What is link building in SEO? Why do we do it? How can you improve your own link building? Today, I’m going to help you understand what link building in SEO is, why it’s so important and how you can start doing it yourself. What Is Link Building? Link building (also known as link earning) refers to the method of acquiring links on other websites that point back to your own website. Links are an extremely important ranking factor in search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo!
The Definition of Link Building
Before we get into some link-building ideas, it’s worth defining what link building really means. In its most basic form, a link is a connection from one website to another. For example, if you have a very successful travel site (website A) with tons of traffic that attracts lots of links from other websites (website B), it will be more powerful than website B. To build your own links, here are some actionable ideas below.
Let’s go over each idea in detail so you can apply them on your site for best results:
1. Comment on relevant blogs where you can share unique insights, or simply add value by sharing helpful information or tips on how to improve people’s experience online, etc.
2. Make use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter because those who post regularly on social media tend to receive higher ranking in search engines than those who don’t.
3. Write an ebook that you can distribute via email marketing or through a sales page (e.g., Clickbank).
4. Write a guest post on another website that has a lot of traffic (you will be able to link back to your own website from within your guest post).
5. Submit your website to directories like DMOZ and Yahoo! Directory if it fits their criteria (use Google Webmaster Tools Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools if they are applicable)
6. Build links using automated tools such as Scrapebox, which allows you to scrape content from various websites with anchor text links pointing back to your website.
7. Use web-based services like Help a Reporter Out (HARO), which connects journalists with sources for news stories; when reporters need experts in specific fields, they often turn to HARO, so why not offer yourself up as an expert source?
The Relationship Between Links and Search Rankings
In order to optimize your search rankings, it’s critical that you understand how links impact SEO. Essentially, links help search engines understand content—and whether or not a website deserves a high search ranking. So if your site gets mentioned on other, more authoritative sites, it can help move you up in search results. If you want to rank highly in Google, you need to build quality backlinks (links from related websites). To do so, use link building strategies like guest blogging and social media outreach.
The Main Components of Successful Link Building
The core components of successful link building are linking to others, being linked to by others, creating relevant content and distributing that content on high-authority sites. These three elements work together in a circular fashion where all three can improve or hurt your chances at successful link building. Here’s a closer look at each one
What you can do to get more links to your content
It’s no secret that getting links to your website can improve your search engine rankings. This should be a top priority for every marketer, but it isn’t an easy task—especially for small businesses or start-ups that aren’t recognized by industry influencers. While some companies invest heavily in outreach, advertising campaigns, and other initiatives to get more links, it might be easier than you think to begin building them naturally. Here are some of our best strategies
Common Mistakes Made with Link Building
There are many common mistakes made with link building, such as buying links to improve search rankings. Buying links can be a very costly decision if it’s discovered by Google, and could result in you receiving a manual penalty (or worse). One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when they first start out is that they think of links as some magic button; all you have to do is place your link on another site and all of a sudden you’ll receive an instant boost in your ranking.
Final Thoughts on Effective Link Builds
To put it simply, if you’re not reaching out to others, your business won’t grow. Rather than sitting back and waiting for opportunity to knock, take a proactive approach to building relationships that can help grow your business. When you reach out, keep your message simple.