Building backlinks is one of the most essential aspects of increasing site traffic and moving up in search engine rankings. If you’ve read anything at all about building backlinks, you’ve no doubt seen advice like, “Create quality content that people can link back to.” Well, sure. But how do people find your content if your site isn’t ranked yet? Why would people want to link to your website if your domain authority is zilch and your traffic isn’t moving the dial?
As you might imagine, there’s more involved in a solid backlink strategy than just writing long-form posts. In fact, there are many steps that can get the ball rolling. At the same time, though, there are pitfalls to avoid. A wrong move could get your website black-balled by Google.
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What Are Backlinks?
There are three primary types of links, and these are internal links, external links and backlinks. Internal links take a visitor to other content on your site. External links take a visitor to content on another site. Backlinks are unique because they are on another website, and they link back to your homepage, resources or posts. You have complete control over the first two types. For backlinks, however, other websites have to make a physical effort to link to your content. As a result, these are much more challenging to get.
Why Do Backlinks Matter?
The internet is full of so much conflicting information. Some website owners will tell you that backlinks don’t move the dial like they once did. Others will tell you they’re gold. According to Search Logistics, the #1 ranking websites typically have 3.8 times as many links as the websites ranking in slots two through ten. According to a 2023 Semrush survey, over half of qualifying websites without a backlink didn’t rank on the first page. On the other hand, more than 92% of the 100 top-ranking websites have a backlink.
So, do they matter? Some websites have reached success without a backlink strategy. However, there is overwhelming evidence that quality links have a strong and positive effect on search engine rankings.
How to Build Backlinks
With the understanding of how powerful backlinks are, you’re no doubt wondering how many links you need. A single high-quality backlink may be far more impactful than a dozen or more mediocre links. Is one great link enough? It’s a wonderful start, but you can’t typically expect an elite, high-authority website to link to your up-and-coming website. Depending who you ask, the ideal number of links to your homepage is between 40 and 100. Additional links can then be built to your posts and resources. Before you stress you about how many links you don’t have, remember that link building is a slow process. In fact, if you go too fast, Google might think that you’re trying to manipulate rankings and penalize your site for it. So, what does it take to build backlinks to your website?
Publish Long, Engaging Posts
Let’s start with the obvious and most repeated link-building tip. Publish long, engaging posts. Why does this even matter? When building backlinks, you need to give people something to link to. A post length of between 2,000 and 3,000 words is typically preferable, provided it is well-written and detailed. However, don’t just put words on the screen for the sake of fluffing up the word count. Each word should make a statement. (Bonus: These posts usually rank higher in search engine results.)
Submit Guests Posts
You don’t have to wait for someone to stumble upon your website and decide to link to it. In fact, you don’t have any control over the posts or websites linking to yours. A spammy link can be detrimental, but you can utilize guests posts to have greater control over the quality of websites linking to yours. You can and should submit guests posts on other websites that you have researched carefully. (More about this later.) Do a quick search for “write for us” + your keywords or niche, and you’ll find several options. If those websites don’t have guest post guidelines, reach out and ask. Generally, you can add a link back to your website in your text. Otherwise, you can place a link in your bio.
Focus on Broken Link Building
Links don’t stay live forever, and broken links present an opportunity to you. A broken link creates a bad user experience, but tracking all of those broken links gets more challenging as a website grows. If you spot a broken link, create content on your own website that is suitable for linking to. Then, contact the website owner with a suggestion to link to your new content.
Create Resources
Some of the most linked-to pages are online resources. These may be calculators, infographics, guides and other resources that are highly relevant to your niche or industry. Other website owners don’t necessarily want to take time to make their own resources. Linking to your resources is a faster and easier way for them to deliver a good user experience.
Network with Other Bloggers
Building backlinks doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply reaching out to other bloggers and asking for a link could be effective. You may be more likely to get a “yes” from another blogger when you have some level of relationship with them. For example, join and participate in blogger forums or industry-specific communities. Comment on other websites’ posts, and follow bloggers on social media.
Use Social Media
If you aren’t promoting your posts on social media, you’re missing out on more than the extra traffic that brings. Social media increases your site’s visibility to your target audience and other bloggers. When your website is new and isn’t ranking yet, chances are that other website owners won’t find your stuff if you don’t promote it. Choose social media platforms that are relevant to your niche or industry as well as heavily used by your target audience.
List on Directories
When building backlinks, you’ll read about industry directories as being low-hanging fruit. Many industries have special directories that list businesses and other helpful resources. However, this doesn’t apply to every industry. In addition, some directories are spammy, and their low quality could be detrimental to your rankings. Always do thorough research before submitting your website to any directory, regardless of how easy it would be to get a link.
Research the Competition
Your competition, or those websites that stand above yours in search engine results, likely have done their own extensive research and have built effective backlinks. Why recreate the wheel? Identify who your competitors are, and use a resource like Moz, Semrush or others to do a competitor backlink analysis. Then, create a strategy to get those linking websites to link back to yours.
Pay for Backlinks
Paying for links is a no-no. However, many bloggers will tell you they do it. Google penalizes websites that it believes are intentionally manipulating the system. Be aware of the consequences. If you pay for backlinks, choose your platform wisely. Some of the many options are iCopify, Fat Joe and Adsy. Be aware that the reputation of these various platforms vary considerably. While many people have great experiences with these and other platforms, others complain of poor customer service, paying for links they didn’t get and having links removed. Always read reviews before selecting a platform.
Research Websites
When researching websites to contact about link building, pay attention to these factors:
- Page Authority (PA)
- Domain Authority (DA)
- Traffic
- Spam score
- Content topics and quality
You can learn a lot about a website by visiting it and clicking around. Decide if that’s the type and quality of website that you want associated with your own. In addition, for in-depth analysis, use resources like Moz, SEMrush and Ahrefs. Many link-building platforms also provide metrics.
What Not to Do When Building Backlinks
Now that you know about the many ways to build backlinks, you may be eager to get started. However, the wrong approach can backfire. In some cases, a Google penalty will result in your entire website being taken off of the results pages. Here’s what you should know:
- Never forsake quality for quantity when building backlinks. Low-quality backlinks can have a detrimental impact on your rankings. Pay attention to a website’s spam score before reaching out about a backlink.
- Don’t trade links with another website extensively. Such reciprocation in excess can result in a drop in rankings.
- Don’t submit your website to a spammy directory.
- Don’t create low-quality or irrelevant guest posts.
- Don’t use link farms or link to private blog networks. These are a group of websites owned by one person, and the websites are extensively linked to each other.
- Never spam comments and forums with your links. Comment on related content in a fulfilling way, and add an appropriate link only when it is relevant and helpful to others.
- Always research websites thoroughly upfront.