Did you know that, according to Hubspot, companies that engage in blogging get 97% more backlinks to their business website than companies that don’t? That’s great, but if you have no idea where to start with an SEO backlink strategy, then that might not mean much.
How can you build a great backlink strategy in an effort to build awareness of your brand and increase your domain authority? It’s ultimately all wrapped up in SEO, which is search engine optimization.
A core component of SEO is building a strong backlink profile. Really, it’s essential for any business that wants to rank well on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Fortunately, there are a number of strategies that businesses can use to build high-quality backlinks. Let’s walk you through a few of them and provide you with the tools you need to succeed with SEO and backlinking.
What Is Backlinking in SEO?
Backlinks are links within your website that come from other websites. They’re important because search engines use backlinks as one of the many ranking factors. This means that, in general, the more quality backlinks you have, the higher your site will rank on SERPs.
Of course, not all backlinks are the same and have the same value. This is where most businesses start to have trouble with building a backlink strategy.
You want your backlinks to be high-quality. They carry more weight. And this is why any company building a backlinking strategy should focus on building backlinks from websites that are relevant to your niche and have a good reputation.
Before we dive into what makes a backlink great, let’s define the types of backlinks out there: dofollow and nofollow.
Dofollow backlinks are a little bit more valuable because they pass along a signal that tells search engines your site is high-quality and authoritative. This signal is sometimes called “link juice.”
Nofollow backlinks, on the other hand, don’t carry that same weight. However, they’re still valuable because they show search engines that your site is being linked to by other websites.
All in all, to get the most SEO benefit from backlinks, you want to focus on getting high-quality dofollow backlinks from authority sites in your niche.
What Makes a High-Quality Backlink?
Now that you know what backlinks are, how can you identify a great link when you see one?
Generally speaking, a high-quality backlink will come from a reputable website that is relevant to your own website. One factor to consider is the authority of the linking website. A website with a high domain authority will pass more link juice to your website than a low-authority website.
As mentioned above, link juice is a term used to describe the power that a link passes to your website. To check the authority of a website, you can use a tool like Moz’s Link Explorer.
For example, if you have a website about pets, a backlink from a pet store would be considered more high-quality than a backlink from a general retail website.
The reason for this is that the pet store website is more likely to be talking about pet-related topics, which makes it more relevant to your own website.
In addition, the pet store is likely to have a higher quality overall than the general retail website, meaning that its backlink will carry more weight. It’s more relevant to your website, which means it’s more relevant to your audience.
Ultimately, when it comes to backlinks, quality trumps quantity. Instead of focusing on getting tons of low-quality links, focus your efforts on a few really great, powerful backlinks.
Why Is a Great SEO Backlink Strategy Important?
You know that backlinks are important to a great SEO strategy. If you’ve researched Edmonton SEO services then you’ll see a lot about backlinking. But why is it that important?
In the eyes of Google, backlinks are like votes of confidence for your content. The more backlinks you have from high-quality sites, the more likely you are to rank highly on search engine results pages.
This is because Google views backlinks as a sign of your site’s popularity and relevance. Additionally, a strong backlink portfolio can also help to increase your site’s click-through rate (CTR), which is another important ranking factor.
In short, a great SEO backlink strategy is essential if you want your site to perform well in search engines. And, as you hopefully know by now, great performance on organic search is a much more cost-effective method of advertising long-term than investing in PPC.
How to Develop an SEO Backlink Strategy
In order to get the most from your link-building efforts, you need to develop a strategy that focuses on quality over quantity.
Here are six tips for doing just that, straight from our Edmonton SEO company that has years of experience building SEO strategies for companies just like yours.
Focus on Creating Valuable Content
Creating content that is both informative and well-written is essential if you want to earn backlinks from high-quality websites. However, simply producing a large volume of content is not enough.
Your content must be relevant to your niche and offer something that other websites do not. For example, if you run a pet store, you could create an in-depth guide to choosing the right pet for a family.
Not only will this provide valuable information for your readers, but it will also show other pet-related websites that you are an expert in your field. As a result, they are more likely to link to your content when they are writing their own articles.
Likewise, creating compilation posts of the top statistics in your industry or reports on recent industry news are great ways to provide high-value content to your target audience.
