A backlink is a link that is placed in content to refer readers to the original source of what is being discussed. For example, a negative backlink can be placed on a blog in which an author wants to show their readership that you are a horrible writer or did something unprofessional. A positive backlink on the other hand, can lead to an increased credibility.
As long as your backlinks aren’t there simply as part of a list of useful resources and nothing more, backlinks can really work in your favor. Link building is a great marketing tool but not to be confused with SEO. Here is a look at what link building is all about for those looking to up their marketing game.
It goes farther than your Google popularity
You may think link building is simple to gain popularity on Google and rank higher with search engines. It turns out, regardless of your links’ popularity or SEO, it’s really about the popularity you gain from visibility. This is why link building has nothing to do with SEO and it’s really just a great marketing strategy.
Your visibility is increased because backlinks to your blog or website are placed on others’ websites which sells those readers on your site. Your product or service is being sold to your target audience as the solution they needed all along.
Stop thinking it’s just used for ranking purposes and expand your horizons to realize that link building is more about being seen and fulfilling a need that results in an increased following or increase in sales.
How to do it
If you’ve decided to try link building, you can start by understanding your link building is a way to build connections which means you’ll have to get in touch with people that could be interested in your product or service. This means that you need to build a great reputation so that people will be interested in your service or product so get connected to prospects on social media and visit related blogs to build relationships with interesting bloggers.
Once you’ve started finding people, engage in conversation to interact with people. Encourage conversation by sparking conversation through a well-placed link and spark curiosity by sending your prospect directly to your homepage with a freebie.
Your link building should create a bridge between the web and your website by getting your site known and hoping to get the chance to do business. You can use it as advertising, outreach, and for visibility. It existed well before link-based searches and Google so it’s definitely not an SEO technique.
You can build links by:
- Reaching out to webmasters to offer useful content they can link to
- Doing a link exchange
- Requesting to sponsor content
- Sharing freebies
- Reaching out on social media
- And many other ways!
Consider that link building is a great marketing tool and not to be thought of in regards to SEO or Google. You can use it to your advantage with the right strategies.
