Many SEO experts think so. Ranking high today takes a lot more than good backlinks, and if you’re still blindly building links for link building’s sake (and not as part of a larger, cohesive online marketing strategy), then you could be wasting your time and money.
Where should we focus our efforts instead? It depends on your website and business goals. But if you’re looking for some informative data, here’s a list of link-building techniques that could give your company the edge it needs to succeed:
Introduction to the Best Link Building Services
Link building might be one of the most challenging tasks for an SEO professional. Search engines have become so sophisticated that they now consider over 200 factors when determining how powerful a backlink is in determining where you rank in their results.
As long as there have been search engines, companies have been trying to manipulate them. Google’s algorithm has gone through many changes over the years, including Penguin, Panda, and Hummingbird, with plans for future updates that will continue the trend.
The best way to stay on top of what is coming in the future is by looking at how Google currently ranks sites. Here’s a list of SEO ranking factors that are essential in determining whether or not your website should be considered for inclusion in the SERPs.
What to do next: You have several options for increasing links to your new content. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
1. Social media promotion
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn – none of these platforms existed ten years ago. They’re an integral part of daily life, especially for younger generations. Optimizing your business’s presence on social media can generate a steady stream of qualified traffic for little to no cost. It can even result in earned links from reputable sources that are typically out of reach.
2. Becoming a guest blogger
Paying money to publish content on another website was once frowned upon by SEO experts. But it’s almost expected these days, not just for link building. Guest blogging can expose your content to a new audience, generate higher search rankings, and even establish you as an industry thought leader in front of your competition.
3. Link bait promotion
It used to be that writing a good article on a topic of interest to your target audience was enough to bring in new backlinks. However, those articles have now been so thoroughly dissected and rewritten by other sites that it is frequently no longer worth the time and effort to create original content. That’s why you need some link bait – something unique, intriguing, or downright controversial that other sites can’t ignore.
4. Long tail promotion
People used to think that creating content for the sake of having keywords on your page was a waste of time – because it didn’t rank for those words and usually wasn’t worth the effort required to execute. But this is a myth. If you do it right, long-tail promotion can drive a ton of qualified traffic to your site.
5. Authority promotion
This one requires a lot more work than the others, but not having any previous authority sites linking to your website can hurt you in the long run. You don’t have to be able to rank for super competitive terms – think about how other websites in your industry (or similar ones) would view a link from an authority site like Forbes, Inc., or Entrepreneur.
6. Infographics and visuals
These days, if you want to stand out online, you can do more than publish an article. It has to be an infographic, a video, or something else entirely – otherwise, people won’t even bother to read it. Publishing a well-designed infographic or video on your site and promoting it through social media and other channels can bring you tons of traffic – and maybe even some earned links!
7. Social bookmarking
Several sites allow users to submit content to promote it online (such as Buzzfeed and Upworthy). While most of these submissions don’t result in links, some do. So it would be best if you considered bookmarking your posts with these services and promoting them on social media to get more exposure to the content you work so hard to produce.
8. Press release promotion
Even though marketers across many industries still use press releases to promote their news to the media, they aren’t exactly a “new” thing. Even today, many believe that press releases should only contain information about your business and why it’s crucial. It is no longer valid! You can use a press release to promote anything you want – a product or service, a piece of new content, an event – the list goes on.
9. Listicle promotion
It’s a relatively new form of content that combines a top-ten style format with short and concise sentences and paragraphs. The idea is to provide value and educate your audience quickly and easily – perfect for busy people online! Some listicles also include images, videos, or even infographics.
10. Video promotion
A video is an excellent way to provide valuable information to your audience instantly – and many people love sharing great videos online. But there’s a catch: if you want to be successful with this content promotion, the content itself has to be good enough to go viral first.
11. Industry/niche promotion
Like listicles, this type of content is about providing value and educating your audience. The biggest difference? You should target a niche you know pretty well (like your competitors). Not only will this save time, but it will also drive significantly more traffic to your site than just publishing a general article.
12. Directory promotion
These days, directories are all but dead – but they’re not entirely useless either. That’s because every industry has at least several niche-specific directories. You can submit your website for free (search for them online) and get some easy backlinks.
Conclusion
Before you go and try to build links on your own, consider the potential consequences. Even though Google created Google’s Penguin update to clean up spammy backlinks and devalue sites that bought their ranks, there is still a chance you’ll get caught in its claws if you need to do something right. So before you go out and buy links, make sure that you understand the risks involved.
On the other hand, there are plenty of natural ways to get backlinks that won’t cause any trouble with Google. Creating unique content that provides value to your readers allows you to drive tons of traffic to your site without worrying about devaluation or penalties.
Have you ever bought or built links? How did it work out for your website? Share your thoughts in the comments below!