Before digging into the top link building tactics for SEO success in 2020, let’s answer the question of what link building actually is, and what are the SEO-friendly techniques you can use to build authority backlinks to your site. Before Google entered the scene, site ranking was heavily based on the content on the website. Then Google showed up with their algorithm, and everything changed. Instead of creating relevant content (only), business owners have to focus on creating relevant and effective link building on their sites. Do not think that it is a five-min job you can do while drinking morning coffee. It’s about acquiring quality links that will catapult your ranking toward the first results in a search query. And that is not a simple task to do.
To outrank the rest of the quality sites online with unique, interesting and informative content, you have to establish the authority. That can be accomplished with a couple of effective actions, where earning links from valid and dominating webpages is the most powerful and compelling technique. The logic is simple: trustworthy sites will connect their content with sites that share accurate and authentic content, and spammy sites will do the same with other junky and third-class sites.
Let’s start with the basics. What is the link exactly?
An inbound link or backlink is a hyperlink that connects one site to another. It is kind of a road sign that points from one page toward another. To give you an example, when you ask for a restaurant suggestion, and you receive a couple of same pieces of advice, you will be pretty confident that the venue serves more tasteful food than the other ones. Backlinks do the same thing for your website. Just think of them as the online votes for popular, important, appropriate and informative content. The more links you have pointing in your direction, the higher the chance Google will mark your site as the important one, which will influence your search rankings. IMPORTANT NOTE: Google also analyzes the quality of the links (not just quantity) so you have to be cautious about that as well.
What are the qualities of high-quality links?
It is important to distinguish good from bad links. Using links just for link building can influence your rank in a bad way, and destroy the effort you put into building it. Links that are worth building are the ones that are authoritative, relevant, trustworthy and share expert and informative content. When the domain authority is high, it means the site has already been analyzed by many factors and proved to be important to the user. Linking it to your site will be a sign for Google you are probably important to them as well. Just like spending time with clever and smart people. There is one more reason why it is so important to separate good links with unimportant ones. A recent study showed that almost 40% of businesses spend between $1,000 and $20,000 a month on finding and using quality links, which means they have to hire specialists if they want to avoid throwing the money in the air.
How is SEO connected to link building?
Since you’re reading this article, you’ve probably heard of SEO and its influence on your online presence. For the ones that are just starting with the online marketing strategy, SEO is a Bible for all marketers out there. It is a digital marketing solution that makes site content optimal and relevant for specific keywords. Specific in this context means the one that is getting searched by the users. If you want to be among the first results for queries connected with your business, you have to use keywords your potential clients are searching for online. SEO uses the power of keywords to boost the visibility of your business online. It might seem like an easy job, but it requires a lot of experience, expertise, creativity and time to build a strong SEO strategy. As you can see, those two are connected between they are similarly doing the same job. Increasing traffic online. A website without links is less likely to get traffic so you can consider them a fundamentals step in any SEO campaign. SEO is based on convincing website owners that it is in their audiences best interest to link its content to your website.
To conclude, links are like signs on the road. They navigate the traffic, pointing to the best sites, and creating an interconnected city of huge potential for the users. If you want to be on the map, you have to start taking them seriously. Only then will you be considered as a serious and trustworthy business, and your credibility will rise. Most of the customers use search engines to find solutions to their problems, and if they cannot find you, they will use the products of your competitors. Search is responsible for more than 60% of the internet’s traffic. Did you know that in 21013, when Google suddenly crashed, around 40% of the traffic just dropped? This is how much Google is important to everyday life. Still, there are so many tactics on where to start and how to win the search engines’ heart that many people just give up on the way. If you want to find out what are the top link building tactics for SEO success in 2020, you are on the right page.
This post will cover only the white hat link building techniques, that is the ones that Google and similar search engines consider ethical, within their terms of service, and which maintain the integrity of your site.
Top Link Building Tactics
#1 The benefits of guest blogging
If your guest post is informative, interesting, and helpful, you can easily improve your exposure by including a link back to your site. There are many sites that will agree to publish your article. Before you write a blog, be sure the website is relevant to your site. Be sure that you write well-written, professional and unique content, and avoid talking about your business too much. Keep the readers engaged by providing content that will make them forget about their surroundings. This is easy to achieve by creating a content that flows: each sentence is connected to the one before, ideas are well shown and explained, the structure is well presented. It also means you have to use keywords in a smart way. Forget about the high density and focus on writing a text in a natural way.
#2 Start blogging
Create a zone where other business owners will want to link their business too. Provide high quality and interesting content on a regular basis, while staying focused on your industry. One additional tip is to showcase experts who are willing to give an interview about a certain topic. People tend to read about stuff that is connected to their area of interest, and giving them more materials with flesh and blood people will surely gain their attention, leading to your authority is higher and stronger. People also want strong opinions, supported by facts and arguments. You can also try a little debate and controversy to engage your audience a bit further.
#3 Testimonials
Testimonials build trust between customers and brands. If you have purchased something you like or worked with another business owner, write a testimonial or short review that will point toward them. This is a great way of acquiring backlinks as they will be eager to publish a good review on their site. It’s a win-win situation for both parties. There is a 99% chance they will publish it on their platforms if the testimonial is compelling and informative. The beauty lies in the fact they are 100% editorially given and honest feedback on a matter, something search engines like to include on the first pages of the queries. Moreover, this builds your professional relationships as you have to reach out to another business, foster long-term relations, and nourish your connection.
#4 Regain the lost link value
Reclaiming the value of your links is a vital part of your SEO strategy. If you have already invested your time and money into building links, which is not an easy task to do, then finding broken links can be very frustrating. Broken or missing links can influence your business in a negative way and devalue the credibility of your site. Fixing the issue is the first step to the optimization of the site’s usability. Do not be afraid to reach out to the site owner and ask them for the right URLs. Recover the power of already used backlinks and avoid being marked as spam or untrusty source of information.
#5 Get listed on relevant web directories
Online directories allow you to submit a site URL to create backlinks to your business. The more links you acquire that point to your site, the higher will be your ranking. You should pick carefully when choosing the web directories because Google values only the ones that are popular, relevant and in most cases offer free listings. Most of them provide tools to build a website’s domain authority and support in increasing brand awareness.
#6 Hire a link building expert
Link building is hard to even for somebody who is in the business for some time. If you want to ensure the flow of visitors, it is far smarter to hire a specialist to do that job instead of you. Building links is not as simple as it sounds. Some methods that worked last year will maybe not work now so it is crucial to stay updated with the latest trends. If you are new in the area or do not have results with backlinks, consider asking for help. Link building experts took a large amount of time to learn as much as possible about links and their influence on the traffic. Why waste time on learning everything by yourself when you can let this part of a ‘dirty job’ to somebody else and focus on what you are doing the best: making your business grow. Look for somebody who has references and can show you their previous work. Check their site and analyze how are they looking after their business as well. That will be the evidence of how well they take care of your business needs and preferences. Last, there is so much information about link building to spend your entire life trying to grasp the most important information. If you focus only on your goal, which is better search traffic, you will find yourself wanting to get rid of the burden of doing the job by yourself, and instead of finding someone who will help you to establish the authority in your field of expertise.
Innovative Solutions Group can help you to master the current online affairs and risks. Avoid making costly mistakes and choose the quality your business is worth. Being unrecognized online is like you do not exist on the radar. Investing your money in the marketing strategies that work in the end will generate success and more money, following with business growth and a bigger audience. Choose 2020 to be the year where you will invest in your business in a smart way. We specialize in affordable SEO services, so if you need help, we’re only a phone call or email away!
