When it comes to digital marketing, one single strategy rarely works for all of the marketing you need to do. Branding and advertising can work in a tight partnership together, but only when clients actually know who you are. When it comes to SEO, building your reputation comes down to writing lots of high quality content so the world sees the evidence of your authority. But your authority is significantly amplified when you have inbound links coming to your website from other quality sites.
In a sense, link building strategies are akin to popularity strategies on the playground. If you want other people to like you, you have to worthy of their trust.
That is the fundamental benefit of link building for SEO: positive link building builds your professional reputation.
Consider that when another website links to your content, it’s as if they are giving you the nod of authority. Their link to your content signals to Google (and other search engines) that your content is of high value, reputable and trustworthy.
The goal of a link build strategy is to encourage other reputable sites to link to your content. That means, you have to have high quality content. It doesn’t mean you need a lot of content, you need GOOD content.
So let’s dig into the basics to begin…
What Is Link Building?
Link building is a mindset and a strategy that encourages other websites to link back to yours for the purpose of mutual benefit. For example, let’s say that you run a fashion magazine. On your website, you have articles about the latest fashion trends. A fashion blogger might link back to your website to show they are “in the know” about what’s hot and trendy. By linking to you, that blogger removes the need to create that same content on their own and they still get the reputation benefit. Link building as an effective SEO tool benefits the “linker” as much as the “link-e”.
As you explore link building, it’s crucial to remember that the goal of greater trust and authority only come when you engage in “white hat” link building. This kind of work is fully above board and doesn’t involve any nefarious practices.
With white hat link building, your reputation can soar. Here are some of the many benefits of using link building for your brand.
The Benefits of Quality Link Building For SEO & Your Brand
Improve Your Site Traffic
One of the first (and best) benefits of link building is improving your site traffic, sometimes dramatically. With link building, you get more qualified traffic and potential customers coming to your site because their interest in your business is already in process before they make it to your website.
Consider that fashion blogger’s article mentioned above. If that same business owner had a store selling t-shirts and they were quoted on a fashion magazine’s site for selling “trendy t-shirts”, the person who clicks is likely already in the market for a new t-shirt.
With related links on other websites, strangers learn about your business/products and when they click to your site, they are closer to being ready to buy. This per-qualified lead is as good as advertising when done right.
Network In Your Niche
Another significant benefit is that you can network within your niche. For example, let’s say on your fashion blog you specifically talk about fashion for moms. With this in mind, you can find other mom/fashion blogs or websites that tailor to specific needs within your exact market.
When you find this site, reach out to that website and share your content that is related to something they have published. Offer your article as a “backed up” or referenced topic that compliments their article. Often websites will link to your piece to lend heightened credibility to their own article. Don’t worry if you’re shot down a few times, just keep trying. Soon, you’ll get the practice you need and land a link or two in no time.
Gain Better Search Results
You can also gain better search results. With related links in other website’s articles, potential clients are able to find you on different platforms and networks. For many brands, this is crucial for getting more visibility, attention and improving profitability.
Improve Your Bounce Rates
If you apply proper white-hat link-building strategies, you will often see a change in your bounce rate. People who lack good SEO strategies and link building strategies often see poor bounce rates because they are not connecting to their core audience. Ideally, content that is SEO optimized and aligned with your customer’s buying habits will keep your customer’s attention longer. This usually result in more clicks into the website.
Build Your SEO Score
Link building is one of the essential parts of search engine optimization. When you improve your link building strategies, you will see a significant benefit in terms of your search engine optimization scores. This will impact your pages and articles growing higher in search and it will cause your competition to sit up and take notice.
Notable companies, customers, and competitors will also see your work. This is true even if your search engine optimization is at its lowest. Especially for clients with this challenge, white hat link building is still one of the best ways to build long-standing SEO.
Make Your Brand an Authoritative Voice In Your Industry
White hat link building can quickly put your brand in the front of your industry, making you an authority figure. What better way to stand out than to have other people sharing your content with several of their customers? Make your brand an authoritative voice within your industry easily by employing proper link-building strategies in your content.
Grow Your Social Media Following
One of the great benefits of link building in SEO is that you will eventually grow all your business communities, including your social media following. Link building seems like a match made in heaven for social media. Why? Because the second you see that your website is linked to in someone’s article, you are motivated to promote that content on social media. You can even give the company a shout-out or thanks for including you. Isn’t that the heart of being social?
How Can I Begin My SEO-Focused Link Building Strategy?
Now that we have covered the benefits of link building in SEO, you might ask yourself: how can I make this happen? What are the steps to master link building? Let’s start with a few things that can help you create great content and receive these crucial benefits from link building.
Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is one of the best ways to begin building quality backlinks. By sharing your content on other people’s websites, you gain both reputation and authority. Just be sure to get that link in there back to your own website! With guest blogging, a volume approach is good, but a diverse one is better. Each individual backlink matters, so being spread across many sites is better than having many links on only one site. The goal here is diversity and quality backlinks to your website from other high level domains.
Do some research and find out what sites might be best for you to share your expertise with. You can always look in the site’s footer for links like “write for us” or “share your post” as indicators that a website offers guest blogging opportunities. If you don’t see this, don’t be discouraged, email the site manager using the information in the contact form to see if the website offers guest blogging opportunities.
Write Great Content
There’s nothing worse than knowing how to use link building but being unable to see the benefits because your content is poorly written. Focus on creating quality content. Less is more here. It’s better to have one great article than 5 poorly written ones. Once you have your masterpiece, you can use these link building strategies to your advantage.
Just remember, when it comes to SEO, content is the foundation for your SEO goals. Your link building is the cherry on top to help you stand out but it only works if the content is good. Do your research so you know what your ideal client is looking for, then you can feel assured your content will strike gold.
Now That You Know These Link Building Benefits, It’s Time To Get To Work
With so many benefits of link building in SEO and white hat link building ideas, you can implement these strategies in your content and your brand. White hat link building is crucial to your SEO strategy, so don’t be fooled by false promises of quick wins for poorly written content or from link farms. While hat SEO is the key to a long lasting future online. It will change your visibility within your industry and with your prospective clients.
Other related articles:
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How To Ask Customers For Reviews
How To Create Content For Local SEO
Need help getting started, reach out today to schedule a complimentary SEO audit for your website or discuss with our founder Melanie Gorman how you can kick start your SEO strategy today.
