The ultimate key to a successful online presence is a good ranking brought about by search engine optimization (SEO). Your SEO efforts involve keyword research and effective link building. While relevant keywords make up the core of SEO-optimized web content, the quality of backlinks reflects the “vote confidence” that search engines consider for a particular web page. Backlinks tell search engines that your content is useful, credible, and valuable.
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Defining Backlinks
What are backlinks and why are they important? Backlinks or inbound links link one website back to another website or web page to consider it as a credible source of information. These links promote organic or unpaid search engine rankings. If there are many websites linking to the same website or web page, it means that its content is very useful, making it worth the linking. Hence, the website is worth ranking high on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Earning backlinks have positive effects on your website’s search visibility and ranking position, which provides the following ‘domino effect’ benefits:
- Increased traffic
- Higher conversion rate
- More sales qualified leads
- Boosted revenue
Now that you know the meaning of backlinks and their importance, it’s time to learn some proper high-quality backlinks strategies for your website.
Include Target Keywords In The Anchor Text
Anchor text refers to the hyperlinked text of a backlink or a keyword-rich text relevant to the content of the linked website. But it doesn’t mean that you need to stuff your content with keyword-rich anchor texts or black hat link building.
Google SEO algorithm has a filter called “Google Penguin” that filters websites using black hat link building strategies. It’s better to have a single high-quality backlink than to have numerous low-quality backlinks for a successful SEO strategy.
Link To Authority Websites
Google gives value to well-read and highly-visited websites. Just think about it, would you prefer to get backlinks from respected organizations or random websites? Authority sites have high trust ratings or “Domain Authority” (DA). A high domain authority website has a heavier weight than websites with low DA.
Use “Dofollow” Links
Dofollow links have tags that tell search engines to scan your content because the links were obtained organically. Web pages with high organic or unpaid traffic are well-favored by search engines.
On the other hand, nofollow links tell search engines to ignore the links. Nofollow links don’t count on SEO algorithms. Most nofollow links don’t do anything on your SEO; these are links from paid advertisements, press releases, and blog comments.
You can create a healthy link profile by using a good mix of nofollow and dofollow links for a successful SEO strategy. However, avoid stuffing your content with so many keywords and links because these may tag your content as spam.
Publish Linkable Assets
A linkable asset refers to content that attracts links to your web page or website. Linkable assets make valuable content so that other website owners will link to your website. For this reason, content marketing and SEO are closely tied together.
Publishing unique linkable assets allow you to share content that online users rarely or unlikely to find anywhere else. Other websites will link to your content because of the great value it can give to their readers. Hence, linkable assets generate referral traffic, attract organic traffic, and increase brand exposure.
Check the following linkable asset examples:
- Infographics: This content possesses visually-appealing graphics, providing a ton of value and sparking readers’ interests. Infographics can be easily saved or downloaded by users.
- Online Tools: Calculators, calorie counter, measurement conversion, and other nifty online tools provide value to your website. Other website owners can add the link of your online tool to their website for them to help their readers find convenient ways to resolve their problems.
- Others: E-books, guides, tutorials, studies, and surveys.
Guest Posting
There are some companies needing guest writers or contributors, and you can take this chance to earn relevant links for your website. Guest posting refers to writing posts for high-quality sites in your niche. The links you’ll get from guest posting can give your website a boost of organic traffic.
Here’s a quick summary on how to find quality websites that are allowing guest posting:
- Search on Google or other search engines
- Follow guest bloggers
- Search within relevant websites
- Pitch blogs by sending emails
Conclusion
Applying the above-mentioned backlink strategies will allow you to attain your SEO and website goals. Generate high-quality backlinks by linking your content to authority sites. Use dofollow links more than nofollow links, while still maintaining a good combination of both links for a healthier link profile. Publishing linkable assets, which other website owners can link to, reflects that you have jam-packed content that makes you worthy of ranking high in search engines. Lastly, don’t miss the power of guest posting in earning quality backlinks for your website.
