Link
building is dead.
Thousands of articles
on the Internet scream different variations of this one line. But it is not
true. Link building is not dead. It has just changed.
Initially, it was the
primary ranking factor. Link farms and spammers exploited link building, gave
it a bad name, and bugged Google so much so that it started using several other
factors in its ranking algorithm. Today link building carries only 16% of weightage
in the ranking algorithm.
For the search engine
users, that’s great. Search results are more relatable and less spammy today.
For webmasters, it is time to learn the new norms of link building.
So, let’s walk you
through the ultimate guide to link building in 2021 and beyond.
Link
Building Basics – A Quick Refresher
Before we get to the
heavy-duty stuff, here’s a small example to help you understand the what, why,
and how of link building.
You and your
competitors are running for the same position — the top position in SERPs.
Google is the Election Commissioner (EC). The process is simple. Whoever gets
more votes wins.
Here, votes =
backlinks.
Every time a webpage
links back to your page (or your competitors’), the count increases. But unlike
traditional elections, there is no finite limit on time. No matter how many
backlinks (the votes) you or your competitors have today, things can always
change.
Another factor is that
the Election Commissioner (AKA Google) does not recognize the principle of One
Person, One Vote.
Votes from veteran
websites with a lot of goodwill in the market (page and domain authority) have
more weightage. Similarly, votes from rouge, anti-social elements (sites about
porn, pills, and poker) would mean you have associations with them. And their
votes (backlinks) to you would degrade your reputation in the eyes of the EC.
This essentially means
two things –
●
Both the quality and quantity of backlinks
matter.
●
Link building is as easy or difficult as your
understanding of it. With proper understanding, you can win the election and
continue your winning streak. Without understanding, you’d inevitably be
pissing off Google rather than pleasing it.
Now, to help you get
the best of your link-building efforts, here is a handy guide. Follow the five
strategies and avoid the four mistakes to become the unbeatable backlink
champion.
5
Strategies That Experts Swear By
There are not one, two,
or ten ways to get backlinks. There are hundreds of ways. But with the
following five strategies, you’ll get more than just backlinks. You will also
get brand recognition and site traffic, including visitors who match your
end-user persona.
Take a look –
1. Create Link-Worthy Assets
You
want people to link back to you? Make them do it. (No, not with brute force,
but with the power of creativity and content creation).
Infographics,
original researches, data, and findings – just some examples of types of
creative and textual assets that get multiple backlinks.
Get
your content, graphic, and R&D team going, and make sure you create
original assets that others would also want to use. When others use these
assets, you’ll get backlinks. Plus, their respect (which will come in handy
someday) and brand recognition as well.
2. Have A Guest Posting Strategy
Guest posting takes a lot of time.
Guest posting is not as effective as it
sounds.
Guest posting is expensive.
Plain
lies, these statements. Guest posting is the simple, most useful link-building
strategy. Even Neil Patel seems to agree on this one in his blog about Guest Posting, which he called
second-tier link building.
If
it takes you too much time, too much money, and too many efforts, and yet you
are left with mediocre results, you are probably, no, definitely, doing it
wrong.
Hire
experts for link outreach service
and see how things change. High authority websites accept guest posts. This is
a sign enough that it works. It is a simple deal where they trade a backlink in
exchange for gold nuggets of knowledge for their readers.
If
you have a gold nugget of knowledge to share, guest posts can help you get
backlinks from top ranking, high traffic, well-respected websites.
Spin-off
content and regurgitating what you find online won’t work, though. Leave it to
the experts if you don’t feel confident in doing it yourself. But do NOT skip
having a guest posting strategy.
3. Promote Your Content Right
Social
media shares yield low-quality backlinks. Agreed. But that doesn’t mean you
don’t promote your content on social media at all.
One
viral video or blog can get thousands of shares on Facebook, Instagram, and
other social media sites. It will give you more backlinks in a couple of hours
than you’d otherwise get in months. The backlink quality may not be as good as
one backlink from Forbes or NY Times, but then the volume will do good for your
ranking.
P.S. – Social shares give
Google a signal that your page is relevant to the reader. It’s a plus one for
search engine rankings, which is your end goal anyway.
4. Focus on Building Relations, Not Just Links
While
telling you about guest posting, we mentioned how Neil Patel seems to agree
with what we say. And there, we also have him backlink to one of his relevant
blogs.
Will
Neil Patel know that we did it and graciously gave him a backlink? Definitely.
Most bloggers have link tracking tools in place that would notify them of
mentions and received backlinks.
Will
he come to thank us for it? Nope. We don’t even need him to. But we hope he
gives us a mention someday. (Wherever he feels we deserve to be seen by his
audience.)
And
that’s how we have made the first attempt to build a relationship with him. It
would look futile in the beginning. But slowly and steadily, you’ll realize
these relations come in handy in the long run. It is not you against everyone else.
You can (or rather should) build allies.
5. Go After Your Competitors’ Links
No,
not like goons looking to steal their backlinks. Instead, what you need to do
is analyze their backlinks.
Those
who have given backlinks to your competitors would either be those in your
niche or link farms and PNBs. You don’t need the latter; steer clear of them.
But those in the former category are likely to be open to giving you backlinks
too. That’s if your content is worthy enough. Try your luck with those most
likely to yield fruitful results.
4 Mistakes That All Rookies Make
Here’s a sure-shot way
to know if someone is a link-building pro or a rookie.
Ask them about their
link-building strategy. If you find any of the following things happening in
their strategy, know that they are just starting out. (Or probably not smart
enough to understand the nitty-gritty and avoid these mistakes).
Now, stay away from
those rookies and also from the following mistakes –
1. Compromising on Quality
It
won’t matter if you get a few hundred backlinks from a content farm, right?
WRONG.
Google
sees everything. Don’t compromise on quality. Spend more time in quality blogger outreach and go for the
good backlinks, even if you get less of them.
The
numbers will fail you if the quality is questionable.
2. Looking for Speedy Solutions
Link
building is not a one-day job. It takes time. And if you rush things, you’ll
ruin them.
Creating
quality content (for guest posting or as linkable assets) takes time. And so
does the publication of that content. Wait a month before you start complaining
why your webpage isn’t climbing the SERP ladder. It will happen if you wait.
3. Not Doing Cost-Benefit Analysis
You’d
have to pay big bucks to content creators to create share-worthy and guest
posting levels of content.
But
that’s not an expense. It is an investment.
When
you feel the writer is asking for too much money for a few thousand (or even a
hundred) words, ask yourself – Will the backlink I get, the brand recognition
it creates, and the audience trust it generates worth the money? If you hear a
resounding yes, loosen your grip on that dollar.
4. Trying To Take On The World Alone
How
naive of you to believe you could do it all alone. You cannot run a business,
carry out SEO, maintain a website and also work on a link-building strategy at
the same time.
Do
what you do best – handle your business. For link building and blogger outreach services,
hire Uplers. They have the expertise, experience, and efficiency that it takes
to yield effective results.
Their
cost-effective packages are light on the pocket, but you’ll get high-impact
results.
Getting Started With Link Building
Now you know what you
need to do, why it is crucial, and how to do it best. So, don’t wait up, get cracking; you have got some kickass link
building to do.
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