The art of link building stands as a pivotal force, capable of boosting your product pages to the top, if you adopt the right strategy. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the strategies that transcend the conventional, steering clear of spammy tactics and focusing on the creation of genuine connections, that result in top quality links.
As featured in BrightonSEO’s Marketing Conference Oct 2020, this 2020 presentation from our then Senior Campaign Manager, Laura Slingo, gives all the advice you need to stop looking like a spammer and start building links to product pages that add real value.
Want to build product pages that make people actually want to click them? Here’s all you need to know.
Not quite got the time to pore through Laura’s extensive set of slides? No worries. We’ll cover the basics of no-spam link building below (though be sure to check out the presentation in full when you’ve got the time to spare!)
Master the Art of Outreaching
It’s arguably the least glamorous part of any link building strategy, but it’s also one of the most crucial. Outreaching involves reaching out (who’d have thought?) to website owners, bloggers, and influencers in your industry to establish relationships and secure guest posting opportunities or other forms of collaboration. Nailing the delicate art of outreach isn’t easy, but we’ve provided a few key tips down below:
- Personalise Your Outreach: When cold emailing for outreach, craft individualised messages for each recipient, avoiding generic mass emails. Mention specific details about their website or recent articles to show thoughtful engagement.
- Offer Value: Highlight what you can offer in exchange for a link to your product page. Whether it’s high-quality content, expertise in your niche, or a mutually beneficial partnership, make sure your offer is compelling.
- Build Relationships: Building genuine relationships with website owners and bloggers can lead to long-term link-building opportunities. Engage with them on social media, comment on their articles, and attend industry events when possible.
- Follow Up: Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get an immediate response. Follow up politely but not excessively. Persistence can pay off in the world of outreach, so don’t be afraid to knock on that metaphorical door more than once!
Check out SEO outreach definition page to learn more about the process!
Create High-Quality Content
The phrase ‘content is king’ might be the biggest digital marketing cliche of all time, but it’s also a solid fact of the SEO world. It’s part of the reason why businesses often rely so heavily on the kind of SEO services offered by agencies just like ours.
If you’re going to build links to your product page, there’s a high chance that the bulk of your link building strategy will consist of winning placements on sites relevant to whatever niche your product occupies. Now, it may be tempting to simply fire a few AI-generated articles off, pop your links in and call it a day, but trust us — that’s a terrible idea. Why? Well, we’re glad you asked… Here’s why you should create content designed to be read and — even more importantly — enjoyed by audiences:
- Establish Authority with Quality Content: By crafting high-quality, informative, and engaging content, you position yourself as an industry expert, building trust with your audience.
- It creates a better user experience: Quality content provides value to your website visitors. It keeps them engaged, reduces bounce rates, and encourages longer visits, all of which contribute positively to your SEO rankings.
- Good content earns natural backlinks: Exceptional content naturally attracts backlinks from other websites. When your content is valuable and shareable, other webmasters and bloggers are more likely to link to it.
- Quality content enhances social media presence: Engaging content is more likely to be shared on social media platforms. Increased social media visibility can indirectly impact your SEO by driving more traffic and potential backlinks to your site.
- It provides long-term SEO benefits: High-quality content provides lasting SEO value. Unlike quick-fix strategies, such as keyword stuffing or low-quality link building, investing in content pays off in the long run and keeps your rankings stable and sustainable.
- It builds brand reputation: Consistently creating valuable content establishes your brand as a reputable source of information. This can lead to increased brand awareness and loyalty, which, in turn, can positively impact your SEO efforts.
Want to learn more about backlinks? Read our What Are Backlinks and Why Are They Important guide!
Build Relationships with Influencers
Influencer partnerships are the modern-day equivalent of the celebrity endorsement. In the eyes of the consumer, a recommendation from an influencer is a rock-solid confirmation that your product or service is worth their hard-earned money.
Of course, these partnerships rarely come cheap. While many micro-influencers may be willing to provide exposure in return for a few freebies, social media personalities boasting a large audience know their worth, and many are now managed by dedicated agencies. If you’re hoping to boost your backlink strategy with some social media clout, follow these tips:
- Research and Connect with Influencers: Thoroughly research potential influencers, analysing their content, engagement rates, and audience demographics before initiating contact.
- Negotiate Fairly: Be transparent about your expectations and budget. Negotiate terms that work for both you and the influencer. Some influencers prefer monetary compensation, while others may accept product exchanges or a combination of both. Ensure that the terms are clear and mutually agreed upon.