Of course, creating truly exceptional content can be time-consuming and may require the help of a professional writer or Edmonton SEO agency. However, it is worth the effort if you want to earn high-quality backlinks.
Help Google Find & Index Your Content
Few people will find and see your content if it’s not properly indexed by Google. The best way to do this is to submit a sitemap to Google Search Console.
A sitemap is basically a file that contains a list of all the pages on your website. By submitting it, you’re telling Google about all the great content on your site and giving it a roadmap for crawling and indexing your pages.
How do you submit a sitemap to Google? As mentioned, you can do that through Google Search Console. Once you’ve registered for an account, you can add and verify your site. Then, you can submit your sitemap through the “Sitemaps” section of the Google Search Console.
Think About Guest Blogging
One way to increase the number of backlinks pointing to your website is to guest blog on other websites. When you guest blog, you write a post for another website in your industry or niche. In exchange for writing the post, you typically get to include a link back to your own website.
This is great because you’re getting a backlink (yay!). However, it’s even better because the link comes from a website in your niche or industry. As a result, the link is more likely to be clicked by people who are interested in what you have to say.
For example, continuing with the pet store example, if you write a post about the best leashes for small dogs and have a pet blog post it on their website, they’ll probably link back to your website in the author profile.
Not only have you shown their readers (who are also your target audience!) that you are knowledgeable about pets, but you’ve given them something of value. This can help earn their trust and attention and, ultimately, their business.
Monitor Brand Mentions & Claim Unlinked Mentions
Having trouble finding potential backlink opportunities? Monitor brand mentions online. Basically, whenever your brand is mentioned online, there’s a chance you could get a backlink.
You can use Google Alerts or a similar tool to set up alerts for whenever your brand is mentioned. Then, when mention alerts come in, you can reach out to the site owner and ask them to link to your website.
Another way to find unlinked mentions is to do a Google search for something like “your brand name + resources.” This will bring up a list of websites that mention your brand but don’t include a link.
You can then reach out to these site owners and tell them about your website so they can add a link if they want. Always remember to be polite and respectful when reaching out.
Ask to Replace Broken Links
While you’re searching for your brand name or relevant industry-related articles online, be on the lookout for broken links. When you see one, contact that site owner and kindly let them know that the link is broken.
You can frame this as you helping them out. Broken links hurt SEO rankings, after all. Then, let them know you have a recent blog that they can replace that broken link with. You help them, and then they help you by including your link. It’s a win-win!
Where do you find these broken links? When it comes to finding broken links on a website, Ahrefs is one of the best tools available.
Simply go to the Ahrefs site and enter the URL of the website you want to check. Click on the “Site Explorer” tab and then select “Broken Links” from the sidebar. Ahrefs will now show you all the broken links on that website.
To check if a link is really broken, click on it and then see if the destination page loads properly. If it doesn’t, that means the link is indeed broken and needs to be fixed.
This strategy can be effective because it enables you to get links from high-quality websites. In addition, though, it helps to build relationships with other website owners.
Use the Skyscraper Strategy
The Skyscraper Strategy is a link-building strategy that involves finding content that is already popular and then creating something even better. The steps involve:
- Finding link-worthy content
- Writing something even better
- Reaching out to the right people
How do you go about the process of this kind of link building? Use Google to search for content in your niche that has been linked to frequently. Look for articles with a large number of social shares and links.
Once you’ve found some content that is link-worthy, your next step is to create something even better. This could mean writing a longer and more comprehensive article, adding more visuals or infographics, or recording a video tutorial.
After you’ve created something truly amazing, it’s time to start promoting it.
Reach out to the people who have linked to the original piece of content and let them know about your new and improved version. If they see that your piece is even better than what they have currently linked to, there’s a good chance they’ll update their link.
The Skyscraper Strategy is a great way to build high-quality backlinks to your website, but we know that it can be time-consuming. It’s why we ultimately recommend working with an Edmonton SEO agency if this is what you’re interested in.
Get Help From an Edmonton SEO Agency
Want to know how to build a great SEO backlink strategy? Work with an experienced Edmonton SEO company.
Trust that our team of industry-leading SEO managers will help you improve your website’s ranking in search engines and drive more traffic to your site.
Not sure if our SEO services are right for you? We offer a comprehensive range of services, including keyword research, link building, and content marketing.
Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you grow your business online.
