How To Earn Quality Backlinks: 7 Strategies That Actually Work
Every business needs to have a website that helps it transition into prominence in the online marketplace. Whether yours is a small business reviving a long-forgotten art form or a service provider, without putting in the right efforts, your website will not be able to achieve its full potential.
Backlinks are one of the most prominent and effective ways to broaden your online presence without exhausting your target customers. However, it can be daunting to know where to begin. In such cases, it is highly recommended to check website backlinks of your competitors to identify where they are earning backlinks from and how you can get an edge over them.
Here are some tried and tested ways to earn backlinks:
- Offer to guest post
Guest posting allows a brand to network with others in the industry while building a strong backlink profile without spending massive amounts of money. It involves including a link to one’s own resources. These links should be relevant and naturally introduced into the guest blog.
This method works because most fast-growing websites seek opportunities to collaborate with others in the industry while adding more depth to their existing content pool without breaking a sweat.
However, looking for websites related to your industry, products, or services is crucial. Another thing to look for is whether the content publishing websites you plan to approach have high domain authority. Getting a link from such websites can significantly boost your backlinking profile and add credibility to your website.
- Create visual content
Infographics are popular for offering information in an easy-to-digest and memorable format. It carries the potential to break down even the most complex data or pieces of information into small, bite-sized pieces that are then represented using engaging, vibrant, and related graphics.
Infographics can be shared as a blog, on social media, and on platforms such as Instagram or Pinterest, where people can save them for reference. They are a quick and easy way to gain more backlinks. Notably, infographics can also be used for social media marketing purposes. However, it is best not to overuse infographics as sharing content in these formats can cause banner blindness, reducing the initial impact it has on your target audience.
- Publish your own research
What makes content worthy of being shared is the degree of value it is offering to others. People are more likely to share information about a product or service they care about. This trait is deep-rooted in almost everyone who is browsing online resources. Unless they come across something of incredible value that’s hard to miss, there is a chance they might not share it (no matter how hard you worked for it).
When you decide to publish your own research, you engage in extensive surveys, interactions, and data analysis, squeezing every drop of your findings to create a resource. This resource will be informative and one-of-a-kind, adding a new perspective to existing concepts. The more relevant and accurate the content will be, the more likely it will be shared. You will get a white hat backlink whenever someone mentions your brand name.
- Share information in engaging formats
Digital marketing is constantly growing, and format plays a vital role, with a plethora of content being published every day. Consider creating content in different formats instead of continuously publishing content in one format. Ultimate listicles and step-by-step guides are popular formats that are easy to understand and will most likely be shared often. These content formats are popular as they instantly capture attention while promising to offer in-depth and possibly the best coverage on the topic.
Consumers usually prefer ease and simplicity, and these formats provide that convenience. Notably, you can also consider adding statistics and related studies to these formats to strengthen your argument further while offering an opportunity for your readers to learn more.
- Find broken links on your website
Broken links are links that point to a resource that is no longer in existence. Having broken links on your website can hamper the user experience (something that search engines appreciate). Broken links on a website can show up as 404 or other redirect errors, hampering user experience.
Using tools for backlink analysis can help find pages with broken links. Reaching out to these websites can turn into a win-win situation as the website owner gets to remove these broken links, and you get a link from their website. Before you reach out, ensure your website has a replacement page ready (with high-quality content) that can be linked.
- Create skyscraper content
Skyscraper content aims to be created in such a way that it combines popular content pieces to attract more web traffic. For this strategy to work, one needs to create more high-value content that is capable of outshining existing top-performing content pieces on SERP. Once the content piece is ready, the original website(s) that published the initial content pieces are approached with the intention of getting a backlink.
The skyscraper technique works because people are always looking for the best version of what they already have. However, while creating such a content piece, it is crucial to understand everything about the topic, conduct in-depth research, and then get to writing. Including statistics and other supporting elements ensures that you can establish facts and gain the confidence of your target audience.
- Become a source at Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
HARO offers the opportunity to earn backlinks from press and media-related websites online. The website acts as a bridge between sources and journalists to ensure there’s a transparent, correct, and value-driven exchange of information. When a journalist uses the piece of content you have provided as a source, you will get a backlink. Every opportunity using HARO is unique and gives a business the golden opportunity to gain a unique advantage over its competition.
Backlinks for a higher, more relevant SERP ranking
Getting backlinks is an excellent way to scale your online ranking. However, the process of earning backlinks is not easy, and you constantly need to be on the lookout for chances. That being said, there are ample ways you can create backlinking opportunities for your business.
These strategies involve creating high-quality skyscraper content, publishing your own research, or contributing to the HARO website. Avoid engaging in malicious backlinking strategies that promise quick results in no time.