The process of effective link building can be a daunting task. Over the years, link building techniques have evolved and it is often baffling to figure out from where exactly to begin. Besides, it is tough to create a useful and consistent link building system. Indeed, link building is an essential SEO skill as links are an important ranking factor in search engines.
Link building is vital for the success of any marketing campaign and the need to understand and implement well-planned campaigns is of utmost importance. For effective implementation of link building strategies, it is necessary to understand why link building is important and how exactly it works.
Compiled below are a few tactics that aim to simplify the process of link building for you.
1. Integrate SEO and Link Building Goals:
The first step is to merge the reason why you are creating links with that of your SEO goals. There are reasons why we build links and it is definitely one of the following.
There are other factors too, but the following constitute the major reasons.
– Build links to direct search to a particular page on your website so that it can rank better
– To enhance the ranking of a specific domain, website or a sub domain or sub-folder of a website. Google has its considerations for folders and sub domains. You might want links to grow these sections.
– Create high-value traffic from ranking pages
– Increasing the authority of a page. Building links can help to direct traffic to a particular topic or keyword group that is not very influential otherwise.
Creating effective links can prove to Google that the page has relevant content.
– To increase visibility among potential audience. This would involve encouraging your audience to visit your website and amplify it.
2. Probability that that link will increase the value of your page:
The second step involves ascertaining the probability that the link will add value to the page of your website. You can look into the following factors to get a better picture:
– Is the link giving you direct traffic?
– If it is a followed or not followed link?
– If the anchor text is yielding results
If you have positive answers for all of these, it means that the link is helping you to gather high authority. On the other hand, you might not control the anchor text or the anchor text is just the name of your brand. You might not be gaining enough traffic. In this case, you need to figure out the following:
– Does the page have a high relevance? If not, you need to make modifications and alter the link path.
– Is it the right page on your website?
– If there exist any link risk?
The amount of link risk that you are willing to take is entirely a matter of choice.
3. Create a Prioritised Spreadsheet:
The third step involves preparing a spreadsheet that will give you a clear picture of your goals. The spreadsheet will enable you to understand the goals that are being successfully achieved with the link. You can include columns like link target, the page on your site, chances of earning, estimated value and more. You can use a bunch of metrics to ascertain the success of your link building efforts.
You can also include a section on the tactics that you intend to pursue. Following this, you can start prioritising based on your goals. Example, a particular link building target might be more important to you at a point of time and you can emphasise on it. In this way, you can sort your spreadsheet and focus on each link and figure out if they work for you or not. This will give you a clear idea of your efforts.
With proper planning, the daunting and frustrating process of link-building can be made into a simpler and easier task. It not only makes it easy for you to follow, but you can also train other people to follow the same process. Link building is a vital part of SEO but is at the same time a challenging task. It is necessary to have an organised plan in place to ensure a successful link building strategy.
