A good link strategy is the foundation of any content marketing strategy. You need to know how to get links from other sites and understand the impact that links can have on your rankings in search engines. If you’ve got a strong link profile, it’s easier for new visitors to find your site and for your site to rank highly in search results. Below are some tactics we’ve used at our agency over the years that have helped us get backlinks with ease!
#1 Develop whitepapers and case studies
Backlinks are an essential part of your off-page SEO strategy. And case studies and whitepapers are a great way to get links while also serving as an effective form of content marketing. You can use them to build your brand, get customers, and even rank well in search engines.
Other sites often cite case studies and whitepapers as sources when they write about a topic related to yours. This means you’ll get natural links from the backlinks on those sites. It also means that you’ll probably rank higher for specific keywords if other people cite those documents as sources for their content (especially since it will increase the perceived authority of your site).
#2 Build a great product, company culture, and social media account
A strong product will help you get backlinks because it makes your company more relatable to your audience and makes them want to share it with others. If you don’t have a good product yet, consider hiring someone who is an expert in your business or industry. This will help ensure that you create a quality product that leads to good reviews from customers who are happy with their purchase.
Company culture can also help generate positive ratings for your products on review sites like Yelp or Amazon. It can also build trust among visitors who see how well-liked your brand is by its current employees and past ones who might be willing to give testimonials on behalf of your firm if they feel that working at the company was worth it.
#3 Write good content that gets shared on other sites
People share content that’s interesting, helpful, and relevant to them. So if you want someone to link back to your site, give them a reason why they should do so. Write helpful, informative, and engaging articles that will provide value to the reader—and provide links in your article pointing back to your website (include keywords related to what you’re writing about). The more links you get from sites like these, the better your chance of getting high-quality backlinks from authoritative domains.
Create awesome graphics for social media posts using Canva or PicMonkey for free! (PicMonkey is also available through Google Images).
#4 Get on your customers’ LinkedIn profiles
The first step is to create an account on LinkedIn. To do this, you’ll need to choose a username that includes a company or business name. For example, if you own a small coffee shop and your company’s name is “Coffee Time,” then your username might be “CoffeeTimeNYC” or something similar that makes it clear what your role is at this particular establishment.
After creating an account for yourself, one of the best ways to get more followers and grow your network is by reaching out to people with similar interests as yours—including customers!
#5 Create “linkable assets” through data and research
Linkable assets are pieces of content that provide value for your audience. These assets can be blog posts, infographics, videos, or surveys.
The goal is to provide data and research to support your argument so people will share the piece of content with their followers or colleagues. You can also include a link to your website at the end of the resource to drive traffic back to you (this is called an internal link).
It provides valuable information about how businesses can grow through link building and includes links back to Hubspot’s website in all places where they would be appropriate.
#6 Conduct infographics, ebooks, and interviews
Infographics, ebooks, and interviews are great ways to get backlinks.
You can create infographics using tools like Canva, Venngage, and Piktochart. Interviews can be conducted using Google Hangouts or Skype with a professional-looking camera. You can also conduct an interview through email by asking the questions first and then sending them over for the person to answer at their convenience.
The best way to get backlinks from these types of content is to reach out directly on social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook, asking if you could share their content on your site/blog in exchange for a link back to theirs!
#7 Use PPC to build your brand awareness (and get some links)
In the past, PPC (pay-per-click) marketing was reserved for big brands that could afford to pay for clicks. But now, you can use it to build your brand awareness and get some links. You’ll still have to pay for each click, but it’s much cheaper than SEO or Facebook ads, and the results are instant.
Use Google AdWords or Bing Ads to create a landing page optimized for conversion — one that collects email addresses, lead forms, or other information that will be valuable to your business. Make sure you include a call-to-action such as “sign up,” “get started,” or “learn more” so users know what they should do next after visiting your website. Once they’re on your site, they’re likely going somewhere else (to Google), so make sure there’s something worth clicking on!
#8 Find ways to add value to the content you create, so people will naturally want to link to it
One of the best ways to build links is to create linkable assets or content that people are naturally inclined to link to. Linkable assets include infographics, ebooks, and interviews. You can create these types of content in several ways:
- Interview someone who has something to say about your topic (or who knows someone else who does). This will generate a lot of high-quality content that you can share on social media and other platforms where it will resonate with your audience.
- Create an infographic that summarizes key points related to your niche—this is an especially good option if there’s little competition around infographics for whatever reason —and then share it on social media channels like Pinterest or G+ (where appropriate). You can also offer this as a downloadable asset for anyone interested in sharing it with friends, co-workers, and family members who might also find value in the information you’ve provided!
Conclusion
In the end, getting backlinks is not rocket science. It’s about doing the right things for your customers and providing value to their needs and wants. To get backlinks, you have to ensure that people will want to share your product/company/social media account because they like it so much. The best way to do this is through content creation: create great content that people want to link back from their sites with yours!
