Link building is still a process integral to any search engine optimisation campaign. While the school of thought that social media marketing is the new link-building is relatively well established, there is still a place in all SEO campaigns for modern link-building. There is no harm in using directory submissions as the foundation for a link building campaign, but there comes a point when you’ll need to stop targeting the directories and aim for some really high quality links that are going to pass lots of value, and lots of traffic. Let me run through a few quick tips that you can use to attract some high-quality links:-
Produce quality content
Are you sick of hearing this one yet? I know it seems like every blog I write offering tips on SEO and link building mentions producing good content, but there is a reason, it’s hugely important! Writing content that people can find value in, and that people want to link to is conducive to achieving higher rankings in the SERPs.
It is also worth thinking about how you plan the content you share. You should produce a good mix of informational content that will be of great value to the visitors on your website, personal content, which will help visitors trust your brand, and controversial content that might catch the attention of other influential figures within your industry. To develop your site with this type of content will take time, but once you have established a website full of solid content, it will be much easier to attain the quality links that could make a big difference to your SEO campaign.
Offer to write guest posts at influential industry websites
If you are able to offer a publisher, or an influential site owner within an industry, a piece of well-researched, highly valuable and engaging piece of content to share on their site, then this is a great way to build links. A guest posting strategy can be a great way to generate traffic to your site, to raise online awareness of your brand and to build high quality links.
Find your audience online
Once you’ve gone through the trouble of writing exceptional content for your website, the logical step is to begin submitting it to social media websites. However, if you just blindly submit it into the social media ether, there is a good chance it will just get lost with the other thousands of people who are also trying to attract traffic and win links for their website. Try using the search bar on Twitter and other similar features to locate your audience, find out when and where they are active, find out who the influential posters are, and try to specifically target them with your content. This will increase the likelihood that you will generate some high-quality links.
Build a high-quality collection of images
A lot of people starting a website forget about the visual content that is necessary while remaining overly focused on the textual content. While there can be no doubting the importance of textual content, this has to be reinforced by the amazing images that are going to help the content flow. Making your pages more readable is a good way of attracting more links, but perhaps the best tactic is to use the images themselves to win links. Allow other people to share your images on the website, but make sure they also use the following link on the page they place that image so it becomes a fair deal for both parties.
Interact and engage on other websites
Interacting and engaging on other blogs within your industry is a great way to get the attention of influential people. Show your expertise in the comments you leave, but don’t crowbar in your own blog or website unless it is absolutely essential. This way you can get organic links, an increased brand awareness and build trust from people who are specifically interested in the services you are offering.
There are numerous other ways to attract high-quality links during a link-building campaign, but I hope I’ve covered some of the most important, and some of the most actionable. Please let us know what you think by commenting on our blog.