9 Link Building Tips: Create Your Next Strategy

Let’s admit it: improving SEO rankings is not a piece of cake. But the good news is that link building can be your trusted friend in overcoming this challenge and improving online visibility.

As there isn’t any proof that ghosts can help improve search engine rankings, we can confidently say that link building is not dead, as many warn. Moreover, when link building management is done properly, you can enhance your site’s search engine rankings and overall visibility.

And it seems it doesn’t have plans to die in the future either. Statistics also prove this, showing that the number 1 ranking page on Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than pages ranking in positions 2-10.

So don’t go anywhere to find out important and actionable link building tips that can greatly enhance your website’s SEO.

What is link building?

First thing first, let’s discuss what link building is anyway.

Link building is a fundamental component of off-page SEO and involves getting backlinks from other reputable websites to your own.

Search engines consider these links as votes of confidence, so websites get better chances to appear higher in search results. Also, when reputable websites link to your site, it can boost the website’s authority and credibility.

But it’s important to keep the following in mind when it comes to link building management; it’s better to prioritize the quality of backlinks over quantity. Because it’s more strategic to have strong links from authority websites than a bunch of backlinks from irrelevant websites. Thus, you need to consider SaaS link building, which involves getting natural backlinks from SaaS websites. Thanks to getting backlinks from this type of website, you can add an extra layer of authority and trustworthiness to your website.

Why should you care about link building anyway?

Ok, you already get an idea of what link building is, but you may still wonder whether it is worth your dedication and effort. Now, let’s discuss the key benefits that effective link-building can suggest. 

✓ Improve search engine results

More authoritative links are a sign for search engines to consider your website a credible source, so it gets higher rankings. Interestingly, SEMrush’s research found that 92.3% of the 100 top-ranking domains had at least one backlink. 

✓ Increase organic traffic 

On top of that, good links bring more people to your site, boosting your website’s traffic. 

✓ Credibility and trust

When reputable websites link to your website, it shows you’re trustworthy, making people more likely to visit your website.

✓ Enhanced domain authority

Understanding the importance of backlinks and getting relevant ones can boost your website’s domain authority, making it more trustworthy for search engines and users.

✓ Brand visibility and awareness

When your website is mentioned and linked to from other reputable sources, it helps to increase your brand’s visibility and awareness. Effective SaaS link building can boost your brand’s visibility by getting your website featured on trusted sources. Overtime, these will pass on the link juice and improve your website’s performance. But what is link juice, you may ask.

All these amazing perks of link building definitely made you consider doing link building for your company, right? Whether you decide to outsource link building to reliable link building agencies or handle it in-house, the powerful benefits are undeniable. So, let’s discuss effective link building tips that can help you enhance your website’s rankings.

Link building metrics to keep an eye on

There are several metrics related to links that you should know. These link building metrics can help you assess the value of a link, allowing you to understand whether it’s worth getting and how much effort you should put into building a particular backlink.

If you’re new, discover more metrics and terms in our SEO glossary. Below, you can find some of the most important metrics to consider when starting a link building campaign.

Domain rating

Domain Rating (DR) is an Ahrefs metric that indicates the strength of a particular website’s backlink profile.

It is measured on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the highest strength.

The higher the “rating” of your domain, the better.

However, you should not only judge Domain Rating when it comes to assessing your overall link building campaign. That’s because it is a relative metric by definition. So, it is impossible to say that a Domain Rating of 30 or 70 because it’s all relative.

Remember, your Domain Rating is good if it’s higher than or comparable to similar websites. You can check DR using link building Chrome extensions for quick insights right in your browser.

URL Rating

Ahrefs’ URL rating is an important link building metric that measures a page’s link profile on a logarithmic scale of 0-100. It considers both internal and external links – even though they’re weighted differently. Moreover, only do follow links affect URL ratings.

You can only check your URL rating in the Ahrefs SEO tool. To see the URL rating of your homepage, go to the overview screen in the Site Explorer option.

For other pages, head to the Best by Links report in the left-side menu.

This way, you can have a clear understanding of a page’s backlink profile strength.

Anchor Text

Anchor text is the clickable portion of a hyperlink. It helps search engines and readers understand the content of a linked page.

As a link-building metric, anchor text helps you assess your own link profile. By analyzing anchor text types that attract the most backlinks to your site, you can assess the health of your link profile and identify negative SEO attacks against your website.

Backlink Position

The position of your link also matters. Placing it in the introduction or at the very end of your article is not a good decision.

It is recommended to place your link in the main part of your content and preferably in a paragraph that contextually fits the anchor text. Also, make sure there are not too many links in the paragraph you have chosen for link insertion.

Niche Relevance

It is highly important to target relevant links for your site.

