Link building is one of the most important aspects of SEO. It is the process of acquiring links from other websites to your own. When done correctly, it can help improve your website’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) and increase traffic to your site. However, if you are new to link building, the process can seem overwhelming. In this comprehensive guide, we will discuss what link building is, why it is important, and how you can start doing it today!
What is Link Building?
Link building is the process of acquiring links from other websites to your own. These links act as votes of confidence from other websites, telling search engines that your site is trustworthy and authoritative. In turn, this can help improve your website’s ranking in SERPs, and increase traffic to your site.
Why is Link Building Important?
Link building is important because it is one of the most important aspects of SEO. It helps improve your website’s ranking in SERPs and can increase traffic to your site. Additionally, link building can help build relationships with other websites and businesses, which can lead to additional opportunities down the road. Here are a few other benefits of link building:
- Helps improve your website’s visibility in SERPs.
- Can increase traffic to your website.
- Helps build relationships with other websites and businesses.
- Can lead to additional opportunities, such as joint ventures or partnerships.
Types of Backlinks
There are two types of backlinks: dofollow and nofollow. Before you dive into your first link building campaign, it’s important to understand the difference between these two types of links.
Dofollow Links
Dofollow links are the most common type of link, and they tell search engines to follow the link. This means that the link passes along SEO value from one site to another. Dofollow links are important because they help improve your website’s ranking in SERPs.
Nofollow links
Nofollow links, on the other hand, tell search engines not to follow the link. This means that the link does not pass along any SEO value from one site to another. Nofollow links can still be beneficial, however, as they can help increase traffic to your website and build relationships with other websites.
In other words, nofollow links are only hyperlinks that can bring website visitors from one website to another while dofollow backlinks do this on top of also being able to improve the search engine rankings of the linked-to website.
How to Build Links
Now that you understand what link building is and why it’s important, it’s time to start building links! Here are a few methods you can use to start acquiring links:
Create high-quality content
This is one of the best ways to attract natural links from other websites. If you create informative, well-written articles, other websites will be more likely to link to them. Additionally, if your content ranks well in SERPs, you’re more likely to get links from other websites.
Reach out to other websites
Once you have created high-quality content, reach out to other websites and let them know about it. If they find your content useful, they may link to it.
Guest blogging
This is a great way to get your name and website out there, while also building relationships with other bloggers. When guest blogging, be sure to write informative and well-written articles that will be of interest to the blog’s audience.
Directory listings
There are many online directories that list websites in specific industries or niches. By submitting your website to these directories, you can increase your visibility and attract new visitors.
Manual Outreach
One of the most effective ways to build links is through manual outreach. This involves reaching out to other website owners and asking them for links. When doing manual outreach, be sure to:
- Personalize your emails: Generic, mass emails are more likely to be ignored. Instead, take the time to personalize each email you send.
- Build relationships: Don’t just reach out and ask for links. Get to know the people you’re contacting and build relationships with them. This will make it more likely that they’ll be interested in linking to your website.
- Offer something in return: If you’re asking someone for a link, offer something in return. This could be a link back to their website or sharing their content on social media. However, when it comes to high-authority websites, they will likely only be willing to link back to your site after you pay a fee that they will set, though some website owners are open to negotiations.
What are Domain Authorities?
Domain Authority (DA) is a metric developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank in SERPs. It’s based on factors like age, popularity, and size. The higher your DA, the more likely you are to rank well in SERPs.
The same logic applies to the DA of the websites that link back to you. When it comes to choosing which websites you want to target for backlinks, it’s important to choose websites with high DA. This will help improve your website’s ranking in SERPs.
There are a few different ways to check the DA of a website:
- Use Moz’s Open Site Explorer: This is a free tool that allows you to check the DA of any website. Simply enter the URL into the search bar, and Moz will provide you with the DA score.
- Use Majestic: Majestic is another free tool that can be used to check DA scores. However, unlike Moz, Majestic only provides you with partial data unless you create an account and log in.
- Use Ahrefs: Ahrefs is a paid link analysis tool that includes DA scores in its reports. You, can, however, use their free trial to check DA scores.
- Use Screaming Frog: Screaming Frog is a paid SEO auditing tool that includes DA scores in its reports. You can also use their free trial to check DA scores.
Need Manual Link Building Assistance?
Link building is a task that requires time, effort, and patience. If you don’t have the time or resources to do it yourself, consider hiring a link building agency. A good link building agency will have a team of experienced link builders who can help you build high-quality links that will improve your website’s ranking in SERPs.
If you’re interested in learning more about link building, or if you need assistance with your manual outreach efforts, contact ArticleHub today! As a leading SEO consulting company, the team at ArticleHub can help you create an effective link-building strategy that will improve your website’s ranking and traffic.