Link building is crucial to SEO. But it isn’t easy. In fact, it can be downright hard. Which is why many people struggle to build meaningful links to their site that help them to move the needle forward.
If this sounds like you, pay attention because we have a handful of awesome, easy to implement link building ideas that you can use to bolster your SEO efforts.
There are hundreds of link building tactics and strategies you can use but we’re going to talk about a handful of strategies that WORK and that are easy to replicate for your website. These are some great link building ideas that will help you drive traffic to your website and increase your sales.
Before we dive into link building, let’s start with the basics: what is a backlink for SEO? Backlinks are a connection (through a hyperlink) from the referring page to the target page.
Why are these important? Backlinks are especially crucial for SEO because they represent a “vote of confidence” from one site to another. Basically, Google sees the backlinks to your website as verification that your site is relevant and trusted.
In fact, Google values backlinks so much that they have confirmed it’s their number one ranking factor along with side high-quality content. So, if you want to see your website sitting pretty up at the top of a Google search, you’ve got to start and implement a link building strategy.
Google rewards websites that have authority. How do you get authority in your niche? You secure high-quality backlinks from trusted, powerful sites. While this concept can feel daunting, it doesn’t have to be! We’re going to walk you through a few easy link building ideas that you can implement today.
Pro tip: Before you implement any of these strategies in this post, you’ll want to make sure that you’re evaluating the sites that you’re obtaining the links from. You don’t want links from just any site! Additionally, you want to be careful with the anchor text that you’re using or requesting for your backlinks—too much exact match anchor text will look spammy and may get you penalized.
It’s all about building your links naturally and with integrity.
Ok, on to how to get easy backlinks to improve your SEO:
1. Leverage Your Existing Network
Unless you’re a brand new business, you’ve likely developed relationships with clients and other businesses. Why not use those relationships to your advantage?
For businesses that you already have a strong relationship with, you may be able to simply ask them for a link on their site.
If you worked with a business and they provided you a service, you can offer to write a testimonial or review in exchange for a link back to your site within the testimonial. Or, if you work with a business frequently, ask to be listed on their preferred partners or suppliers page (if they have one) with a link back to your site.
2. Guest Blog Posts
Nothing ground-breaking with this one—guest posts are one of the most utilized methods of getting backlinks in the industry. While it can be an arduous task, it does work.
It’s quite simple: you reach out to another website owner in your niche, ask to submit a guest blog post, you write it, they publish it, and you link to your site somewhere in the article. It’s simple in theory, but it can take some time to find people willing to accept and publish your guest submission.
BY THE WAY: We go over (in major detail) how to properly vet and reach out to blog owners to ask for the guest post in the PROFIT-AMPING SEO COURSE!
3. Build Your GMB
With a GMB or Google My Business, all links are dofollow which means they specify to Google to follow the link. If you haven’t set up your GMB yet, what are you waiting for? Check out our complete, step-by-step How to Set Up Google My Business guide.
Be sure to include a link to your website in the description.
4. Podcasts
Podcasts are huge right now, and for good reason! It’s a great way for people to build and grow an audience and get their message out into the world. What most people don’t know is that it’s also the perfect opportunity to get exposure for your business and an awesome backlink, too.
Does it take some work to get featured on a podcast? Yes, especially a bigger podcast. But the good news is there are thousands of podcasts out there, all you need to do is find some in your niche and pitch them your story or topic idea.
In addition to getting that coveted backlink, if you’re featured on a podcast, you get to connect with a new audience in a very personal way. They get to hear your voice, understand your brand, and make a connection.
A feature on a popular podcast can easily catapult your business to new heights!
5. HARO
Here’s another under-utilized link building idea—HARO, or help a reporter out, is a great way to get your business media coverage from a high-authority news site like CNN, NY Times, etc.
How does this work? You sign up to receive HARO emails. These emails will come to your inbox three times a day with categories and subjects listed from reporters who’re looking for help from industry experts on a piece they’re working on.
If you find an inquiry relevant to your business, act quickly and respond. The reporter just may choose your submission to feature in their article. If they do, you’ll receive a backlink to your site from a highly trusted website.
Check out our tips on how to effectively use HARO.
6. Content Repurposing
If the thought of doing a bunch of outreach to get backlinks for SEO is making your head spin, you’ll love this one!
It’s possible to build some backlinks by repurposing some of your existing content and submitting to appropriate places like video-sharing sites, infographic directories, etc. (think Visual.ly, Slideshare, Pinterest, LinkedIn, or any other social media websites!)
To do this, your content obviously needs to be in the correct format; this is where content repurposing comes in.
Let’s say you wrote a KILLER blog post and you wish you could share the information in it with a wider audience. Well, why not repurpose that blog post and turn it into an infographic or video? Then, you can submit that newly redesigned content to infographic or video-sharing websites with a link back to your site.
This is the perfect way to make the most out of your content that you worked hard to create and spread your message through multiple channels while building authoritative links at the same time.
7. Community Site Links and Blog Commenting
A good backlink profile is diversified. So, while it’s important to try to get the high-quality authority links, it’s ok to also snag some links from other sources, too. And the good news is, community sites and blogs are an easy way to provide value and build your links up.
Community sites like Reddit, Quora, etc. allow you to market your site and build backlinks for SEO at the same time. The same goes for blog commenting. If you frequently read and/or follow a blog in your industry, why not add some value and add to the conversation?
Did you read a post that excited you and incited some questions? Start a conversation by leaving a blog comment. Make sure you’re commenting naturally and genuinely, though, and be sure to include your link.
Link building isn’t rocket science, it is, however, time-consuming. The strategies above will work for your website, you’ll just need to execute on them.
Will some ideas work better than others? Yes, of course. As a business owner who wants to see your site at the top of Google, your job is to test these and other ideas out to see what works best for you.
If you need help with your link building strategies, get in touch! We offer SEO and link-building packages that take the guesswork out of backlinks so that you can focus on what you love about your business while we work hard to get more eyeballs on it!