- Content Collaboration: Collaborate closely with the influencer on the content they will create. Provide guidance and key messages, but also allow them creative freedom to maintain their authentic voice. Authenticity is crucial in maintaining the trust of their audience.
- Track and Measure Results: Use tracking tools and analytics to monitor the performance of the influencer campaign. Measure metrics like engagement, website traffic, and conversions to assess the impact of the partnership. This data will help you refine your influencer strategy in the future.
- Long-Term Relationships: Building relationships with influencers should be a long-term strategy. Continuously engage with them, even after the initial campaign is over. Genuine relationships can lead to ongoing collaborations and increased brand loyalty.
Create Press Releases
We’ve previously talked at length about the importance of hybrid link building strategies, and why your content marketing needs to go beyond blog posts. Want super high quality backlinks? Then it’s time to think bigger than the super-niche sites you’ve sought to win links on previously.
Here at Seeker, we like to aim high. Blogs have their place, but in the context of building links, this means creating bespoke press releases worthy of being picked up by journalists working for high-authority, high-traffic news sites. Executing such a plan is no mean feat, but it’s something we’ve gotten pretty good at over the years. Here are our top tips:
- Create a Compelling Hook: Journalists prioritise stories with a hook. Ensure your press release resonates with readers and aligns with current trends or events, so before creating your press release, ask yourself “why would anyone care?”. Remember — the best stories hook onto current trends or events, so if you’re struggling to create hook-y content, try to draw inspiration from existing news items.
- Data-Driven Insights: Headlines containing phrases like ‘new study shows’ or ‘research reveals’ are surefire winners in the world of journalism, so if you have the resources, try to collect data to back up your story.
- Timeliness matters: Stay attuned to current events and trends in your industry. Timeliness can significantly enhance your chances of securing coverage, especially when your story aligns with ongoing news cycles.
- Use assets: Enhance your press release with multimedia assets such as images, infographics, or videos. Visual elements can captivate the audience and boost engagement.
Link Building FAQ
Should I buy backlinks?
It depends. While buying backlinks is generally considered a bit of a gray area, whether the link is penalised by Google is reliant entirely on the legitimacy of the site it appears on. It’s best to focus on natural, high-quality link building methods instead, but if you insist on buying your links, always ensure your chosen site isn’t a spam-littered dumping ground.
Are link building services worth it?
It depends on the service and your goals. Some link building services (like ours) are great, but many are sketchy. If you decide to go this route, do your homework and choose a reputable one — you can chat to our friendly team for advice in this department.
What’s the easiest method to get backlinks?
Guest posting is a great starting point. Reach out to websites in your niche and offer to write awesome content for them in exchange for a backlink. It’s a win-win – they get great content, and you get a link. It’s also worth creating a dedicated blog page on your own website, update it regularly and keep it jam-packed with useful, helpful content. This way, there’s a good chance that other sites might link back to it.
Is there a ‘golden number’ of backlinks needed to boost my site’s visibility?
There’s no magic number, but quality trumps quantity. Focus on getting relevant, authoritative links from quality sites. It’s better to have a handful of those than a gazillion low-quality ones.
Are high-quality backlinks difficult to attain?
They can be a bit of a challenge, but totally doable. The key to SEO success is creating content that people naturally want to link to. Building relationships in your industry can also help you score some high-quality backlinks. Building traffic is all about the two Ps: Patience and persistence.
How do search engines determine which sites to penalise?
Great question! Unfortunately though, it’s quite a tricky one to answer… The truth is, nobody (other than the engineers responsible for designing them) really knows how search engine algorithms work; it’s a ‘secret recipe’ of sorts.
If these secrets ever got out, search engines wouldn’t be able to provide their users with valid results. Every business wants to appear at the top of the SERPs, and because of this, it’s crucial tha the nuts and bolts of these ranking algorithms remains a mystery.
This said, we do know that there are a variety of factors that positively influence a site’s rankings. These include relevance, authority, load speed, and mobile-friendliness, and these are areas where we can lend a helping hand.
Looking for more ecommerce advice? Check out our latest blogs Ecommerce SEO: 6 SEO Hacks For Savvy Online Sellers and How to Prepare Your Site for Black Friday. For expert help, get in touch with Seeker today and start your link building journey!
