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Following on from my previous article on how on-page optimisation and technical SEO has superseded link building as the no.1 ranking metric, I thought it was important to point out types of link building efforts that can still reap rewards.
When considering whether a link is worth the effort, one piece of advice I always tell people is to look at the site and say to yourself, if Google didn’t exist would I still want to build this link? If the answer is Yes! Go ahead. If the answer is No! then Google probably will not value it either. Building links through natural link acquisition, manual outreach, and guest blogging can significantly improve your Google rankings.
The days of gaming the system to build your authority are gone. Everything you do in SEO must be looked at under the lens of connecting links and topics that define what you do. Understanding and implementing effective link building strategies is crucial for improving search engine visibility and adapting to the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing.
Below I highlight 4 types of links you can consider right now to supercharge your SEO efforts.
- Competitor Analysis – Looks for low hanging fruit. Relevant sites that you could easily get a link from too. Manufacturer > supplier links, Trade Directories, UK based directories in your area
- Link Reclamation – Look for blogs that mention your site but don’t link back to you, (unlinked mentions), unlinked mentions that do link back, but not to the most relevant page, images that are not correctly linked to the source
- Broken Link Building – Reference sites that contain high amounts of other related sites, where the links haven’t been updated and you can highlight to the webmaster the broken links and offer your site as a replacement.
- Outreach – Find relevant publications/blogs in your niche and find a linkable asset (more about this in the next blog post) that you could pitch to journalists/blog owners.
Competitor Analysis
In the SEO world, you do not always have to reinvent the wheel. As the saying goes success leaves clues. If you see a competitor or competitors, consistently outranking you, you can easily spy on their link building efforts and see exactly what types of links they have built. Using tools like Moz.com, Ahrefs.com or majestic.com, you can put in a website and find out exactly the types of links they have been building. I always recommend filtering these based on authority, highest to lowest. A glance will see the types of link they have been building, whether these are directories, editorials, trade/supplier links. A word to the wise here though, do not just blindly build links. Some of these links may have been discounted by Google. Question each link with if Google didn’t exist would I still want to build this link?
Link Reclamation
Link Reclamation is a tactic mainly used for established or older sites with lots of links. Sometimes another source such as a blog post or editorial feature may mention your site by name but may not necessarily link back to you, or maybe even linking back to the wrong page (normally the home page). You can find unlinked brand mentions using a tool like SEMRush which will highlight these for you and then reach out to the site owner, thanking them for mentioning you, and asking if they would kindly link back to the original data/source which would be of benefit to their visitors.
Image reclamation is another great way to obtain links. People will often use links they like without attributing the photographer or image creator. Using a process called reverse images search you an easily find any images used on other sites and ask them to source the original image.
Broken Link Building
This works extremely well for tech or other niches where people often source other websites. You will often find a resource or favourite links section which references related links or content. These lists can get quite large and can be hard to maintain over time. Some sites move or no longer exist leaving a broken link much to the frustration of the webmaster. By finding these resource lists, and running a check on them for broken links, you can easily find lots of opportunities on even high authority sites. You then highlight these broken links to the site webmaster or site owner and offer your content as an alternative. (even better if the content matches the broken link you are replacing. Ahref’s did a brilliant guide on broken link building.
Outreach
Outreach is the safest but most challenging way to get links. Finding high authority blogs, news or editorial sites In your niche and then contact them pitching your content, can be extremely rewarding. When pitching for these types of links, research is the key though. You will first want to find a list of relevant and authoritative sites to content. Built visible did a brilliant walkthrough on how to do this. Once you have your list, go through and find out the types of content they like, who their audience is, and make sure you follow any rules of which the journalist wants ideas to be pitched by. Some journalists will only want you to email and not contact them via social media, some publications may even have an editorial process you may have to follow first. Whatever you do don’t piss off journalists by creating link bait headlines, poor grammar or spelling, or the worst sin leaving mail merge header in such as “Hi [first name]’.
Do not be afraid to follow up. I would normally recommend following up at least 3 times before, moving on.
Do you struggle with offpage optimisation or SEO in general. Why not contact us now to discuss your needs and see how we can help. Either call us on 0114 398 4110 or fill in our contact us form.
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