What Are Backlinks and How to Get Them?
Discover the power of backlinks and learn simple strategies to boost your website’s visibility online. Dive into the world of SEO with ease!
Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors of search engines like Google They are links from one website to another. These links are important because they not only help users navigate between different sites but also play a significant role in search engine optimization (SEO)
High-quality backlinks can help to increase a site’s ranking position and visibility in search engine results (SEO).
Types of Backlinks
Not all backlinks are created equal. There are two main types:
- Natural Backlinks: These are earned organically when other websites find your content valuable and link to it voluntarily.
- Artificial Backlinks: These are acquired through deliberate efforts such as outreach, guest posting, or link exchanges.
Importance of Backlinks in SEO
Backlinks serve as a significant ranking factor in search engine algorithms. Websites with a strong backlink profile tend to rank higher in search results for relevant queries. Additionally, backlinks contribute to:
- Increased Traffic: Backlinks from reputable sites drive referral traffic to your website.
- Enhanced Authority: Quality backlinks signal to search engines that your content is trustworthy and valuable, boosting your site’s authority.
- Indexing and Crawling: Backlinks help search engine crawlers discover and index your web pages faster.
Are All Backlinks Valuable for SEO?
Not all backlinks are valuable for SEO.
For starters, nofollow links tell search engines not to pass link equity (which equates to SEO power) to the target site.
Nofollow links include one of these nofollow attributes in their code:
- rel=“nofollow”: This lets Google know that the linking site does not endorse the target site
- rel=“sponsored”: This shows that the target site paid for the link to be placed
- rel=“ugc”: This indicates that the link appears within user generated content
Strategies to Acquire Backlinks
- Create High-Quality Content: Producing valuable, informative, and engaging content naturally attracts backlinks from other websites.
- Guest Blogging: Contribute guest posts to reputable websites in your niche, including a link back to your site in the author bio or content.
- Broken Link Building: Identify broken links on other websites and offer your content as a replacement.
- Outreach and Networking: Reach out to influencers, bloggers, and website owners in your industry to request backlinks or collaboration opportunities.
- Social Media Promotion: Share your content across social media platforms to increase its visibility and likelihood of being linked to.
How to Get Backlinks
Here are 15 quick and simple strategies for how to get backlinks. Let’s dive straight in…
1. Find Backlink Opportunities with Top Referral Sources
You can start by looking at the top referral sources of your website. These are websites that are linking to your content and offering you a backlink.
By finding out which type of websites link back to your site and the type of content they prefer, you can find new opportunities and create similar content to get a backlink.
There are many ways you can view your referral sources. In Google Analytics, go to Acquisition » User acquisition.
2. Use Outbound Links to Form Partnerships
Another way of finding backlink opportunities is by looking at your outbound links. If you’re linking to a high authority website and sending a lot of traffic, you can send out an outreach email and form a partnership.
The report will show you the external links on your website that get the most clicks. You can then send an email to these websites and begin to build a relationship. Tell them about your post and how you found their content useful that you used it as a source.
Mention that you’re looking for a partnership opportunity and perhaps work on a content collaboration, like a case study. If they’re on board with the idea, you can get great new backlinks along with traffic and a relationship with the source.
3. Use Google Search Console Reports to Get Backlinks
Google Search Console can also help you find opportunities for backlinks for your website. The free tool by Google provides amazing data that you can use to boost your rankings.
And among them is the Top linking sites report. These are websites that linked back to your site in the past. You can go through the backlinks and see what type of content they liked and gave you a backlink.
Since they’ve linked your domain previously, they will be familiar with your website and could provide another backlink. All you have to do is find sites and reach out with relevant content.
You can also check out our guide on how to use Google Search Console to double your traffic.
4. Spy on Your Competitors
Ever wonder where your competitors get their backlinks from? What’s their organic strategy and what type of content they publish? If you want to stay up to date with what’s happening in the industry, then you should know what others are doing.
You can ethically spy on your competitors to find sources for backlinks, look at their organic keywords, top-performing content, social media activities, and more.
To look for backlinks, you can use SEO tools like Semrush. It provides a complete backlink profile of any website you enter. To view the backlinks in SEMrush, go to Backlink Analytics from the left panel and then enter your competitor’s domain.
Now click Check it. Next, select Backlinks and you’ll have a list of domains from where your competitor gets its links from.
You can then use these sources to capture a backlink for your website as well. For instance, if your competitor has a link from a guest post, you can also publish content on the guest posting website.
And if they have a link from a forum, you can also create a profile in that forum and try to earn a backlink.
Other techniques you can use to stay ahead of your competitors include signing up for their email newsletters and set up Google Alerts. So, you’re immediately notified when they publish new content or were featured on another site.
5. Find Broken Links to Build Backlinks
While you’re looking at your competitors, you can also look at their broken links. The broken link building strategy is another quick and easy way of capturing backlinks.
Broken links are links that no longer exist or work on a website. And they may be caused by the source website removing those links (also known as 404 error), have an improper URL, or the destination website might have closed or moved to another domain.
Whatever the reason, this presents an amazing opportunity for you to get a backlink. All you have to do is find broken links, contact the website to replace the link, and pitch your site as a replacement. It’s that simple!
To find broken links, you can first look at your competitors and then search for more websites in your niche. Then use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to uncover broken links.
