Link building is one of the most important aspects of SEO.
It’s the process of acquiring links from other websites to your own.
When done correctly, link building can help improve your website’s visibility and rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
In this article, we will discuss what link building is, how it works, and the best practices for doing it effectively.
Contents
- What Is Link Building?
- How Does Link Building Work?
- Different Types of Link Building
- Example of Link Building
- Does Link Building Affect SEO?
- Process of Building Links to a Website
- How To Build Links to a Website
- Link Building Best Practices
- Link Building Tools To Save Time and Money
- Other Related SEO Terms To Know
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Wrapping Up
What Is Link Building?
Link building is the act of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites and pointing them back to your site.
Hyperlinks are what allow us to click from one website to another on the internet.
When we talk about link building, we usually mean the process of acquiring new inbound links to a website.
Difference Between Link Building and Blog Outreach
Link building is about acquiring inbound links, while blog outreach is about creating relationships with other bloggers.
Some link-building strategies don’t require you to do outreach.
For example, a well-written statistics post can attract passive links.
With blog outreach, on the other hand, you work to build relationships with bloggers for the link.
You might write a guest post on their site or see if they’re interested in using an infographic that links back to you.
How Does Link Building Work?
Link building works by increasing the number of links pointing to your website.
What Is the Purpose of Link Building?
Link building benefits you in two areas: first, to improve the ranking of your website in search engines, and second, to increase the traffic that comes to your website.
When a link points from one website to another, it is like a vote.
The more votes (links) that a website receives, the higher it will rank in search engines.
Link building also helps people find your website.
When someone reads an article on a blog and sees a link to your website, they can click on it and go to your website.
Different Types of Link Building
There are various types of link building.
- Inbound links are links that come from other websites and point to your website.
- Outbound links are also important. Google uses this as a ranking factor and looks for valuable outbound links on your website.
- Internal links are links between pages on your website. You can give certain pages boosts in SEO ranking by strategically linking to them from other pages on your site.
Example of Link Building
We can see an example of each link-building type on a page called “15 Cool-Girl Ear Piercings You’ll Want to Get Immediately” on the Byrdie beauty website.
Another website, Bucket List Journey, links to the Byrdie website on its “60 Fun Things to Do on Your Birthday” post.
If you go there, you will notice the link’s anchor text that says, “cool-girl ear piercings.”
On the Brydie website, a page about belly button piercings links to the ear piercings page from an image at the bottom right.
Finally, the ear piercings page links to a website called “Maria Tash.”
Does Link Building Affect SEO?
Link building does affect SEO.
It is one of the ranking factors search engines consider when determining where to rank a website.
Keep this in mind when conducting SEO for WordPress sites.
Why Is Link Building Important for SEO?
Link building is essential for search engine optimization because it helps to improve search engine rankings.
Search engines use links to determine the relevance and authority of a website.
Doing link work correctly will help to increase traffic to your website.
As Google notices an uptick in the number of links to your website, it will rank you more favorably than competitor websites with fewer links.
Both sites might have similar content, so Google uses links as the ranking factor.
Is Link Building Necessary?
Link building is not necessary for WordPress SEO.
However, it is helpful.
It depends on your goals and the competition in your industry.
If you’re in a competitive industry, link building can give you the extra edge you need to rank higher than your competitors.
In smaller niches, you may accomplish high rankings due to premium content.
How Long Does It Take for Link Building to Work?
In general, you can expect to see results within a few months.
However, it can take longer if you’re in a competitive industry or own a new website.
Link building is an ongoing process, so you should expect gradual improvements over time.
Process of Building Links to a Website
There are five steps in the process of building links to a website.
- Step 1: Research link-building opportunities. Start by looking at your competitors’ websites. See who links to them and try to get those same links.
- Step two: Identify link-building targets. Once you’ve found some link-building opportunities, it’s time to start outreach. It involves contacting the website owners or editors and asking them to link to your website.
- Step three: Outreach to link building targets. The best way to do this is by personalizing your message. Explain why their readers would benefit from reading your article or visiting your website.
- Step four: Build relationships with link-building targets. Once you start getting links, maintain those relationships. You can do this by link building reciprocally or sending them valuable information from time to time.
- Step five: Measure and track your results. Keep track of your link-building progress by measuring the number of links you’ve acquired over time. It will help determine whether your link-building efforts are successful.
How To Build Links to a Website
Now that you understand link building and how it works, let’s review specific scenarios and tips for putting the tactic into practice.
Use HARO
HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, is a website that connects journalists with sources.
