It’s true — everybody wants to build links to their website in order to increase their authority and credibility to search engines. Until Google’s Penguin update, a lot of link building was obtainable through buying and placing links. However, the times are changing and many old link building strategies are starting to become futile as Google has begun penalizing low quality links. Yes, you still want to obtain links, but links that take effort to obtain and are difficult to get. In essence, you want links that are meant for humans, not Google. Many people in the SEO community are starting to call this method link earning. Moving forward, you should try to avoid any link building activity where your building links solely for search engine rankings. Links are important, but more importantly, you need important links!
When you get a link from a place that actually has an audience, I consider this important. Take for instance, if a blogger links to one of the awesome articles you wrote, not only do you get that initial backlink, you get exposure in front of their entire audience – increasing potential click-through rates. On top of that, Google will see that you received a link from a source that actually has readership, which equals major brownie points.
One of the best ways to earn these links is through the creation of unique, relevant content that resonates with your target audience. When creating your content, ask yourself, “Would other people want to read this?” Try to think of articles on your blog as products. Would you make a product that nobody wants to buy? Probably not. Transition that to a blog post — would you want to write an article that nobody wants to read? Eh, probably not. At the end of the day, a product is only useful if you know others want it.
Another method that works really well is differentiating your articles with content that reflects a new approach. A lot of blogs tend to re-purpose information, but how does this benefit the reader? They could get the same information from blog xyz. Give people who stumble upon your content a reason to want to come back for more. Positioning yourself as an expert who always delivers fresh ideas is not only a great way to earn inbound links, but to increase website traffic.
Lastly, one of the most commonly overlooked methods for creating great content is to answer the questions your customers are asking. How do you go about this? Simple – ask your customers! Publishing content that solves a problem or answers a question is a perfect way to earn relevant links. If your target audience is already asking these questions, wouldn’t you want to be their resource for answering them and not someone else? Unfortunately, a lot of bloggers get caught up talking about themselves and only post articles concerning their product. In order to provide real value with the content you write, you need to listen to your audience and understand their needs.
Now that I’ve outlined some of the SEO benefits of earning your links, are there any tips or insights you would like to share?Leave your questions and comments in the box below.