Links are indisputably the biggest factor for search engines visibility. It is for this reason that a majority of digital marketers including our link building agency now refer to them as the new currency of the web.
Like anything else, there are good and bad links.
Over the years, Google has continued to fine-tune its systems and algorithms to discern between good and bad links. As an online marketer, you want to avoid getting into the bad books of this giant search engine for having engaged in shady link building practices.
So, how do you get what Google considers good links?
We take a look at two simple yet effective white hat link building techniques that will enable you acquire quality links from highly authoritative and relevant websites.
1. Claiming Unlinked Brand Mentions
This is arguably not the most popular link building method but is one of the most effective. Put simply, you want to find sites that have mentioned your business but haven’t linked to your website.
Here’s how to do it:
First, use the following advanced Google search operator - intext:brand name -site:yoursite.com. Remember to replace the ‘brand name’ with the name of your company and place your site’s URL (without www or https) in the place of ‘yourwebsite.' This way, you get a list of all sites in which your brand is mentioned but not necessarily linked to.
The next step can be quite labour-intensive as it requires you to contact the webmasters of your preferred sites and request them to consider adding a link back to your website – at least, if they deem it appropriate.
But there’s one challenge – you probably don’t have their contact information.
Here are easy ways collect useful contact information of online business owners
- For starters, check out whether you can find any details in the ‘About Us’ or ‘Contact Us’ pages, usually placed at the footer.
- You can also look for pages that profile all employees/co-owners of the business. Find this in ‘Meet the Team’ or related pages on a site.
- A WHOIS search can also return crucial information about the owners of a website – this is only possible if the information is not privatised.
- Another method involves searching for email contacts in the target site’s source code. While using Chrome, right-click the website and select ‘View Source Code.' Use the hotkeys CTRL + F and search for the @ sign for possible mentions of emails.
- Use email addresses search tools like Hunter.io, Anymail Finder, or Voila Nobert among others.
- Finally, you can use a trial and error method by appending commonly used keywords like info, contact, admin, editor in front of the domain name. See this example – contact@yourtargetwebsite.com.
Once you have the right contact information, proceed to send your request. The following is a sample email pitch you can use.
Subject: Thank you for mentioning us!
Body: Hi Name,
I was hoping to discuss with you something concerning the article titled [ARTICLE TITLE] that you published on your site on [DATE].
The article references and offers insights from [YOUR BRAND]. We’re truly honoured to be featured in an authority website like yours and would appreciate it if the article could hyperlink to our website (URL HERE].
Thank you very much for the recognition. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Regards,
[YOUR NAME]
2. Guest Posting And Outreach
To some digital marketers, guest posting is dead when it comes to SEO benefits. Their perception is guided by the fact that Google already started cracking down on websites that blatantly guest post on a large scale for links.
However, when done right, guest blogging is still an incredibly effective method of acquiring high DA / DR links for SEO.
Below is a simple breakdown of the procedure to follow when looking for quality guest posting opportunities in your niche.
First, use relevant search operators. The following examples offer a good starting point.
- Your keyword intitle:”write for us”
- Your keyword inurl:/guest-post/
- Your keyword intitle:”write for me”
- Your keyword “become a contributor”
- Your keyword intitle:”contribute to”
- Your keyword “guest post guidelines”
Note: replace ‘your keyword’ with a relevant keyword to your business.
Once you’ve compiled a list of websites you consider a good match for your brand in terms of audience and metrics, it’s time to reach out to the owners. Use the methods we already described earlier to find their contact information.
When contacting them, always have in mind that providing valuable content for their audience is the most important goal that you need to meet. Promoting your company should come second if you’re to stand a chance of getting published.
Here’s a sample email you can use for guest blogging or backlink outreach;
Subject: I loved your recent post!
Hey [NAME],
I recently found your post title [ARTICLE TITLE] and loved how [POST MESSAGE].
I’m a writer myself and would relish an opportunity to write a small piece for your site. Do you accept outside contributors?
I have three post ideas that I think would be great for your audience:
- IDEA 1
- IDEA 2
- IDEA 3
I have some free time next week and would love to create an outline for your review.
I look forward to hearing what you think.
Here are some of the articles I have published recently:
- URL 1
- URL 2
- URL 3
Best Regards,
[YOUR NAME]
For best search engine optimization results, always follow up on your initial backlink building outreach email; a maximum of 3 emails is enough, with each sent a few days apart. Try to be as polite and sincere as possible in your emails and avoid sounding pushy. Most importantly, use assertive language and an attention-grabbing subject line for higher email open rates and conversions. Keep this up each week for several months or years and your search engine optimization results will be off the charts!
Are you struggling with building good links for your website SEO? You're not alone. Most webmasters consider link building to be among the most challenging tasks to complete for their businesses. Some of them cite they are overwhelmed when it comes to choosing effective methods as the key reason for poor link building results.
If this sounds like you, consider specialising and perfecting just a few backlink building techniques like the two we’ve discussed in this post. Alternatively, you can outsource the link building work to a reputable link building agency to enable you focus on other critical aspects of your business besides white hat SEO.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about simple white hat SEO link building techniques to rank higher on Google searches.
Interested in more articles about search engine optimization and backlink building?
Read Related Resources:
• Tips To Build Better Backlinks For SEO
• How To Build Up Domain Authority With Link Building
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