Relationship Building For Backlinks: 4 Ways To Succeed

Link building is all about relationships between people who build links to deliver value to other people while also improving their websites’ performance. So, only by prioritizing relationship building for backlinks can you strengthen your backlink profile.

A survey from SEMrush shows that 92 of the 100 top-ranking domains had at least one backlink. It would be impossible to get those valuable backlinks without building positive and trustful relationships with link building partners.

So don’t rush anywhere to discover so much about relationship-driven link building.

But first, let’s discuss why you gain authoritative backlinks through successful partnerships.

Why Great Links Are Built Through Relationships

You don’t believe one of the common myths about link building that backlinks don’t matter anymore, right? Instead, you definitely believe credible and relevant backlinks can boost your website performance.

Actually, facts prove that the number of referring domains is one of Google’s most important ranking factors and can really skyrocket your website’s performance.

So, we need to build and maintain positive partnerships and prioritize relationship-based link building. And here is why.

Thanks to solid relationships, you can:

Build trust with link building partners

The most important thing effective partnerships bring to the table is trust and authority. Website owners with whom you have trustful relationships will be more likely to agree on link collaboration than ones with whom you didn’t have a prior connection.

Establish long-term partnerships

By maintaining effective relationships for links, you create a strong basis for long-term collaboration. Later, by nurturing these relationships, you can get valuable backlinks and improve your website’s visibility.

This way, you don’t need to constantly find new link building prospects and start new outreach campaigns. Instead, you can develop relationships with existing partners to reach your link building goals.

Get valuable backlinks

When you focus on creating positive relationships instead of simply asking for links, you increase the chances of getting links from relevant and authoritative websites. And it wouldn’t be a discovery to say that backlinks from authoritative websites significantly improve your backlink profile.

Now, we can all agree that one of the main skills that link builders should have is building strong relationships with their partners. But the real question is how to reach that goal and prioritize relationship-based link building. Don’t worry-we’ve got you covered.

How to build relationships for effective link building

Research done by Ahrefs shows that there’s a positive connection between backlinks and search traffic, also ranking position. That’s why prioritizing relationship-based link building for effective backlink generation is becoming more and more important. So, let’s discuss how you can reach that goal.

Personalize your outreach as much as possible

People receive a huge number of cold emails during the day, so it’s becoming harder and harder to stand out in crowded inboxes. However, overcoming this obstacle is extremely important during the first stages of relationship-based link building. And to reach that, you need to personalize your outreach messages as much as possible.

No matter what kind of communication channel you choose for relationship building, the first thing you should do is learn about your potential link building partner. This includes discovering their interests, expertise, and, of course, the link building goals they have for their websites.

One of the first steps you can take is to build connections with website owners or editors on LinkedIn before sending outreach emails. Having prior communication with them through LinkedIn messages boosts the chances of them responding to your email.

Let’s say you did your research properly and found valuable information, so don’t hesitate to mention it in your cold email. Needless to say, you should add potential partners’ names. Make sure to also explore any small details that might affect your cold email deliverability, as not receiving the email will ruin your efforts completely.

Plus, mention specific details about their website or content. Here is an example of one of the email templates that we suggest to use. It shows that our team researched and found relevant link placements for potential partners’ websites.

Another thing you should keep in mind is that personalizing your email doesn’t mean your outreach email should be a long novel.

It’s true that people are picky about what email to open. But they don’t have time to read long messages either. So, keep the message brief and on point. Share why and how collaboration will be mutually beneficial. Remember that you will have a chance to share extra details about your offer in the follow-ups.

Last but not least, you should definitely use email outreach solutions to automate several outreach tasks and save a lot of time and effort.

Not only get but also give value

All kinds of relationships are about give and take, right? This is true for relationship building for backlinks as well. And link building is really a two-way street.

So one of the key aspects of relationship-based link building is suggesting to your potential partner some kind of value to earn links or receive a benefit in return.

You can start sharing your website’s metrics to show that linking to your website will be beneficial for their backlink profile as well. In this stage, you can leverage Ahrefs for link building to keep an eye on your website’s rankings.

Let’s say you found that they need to enrich their blog. So you can suggest to your link building partner to contribute to write guest posts for them. Managing to write unique and compelling guest posts will definitely add value to your partner’s website.

Be genuine and authentic

You should keep in mind that you are building links for people, not for search engine algorithms. You connect with people during this process because behind every website are humans, right?

So, for effective relationship building with your link building partners, you should be as authentic and human as possible and prioritize the human factor in link building.

