Key Takeaways:
- Backlinks are essential for improving SEO rankings and establishing your brand as an authority in its niche.
- Strategies like creating high-quality assets, guest posting, and using tools like HARO can help build a strong backlink profile.
- Replicating competitor backlinks and fixing broken links are effective beginner-friendly approaches.
- Building partnerships with industry experts can create long-lasting backlink opportunities.
- Backlinking requires consistent effort but can significantly boost visibility and website traffic.
Acquiring backlinks has been a strategy for SEO marketers for many years, and this will continue into 2024. With the ability to push your website up the SERPs and rank your brand as an authoritative source within your industry, it’s no surprise it has become popular in an era of high online competition.
Backlinks aid search engines and their users to judge the value of your site. If your content is constantly linked to blog posts, news articles, testimonials and social content, search engines consider it a sign that your brand is an authoritative player within its niche.
However, a whopping 41% of business leaders still view SEO backlinking as their biggest challenge.
As you can see here, a whopping 60% of business leaders outsource their backlinking to link building experts, simply because they don’t know where to start.
With this in mind, we’ve put together 6 beginner backlinking strategies to try out as you ease into SEO marketing.
1. Produce Linkable Assets
One of the easiest ways to increase your backlink success is to create something other sites want to link out to. This can be in the form of high-quality content, data-driven research or even helpful listicals that support current trending issues within your niche.
The best thing about creating high-quality assets is that this is the most natural way to gain backlinks, meaning that Google will favor your site well.
“Focus on creating valuable, long-form content for your blog—the more in-depth your posts, the better. Ideally, your content will allow you to establish yourself as an expert while helping users with their industry-specific goals and pain points,” says John Turner, founder of SeedProd.
“One strategy I use is to include a statistics section on the topic I’m discussing. These articles often see significantly more backlinks than those with no stats. I believe this is because people are more likely to share and link to a post if there’s tangible information worth passing on to peers, friends and customers.”
The key here is to promote this content as soon as it is live. Sharing blog posts across your site and within your social platforms is a great way to raise awareness of this asset, and score some backlinks from other authoritative sites.
2. Replicate Competitor Backlinks
If you’re just starting off on your backlinking journey, it’s important to analyze and review the competitor backlinks that are performing well within your niche.
Not only will they certainly be on sites that are relevant to your industry, but you’ll quickly get a taste for the types of content and anchors you should prioritize when trying to score a backlink.
While you can do this manually, searching for competitor backlinks is done best with an online backlink checker tool. Whether this is Ahrefs, Semrush or Link Assistant, there are plenty of ways to create a competitor backlink profile.
Take Link Assistant for example. By simply entering a competitor’s URL, the tool audits the site and finds out where it has scored the best DoFollow backlinks across the web.
The key here is to find the most powerful opportunities and then reach out to the publications offering your own backlinks for exposure.
3. Start Guest Posting
Guest posting is one of the best ways to score backlinks in 2024. Rather than linking out to your in-house blog pieces during a link exchange, why not offer a publication a full article packed with insights and some key backlinks to important pages?
Whether you write your own posts or outsource your guest publishing to a guest posting service, creating valuable content for a publication within your niche is a great organic way to score unbreakable backlinks.
Try to write a piece on a topic that is relevant to your industry, and not heavily promotional of your brand. According to Backlinko, 77% of publications prefer long-form content and listicals that aim to help their readers.
Stay on top of industry trends, and review your target publication’s past high-engagement content for a real shot at guest posting success.
4. Help A Reporter Out
Another nifty tool to use in your backlinking strategy is Help A Reporter Out. Otherwise known as HARO, this tool aids journalists in finding sources for their article writing.
All you have to do is sign up and try your best to answer questions from reporters with your own expertise and content.
This is one of the best strategies to use, and can score you links on highly authoritative sites. It's also a purely white hat method for link building, and will help ensure that your backlink profile stays clean.
5. Fix Broken Links
Did you know that a whopping 67% of SEO experts believe that broken links directly impact search engine rankings?
If you’re looking to build your backlinking strategy from the ground up, one way to find success is to identify the broken links on your target publications and offer your quality assets to replace them.
6. Partner With Industry Experts
Partnerships build backlinks for life. In order to succeed in a competitive industry, you must be prepared to also give back in return.
Creating link partnerships with other industry experts and engaging in exchanges is a simple way to build up your backlink juice.
Make sure to keep this looking organic. Don't link out to each other in every post. Instead, find ways to naturally weave organic content into your own blog and social posts.
What’s Next For Backlinking?
Did you know that over two-thirds of clicks go to the first result in a Google search?
If you want to ensure that your site is at the top of the SERPs and has a chance to win some clicks, building backlinks is an essential strategy not to be forgotten in a competitive SEO landscape.
"Building backlinks is a time-consuming process but one your company needs to thrive. I recommend carefully reviewing your options based on your industry and the size of your business,” says Turner. “Look for opportunities to connect with companies and produce high-quality content, and you’ll begin to accumulate backlinks for your business.”
Author bio: Neve Wilkinson is a content writer at Solvid Digital and a marketer with a passion for writing long-form content. I'm proud to have work published in The Sun, Yorkshire Evening Post, Edinburgh News, Future of Commerce, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
1. What is a backlink in SEO?
A backlink is a hyperlink from one website to another. Search engines use backlinks to evaluate a site's authority and relevance, impacting its ranking in search results.
2. Why are backlinks important for SEO?
Backlinks improve your site's credibility, help it rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs), and drive organic traffic from other authoritative websites.
3. What are linkable assets?
Linkable assets are high-quality content, such as data-driven research, how-to guides, or listicles, that other websites naturally want to link to because of their value.
4. How can I replicate competitor backlinks?
Use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to analyze competitor backlink profiles. Identify valuable linking opportunities and pitch your content to those same sites.
5. What is guest posting?
Guest posting involves writing articles for other websites in your niche, including backlinks to your own site. It’s a powerful strategy for gaining organic, high-quality links.
6. How can HARO help with backlinks?
HARO (Help A Reporter Out) connects experts with journalists seeking quotes. By providing valuable insights, you can earn backlinks from highly authoritative publications.
7. Why is fixing broken links a good strategy?
Broken links negatively impact SEO. By offering your content as a replacement for broken links on target sites, you can build backlinks while improving the user experience for the site owner.
8. What are white hat backlinking techniques?
White hat techniques, like guest posting, creating linkable assets, and using HARO, are ethical ways to build backlinks and comply with search engine guidelines.
9. How do partnerships help with backlinks?
Partnering with industry experts allows you to naturally exchange backlinks and expand your site's reach through collaborative content efforts.
10. How can I ensure my backlink strategy is effective?
Focus on quality over quantity. Build links from reputable sites in your niche, maintain a diverse backlink profile, and consistently create valuable, shareable content.
