One of the most important things in SEO positioning is to have a network of links pointing to your page. Here are some tips on how to get links naturally, without asking or paying!
We saw earlier that positioning your site well in Google’s search results requires a lot of work both on and off your page. It’s very important to take good care of all the technical aspects, but it’s off-page where the magic happens.
Google works more or less like a recommendation system: the more people recommend your page (place a link that leads traffic to you), the more it is implied that it is relevant.
More it’s not always better
It works like this: the more links you have from sites that are related to yours, the better. On the other hand, the more unrelated links you have, the worse!
By this logic, if you have a marketing blog, for example, it’s better to have a link coming from a keyword-measuring tool site than a hundred coming from a dental practice page.
So if you were thinking of those sites that sell links cheaply and in bulk, forget about them. They even worked for a while, when Google had a more quantitative scoring strategy. Now, they analyse much more qualitatively, and are increasingly developing their algorithm to catch links that aren’t organic and natural.
So how do I get links?
There are two main routes:
- LinkBuilding: a well-designed strategy where you would be willing to pay or ask for links to sites related to your area.
It’s a very different system to the one I mentioned above, as you would carry out authority studies on these sites and make sure they are of good quality. - LinkBaiting: a strategy to get links without asking, by doing creative and quality things so that the links come naturally.
They would originate the most natural links possible, within your sector, of quality, just the way Google likes them.
The choice between one or the other will depend on your availability of time and money. This post will focus on LinkBaiting.
The first thing you need to have is PATIENCE! It’s not a quick or easy process. Below are some things you can do:
Strategies
To state the obvious: it’s very important that you take the time to create original, interesting and useful content. For people to link to you, they need to think that what you have to offer adds value.
Below are some suggestions of things you can do:
Dictionaries
Every sector has specific terms. Consider creating a well-structured dictionary of terms, complete with good definitions and examples.
If your term is well explained, someone who is writing a related article but doesn’t want to go to the trouble of explaining a specific term will link to you.
Interviews
Consider interviewing other professionals in your sector.
It’s something that can be very interesting for your audience and, in the end, can get you at least one link from your interviewee’s website or blog.
Infographics
Articles that explain the step-by-step of something, the development of a new product, workouts or before and afters.
For example, if you have a fitness programme website, how about doing a before and after with real users/customers? At the very least, the people involved will publicise your article, either on their personal blogs or on social media.
Links on third-party sites
If you follow other blogs and websites in your field, you may have come across broken links.
For example, in a list of the Best Travel Blogs, you may notice that some of them no longer exist.
Why not contact the site owner, politely point out the problem and offer that I haven’t put yours in place?
I know the title of this post says “without asking”, but that way you solve a problem for someone else too. It’s a win-win.
Collaborative content
Invite several people and write a collaborative article with various opinions on a topic.
You offer your audience a super interesting article with various points of view and at the same time you will at least be referenced by the participants.
Lists!
Turn everything into lists!
They’re clear, quick and easy to share.
Controversies
This type of content has a chance of going viral, but please… BE CAREFUL.
Think of articles that say, for example, why you don’t like something, or announce the death of something. Examples of titles, in Digital Marketing would be:
‘Is conventional marketing dead?’
’10 reasons why I don’t do websites on WordPress’
Guest blogging
You could make a guest blogging area available, where people can write articles for your blog.
Of course, you would have total control over what is published, because after all, there’s no point in publishing just anything.
It works more or less like the interview: look at the chance of the person linking to you like this, to promote their article.
Link Magnets
A little-used strategy, but one that basically consists of looking for words that have little search competition, creating a piece of content, positioning it and informing related companies.
For example: you have a web design blog and there’s a WordPress plugin that doesn’t get much use. You could write an article about it and when the article is positioned on Google you could contact the people who make it. They might mention you on their own website.
Collaborate or sponsor events
You can collaborate in events related to your field by creating content or giving talks.
Sponsorship can be financial, but not necessarily. Often, it can also be services.
In both cases you would probably have a link on the event’s website.
Affiliation
This style is particularly good for e-commerce and people who sell courses or services.
If you sell a product, consider creating an affiliate network that offers good conditions for bloggers and influencers in your area to sell their products.
Let’s say you sell dresses. Why not create conditions so that, for example, a fashion blogger can sell your dress and earn a percentage?
That way, the blogger would have a link to your product page and you’d even increase your sales.
Conclusion
To be well positioned in a Google search result you need to have a good website, quality inbound links but above all offer quality content.
An example I like a lot is that if you want to appear in first place for searches for ‘best pizza in London’, you need to have a good website, but above all:
- Make pizza
- Be in London
- Have a lot of people in London who think you make the best pizza there, and write blog articles, do reviews and talk about your pizzeria on social media.
Basically, you need to actually MAKE A GREAT PIZZA IN LONDON! There’s no point in forcing bad content that won’t sell.