One of the most important ways to improve the SEO of your website and rank higher on Google is by acquiring backlinks. Google has updated its algorithm thousands of times in the 21 years of its existence and in 2019, they recorded 3,620 improvements. While these changes to the algorithm make the search engine results pages (SERPs) more sophisticated, backlinks are still one of Google’s top-ranking factors.
However, to get the most backlinks, your focus should be on relevance and quality, which often depends on the type used. The key variables that determine the quality of a backlink and how much value it contributes to your site include the authority of the linking site, dofollow vs nofollow status, and the on-site link location.
Below are the different types of backlinks that can improve the SEO of your website:
Editorial Backlinks
One of the easiest ways to get links naturally is by providing free resources and tools that will gain more traction and that other sites will be able to link to. Editorial backlinks result from websites with quality content and marketing techniques. They are not paid for, asked for, or traded for but are rather naturally earned due to the quality of the content. This type of backlink helps build a strong link profile, especially when authoritative sites link back to the content.
To get editorial backlinks, you need to work on the quality of the content on your website. Create evergreen shareable content that high-profile sites would want to link to. The content should be able to present you as a thought leader in your field on core issues that most people can relate to.
Guest Post Backlinks
Guest blogging has always been a great way to get valuable backlinks, as it gives you a chance to backlink to any suitable content. To get started with this, do your research and check for target URLs that you would like to guest post on, preferably high authority sites. Reach out to them to pitch your idea and you can work on a topic that aligns with the content of the websites you will be posting on. Once your guest post is published, you can go ahead to publicize it to reach a wider audience.
In addition to this, you can also place your link in the author’s bio. This especially comes in handy when the site does not allow a link back to the author’s site or any form of promotional links. Although the link will be more effective in the body of the blog post, the authors’ bio section isn’t completely a waste either.
To make it easier for you, we created a list of websites, categorized by niches. You can reach out these sites and submit your articles.
And to make it without any effort, you can use our guest posting service available here.
Niche Edits
Niche edits are also known as curated links. They are inserted into an already existing article, usually a quality aged guest post or a page that has already been indexed by Google. These links are effective due to the traffic and authority the page already had before you inserted your links.
What differentiates this from guest posts backlinks is that guest posts would require fresh content and do not have existing traffic. To get started with niche edits, do your research and look for an aged URL or a page with a high authority that is relevant to your niche, reach out to the owners to get your links on the site. Some sites would rather accept a link to be inserted into old content if done right, rather than an entirely new post.
We understand that might sound difficult for you. That’s why we crafted a niche-edits service especially for your needs. Have a look and let us do the work for you.
Business Profile Backlinks
Business profiles are another great way to backlink to your website, as you will most likely create lots of accounts for your business on the internet. This can include social media networks, review sites, and more, all of which search engines recognize as authoritative sites. As you create these accounts, ensure you include a link in your profile that would direct visitors to your website.
Backlinks From Directories
You can list your business or company on directories and create a backlink to your website. Although there are more than enough directories that will accommodate you, it is best to stick to the most trustworthy, authoritative, and industry-relevant directories. This ensures your link is strategically placed on directories to yield effective results.
There are General directories and Niche directories. While General directories accept all kinds of business listings from every industry, Niche directories focus on a specific industry, topic, or type of business. Although the niche directories are not as rampant as general directories, they are known to be more effective. To place your links on niche directories, look out for directories related to your niche and list your brand with a link to your website. You would most likely get visitors that are interested in your niche and are more likely to click on your link to see more details of your brand.
However, despite how promising directories seem to be, there are not as effective as they were a decade ago, so it might be a little difficult to make the most of them.
Newsworthy Press Release Backlinks
Writing a press release for your brand and distributing it to media outlets will help your website gain backlinks. You can write about recent news for your brand, whether it is a new location opening or a product release, a partnership, or any form of rebranding. As you market your brand, you also improve your backlinks. This press release can help your website gain backlinks from the press release itself, through your marketing efforts, and also through other media outlets that would publicize or write about it.
It is also important to note that Google updated their link schemes webmaster guidelines some years back to allow press release articles to use nofollow links. This benefits you in so many ways, as they can help you create a healthy link profile and build brand awareness.
Acknowledgment Backlinks
This is a type of backlink that acknowledges the goodwill of a brand. Look out for the best ways you can sponsor individuals or brands with a good profile and in return, you would get a mention on their site with a link to your website. This type of backlink focuses on highlighting the acknowledgment, which improves the effectiveness of the link, as more people are likely to click on it. In addition to getting a quality backlink for your site, it is also a form of exposure for your brand.
Relationship-Based Backlinks
Relationship-based backlinks are a variation of editorial backlinks, as they also dwell on quality content from your website. All you have to do is build a legitimate, non-transactional relationship with a journalist, a content creator or the owners of high authority sites. With this relationship, they would be more likely to refer to your posts while writing on any topic that pertains to your niche. You can also build a relationship from a first-time editorial link by reaching out once you notice that your content was referenced. Most importantly, ensure you have evergreen shareable content that they can always link to.
Badge Backlinks
Create a branded badge that you can give to other sites to use as a symbol, courtesy of your brand. This badge could be a form of award to appreciate or acknowledge them or you make a list of top sites and give the badge to the sites on this list. These sites would have the badge up on their websites with a backlink to your site or to the post where they were referenced.
Webinar Links
Webinars can also come in handy to create quality backlinks. Record your webinars to be shared with a wider audience later and you can also write the transcript to be shared on your blog. More blogs looking for valuable content to link to could stumble on the recordings of your webinar and the transcript and link to it. You can also link to them in your guest posts.
Forum Links
Join forums, especially in your niche, and share links to relevant resources on your website. Most people looking for answers to a thing or two will likely click on those links. However, be careful not to join too many forums with the sole purpose of creating backlinks and also don’t clickbait. Focus on high-profile forums that provide value and seek to also add value to prevent being tagged by Google as a spammy site.
Header, Footer, and Sidebar Links
These links might seem great because they appear on every page but they are not considered to be of much quality to Google. John Mueller of Google mentioned it in an office-hours hangout at the 22-minute mark where he also added that you should have a clear linking structure within your site, as site wide links are not as effective.
Bottom Line
There is no one-size-fits-all to building backlinks. Any of these types can be applicable to your website, as long as you are strategic about it to ensure you get the best results. However, link building isn’t an easy thing, especially if you have to combine different types of backlinks to reach your goal.
Many people find paid links to be an easy way out of this but that could attract a penalty. If you must use them, ensure the links are organically placed in the content to avoid any suspicion from Google. The website linking to you must also be relevant and not a shady one with spammy and clickbait links.
To make the most of your backlink strategy, you need to understand the varying levels of value and importance of these links. It also requires a level of expertise to strategically place these backlinks to yield effective results.
We have experts at TrafficBox to work on the backlink strategy of your brand by applying the best approach in link building. We can also help create quality content for your website that would establish you as a thought leader in your field and that authority sites would want to link to. Link building is all about strategy, and we have the best hands available to work on that to give you the best results.