In Semrush, you can filter the Backlinks report of your competitor. Under the different options listed under Backlinks, check the box for Lost. It will then show you links that longer work.
And if you’re using Ahrefs, then enter the website URL in its Site Explorer and click
on Broken under the Backlinks options from the menu on your left. The tool will show you all the broken links of your competitor.
Once you have a list of broken links, the next step is to contact the webmaster of these websites and report about the broken link.
When drafting your pitch, be humble and introduce yourself. Add the exact location of the broken link, since you want to help them out.
Then mention different alternatives for the broken link, including your website. Chances are that the webmaster will use your website as a replacement and you’ll get a backlink in return.
6. Create High-Quality Content That’s Link-Worthy
One of the most basic ways of how to get backlinks is by creating top-notch content. Your goal should be to create a piece of content that other bloggers and industry experts can use and link back to your site.
This may be a time-intensive strategy but if you can get it right, it’s worth the effort. There are different types of content you can produce. You can write how-to articles, create guides, list posts, and run quizzes.
For instance, if you have a fashion blog, you can create a how-to post about how to run a fashion brand with only $100. You can also create a list post about 50 fashion trends that will reshape society.
7. Publish a Skyscraper Content
When it comes to creating content, you can also produce a skyscraper content piece to get backlinks. These are extensive guides on existing topics and are super detailed and could be as long as 10,000+ words.
The idea behind skyscraper content is to write a post that covers all aspects of the topic in detail and make it better than the rest. So, you can attract other sites to link to your post and generate lots of backlinks.
You can start by simply searching for a topic in your niche on Google. Then closely look at the results because these are the pages that got a lot of backlinks and made it to the first page on Google.
For example, if you’re writing about content marketing, look up the search results. Then go through the content on each of the links and start creating your own post that’s 10X better.
Once your skyscraper content is ready, it’s time for the most important part – promotion. There are different ways you can go about promoting it.First, you can reach out to all the people, influencers, companies, tools, and sources you mentioned in your content. Tell them that you found their platform to be useful and if they liked the article, they can share it with their audience.
As the word gets out about your skyscraper guide, others will start to pick up your content and you’ll get backlinks.
Another way of promoting your post is by finding sites that have already backlinked to existing posts and then pitching your content as a better alternative.
For this, you can use SEO tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs. Simply enter the URL of each of the top 10 results in the tool and extract a list of websites that provided backlinks to the original article.
Then use the list to reach out to these websites and introduce your skyscraper content. Explain to them how your post is better and encourage them to give your post a backlink.
You can also take a look at more amazing content marketing examples.
8. Use Infographics to Capture Backlinks
Along with written text, you use infographics to secure backlinks for your website.
Infographics are visual representations of data and information using graphics, images, and charts. They help in providing a quick overview of the topic and break down complex concepts into simple visuals that are easy to understand.
Take the case of WPBeginner. Their infographic on interesting facts about WordPress has over 700 backlinks.
By creating engaging and helpful infographics, you are helping other content creators. They might use your visual creation in their blogs and give you a backlink as the original creator of the infographic.
To create an infographic, you don’t need to be a designer or hire a professional. You can use different free online tools to create one by yourself. Check out the guide on the best visual content creation tools to get started.
9. Write Testimonials
Did you know that by writing testimonials on other websites, you can get a backlink for your site?
Many businesses look for testimonials to show as social proof. They even display them on their homepage.
So, if you’re a regular user of a tool or service, you can write a testimonial in exchange for a backlink. Find companies that are relevant to your industry and submit a testimonial.
Pro Tip: Look for websites that have high domain authority (DA). That’s because search engines consider links from high DA sites to be high-quality backlinks.
10. Use Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
When we speak of high-quality backlinks, then getting links from news websites and journalistic blogs is like winning the jackpot. That’s because these websites have a high domain authority and getting featured there will also boost your site’s trust level.
The best way to get a backlink from news outlets is through Help a Reporter Out (HARO). It’s a platform that provides journalists and bloggers with sources for news and stories.
To use HARO, sign up as a source from its homepage and then select a pricing plan (you can use the free basic plan to get started).
Once you’ve signed up, you’ll start receiving emails from HARO containing requests from different news and media websites for a quote, advice, tips, stories and more.
Respond to the queries that are relevant to your business and if your answer gets picked up, you’ll end up receiving a backlink from the news website.
11. Start Guest Blogging
Guest posting is an excellent way to get backlinks for your website and is a tried and tested strategy. You can reach out to different sites that accept guest blogs and submit a post.
Many websites offer a contributor account or a write for us section where anyone can write an article and get featured on the site. They even let you link to your site, either in the author bio section or within the text of the content.
You can find guest blogging websites by simply running a search on Google. Write the topic keyword you want to target and add a guest article or write for us or contributor in the end. The search engine will then filter the results and show sites that allow guest posting.
Next, draft a pitch for your topic, along with a description of what you’ll cover in the article. Make sure to explain the benefits and how it helps their readers.
Guest posting helps you laser target the right audience and generate traffic to your website. You can learn more by following the ultimate guide to guest blogging.
Conclusion
Backlinks are the backbone of a successful SEO strategy, playing a pivotal role in improving your website’s visibility, credibility, and authority. By understanding the significance of backlinks and implementing effective link-building tactics, you can enhance your site’s ranking in search engine results and drive valuable organic traffic. Embrace the power of backlinks to propel your online presence to new heights.
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