What are the key elements of a successful link building strategy?

An effective link building strategy can help you rise to the top of search engine results, but it’s not an easy process. There are many steps involved and it can be tricky to know where to begin, especially if you’re new to the field of online marketing. Fortunately, there are some ideas that will help you create and implement your plan more easily and effectively, so you don’t have to struggle through the process on your own!

What is link building?

Every website wants links from other websites and blogs. Links from other sites can improve your ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). But what is link building? It’s a technique used to get links that drive targeted traffic back to your site.

There are many ways to build links, but it all starts with creating content that appeals to your target audience. This will help you create content they want to share with others. Once you have quality content, you need to promote it so people know about it and how they can access it.

Why bother with links?

Links help your site gain authority and credibility. Links are a crucial factor in search engine rankings, but it can be difficult to build quality links that are truly worthy of your time. However, there are ways to increase your chances of getting high-quality backlinks. You just need to know where to look for them. With some research and some hard work, you’ll find yourself with more high-quality backlinks than you know what to do with!

Know where your audience is

You need to know where your audience is already engaged. If you can’t find them there, it might not be worthwhile for you to build a new platform from scratch. It will take more time and energy than it’s worth. In many cases, you won’t have a large enough audience on a new platform because there isn’t enough interest yet in that subject or content area.

Before you start adding links anywhere, whether it’s on your own site or others, take a second and check where they might actually be valuable to people you want to attract. A simple Google search can point you in the right direction here. If no one is linking there and there’s no social activity around it, now might not be a good time for that particular piece of content.

This is why it’s important to do some research into where your target audience spends their time online. There are several tools available that can help you with this task including Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush and Moz Pro just to name a few.

Don’t skip over quality

Let’s get something straight: Quantity does not equal quality. In fact, it’s often more important to take a single high-quality backlink than it is to scramble for dozens of so-so links from questionable sources. Why? Because while Google has always had a problem with spammy sites and black hat SEO tactics, it’s now in an all-out war against low-quality content and bad user experience. So if you want to stay on Google’s good side (and keep your rankings intact), don’t skimp on quality when you have opportunities to add new backlinks to your site. Quality trumps quantity every time.

Track everything and adjust as needed

A key component of any successful link-building effort is analytics. Constantly monitor what works and what doesn’t. Keep a written record of each piece of content you publish and its corresponding performance in terms of shares, views, links, comments and other possible metrics. Track these over time so you can adjust accordingly. It’s also important to keep tabs on what’s going on outside your site as well.

Where to look for links?

Guest blogging

The quality of backlinks coming from guest blogs is usually higher than that of inbound links from other types of websites. While you’re on a guest blogging spree, make sure to build high-quality links—backlinks with specific anchor text pointing to your website are more beneficial than generic anchors such as click here. When you write on popular blogs, relevant incoming links will boost search engine rankings and improve website traffic. In addition, guest blogging allows you to increase brand awareness by interacting with an audience outside your immediate network.

Social media

The basic and easiest way to get inbound links. Send posts through all of your social media channels, but don’t spam – that will ruin it for everyone. Just post things you think are relevant, interesting, or useful. Always include a resource backlink. You can also use Facebook groups that are relevant to your niche. Don’t forget about Instagram! It has some great communities, too. Google+ is still around, although not as popular as it once was. Use Google+ Communities if they exist for your industry; they’re a great place to promote content, ask questions, and engage with people who share similar interests.

Image links

Image links are not only more eye-catching than other types of links, but they also come with a handful of SEO benefits: you can rank for terms based on images and photos; you can earn Google+ credit (which gives you a search ranking boost); and Yahoo has begun using images in its search results, too. There’s a caveat here, though: it’s important that image links appear natural. Don’t just slap an image onto your page—be sure to include relevant text around it.

Embedding links

A great way to get links from sites you may not be able to reach out and connect with is by embedding a link back in your own content. This can be done through a number of different ways, including referencing past articles in your niche. Embedding is a good place for internal linking too – which will help you create consistency and flow throughout your website. Make sure that when you’re embedding links, it’s in an area that isn’t overly promotional.

Outreach e-mails

Have a list of outreach e-mails. Before you can get links back, you’ll need to send an outreach e-mail. Know who you are going to contact before you start crafting your pitch. This is where knowing how and why someone would be interested in linking with you will come in handy. If they see that what they’re offering matches up well with what they offer, there is a much higher chance of them linking back.