First, relevant links attract real website traffic and potential clients. Let’s go back to the above example. Someone looking for business automation solutions is far more likely to be interested in CRM solutions rather than other unrelated services, such as web design or social media management.

Besides, Google prioritizes relevancy. So, pay attention to the relevance of the linking domain “to be loved” by the search engines.

What makes a good backlink?

Getting good backlinks is key to any link building campaign. A strong and diverse backlink profile directly impacts a site’s rankings and online reputation.

Below, you can find the biggest factors that make a good backlink.

• Relevance

A backlink from a site that is contextually related to your own holds more value than one from an irrelevant source.

Google prioritizes relevance. So, if you have a backlink from a site that is relevant to your industry, the chances are higher to have a better ranking position in the search engines.

• Authority

Authority is another essential factor in defining backlink quality. Backlinks from authoritative sites hold more weight in search engine algorithms.

You may wonder what makes an authoritative site. It typically has a good domain rating, as well as a solid backlink profile from reputable sources within the same industry.

So, pay attention to where your links are coming from, as they affect the website’s credibility and visibility in search engine results.

• Credibility

This is another important element to take into account. Search engines analyze the reputation and trustworthiness of the linking domain. If it is associated with spammy practices, search engines may penalize your site.

• Anchor text

The anchor text should be relevant to the linked page’s content and include target keywords.

Beware, overusing exact-match anchor text can be considered a manipulative practice. So, it is recommended to build a natural and diverse anchor text profile, using variations of keywords and incorporating generic phrases as well to avoid penalties by Google.

9 link building tips for your next campaign

All signs show that link building is going strong, and it remains one of the key strategies to boost your rankings. In fact, a survey indicates that  92% of marketers believe that in five years, links will still be a ranking criteria in Google algorithms. So let’s start and discuss important link building tips that will improve your SEO efforts.

Consider A-B-C link exchange

One of the steps of the link building process is doing an A-B-C link exchange. This is a link building strategy that includes exchange between three domains. In this process, three websites, which we can label as A, B, and C, swap links to each other. The goal is the same: to improve each website’s backlink profile and boost the search engine rankings of those three websites.

You may be familiar with A-B link exchange, which is quite a straightforward process in which two websites mutually agree to link to each other. In this process, two websites focus on maintaining the links’ relevance by carefully choosing their right placements. 

On the contrary, the A-B-C link swap is a little more complex as website A might link to website B, website B might link to website C, and at the end of the cycle, website C links back to website A. This method provides an opportunity to build a more diverse backlink profile by collaborating with a broader range of websites that are open for link-building partnerships. 

Keep in mind when engaging in either A-B or A-B-C link exchange, it is crucial to ensure the naturalness and relevance of the backlinks you get.

Lastly, don’t forget to check the uniqueness of those backlinks to ensure the effectiveness of your link building efforts. Ahrefs can be extremely helpful in this stage; just ensure to follow these steps when analyzing the uniqueness of your backlinks.

Step 1: Enter your Ahrefs account 

Step 2:  Search the domain section and insert the URL of the domain (in this case, https://www.cam.ac.uk/)

Step 3:  Click on the referring domains section  and add the domain name (in the case https://www.nytimes.com/ )

Step 4: Click the number in case you want to see all links first domain (https://www.cam.ac.uk/ has from https://www.nytimes.com/ )

Step 5: You can click on the number of links (47) to see all details.

Make automation your link building friend

There isn’t anything you can’t automate. Maybe this will sound unrealistic, but in fact, automation can make the link building process more effective from start to finish.

First and foremost, automation can help pinpoint potential link-building opportunities by finding relevant websites. Thanks to different automation solutions, you can analyze and filter through big amounts of data to find reputable and authoritative websites for link-building. This quality, reputable link building tip will save time and ensure a more targeted approach.

Step 1: Enter your Ahrefs account.

Step 2:  In the domain search bar, include the industry or topic that you are looking for. (In this case, it’s <link building>)

Step 3: Ensure to include in the domain search bar https instead of http to get a list of secured websites. 

Step 4: Add in the search domain bar blog to find websites that have blogs.

Step 5:  Also, add filters and look for websites that have DR start from 50 to 85 and website traffic at least from 1K.

Step 6: You can click on the number of links (47) to see all details․

On top of this, automation can open room for effective link building outreach. With this solution, writing and scheduling outreach email follow-ups is possible. Plus, they can help track and monitor email responses and interactions, enabling link builders to make data-driven decisions and refine their outreach strategies for better results. 

With the help of Mailmeteor, you can get insights into the effectiveness of this outreach email and analyze its engagement metrics. It gives insights about other metrics as well (click, bounce, unsubscribe rates) and provides an opportunity to fine-tune your link building outreach efforts.

