Secondly - Do Some Competitor Backlink Research

Let's start with the one that can get you underway quickly and give you an insight into where you should be focusing your time. Let's start an investigation into a high ranking competitor that uses the target keywords that you use. Looking at their backlinks will give you a big insight on what to do and the type of backlinks you may want to start targeting. There are many tools out there to help with this, but two such are SEMrush Backlink Analytics Tool, and backlink tool like Link Explorer. These services can help you see the important links that a competitor already has, then you can start targeting those types of links and website in your own link building strategies. You are learning by what has been successful for companies in the past, rather than guessing at what you think maybe a good strategy for you.

Okay Now On to The Link Building Strategies

1 - Passive Resource Link Building

Now you are armed with some intel from your competitors you can start writing content that may attract these type of websites to link to you as you now know what they like to look for. This is a great way to shape your content writing for your website. Create resource pages and blogs that will earn quality backlinks from relevant website authorities. This is a slow process but after a while, it will work, then you can go out to other websites and highlight the content you are producing.

2 - Guest Content & Blog Writing.

An oldy but goody, you now have a list of websites you would like to be on, and you know what kind of websites that like your type of content. So reach out to them and ask if you can create a guest blog post or article on a topical subject that they are covering. Supply them with great content and a link to your website and you are off at the races. If you have actioned the above point and already have built great content for your website, you can give them a link to show them the quality of your work. They may even link to some of your content in the future as they now know about you!

3 - Link Gap Analysis

Now you have all your data from your 'Competitors Backlink Research' so find websites that link to your competitors but do not link to you. If a website has linked to many of your competitors, there is a real good chance that they will link to yours too. Reach out to them and see if you can strike up a relationship and get a link. Study why they are linking to your competitors and then put together a justification case for linking to you too, it may just work!

4 - Business Association Links

Are you a member of any type of business association? Chamber of Commerce? Or any industry bodies and special organisations? This could be a nice opportunity to earn your site some easy links!

5 - Collaboration and Suppliers links

If you collaborate with or sell other people's services or products, you should be reaching out to them and asking if you can go on their supplier, stockists or collaboration page. If they don't have one ask if you can write some content on a subject that relates to them that they would like to link to.

6 - Digital PR & Journalisum

PR can be one of the strongest ways to build lots of quality links. Journalists and bloggers often rely on PR contacts to feed them with stories, there is a vast appetite to create constant new stories. If you can create a great story about your brand and get it out on mass to journalists and bloggers you could earn yourself hundreds of quality links. Regularly creating these story and events can also lead you to be seen as an industry expert. There are plenty of good books out there on how to build great PR, grab one and make yourself a Chief PR Officer!

7 - HARO & Journalistic Quotes

Slightly related to the last point HARO is an aggregator where you can give quotes to journalists who are looking for help when writing their stories. There stands a good chance that they will link out to your website and give you credit for your quote. Many journalists are hungry for a quote to go in their article. Once signing up to HARO you will be sent opportunities to respond with quotes, choose wisely and you may build some great links.

8 - Link Building With Listicle

In journalism and blogging, a listicle is a short-form of writing that uses a list as its thematic structure but has sufficient copy to be published as an article. You often see them with titles like '10 Best Restaurants in London". You can use Google search operators to look at listicles in your industry that mention your competitors. Then look to see if you are included. To get added to some listicles, you need to reach out to a blogger and tell them why you may be better suited to being in their list. See if you can add value in any way for them and you may just get in!

9 - The Broken Link Building Solutions

Analyse any broken external links that point to 404 pages off websites that you would like a link from. Then see if you have any relevant content that this could link to, or build your own content around the links description and page content. Then reach out to the webmaster of the website and suggest your alternative replacement link to your content. You are helping them reduce their 404 breaks, and also the time they would need to source the new information if they did this themselves! It's a win-win for everyone!

10 - Ask for links from Brand Name Mentions

Go to something like the SEMrush Brand Monitoring Tool and have a look if your company has been mentioned but there is no link to your website. Then you can reach out to the webmasters or bloggers who mentioned your brand and ask them nicely if they would add a link for you. Talk about how a link may help their readers with context.

11 - Testimonials

You have probably asked for testimonials from your customers and clients in the past, but you can also build backlinks by writing them. If you write a testimonial or case study for a business that you deal with they will usually publish it on their website. You can ask that they link to your website from the testimonial as this will show the testimonial authenticity.

Conclusion

I have covered some tactics here and there are even more to discover. If you want a strategy that is right for you then this can depend on the time you have and the industry you are in. At the start give them all a go, see what is the most productive for you, and which gives you a good return on your time! One thing is for sure, putting a solid backlink strategy in place will reward your website with great SEO in the long term. It takes time to build, but it is a core foundation step that will see your website go from strength to strength.