It’s a way to get exposure for your website and build links simultaneously.
Here’s how it works.
First, you sign up for an account and choose the topics you’re interested in.
Next, you wait for an email from HARO with links to relevant opportunities.
Then, you pitch to the journalist with your story idea.
Use Guest Posts
Guest posting is when you write an article for another website in your industry.
In exchange for your article, you typically get a link back to your website.
You’re able to control the anchor text.
You can use keywords in the anchor text to help improve your website’s search engine ranking.
Share Infographics
People love infographics because they’re easy to consume and share.
It represents the perfect link bait.
When you create an infographic, include a link back to your website.
Get the ball rolling by reaching out to blog owners you think will enjoy placing the infographic on their website.
Offer Free Tools
If you have a tool that’s relevant to your industry, offer it for free on your website.
For example, if you’re in the real estate industry, you could offer a mortgage calculator.
Include a link back to your website within the tool.
Link Building Best Practices
Use the following best practices as you employ the link-building strategies mentioned above.
Make Your Website Link-worthy
One of the best link-building practices is to build a link-worthy website.
It means posting high-quality content that’s shareable and informative.
If you have a website that people want to link to, you’re more likely to get natural links.
Don’t Buy or Sell Links
Be careful of opportunities to buy links from other websites when creating links.
It can result in a Google penalty.
The same goes for selling links on your website.
If you’re caught, you could wake up to a Google penalty that dramatically reduces the traffic to your website.
Google frowns upon manipulative or deceptive link-building tactics.
These are black hat methods.
Other examples include link farms and link wheels.
If you use black hat techniques, you could even see your website removed from search results altogether.
Take Your Time
Link building takes time and effort.
It’s not something you can do overnight.
Remain patient and consistent with your link-building efforts, and you will see results.
Avoiding the temptation to rush this process is the most effective way to keep yourself from using black hat strategies.
Link Building Tools To Save Time and Money
Using link-building tools to save time and money is critical.
Link building is a never-ending procedure.
You must continue working on it over an extended amount of time.
You can automate many of the procedures involved with SEO when using link-building tools.
What Is a Link Building Tool?
A link-building tool is typically a piece of software that helps you go about attracting and using links on your website.
It can aid with tasks such as link analysis, link prospecting, and link management.
These tools effectively monitor the progress of your backlink project.
A link-building tool might also include a service approach.
In this case, you outsource everything as an agency runs the project for you.
Our Favorite Link Building Tools
There are many link-building tools available on the market today.
Here are some of our favorites.
Link Whisper
Link Whisper is a link-building tool that helps you find internal link opportunities.
It analyzes your website and provides a list of potential links that makes sense for each page.
It is better than the manual method that requires the use of memory or complicated spreadsheets to keep track of which posts to link to on your site.
Over time, the tool will get your website ranking higher with internal links and the automated keywords generated by it.
As it works, it will also send notifications when it locates a 404 error or a broken link.
Link Building Services
Many companies offer link-building services.
These companies typically have a team of link builders who will help you get links from high-quality websites.
The link builders will also monitor your link profile to ensure that the links help your website without harming its ranking position.
Backlink Checkers
Backlink checkers are tools that allow you to see all the backlinks pointing to your website.
The information is useful because it allows you to track link growth over time.
It can also help you spot link patterns that might negatively affect the website.
Other Related SEO Terms To Know
Before you can successfully start your link-building plan, you first need to understand how to improve SEO.
Understanding the following terms will help.
- URL: A URL is a specific address found on the internet. It’s what you type into the search bar to visit a website.
- Redirect: A redirect is when you’re automatically taken to a different URL than the one you typed into the search bar. Redirects are often used when a website’s URL changes, but you still want people to find the website using the old URL.
- Domain Authority: Domain authority is a number that represents how well a website will rank on search engines. The higher the number, the better the chance of ranking well.
Frequently Asked Questions
You might have more questions about link building.
Here are answers to two frequently asked questions on the subject.
Is link building still relevant to SEO?
Yes, link building is still relevant to SEO.
Although some people may discount how much Google uses links when ranking websites, you’ll notice an uptick in rankings and traffic by performing well in this area.
What are the benefits of link building?
Link building will help improve your website’s visibility, which can lead to more traffic and conversions.
Additionally, link building can help build relationships with other websites.
Wrapping Up
Link building is one of the most important aspects of SEO.
It helps you build a link between your website and other authoritative websites, which in turn can help improve your website’s search engine ranking.
To get the best results, use the right tools and follow link-building best practices.
By doing so, you can increase your chances of driving more traffic to your site.