Even after you get backlinks, automation tools can help monitor backlinks, and check the health of these links. These solutions regularly scan the webpages to check the status of your links and alert you when those links become broken, helping to keep your backlink profile strong and healthy.

Last but not least, automation can help understand your link-building efforts’ effectiveness. While there is no doubt that automation can be extremely helpful and even, in some cases, a savior for link builders, it’s essential to realize the power of personalization in enhancing your link building efforts, which takes us to the next point, where we will discuss one of the most important link building tips.  

Personalize your outreach email

Personalizing your link building outreach is the key to any successful link building campaign, as it can highly increase your chances of success. Basically, by dedicating your time and efforts to tailoring your outreach emails to the specific interests of your link building partners, you showcase the importance of potential collaboration. 

And remember that personalizing your outreach email is not just about including the recipient’s name. So, let’s discuss effective tactics to personalize your message.

 ✓ Research and research again

Before reaching out, research the recipient’s website. Understand their target audience and design your message around their specific preferences.

✓ Don’t forget about a great subject line

Create compelling and relevant email subject lines that can grab potential link building partners’ attention. Then, introduce your offer and clarify why you’re contacting them.

✓ Call attention to the mutual benefits

In the next step, emphasize the benefits of the collaboration and highlight how a link swap or guest post collaboration will be mutually beneficial.

✓ Don’t be too long

Remember that website owners’ and editors’ inboxes are typically full of messages. So, make sure to keep your outreach email concise. 

✓ Don’t rely on generic templates 

While using templates can help you, relying only on them will make your message generic. So, try to customize each message to reflect the recipient’s website. On top of this, add your unique personality to your message.

✓ Suggest link insertion if possible

One of the greatest link building tips that you may come across is finding relevant link insertion in your potential partner’s website and including it in your outreach email.

Connect with link building partners on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is still going strong:  It has more than 900 million members in 200 countries and regions. So, it would be a huge mistake not to leverage the amazing opportunities this professional networking platform suggests for SaaS link building particularly.

Basically, it opens the opportunities to build relationships or “connections” that can have the same goal as you: build valuable and natural backlinks.

Thanks to LinkedIn, it’s not only possible to expand your network but also find potential link-building opportunities, whether it is link swap or guest posting, that can be mutually beneficial. You can also improve these networking efforts by using a LinkedIn email finder tool that can help you grow your email list and find the right people to reach out to.

First thing you should do is optimize your LinkedIn profile and make it professional. It includes adding a high-quality profile picture and writing a compelling headline that showcases both your personality and experience.  

Also, don’t waste time and connect with professionals and relevant connections in your industry. Invest time to engage with their content, participate in establishing relationships, and ultimately build a network.

While this next link building tip may be hard to follow, you need to put the effort into creating valuable content and be consistent in that. Thus, provide insightful content on your LinkedIn feed, and don’t hesitate to share your own experience. 

Another smart link-building tip you should keep in mind when starting a link building campaign is connecting with potential LinkedIn partners before sending outreach emails. This way, you can try to establish relationships with them. What is great about LinkedIn is that it can help to start but also maintain long-term partnerships and improve relationship link building which can be extremely helpful for your link building efforts.

Don’t forget about Slack

Another outstanding platform that can elevate your link building measures is Slack. By leveraging the power of this platform, you connect with a global community where you can find opportunities for link exchanges and guest post collaborations. Basically, Slack can be extremely beneficial for link building in the following ways:

✓ Networking

First and foremost, Slack helps to connect with potential link building partners and start collaboration.

✓ Access industry trends

With Slack, you can stay informed about the latest link building trends and stay on top of the game.

✓ Feedback

By joining SaaS-focused Slack communities, you can tap into expert advice and gain valuable SaaS link building tips to enhance your strategies.

✓ Problem-solving

You may encounter various obstacles on the road to crafting effective link building techniques. And being a part of any Slack community, you can ask questions and get  link building strategies from professionals who may have faced similar issues and will help you solve them.

Now, let’s discuss how to find channels on Slack and use this platform for successful link building strategies.

✓ Join relevant communities

Before anything, join Slack communities that are relevant to your industry and interests. Find these communities through a quick web search or by asking for recommendations.

✓ Utilize Slack’s search feature

Once you’re inside a Slack community, make use of Slack’s search feature to discover relevant channels. Check the list of channels and join the ones that are most relevant to your link building interests.

✓ Participate in discussions

After joining relevant channels, actively participate in discussions. Share your insights, ask questions, and engage with other community members. This opens opportunities to discover additional channels from recommendations within the community.

✓ Ask for Recommendations

Don’t hesitate to ask fellow community members for channel recommendations. You can do this by posting a message on the main channel or privately messaging.

