A simple guide to acquiring backlinks for SEO
Backlinks are one of the most important aspects of the web that help search engines like Google decide how sites are ranked in search engine results.
In the early days of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin(the founders) realised that a site’s knowledge authority could be decided by how many other sites linked to it. The same could be said for specific articles on that site. Backlinks are a core foundation of Google’s PageRank algorithm. After Google launched, other search engines followed suit and began ranking sites based on the number of backlinks.
Over the years, as spammers and hackers took advantage of search engine algorithms, the number of backlinks has mattered less. Google now ranks backlinks based on the authority of the site the backlink is coming from as well as the niche value of that site. For example, if you’re selling beauty products, the backlinks that would matter would be from beauty and fashion websites as opposed to Forbes — even though Forbes is a high authority news site.
What is a Backlink?
A backlink is a link to your site from another site.
It can also be called inbound link, linkback, inlinks, incoming link, and inward link.
In this article, I will share tactics I and other digital marketers have used to acquire backlinks.
1. Exclusive news to the press
Is there anything that’s never been heard of in your industry that you’ll like to share? Are you launching a product and can provide an exclusive sneak peek to journalists and bloggers? These are some easy ways to acquire backlinks from industry news sites and other niche sites. Cultivate a relationship with the news leaders in your industry — this makes it easier for them to trust the news you provide.
2. Regular press releases or updates about your company’s progress & partnerships
If your company has partnered with an NGO or a larger company to fight a cause or make business progress, this is something you can share with bloggers and journalists. You can also share insider information concerning milestones within your company. Maybe you’ve acquired 1 million users, recently raised money or have hired someone who’s considered an industry veteran. This is news you can share to press people and ask them to link back to your site in their announcement.
3. Sponsored posts
Sponsored posts are not to be frowned upon if you can afford them. These are a great way to decide where you want your site to be talked about and how you want to be regarded. Sponsored posts are totally worth it. You can sponsor posts that are opinions about how you view an industry issue, how-to guides and product announcements. Remember to scrutinize the site properly before you pay for a sponsored post. If you’re not sure what sites to post on, talk to marketers in your industry for advice. You could also carry out Google searches to find out what sites talk about topics you’re interested in.
4. Guest posting on industry and niche blogs
For founders and CEOs, this is a great way to build a reputation and a personal brand while also acquiring backlinks. Think about problems in your industry that your company has been able to solve. You can also share ideas on how you run your company, manage meetings, assign tasks and measure milestones. Are there any controversial topics in your industry that people are afraid of? Embrace and write about them for blogs in your industry. This is one sure way to get backlinks.
5. Viral and Great content
Do you have valuable industry data you’ll like to share with others? Organise it into a beautiful infographic and distribute to blogs in your industry. If you’ve got any other content ideas that would be useful to people who follow your niche(how-tos, secrets and tips for beginners, etc) you can write them out for blogs and have your site’s link in the bio section or footer of the article. This is also great for building brand reputation and knowledge.
6. Encourage customers to blog about you
Noticed some of your customers have a blog? You can provide a free service or offer them a free product in exchange for a blog post. Encourage them to review their experience with your company or in using your product and take your hands off the writing process. Honest reviews are gold on the internet and great for backlinks. You can take this further by organizing a giveaway.
Another way to do this is to offer niche influencers are trial of your product or a free product and have them review it.
7. Affiliate programs
Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective channels of product distribution on the Internet. Amazon grew its affiliate program to millions of bloggers and gains massive backlink advantage from their product reviews and recommendations. Speak to a few bloggers in your industry and settle upon a commission for every sale they get you. Encourage them to link to recommend products you sell via links to your website.
8. Create a truly remarkable product
Last but not least, create a product people want to talk about. When your product exceeds expectations, it immediately encourages users who write to talk about it. A remarkable product also stands out when you’re pitching to journalists — if it’s something that’s beyond awesome, they will definitely write about it and send a link your way.
To-do: Focus on Quality
When acquiring backlinks you should place quality over quantity — this means you want to acquire link backs from larger and more authoritative websites as opposed to hundreds of link backs from random, smaller sites.
Not-to-do: Focus on Quantity
Paying anyone online to get you hundreds or thousands of backlinks in a short period of time is not only spammy for search engines, but it also shows that you are not willing to earn trust organically. Some of these services tend to post links on sites that are not relevant to your niche and have been blacklisted by search engines. If you engage in these activities, your site could be banned from showing up on search engines and will take months to be properly indexed. You can read Google’s guide here to avoid running a link scheme that will get your site disavowed.
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