Link building is one of the most widely used techniques in search engine optimisation (SEO), the art of improving a website’s search engine ranking with organic methods. When Google sees other websites linking to yours, it’s likely to attach more authority to it and display it more prominently on search engine results pages (SERPs). A good marketer acknowledges the importance of link building in SEO but knows that spammy techniques and irrelevant links won’t get you the results you want. Proper SEO link building takes into account a backlink’s value and the best ways to attract relevant links.
Hyperlinks, more commonly known as just links, are simply ways for a web user to pass from one site to another by clicking on some text or an image. The right links work wonders for your credibility and increase your traffic and conversions. With Google’s 2024 core update having cracked down on spammy, low-grade content and paid links, earning links rather than buying them helps a brand reclaim search engine success. 79.7% of SEOs say link building is important to their SEO strategy, but only 2.2% of content gets links from more than one site. With the right sites pointing to yours, it’s easier to get ahead of the competition.
A full-service creative marketing agency with experience and expertise in SEO link building, Anchor Digital can help purpose-driven brands harness the true power of links. Here is our guide to how to build links for SEO and some of our best strategies for doing so.
What Is Link Building?
A common technique in SEO is link building, which is the process of acquiring links by getting other sites to link to yours. Links signal to Google that your site is a valuable resource worthy of attention, so sites with more backlinks (incoming links from other sites) tend to rank higher in SERPs.
There are four main methods for achieving links. You can buy links, add links yourself from other websites, reach out to other websites directly and ask them to link to you or earn links by motivating people to link to your website without you asking them.
Buying links is the riskiest approach. Google considers it to be manipulating their algorithm and may kick your site out of the search results. Adding links yourself is useful as a foundational strategy (you’ll see many brands providing links to their websites on review sites and business directories), but Google places very little value on these links.
However, link outreach can work very well if you offer something of value, e.g., a terrific guest post or killer PR strategy. Earning links organically means your site is more likely to be well-optimised for SEO across the board.
What Impacts the Value of Links?
There are several different factors that make some hyperlinks more valuable than others when it comes to SEO link building.
Authority
The more credible the page linking to you is, the more value Google assigns to the backlink. Google treats each link like a vote of confidence, and a link from Forbes or The New York Times carries more weight than a link from a little-known blog. Google’s PageRank algorithm calculates the number of links to a webpage and ranks the ones with more esteemed links more highly.
Relevance
Google also places more value on links from sites that are strongly related to your own because it shows you’re well-respected by others in your industry. Luckily, relevance is a fairly flexible concept and a backlink still counts unless it comes from a blatantly unrelated source.
Link placement
The more prominent the backlink, the more important it usually is for SEO. It’s best for your backlink to appear early in the main body content and not in areas like sidebars and footers.
Destination
Backlinks can point to your homepage, your “linkable assets” (like infographics or studies) or the “money pages” you need to rank well in Google, which offer paid content and drive conversions. This last kind is the hardest to get backlinks to, as other professionals prefer to link to informative pages rather than sales-based ones. Transferring some of your best links from your linkable assets pages to your commercial ones is one way to shift the balance.
Anchor text
Anchor text is the clickable text part of a link, and search engines use it to assess what a link is about. Google prioritises Anchor text that accurately describes what’s on the page the link leads to. But it’s important to optimise Anchor text for users, not Google; otherwise, the search engine might flag it as spammy link-building practice.
Nofollow, Sponsored or UGC attributes
Some links contain attributes that tell Google not to pass ranking strength onto the page that has been linked to. The main ones are:
- rel=”nofollow”: identifies that the publisher doesn’t want to endorse the linked page.
- rel=”sponsored”: for links that the linked site paid for.
- rel=”ugc”: for links that users placed, e.g. in comments sections etc.
Standard links with none of these attributes are sometimes called follow links or do-follow links, which are the ones that come in handy for building SEO.
Our Best Tips on Link Building
Here are some top tips from Anchor on how to achieve SEO link-building success:
Create compelling content
Content that creates value for readers is more likely to be linked to. Content creation is the first step in link-building success, but throwing any kind of content up won’t do. Certain types of content perform better than others, including visual assets (images, diagrams, infographics and charts), list posts (numbered lists of tips, facts, etc.), surveys and studies that reveal new data, and in-depth guides. In other words, content that’s compelling, unique and fun to read tends to attract higher-quality links than the bland and generic variety. These link-friendly pieces of content are sometimes known as “linkable assets”.
Use email outreach
Email outreach is the process of reaching out to a brand or website that you’d like to link to and asking them for a link directly. It’s helpful to have a well-established relationship with a business owner or representative before you make this request. To do this successfully, it helps to find the relevant people who are most likely to link to you. Techniques include looking at your competitor’s backlinks and reaching out to folks who have previously mentioned (but not linked to) your site.
Become a credible source
When you develop a reputation for consistently offering answers to those who need them, you become a valuable resource. Others in your industry feel more inclined to share your site with their own readers.
Start broken link-building
Broken link building is finding links on competitors’ pages that no longer work and offering to replace them with your own functional, helpful links. You can find these broken backlinks with tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog and Google Search Console. The strength of this strategy is that you make another professional aware of the problem and offer a solution in one fell swoop.
Find unlinked mentions
Sometimes, a website will mention your brand or business without linking to your site. Many business owners are happy to turn their mention into a link if you politely reach out.
Analyse competitors
Looking at what your rivals are doing right is an effective way to improve your own strategy. Examining what kind of content your competitors are using for link-building success can help you get ahead.
Track link-building efforts
Tracking is everything. SEO link-building audits can help you keep tabs on earned links, lost links and the quality of your backlinks in general. With a big-picture view of what is and isn’t working, you can adjust your approach like you do with every other SEO strategy.
Effective SEO Strategies with Anchor Digital
Link building is just one of the many factors which contribute to a successful SEO strategy. When you work with Anchor, we take a more in-depth look at your website in order to figure out what’s working and what isn’t. We take an integrated approach to various SEO solutions, including link building, social media, content marketing, etc. With the kind of in-depth approach to keyword research that you’d be hard-pressed to find from other agencies, we create SEO strategies to please human readers, not just search engines.
We’ll also present you with regular reports in plain English so you can participate in the direction of your SEO strategy without getting bogged down in technical terms.
If you need to take a step back and gain a fresh perspective on your approach, Anchor’s marketing strategy services can help you identify your unique selling proposition (USP) and gather data on target demographics. Our strategy services include brand strategy, marketing strategy, customer and market research, brand positioning and workshop facilitation. We can help you find out where you want your brand to go and build a map that may just take you even further than you expected.
For the right SEO link-building strategies and expert advice on how to build links for SEO, contact the Anchor team.
