6 ways to build backlinks like a rock star
Most businesses know they need to have a great social media presence to help improve the SEO of their websites.
They also know they need to share great content regularly.
Many, though, forget about the power of backlinks.
These are links into your website from other sites. They encourage people to visit and are an efficient way of helping to boost your SEO.
Firstly, you need to find out which sites have links to your site – you can do this by using a tool like http://buzzsumo.com/ or https://mention.com/en/.
Have any links from dodgy, spammy sites? Disavow them using Google’s Webmaster tools – they could be harming your SEO rather than helping it. Google will mark your site down for them.
Here are 6 brilliant ways to build high-quality backlinks:
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Look for listings on official websites.
Any site with a .gov in the web address is excellent for this – think government and local government sites. Search engines rate official sites highly and links to other sites from them are well respected. Business Wales, for example has a free business directory and a .gov address. If you’re not on it, simply register and create a profile. This is an excellent backlink for your website.
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Target local media websites.
If you have a story about your business on a local media organisation’s website, ask them to include a link to your website. Stories on media sites are shared organically, and engines like Google rate them highly because of their high turn-over of fresh content.
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Get the help of influencers in your industry.
Cultivate relationships with influencers in your industry and encourage them to share your content (containing links to your website) on their blogs and social media posts. This is not a fast process, but if you put the effort in, it could pay dividends in helping you build your backlinks.
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Give testimonials.
Other businesses love them – and they’ll often add your link without you having to ask as they like to prove their testimonials come from real people.
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Get bloggers to review your product or service.
Give them something free to review, and they will write about it and add your link – bingo!
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Use Buzzsumo or Mention.net to find mentions for your business without links.
Then, simply ask the sites if they’d include a link. Many will be happy to add one.