When I first started developing link-building strategies, I found it incredibly overwhelming. The challenge of identifying valuable opportunities without wasting resources was scary.
In this guide, I’ll share the roadmap I used to simplify the process and create effective link building strategies that exceed expectations.
Understanding link building
Link building is about acquiring links overseas data from external sites, carefully considering the anchor text, destination URL, and the linking page’s context. This strategy tells search engines the relevance and authority of your pages.
Similar to how academic citations enhance a study’s credibility, backlinks guide search engines in navigating the web, allowing them to understand content quality and authority based on link quality and volume.
Link building today is diverse and incorporates various strategies. Through my experience, I’ve found several approaches that consistently yield the best results.
Guest Posting
I frequently use guest posting, which involves writing content for another website with the opportunity to link back to my site either within the content or through my author bio.
Guest posting works best under specific conditions:
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The host site is relevant to your niche, either directly or indirectly. For instance, if my client was a protein supplement business, I look for nutrition or general fitness sites.
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You cover a niche or topic that hasn’t been extensively covered on the host site, providing them with valuable and unique content.
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Establishing a working relationship with the editors makes life easier, and the process moves quickly.
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The site draws traffic and possesses robust backlinks. You can verify these metrics using tools like Moz Link Explorer.
Moz is beneficial for guest posting due diligence. Before making any pitches, I use it to assess the SEO metrics of potential host sites. This helps me understand the value I bring to their site with my guest post and what I gain in terms of SEO equity and potential referral traffic.
In the example above, I’m considering pitching a guest post to Calorie King and Cronometer, two similar health and fitness websites. I use Moz to evaluate which site will likely provide more value based on its Domain Authority, link profile, and spam score.
However, success hinges on the site’s willingness to engage. As a rule of thumb, I try to:
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Budget beforehand for each guest post opportunity
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Adhere to the site’s content standards
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Stay ready for the possibility that links may not endure. Websites can change ownership, shut down, or remove links for various reasons.
Digital PR
Digital PR is a newer form of link building that involves pitching unique stories to journalists. These journalists then publish articles that link to your website, usually the home page.
For digital PR to work, I’ve found it the functions of the tools essential to have valid, timely data and a compelling narrative that journalists will find interesting. I often employ seasonality to increase my chances of coverage — for example, pitching chocolate-related stories around Valentine’s Day.
However, reaching journalists is a crucial challenge as they often receive a high volume of pitches.
So, here are some strategies that work when pitching journalists as part of a Digital PR campaign:
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Start with unique insights or fresh data that provide real value and can serve as the cornerstone of your campaign
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Reach out to relevant journalists who cover stories within your niche
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Keep your pitches short and to the point, focusing on why your story matters
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Always explain how you gathered your data or insights to add credibility to your pitch
Here’s an example of a reactive digital PR email that has worked for us at StudioHawk. Shoutout to Janine Tan Pacis, our Digital PR Executive at StudioHawk, for doing great work.
Unlinked brand mentions
Discovering instances where your brand is mentioned online without a backlink provides valuable opportunities for link acquisition.
To locate these mentions, I use Google Search operators to filter uae phone number out mentions of “Studiohawk” that don’t include our domain, like using the query “studiohawk -studiohawk.co.uk.” Next, I review each SERP result manually to check indexed pages where our brand is mentioned without a link, which is ideal for follow-up.