Backlinks are valuable: they provide direct traffic and boost your visibility in search engines. The 'catch'? They do not arise by themselves. In fact, a viable backlink strategy requires a thoughtful approach. We give you 5 fruitful methods.
You have undoubtedly heard it from a marketer: link building is dead. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, we dare to claim that link building is the most effective way for it improve your position in search engines and increasing direct traffic to your website. In recent years, however, the focus has shifted from quantity to quality. That requires a well thought-out strategy. We therefore give 5 methods that will have an effect in 2022.
Backlinks: what and why?
Let's take a step back first. What is a backlink and why is it valuable? A backlink is a hyperlink to your website from another site. Backlinks contribute to your marketing strategy in two ways:
1. They provide direct traffic
Links to your website provide direct visitor traffic. We don't need to explain that. This effect is of course stronger with links on frequently visited websites.
2. They improve your position in search engines
Search engines see links from quality websites to yours as a sort of preference vote. Logical: if a reputable website links to a page of yours, then you obviously have something to say. Search engines therefore place websites with many of those inbound links higher in the search results.
Effective link building methods
Below we outline five effective methods that have stood the test of time with flying colours.
1. Post guest blogs
Writing and posting guest blogs is one of the most common and effective link building methods. Basically, it comes down to writing a non-commercial blog or article. Make sure this article is valuable to your target audience. Show your expertise with tips, give an opinion on a current topic in your industry. Or, for example, outline backgrounds to relevant developments.
Many platforms in the IT sector charge a fee in exchange for posting links. After all, they also have to live on something. The advertising revenues are often not cost-effective for them, let alone profitable. There are also websites that do not place links to commercial pages as a journalistic principle. Be wary of this: such websites are of course worthless for link building.
Note that Google officially discourages paying for links. It can result in a penalty or even removal from search results. Our experience shows that it can't hurt as long as you buy from journalistic platforms and avoid link farms (see bonus tip 2).
Take matters into your own hands
Is posting guest blog always a lot of 'peddling' and 'goodwill'? Oh, no. There are various platforms where you are in full control and a (free!) placement is guaranteed. Without needing anyone else's approval or even cooperation. A good example is LinkedIn Pulse. You can post your own blogs on this LinkedIn 'blog site'. Another example is Medium. This platform is known for its longer stories.
This method has a 'but'. The links to your website may generate direct traffic, but they (almost) do not count for SEO. That's because such platforms automatically add the 'nofollow' attribute to all links. That addition tells search engines to ignore that link. The reason is obvious: otherwise, companies would massively abuse these platforms to boost their SEO.
2. Distribute press releases
Press releases? Isn't that something from the last century? Well no. IT and technology companies in particular still send out plenty of press releases. The reason is simple: it works. The editorial boards of many professional media are understaffed and are only too happy to copy press releases. Often without changing a single letter.
That offers opportunities. Not only the text, but also the links that you place in press releases end up on valuable media channels.
3. Trade links with business partners
This is the most accessible way to generate backlinks. Simply agree with business partners that you link to each other on their own website, on the condition that they also provide a link to you. A logical place for this is the partner or customer page. Such links are not the most valuable, but they are certainly not useless either.
Dress up the link with a short text explaining what you mean to each other. This gives the link more meaning and prevents search engines from seeing the links as a flat exchange purely for SEO optimization. That is counterproductive.
4. Pitch an interview to an online medium
One of the trickiest, yet potentially most valuable link building methods is media interviews. Isn't that a pr job? Yes, but PR and link building go hand in hand.
Incidentally, it is not necessarily guaranteed that an interview will actually be accompanied by a link. It is therefore important that you do preliminary research first. How do the different media deal with links? Do you have to pay (extra) for it? Does it depend on the goodwill of the editor or journalist? Is there perhaps a 'biography or proposal box' in which they link to your company? Good agreements about this prevent disappointment.
5. Develop case stories
Written customer stories are a valuable resource for valuable links to your website. These are stories in which your customer tells how your product, service or solution has contributed to their success. Link these stories to your website and offer them for publication on your client's website. This way you not only generate a meaningful backlink, but also valuable PR.
Bonus tip 1: recycle content
A strong link building strategy cannot do without content. An interview, press release, blog or white paper forms a natural and certainly for SEO very valuable 'habitat' for a link to your website. But creating content takes time and/or money.
However, you can do this efficiently. How? By reusing content several times. For example, you can often distil 4 or 5 blogs from a white paper. You can also rewrite blogs in different terms. In this way, for example, you can offer a guest blog to multiple sites relatively cheaply.
Bonus tip 2: Avoid 'link farms'
A notorious method for link building is placing content on so-called 'link farms'. Those are low-authority fraudulent websites. These were founded with one goal: to sell links. They are often in the hands of shady companies that present themselves as link building experts.
Fortunately, you can easily recognise these companies. They offer "blogs with valuable links" for a "small fee". In addition, they use a fairly aggressive sales strategy via cold calling on LinkedIn, for example. Also, the contacts who approach you often come from Asian countries.
Our advice is simple: do not work with such fraudsters. The content and links they sell do more harm than good. Search engines penalize such links with a lower position in the search results or even complete removal of your website from the search results.
Bonus tip 3: Provide a high 'environmental quality'
Not every link to your website is equally valuable. Not even every link from one and the same site is equally valuable. The quality and depth of the 'environment' of that link is an important factor. For example, a link in a footer of a website or behind a company logo does much less for SEO than a link in a well thought-out blog. In short: the stronger and more valuable the content of the direct environment of the link, the stronger the positive effect on your SEO.
Could you use help or advice with your link building? Or do you even want to outsource it entirely? Please feel free to contact us. We are happy to help you!
Raymond Luijbregts is een ervaren SEO- en contentspecialist met een achtergrond in journalistiek en digitale media. Hij is oud-hoofdredacteur van diverse technologie- en businessmagazines.
