We are describing the most effective white hat link building techniques here. In the world of SEO, algorithms change, and different strategies pop up every single day. While some specialists swear by new school teachings, others claim popular SEO tactics are the only way. It’s hard to say whether one method of SEO is genuinely compelling.
However, the essential SEO goal for any online website is to generate page traffic and draw users to your website.
What is Link Building, and Why is it so Important?
Link building is actually the practice of getting websites to link back to your site. As we said above, Google algorithms are incredibly intricate and continuously evolving, but the one constant is links’ importance.
Backlinks are still the most compatible determining factor for how sites rank for keywords. Furthermore, the more quality links you have, the more authoritative your website is seen by Google.
Black Hat vs White Hat Link Building
The word black hat has origins in spy movies and novels, where somebody with malicious intent would try to take over the world. While this might seem a bit excessive for SEO, it holds the same meaning. Black hat SEO is centred on trying to hack or trick the Google algorithm into thinking a website is valuable. They use tools and tricks such as keyword stuffing or a paid link scheme to increase a site’s ranking quickly. The Google algorithm team very quickly discovers black hat techniques. The websites that use them are usually penalized by either dropping their rankings or removing their site from the index altogether.
White hat link building, by contrast, is focused on actually building a high-value site that meets the visitor’s needs. They use the results the search engine currently performs to determine what they should write about and how they can be helpful to the searchers. Because the content they create is important to the readers, they tend to stay on the site longer, which reduces the bounce rate and increases the time-on-site measured by Google. As well as this, it leads to link-building occasions and a boost in organic traffic as the site starts to rank for more keywords.
White hat link building takes longer than a black hat, which is why many people are tempted to find a shortcut. It’s easier in the short term but a lot more punishing in the long run.
Five White Hat Link Building Strategies
High-Quality Content
Creating useful or entertaining content is the best organic way to obtain links when it comes to white-hat link building. The great object is that creative content will never go out of style. The content presents people with a reason to share your link. We suggest starting by building a blog post on an industry-related topic that will bring in eyeballs.
If the content you’re writing is important and topical, it should eventually gain traffic and result in backlinks. Luckily, most people are lazy and would instead link to outside content than create their own. Make sure to keep SEO in mind when drafting where can i buy prednisone without a prescription your posts because even the best work in the world won’t make any difference if nobody sees it.
Before publishing, ask yourself would I want to read this? If the answer is no, go back to the drawing board because the internet is too soaked for subpar content to make any difference. Our experience shows the more extended the post is, the more traction it will gain.
But longer doesn’t mean lower quality. Do not throw in boring filler content, but rather elaborate on basic points. The ideal post range is 1,142 words.
Reclaim Broken Links
Reclaiming broken links is a surefire way to build up your site’s Domain Authority (DA). Better yet, it’s wholly white-hat and, for the most part, pretty simple.
Broken links are links that no longer work anymore due to one of five causes:
- An incorrect URL was entered for the link by the website manager.
- The website containing the link removed the linked web page (creating what is known as a 404 error).
- The website with the link doesn’t live anymore.
- There is a software or firewall that blocks access to the target website.
- The website manager is linked to a site stuck beyond a firewall that does not give outside access.
We utilize Ahrefs to identify the dead links and develop a fix using one of five methods.
- Contact the linking website and request a fix.
- Redirect (301) broken page to the current location
- Follow the content on a broken URL
- Redirect (301) any broken pages to related pages on your site.
- Keep it as a 404
Guest Blogging
Guest posting or blogging is a different tried and true white-hat SEO way of building up your site’s link profile. As a bonus, they are great methods of generating traffic.
Guest Posts are posts you write on websites with a related niche to your own. Consider SEO marketers are publishing posts on MOZ Blog. This also works the other way around, and you can ask others to post on your site in return. Sites will often promote a post on their social channels, which means even more engagement from you. Just make sure the website will link back to your content before publishing.
The Skyscraper Technique
The Skyscraper Technique, invented by backlink guru Brian Dean, takes some effort, but the rewards can be massive.
The idea itself is simple, and there are only three straightforward steps to follow:
- Discover a keyword you need to rank for.
- Dig through the content in the top 10 ranks on Google.
- Curate a piece of content that’s 10x more reliable than anything on the SERP.
That’s it. No, it’s that simple. The hard part is figuring out how to build content that blows everyone else out of the water.
Reverse Engineering Competitors Links
All the competitive essences out there will love this one. With tools like Ahrefs, it’s simple to view every single one of a competitor’s backlinks. Now all you have to do is figure out how they got them and copy the way.
This is also a great way to find low-hanging fruit you might be missing out on, like directory submission sites and listing sites.