Links function as the internet’s currency. It facilitates the exchange of assets between websites. In fact, Google confirms that links serve as strong ranking signals. This implies that high-quality links assign a considerable amount of value to your blogs. Essentially, this tells us that the number of links pointing to your webpage or blog and the quality of those external websites that link to you is crucial for you to land a sweet spot on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs).
Link Responsibly
Today, in a competitive web world of link-building, how can you turn this to your advantage? Carrying out a set of smart tactics would definitely play in your favor. As Google becomes more vigilant towards links intended to manipulate a site’s search rankings, it is imperative that you rely on white hat link-building strategies, such as those provided by NO BS Marketplace, to avoid any violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and be tagged as allegedly participating in a link scheme.
To help get you started on the right foot, here are key ways through which link building can help your blog thrive:
1. Establish Visibility Through Linkable Content
Before going to the nitty-gritty of link-building, let’s go back to the most basic component of why you’d want to build high-quality links in your blogs: visibility. Like any brick-and-mortar store, you want to establish visibility for your products and services to as many target customers as possible. To do this, you need to put up an attractive front that will entice potential customers to come to your store and check out what you have to offer. The same goes for millions of webpage owners vying for a prime spot on Google’s SERPs.
However, Google as a landlord that stewards all virtual exchange of information on the web, ensuring that only the best products or services are being presented to its searchers. Their goal is not just about merely responding to a query, but more so to help people, in general, make informed decisions by providing them with accurate and relevant information from authoritative and trustworthy websites.
Here are some tips on how you can create content that pays off:
Tip # 1: Capitalize on Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (EAT)
Time and again, Google has emphasized the importance of creating web content that satisfies their Search Quality Rater’s Guidelines, which is a set of guidelines that raters use to evaluate how well a website provides a result to a user’s query. At the core of this guideline are three factors: Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T). Although EAT was initially launched to guide Your Money, Your Life (YMYL) websites, Google tells us that the number one characteristic that makes up a high-quality page is a high level of EAT.
For example, an article published by Harvard Business Review, a reputable school publication, demonstrates a high level of EAT. As seen in the sample article below, the main content of the article on Digital Marketing is authored by Kristin Naragon, Director of Product Marketing for Adobe Campaign, and is responsible for driving business growth for Adobe in the email market.
Further, at the bottom of the article, we can confirm the author’s credibility, however brief.
To verify, you can look her up on the web and confirm her expertise on the topic.
Tip # 2: Invest in Long-Form Content
Although an average person’s attention span is only a mere eight seconds, this does not disqualify that high-quality, in-depth long-form content is still king of search engine optimization (SEO). Leading digital marketing expert Neil Patel reveals that content-rich sites still propel better conversation rates.
Further, to keep your readers engaged, consider the following tips:
- Break up your content with relevant visuals such as a photo or a video to aid their understanding of your topic.
- Make use of bullets or numbered lists to make it easy for content to be consumed and for users to skim through one key topic to another.
- Create a balance between your text and visuals. Don’t overwhelm your readers with a disorganized block of data.
- Ultimately, make content that is search-friendly and shareable. Learn more and read up on expert tips from blogging experts.
In the sample article below, see how Moz discusses key points with a well-labeled image:
Key Takeaway: The best way to bring websites to create relevant and high-quality links to your blog are through useful, well-written content. Remember, a successful link serves as a vote of confidence, and the more insightful your content is, the more likely another authority site will find your content worth sharing to their readers and link to it.
2. Build Brand Authority Through High-Quality Backlinks
Now that you have ample groundwork on creating link-worthy content, it’s time to build brand authority through high-quality backlinks. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Google is adamant in penalizing unnatural links or any form of link schemes.
To avoid any unwarranted sanctions, remember this formula:
Unique and Useful Content + Authority Websites = High-Quality Relevant Links
In the example below, we see that a content-rich guest post from thecoinoffering.com on Cryptocurrency and Buyers Tips For Investing garners a high-quality and very relevant backlink from Bitnewstoday, an international informational and analytical web-source devoted to the digital economy.
Key Takeaway: Offering a website with valuable content helps position yourself as an authority in your niche. Ultimately, by consistently creating more relevant content, you are also able to add internal links that increase your page influence by connecting one article in your website with another. Through this technique, you make it easier for Google to crawl your site and improve the indexation of the website.
3. Promote Conversions by Building Touch Points with Key Influencers
Partnering with popular bloggers and social media influencers is another surefire way to build high-quality links. Although online influencers are not necessarily certified experts in particular areas, they usually cover topics that require less formal mastery, yet they produce details and useful first-impression reviews on certain products and services. In this case, Google considers their personal experience on certain topics as “everyday expertise.” Thus, webpages or websites associated with their content will not be penalized for the lack of formal training in their field or industry.
Given the captured audience by these key influencers or so-called, “thought leaders,” engagement with any content—be it in the form of text, photos, infographics or videos—are generally high. To further illustrate this kind of link-building tactic, check out how the cosmetic brand Colourpop collaborated with YouTube beauty vlogger Kathleen Lights, who has over 4.1 million subscribers:
Prior to the collaboration, you can see how Kathleen Lights has made in-depth reviews about Colourpop products, highlighting some of her go-to favorite ideas that made a huge influence on her loyal subscribers’ buying decisions.
From the pool of subscribers that have watched and liked Kathleen’s videos, you are also able to build a fresh set of referral traffic. Since YouTube allows for free-flowing discussions, such as feedback or comments on the video, you are able to capture an audience that already has an intent to purchase the products or services being introduced by the influencer.
By means of crossposting, content like these are also popularized by influencers on their social media assets such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. This means that engagement on their content that features your product get magnified to a much bigger set of potential customers.
Coupled with good quality and trustworthy products or services, people who have accessed content from these thought leaders also have the potential to become advocates themselves. Given that this kind of momentum is established well in your link-building journey, you will eventually be able to create a loyal community of users.
Key Takeaway: Link-building with key influencers is a smart tactic to bring in organic traffic to your website. By building touch points with a new and engaged audience, you are able to unlock more followers for your product or service. By means of influencer content such as “How-Tos,” “First-Impression Reviews” or making it to their “Must-Have” lists, you propel more traffic to your site, acquiring good quality backlinks and, ultimately, and even more conversions.
In a Nutshell
In order to outshine the millions of webpages trying to land a spot on Google’s SERPs, you need to craft a strong SEO strategy that will work for your assigned niche. Having high-quality and useful content is a good starting point. However, this will not guarantee your site will rank if no one knows you exist. This is where link building comes in. Essentially, you want to increase visibility on the internet to establish a reputation. By accumulating the right number of good quality links, you create portals for more users to get in touch with your content.
To sum up, here are the key ways link building can help your blog thrive:
- Establish Visibility Through Linkable Content
To create good content, you must:
- Capitalize on expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EAT)
- Invest in long-form content
- Build Brand Authority Through High-Quality Backlinks
- Promote Conversions by Building Touch Points with Key Influencers