First and foremost, be very clear about your goals. Be honest about what are your expectations from link building collaboration.

One of the most successful link building methods is to show empathy and be authentic in your interactions. It is important to find the right time to start casual dialogue with link building partners when you have already built professional relationships with them.

Make your collaboration all about human communication, not just about asking for links. It can be a conversation about some hobbies or how they spent their weekend.

Long story short, you need to invest time in getting to know your partners and be as authentic and supportive as you can.

Don’t stop engaging and interacting

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither did successful link building partnerships. It takes time to build strong relationships with your partners. Don’t expect to earn trust through one message.

Even if you managed to build effective relationships and did your first link exchange, you need to keep the lines of communication open. Remember, successful relationship-based link building includes staying in touch with your partners and looking for opportunities for future collaboration.

Like in this case, even if the partners started to work for another company or project, they are happy to continue to work with trusted link building partners from our team.

Last but not least, if you have a successful and long-lasting collaboration, don’t hesitate to express your appreciation not only via personal messages but also via professional networks like LinkedIn.

But let’s be more specific and share our team experience on effective relationship-based link building.

Better relationships, better backlinks: sharing our experience

One of the keys to SayNine’s success in boosting clients’ website performance is prioritizing relationship-based link building. Our team has a big network of link building partners from different countries with whom we have solid and successful relationships.

So, we thought sharing our team insights and tips on the topic would be important.

“Link building basically can’t exist without communicating with people and building trustworthy relationships.“,-says Araks, one of SayNine’s team leads.

Hayk, who works as a link builder, believes you should be responsible, patient, and as friendly as possible. But the trick is to keep the right balance and be friendly and professional at the same time. He mentions that there is a fine line between being strictly professional and supporting your link-building partners when they need it.

One of the main tips for relationship-based link building that Syuzana shares is being empathetic and putting yourself in your partner’s shoes․ While being empathetic is important, you sometimes need to control your emotions. And you shouldn’t take everything personally in case you get rejections.

Another member of the SayNine team, Martin adds that a good link builder needs to be a great communicator and love connecting with other people. He believes when you put people first, you will definitely have incredible link building results in the end.

One of the most effective ways to create strong communication is by giving the first link to your partner. You need to make personalized suggestions and find relevant link placement.

Laura mentions that one of the key factors of relationship-based link building is showing that you care about your partners’ link exchange reports. Even if you have to reject the request, they should know that you did your best to make things work. It would be great if you could explain the reasons for rejection.

She also suggests checking in with partners on Mondays to see how their weekend was and wishing them a great weekend every Friday evening. Laura adds it is a good strategy to reply to their messages as quickly as possible showing that you care about your collaboration.

“What is important is that relationship-based link-building can help you meet your deadlines and reach your link building goals”,- finishes Ani.

Challenges of relationship-based link building

Every great strategy comes with obstacles as well, and relationship-based link building isn’t an exception.

So, what are the main challenges that you will face when trying to build successful relationships with link building partners? Let’s discuss some of them.

Building trust

One of the main challenges of relationship-based link building is the time it takes to develop strong relationships. You should be patient and be as authentic as possible, and eventually, you will create trustful relationships.

The time it takes

Communication shouldn’t stop after a few successful link exchanges. It takes a lot of dedication to build long-lasting collaboration eventually. But the great news is all your hard work will eventually pay off and will boost your link building efforts.

You may not get links

Another challenge is that you might not get a link even after developing a valuable relationship with someone. But when you really prioritize building relationships, not getting links, it may lead to other opportunities.

Let’s say you had great communication with some website owners who weren’t interested in link building, but when they start investing in it, you will be on top of their minds.

Balancing relationships and link building goals

Having effective communication with some website owners doesn’t mean that their website has all the necessary metrics that match your link building goals. So don’t hesitate to clearly communicate your expectations with them to avoid misunderstandings.

Key Takeaways

It’s time to say goodbye. But until then, let’s summarize all the things we have discussed about relationship-based link building:

• Relationship-based link building is a strategy to develop genuine, mutually beneficial collaboration with link building partners.
• Thanks to relationship-based link building, you can earn authoritative backlinks.
• You need to personalize link building outreach to address potential partners’ needs.
• By delivering value to your link building partners, being authentic, and regularly staying in touch, you can build great relationships with them.
• Developing link building relationships comes with a lot of challenges like earning trust or taking a lot of time, which is possible to overcome by being strategic.

Developing successful relationships with your link building partners based on those tips will skyrocket your link building efforts.

Good luck achieving that goal.

FAQ about building relationships to gain links