With a huge variety of SEO tools and strategies out there, you probably find yourself wondering which one’s the most useful. Many people are under the impression that the hard part’s over once you create a website. On the contrary, ensuring your website ranks well is the hardest part.
Well, let me introduce one of the most powerful ways to improve your ranking next year: link building.
Traditionally, link building, as a strategy, was largely dependent on quantity rather than quality and wasn’t really important.
Today, however, it’s in a different arena altogether.
Link building is a necessity for your website’s visibility and ranking. If you want to appear on the first page of Google, link building is the way to go. Regardless of the industry, you operate in, the only way to increase your visibility is through link building.
Just like everything else today, the overall strategy for link building is changing at a rapid pace. What worked last year may not necessarily work this year, making it extremely crucial for you to keep up with the rules of the game.
Every business today wants to rank higher which means the room for error is minimal. Do it right and it’ll give your SEO a serious boost. Do it wrong, though, and it may reverse all the time and effort you’ve invested in your SEO.
1) Broken Link Building
So, let’s a do a little math. Most websites have a lot of content and, when there’s a lot of content, there are a lot of links, too.
The number of links on any website could easily range in hundreds or thousands. The higher the number of links, the greater the chance of one or more of them to be broken.
A broken link isn’t really a big deal. What it truly is, though, is an opportunity for you. Many website owners don’t realize that a broken link is the reason their SEO rankings are suddenly low.
Broken Link Building Example:
2) Infographics
Ask yourself how many articles you read every day. Have you ever found yourself in a position where you really want to read something and learn from it, but you simply don’t have the time?
Welcome to the dilemma of everyone’s lives.
We live in a world where everything is fast-paced and readers, just like everyone else, want their content immediately.
And that is exactly why infographics are so important. They give readers the chance to get all the information in a concise manner without going through the pages of text.
Infographics Examples:
3) Guest Blogging
Perhaps one of the oldest link building strategies, guest blogging (a.k.a. blogger outreach) also remains one of its most effective link building strategies.
Why is it still relevant?
Well, as long as there is a demand for content that’s new, fresh, and great in quality, guest blogging will always be necessary. It just means you’ll be extending your writing efforts for other websites and they’ll extend their gratitude by linking to your website in return. As you can imagine, guest blogging also works as an eCommerce link building strategy.
The concept of guest blogging is actually pretty straightforward; it gives you a chance to write content that’s high in quality, links back to your site with the content piece, and get the article published and promoted on a website that has a high domain authority. By publishing content on well-known sites in your industry you are improving your SEO, getting relevant referral traffic, and building brand trust and authority – all at the same time.
4) Newsjacking
A crucial factor that determines your success is your content and its ability to break the clutter. However, creating content that has people talking about it isn’t an easy feat at all.
So, instead of trying to figure out how you can come up with something that’ll make people talk about you, you can use something they’re already interested in for inspiration.
This particular strategy is commonly known as “newsjacking”. Why? Because you’re using a trending topic to create and promote your own content.
Newsjacking Example:
5) Resource Page Link Building
Most people fail to realize how intensive the entire process of link building is. Just like everything else, before committing to something, you first need to know the position you’re currently in.
A great way to do that is through quality link building resources. So, what exactly are these? Well, simply put, a resource page is just a page on a website or blog that lists down useful links and references for a range of topics. Through this, you can learn what position your current linked assets are in and what your competitors are up to, too. You can search for resources on Google with the keyword, just like in the example below.
6) Data-driven content
It’s becoming more and more difficult every day to come up with content that’s relevant and useful. It truly is a struggle to ensure your content piece has the potential to break through the clutter and stand out.
And that is why you need to justify whatever you’re trying to convey.
How many times have you believed far-fetched stories when there is no evidence to back them?
Just like that, readers are hesitant to believe something that isn’t backed by data. By using data to enrich your content, you can draw attention and attract links that could boost its rankings. People want to know why you’re claiming something; if you’re stating a fact without its source, nobody’s going to take you seriously.
