What is link building?
Link building must be a part of your SEO arsenal in 2023 if you seek to win SERP ranking battles. It is an important component of any SEO strategy for boosting traffic and improving search rankings.
Link building involves the strategic process of improving the count of backlinks or hyperlinks pointing to a particular website. Inbound links created from external sites to your site help improve your website’s credibility and bring in visitors.
But link building isn’t easy. The links pointing to your website must be sourced ethically. They should be of high quality and sourced from a wide range of external sources. Backlinks are the ‘votes of confidence’ for a search engine. The more the number of backlinks, the higher your content can rank in Google search results.
But there’s a catch here.
Google recently released an update regarding spammy link building in December 2022. As per the update, any website found guilty of using spammy links would be penalized. The key is building organic, valuable, relevant links using White Hat SEO link building.
Tips for non-spammy link-building
Let’s discuss some tips for non-spammy link-building strategies.
Social media
Adding links to all your social media platforms where you share content regularly is a great practice. You can always add links to content or profiles, whether it is Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter (X).
Google labels links on social media sites to reduce the amount of spam there. It generally labels the links as Dofollow or Nofollow. Search engines don’t follow these links. These links do not impact the page ranking, either.
To benefit from backlinking on social media platforms, you must know which link is Dofollow and which is Nofollow. Links on the profile pages and description pages hold more value and mostly have Dofollow tags. The links in the content, however, are Nofollow links.
However, these Nofollow links also increase engagement, which inevitably leads to improving page ranking. For instance, retweets on Twitter hold more value and can substantially improve page ranking.
Here’s a bonus tip: Try using the real-life profile of an executive from a company to send requests for sharing on social media. Never use a company profile as people seldom accept requests from a company profile. Instead, use an employee profile to build long-standing relationships with real people.
Advertising
Advertising is a good way to promote your website and get users to visit. When users start visiting your website and realize the value of the content you post, ranking benefits follow.
Google’s John Mueller was asked about his advice for using advertising for SEO link building. His answer was in the affirmative that some kind of promotion is absolutely necessary. He said self-promotion is necessary to get some people to visit your website and realize that ‘it is actually a good website.’ Of these visitors, a few would say that the website is fantastic and ‘I have another website from where I can link your website.’
This brings us to our next question: what kind of advertising is suitable for promotions so that a few backlinks can be secured?
The objective of your advertising efforts should be to promote some useful content. You can promote your content through PPC advertising – a known and proven way to promote websites on search engines and social media platforms. You can go beyond Google Adwords. However, be wary of clickbot activity that may result in you paying for non-existent traffic as bots generate the clicks.
Building relationships
Networking and building relationships is a great tactic to develop a community of like-minded audiences. Familiarity with your audience plays a huge role in social media. If the link prospect you are considering knows you have a common connection with their peers, they will be more open to linking to your site.
This connection can be built at many levels. You can use social media, endorsements, testimonials, and even articles published on an industry site as a medium to connect with your prospects.
This is a tried and tested marketing strategy. You build alliances first, provide value, build trust, and then ask for a link. Or else, publish articles without spammy links and share them with the target community. The community will respond more favorably and share your link in their networks, inviting all to read.
Newsletters, how-to articles, templates, etc., can also be a good way to build a community of subscribers. Slowly and steadily, these connections can be converted into sales channels.
Speaking engagements and industry events
Sometimes thinking out of the box can result in great solutions. If you go beyond the scope of your desktop screen, you will realize there are some physical tricks worth replicating. Attending seminars, conferences, and events is one of them.
These conferences and events can be offline or online. Both can serve as mediums to establish relationships with industry leaders or people who are experts in their field. You can quote them in your blogs or content or publish excerpts from their speeches with their permission.
You can also interview them and publish their responses. By doing so, you use their popularity to your advantage. You also automatically endorse your site when their quote or content appears there.
Social media platforms are repositories of thoughts and ideas, and the crowd shouldn’t be taken lightly. Treat everyone equally and with kindness when asking questions.
On LinkedIn, strangers may be your best pal for all your endeavors. While at a cafe or co-working space, never hesitate to share your table with new people or discuss with them. A little offbeat and away from the digital, but it works perfectly well in real-life scenarios.
Public speaking is another way to rally your views before an audience and earn their trust. Start with a small meetup, and note their responses. Make revisions to your tactics until you are comfortable speaking on a bigger podium.
Podcasting
We listen to numerous podcasts and interviews while on the go. Spotify is a popular streaming platform where you can listen to your favorite celebrities sing and speak.
It is a fun way to keep updated with the latest happenings and listen to our favorite speakers. There are always a few podcasts that cover topics on a particular domain, niche, or industry.
If you participate in podcasts or text interviews concerning your industry, you can promote your brand and get links. It is not necessary to seek podcasters with high incoming traffic. Most important is to choose one whose talks are relevant to your topic and have high engagement levels.
Conversely, if you run a podcast, you can request your guests to share a link to the episode on their site or profile. Chances are you might not get a link; but on the upside, the world gets to know about you, your site, and what sets you apart from your competitors.
Conclusion
Now that you know what link building is and tips for non-spammy link building, the genie is out of the bottle. Use the above link-building strategies to bring organic traffic, establish authority, and spread the word about your website.
Producing spammy links may be easy but yields no substantial results. Conversely, if we use non-spammy link-building activities to attain natural links, it takes time and effort. But it’s truly worth it as the organic links comply with Google’s best practices and generate traffic for your website, blog, or newsletter.
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