Backlinks are an important factor in search engine optimization (SEO) because they demonstrate the popularity and relevance of a website to search engines. When other websites link to your site, it shows that your content is valuable and worthy of citation. This is why backlinks are often referred to as “votes of confidence” in the digital world.
While acquiring natural, editorial backlinks from high-quality websites is the ultimate goal, there are a number of advanced tactics that can help you build backlinks more efficiently. These tactics include broken link building, guest posting, resource page link building, the skyscraper technique, blogger outreach, and content repurposing and syndication.
In this article, we’ll explore these advanced tactics tested by our digital agency and provide tips on how to effectively incorporate them into your backlink building strategy. By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of how to use these tactics to drive referral traffic and improve the search engine ranking of your website.
Broken link building
Broken link building is a process of finding and fixing broken links (also known as “dead” or “404” links) on other websites, and replacing them with links to your own website or relevant content. This tactic is used to improve the user experience of the linking website and acquire backlinks for your own site.
To find broken links on other websites, you can use tools such as the “Check My Links” Chrome extension, the Xenu Link Sleuth tool, or manually check the source code of a webpage. Once you’ve identified broken links, you can contact the webmaster or editor and offer to replace the broken link with a link to your own website or relevant content. This can be done through a simple email or through a more formal pitch, depending on the website and the content you are proposing.
The benefits of broken link building for SEO include improving the search engine ranking of your website and increasing referral traffic. By replacing broken links with high-quality links to your own site, you can improve the link equity (i.e., the value of a link) of the linking website, which can have a positive impact on your own search engine ranking. Additionally, if the linking website has a high amount of traffic, you may see an increase in referral traffic to your own site.
Guest posting
1- What is guest posting and how it works: Guest posting is the process of writing and publishing an article on someone else’s website or blog as a way to build backlinks and drive referral traffic to your own website. As a guest contributor, you typically write an article that is relevant to the audience of the host website and include a link or two to your own website in the article. In exchange for your contribution, the host website allows you to include a bio or author box at the end of the article with a link to your own site.
Guest posting can be an effective way to build backlinks because it allows you to tap into the audience and reputation of the host website. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the quality and relevance of the host website can have a significant impact on the value of the backlinks you acquire.
2- Tips for finding and pitching guest post opportunities: There are several ways to find guest post opportunities, such as using Google to search for keywords related to your niche, joining relevant online communities or forums, and using tools like Ahrefs or Buzzsumo to find popular websites in your industry.
When pitching a guest post idea to a website or blog, it’s important to personalize your pitch, provide a clear and compelling pitch, and follow any guidelines or instructions provided by the host website. Some things to consider when pitching a guest post include the target audience of the host website, the type of content they publish, and the goals of your guest post (e.g., building backlinks, driving traffic, establishing thought leadership).
3- Best practices for writing guest posts that attract backlinks: To write a guest post that attracts backlinks, it’s important to create high-quality, valuable content that is relevant to the audience of the host website. You should also use proper formatting, include relevant images and videos, and include internal and external links to other reputable sources. Some other best practices for writing guest posts that attract backlinks include:
- Researching and understanding the target audience of the host website
- Creating an engaging and informative title
- Structuring the article with clear headings and subheadings
- Using keyword-rich anchor text for your links
- Proofreading and editing your article to ensure it is error-free
4- Advantages and disadvantages of guest posting for SEO: The main advantage of guest posting for SEO is that it can help you build high-quality backlinks from reputable websites, which can improve the search engine ranking of your own site. Guest posting can also help you drive referral traffic to your website and increase your exposure to a new audience.
However, it’s important to be selective about the websites you guest post on and avoid spammy or low-quality websites, as these can have a negative impact on your SEO. In addition, it can be time-consuming to research and pitch guest post opportunities, and there is no guarantee that your pitch will be accepted. Therefore, it’s important to consider the resources and goals of your guest posting campaign before getting started.
Advanced tactics for backlink building
- Resource page link building: Resource page link building is a process of finding and contributing to resource pages on other websites in order to acquire backlinks. Resource pages are typically lists of useful or informative links that are relevant to the audience of a website. To find resource page opportunities, you can use Google to search for keywords such as “resources,” “links,” or “tools,” and look for websites that have a page dedicated to these types of resources. You can then pitch your website or content as a valuable addition to the resource page.
- Skyscraper technique: The skyscraper technique is a link building strategy that involves creating highly valuable and shareable content, and then promoting it to other websites and bloggers in order to acquire backlinks. The idea behind the skyscraper technique is to create content that is better than anything else that is currently available on the same topic. This can be achieved by conducting extensive research, using data and statistics, and including multimedia elements such as images and videos.
- Blogger outreach: Blogger outreach is a process of building relationships with bloggers and influencers in order to acquire backlinks and drive referral traffic to your website. This can be done through a variety of methods, such as commenting on their blog, sharing their content on social media, or sending them an email to introduce yourself and your website. By building relationships with bloggers and influencers, you can increase the chances of them linking to your website or sharing your content with their audience.
- Content repurposing and syndication: Content repurposing and syndication are tactics that involve reusing or repurposing your existing content in different formats or on different platforms in order to reach a wider audience and acquire backlinks. For example, you can turn a blog post into a video or podcast, or syndicate your content on other websites or social media platforms. By repurposing and syndicating your content, you can expose your website to new audiences and increase the chances of acquiring backlinks from these new sources.
In conclusion, advanced tactics for backlink building, such as broken link building, guest posting, resource page link building, the skyscraper technique, blogger outreach, and content repurposing and syndication, can be effective ways to improve the search engine ranking and referral traffic of your website. By using these tactics, you can acquire high-quality backlinks from reputable websites and expose your content to new audiences.
To incorporate these tactics into your overall backlink building strategy, it’s important to research and understand the goals and audience of each tactic, as well as the resources and time you are willing to invest. You should also track and measure the results of your efforts to determine which tactics are most effective for your website.
In addition, it’s important to remember the importance of diversity in backlink sources and tactics. By building a diverse range of backlinks from a variety of sources, you can reduce the risk of being penalized by search engines and increase the overall authority and credibility of your website.