✓  Be open to collaboration

In the last step, look for opportunities to collaborate with potential link building partners. For starters, you can find guest posting opportunities or suggest link insertions. Just ensure to include links to your website when talking about potential collaborations. Plus, make sure to clearly communicate the value that Slack members can gain from link building partnerships.

By following these steps, you can expand your network and effectively leverage Slack for link building partnerships.

Check what your competitors do

There is always room for improvement, and you should and must learn from competitors as well. So, one of the great link building tips you can follow is doing competitor backlink analysis. If you haven’t done so yet, you should start the process by identifying your main competitors in your niche.  

Keep in mind when analyzing your competitor backlinks, you should concentrate on the quality of those links and check their relevance. 

In the next step, understand the types of websites that are linking to your competitors so you can focus your efforts in that direction and target similar websites. But before reaching out to those websites, make sure to check their domain authority and relevance. 

Furthermore, keep an eye on what kind of content your competitors create that gets more natural backlinks. This is essential to building a successful backlink campaign and can guide your content marketing tactics.

Basically, thanks to competitive backlink analysis, you can find out which backlink techniques are most effective and which types of websites have high search engine results. Moreover, this approach gives an excellent opportunity to discover gaps in your backlink profile and ultimately build a more targeted link building outreach strategy.

After conducting competitor analysis and having all the data about competitors link building tactics in your hands, you can come up with your own effective strategies and fine-tune your link building efforts. This way, you will successfully boost your link building strategies.

Create content that people will link to

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to build links for your site. So, one of the smartest link building tips out there is creating valuable and relevant content that is good enough to attract natural backlinks.

Creating high-quality content can be a long road, but all hard work will pay off, as they won’t be interested in sharing it with their readers.

Here are some strategies to help you write content that people will link to:

✓ Create informative and in-depth articles

Invest effort in writing content that thoroughly answers the common questions that the target audience has within your industry. This is a smart move to attract natural backlinks. And the reason is when your content becomes a valuable resource that provides complete answers, chances get higher that other websites link to it.

✓ Conduct original research and share your own experience

Conduct and publish your own research findings and unique data and insights that provide fresh perspectives and valuable information.

✓ Make your content more visual and interactive 

Make your content more visually appealing by including videos and slideshows. Plus, add quizzes or interactive elements that boost engagement and bring backlinks. Use a free slideshow maker to create stunning slideshows effortlessly and captivate your audience with dynamic visuals.

For those looking to elevate their content even further, consider collaborating with the best corporate video production companies to create professional-grade videos that resonate with your audience.

✓ Optimize for SEO

Even if you manage to create more valuable and high-quality content, you should optimize it so it can rank high in search results and people link it. It includes finding relevant focus keywords and then strategically placing them in titles, headings, meta descriptions and also sprinkling them throughout the content. 

✓ Start guest post collaborations

Contribute guest posts to reputable websites and blogs in your industry. 

Let’s speak about the last step in more detail, as the guest post remains one of the most effective link building techniques.

Offer guest post collaboration

Guest posting remains one of the most common ways to get links back to your website from other websites. What is interesting is that guest posting can also develop mutually beneficial linking relationships. An important link building tip here is to collaborate with relevant websites in your industry. 

But you should make an effort to create valuable and relevant content that not only supports your link building goals but also gives value to the readers.

What link building techniques should you avoid?

We spoke about effective link building tips in detail, but now let’s discuss what tactics you should avoid.

✓ Purchasing links

Buying backlinks from websites with the only goal of increasing your site’s authority is violating search engine guidelines. In this matter, paid links can cause penalties.

✓ Building link farms and PBNs

These involve creating websites with the goal of linking to each other. Search engines can detect this and even could penalize those websites.

✓ Spammy websites

Getting links from websites that are spam or irrelevant will negatively impact your site’s reputation and rankings. Instead, focus on getting links from reputable and relevant sites.

✓ Over-optimization and manipulative tactics

Engaging in keyword stuffing or in other manipulative over-optimization tactics like over-optimized meta tags, hiding text with links can harm and lead to penalties.

✓ Focusing on quantity instead of quality

Google and other search engines prefer a website that has a few reputable backlinks rather than one that has too many but from irrelevant websites. So, when building links, focus on relevance and context. Links from sources related to your industry or content are more valuable than unrelated ones.

To sum up

Link building is one of the key elements of elevating your website’s SEO rankings and overall visibility. Whether it is engaging in guest post collaboration or doing link exchange, it’s important to ensure the relevancy and authority of these links. And the reason is that relevance ensures a contextual connection, while authority adds an additional layer of trustworthiness and credibility.

On top of this, when doing link building outreach, it’s extremely important to personalize your messaging. Plus, don’t miss the opportunity to leverage Slack and LinkedIn to elevate your link building strategies.

So, try practical link building tips that we suggested and avoid ineffective ones to boost your SEO game.

FAQ about following link building tips