In this video, we'll answer what link building is, dive into the benefits
of link building, and give you some tips for creating a successful link building
strategy. Let's get started! What is link building? Put simply, link building is the
process of getting other websites to link to yours and it's really important
for your overall SEO strategy. To get started with a link building strategy
you'll need to create valuable content related to your business' products and
services. When someone links to your valuable content, you earn a backlink, or
link, from another site to your own. Link building exposes your brand to a much
larger audience and it builds up your site's Domain Authority, which can boost
your performance in the search results. Why does a link building strategy
matter for your business? There are lots of benefits of link building. As I said
before, link building gets your content and your brand in front of a larger
audience. It also helps with your SEO strategy,
which I'll explain later. I'll give you an example. Let's say you
run a tech company and you write a post on your website about new software you
offer. Through link building techniques, which I'll also discuss later, a popular
industry news site links to your post on their website. Now people who read and
trust this news site see the link to your website. If they click on it they
have the opportunity to learn more about your brand. People clicking on that link
signals to search engines that your site has some great content and it can help
push it up in the search engine results pages. You might even earn some new leads
and sales from the increased traffic. Link building is key for your SEO
strategy, which leads us to the next section.
How does link building help your SEO strategy? Link building is a crucial
component of your SEO strategy. Backlinks tell search engines that people trust
your site. They act as votes of confidence that your site is useful and
deserves top rankings in the search engine results pages. We may not know all
of the ranking factors Google uses in its algorithm, but we do know that links
are at the top. But not all links are equal. This is where link equity comes
into play. What is the link equity? Link equity, which some people like to call
link juice, refers to the value that gets passed on from a site when they link
to you. Different sites have different values due to this thing called Domain
Authority. Domain Authority gives you an idea of how trustworthy your site is to
search engines. It's a numerical value from 1 to 100, so
the higher the number, the more trusted your site is. While it's not necessarily
used by search engines to determine your website's position in the SERPs, Domain
Authority can help you figure out which sites pass on more link equity from
backlinks. You can measure your Domain Authority with Moz's tools or your
Domain Rating with Ahrefs tools. I'll give you an example of how these metrics
work. You've heard of major news websites like the New York Times, The Wall Street
Journal, and The Associated Press? These sites have spent years building up trust
with consumers and earning lots of links to their articles. I think it's safe to
say that they're industry leaders. If the New York Times links to your site, it's
going to pass on a lot more link equity than a link from a personal blog that
just launched last week because it has a higher Domain Authority. This isn't to
say that you should be disappointed about links from other websites. Your
audience may frequent smaller niche blogs, but just remember that different
sites have different values to search engines when you're creating your link
building strategy. Let's recap. So high quality links can help increase your
website's ranking. This can put you above your competition in search engines,
getting you valuable traffic that can turn into leads and actual revenue for
your business. Okay, so I've covered the basics of link
building. But how do you do it? Well here are five tips for creating a successful
link building strategy. Create content that adds value to your site and related
sites. Before you can start building links you need content that motivates
people to link to you. If you're a tech company, don't just stop at a quick
100-word explanation of your new product. Share an in-depth post that details
what it can do make a video explaining its features and photos and build up
excitement. Your content should get people as excited as you are about what
you offer. Unique valuable content increases the likelihood that people
will naturally link to your site without you having to ask them. Research
competitors' content and backlinks. First you'll want to look at the topics
competitors write about online. Then see if you can identify any gaps or
areas of improvement. Did a competing tech company write about an industry
development but leave out major details about how it works? Take that opportunity
and run with it. Write a new in-depth piece about this new development and
explain how it works. Include a video and photos to add context and really make
your piece stand out online. Creating comprehensive content will
position you as an industry leader and help you invite natural links to your
website and blog. Next you'll want to look at who links to your competitors'
content. Ahrefs offers a free backlink tool that allows you to monitor
your competitors' backlinks. If someone links to a competitor's site and you
offer an even better resource, chances are they may link to your site too.
Research sites in your industry or niche for link building opportunities. A Google
search can reveal sites in your industry or niche that can link to your site. For
instance, a quick search for technology blogs returns a list of blogs in that
niche. Consider making a list of relevant sites and blogs you'd like to link to
your website. You can also track specific articles for outreach, which we'll talk
more about later, and don't get discouraged if large sites don't link to
you right away. As your link building strategy gains momentum, you'll attract
links from a variety of reputable sites in your niche. Promote your content. A
critical component of your link building strategy is content promotion or
outreach. Without content promotion, you may earn a few natural links but
outreach is your golden ticket to link building success. After you've compiled a
list of sites you'd want to link to you, reach out to relevant blogs, influencers,
journalists, or other industry professionals. Be sure to explain why
your content is valuable for their readers and invite them to share and
link to your website. And you don't have to stop there. Share your content with
your audience. Use channels that you already have available to get your pages
in front of potential linkers. Do you use social media? Share your recently
published blog post with your followers. Do you have an email newsletter? Send
your new content along with your business updates. The more people who see
your content, the more likely they are to read, share,
and link to your pages. Never, ever buy links. Never, never ever. Unless you want
your site removed from the Google search results, which you don't. It may seem like
a cheap and quick way to build links, however these links are often extremely
low quality. It can actually hurt your ranking because it violates Google's
Webmaster Guidelines. If you buy links for your website, Google could penalize
your site, bumping it way down in the SERPs or even removing it entirely. And
that will definitely not drive leads or sales for your business, especially
considering over half of web traffic is a result of organic searches. Start
earning more valuable links today. Using all five of these link building
strategies will set you on a path for getting relevant and important links to
your website and improving your site's ranking, helping you get valuable traffic
for your business's website. What strategies do you use for link building?
Let us know in the YouTube comments! For more videos covering link building
and SEO, don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. See you next time!