Link building is a practical and effective way to optimize your site for search engines. Your journey to put your site on top of the searches related to your niche continues after creating a website and adding content to it. It would be best if you ran an active Search engine optimization on your site to make it top search engine rankings and search queries. The links built through this process are known as backlinks, and ‘Outreaching’ is an action-oriented way of creating backlinks for your site.
This five-minute read blog takes you on a brief tour of the website backlinking process through outreach and introduces you to some stunning methods and handy tools that can assist you in backlinking your website.
Website link building and Backlinking: How does the process work?
Before we delve deep into website backlinks and the process, two terms will frequently appear in the article, those being ‘your site'(implies the site for which the links are created) and ‘other sites'(guest sites related to your niche that will post the referral links of your site). Link building refers to publishing links in other sites, such that the links on clicking lead viewers to your site. For example, you might have seen a new website open when you click on the hyperlinked text/link in a blog/article. Hence, link building stands for connecting web pages through backlinks.
Outreach stands for the process of asking other websites and external organizations to post backlinks that can lead viewers to your site. Outreach has a great potential to increase page views and boost website traffic and website rankings for your site. But the process of creating backlinks, finding hosts, and link building only happens in collaboration. You need to employ an active outreach process to harness its potential. As we are now clear on the basics, it’s time to delve deeper into the outreach process and the tools you will need.
Website backlinking through the outreach process
No guest site posts backlinks on its own. You need to find, contact and convince the sites for the link-building process. The outreach process highlights some of the methods you can use to tread easier and more profitably deal with other sites for the link-building process.At the outset, there are four methods you can choose to create a stable link-building strategy for your site.
Skyscraping method
Though the name sounds complicated, the method is relatively simple. The Skyscraping process refers to finding existing content (related to your niche)that already hosts successful links and creating newly updated content on the same topics. Then, you can ask the sites and content hosts to link to your site through the newly created content. As the method revolves around content, you need to find good articles, posts, and blogs that have yet to be updated recently. Your next step should be creating a better content range than the previous one. Link shifting by host sites doesn’t happen. Naturally, your content should be able to convince them that they are shifting for better quality.
Moving man method
Once created, links are not operative forever. They can be outdated for myriad reasons like rebranding, defunct services and offerings, unmaintained resources, new URLs, etc. The moving man technique is about finding content associated with outdated links and replacing it with new content and links from your site.
As this works in two stages, the first task is discovering outdated links and content related to your niche. The next step is to reach out to host sites with outdated content and persuade them to replace it with updated, quality content and apt links from your site.
Digital PR
Digital Public Relations involves creating guest blog posts, press releases, directory inclusions, and unlinked mentions about your site and reaching out to journalists and reputed/relevant organizations to feature and cover this content. Compared to the other methods, Digital PR is a long-term strategy that can help raise your site’s brand awareness.
A significant step in Digital PR is finding the content needed in your industry/niche. As a next step, you can create the demand and reach out to publishers(sites, journalists, news platforms, etc.) to feature the content. Thonakeddddnked mentions do not amount to instant click-through rates; they can do as the most genuine promotion.
Guest posting method
Compared to skyscraping and moving man techniques which do not have to include your brand label in the content created for backlinks, the guest posting method is quite the opposite. The guest posting method implies creating guest blogs, articles, or posts to be featured on authoritative sites under your brand name. It can prove tricky since it involves convincing the sites not only provide backlinks to your site but also feature guest articles and blogs. A prerequisite to this method is to find relevant and authoritative sites related to your niche and the ability to create content that even authoritative and reputed sites cannot deny guest posting requests.
The Significance of Earning links through the Outreach method
The outreach methods seem tricky and complicated to accomplish at first. But even ‘good content’ needs validation from external sources to pass the litmus test of both search engines and readers.
An easy alternative to link building through outreach is manually adding links in social media profiles, online communities, discussion forums, Quora, blog comments, etc.
Because manually adding links is seen as an act of ‘self-endorsement’ by search engines. It does not involve any complicated steps but doesn’t guarantee great returns. It could be better for SEO rankings and website traffic too. Hence a challenging but rewarding option is to ‘earn our site through outreach. Hence are some pointers and tools that can assist you in the process.
Pointers to keep in mind while outreaching for link building.
Quality content
While the quality of the content posted on your site depends on your accord, content created for backlinks needs to pass the minimum quality threshold. While pitching to other sites to feature your content, you need the leverage of content quality to convince them. Quality content linked to backlinks can only positively affect the link’s placement, stability, and continuation.
Relevance
Would you click on a skin care-based link mentioned in a food blogging site? You would think twice before clicking the link. And that is precisely the hesitation you wish to eliminate while link building for your site. Hence, the relevance of content and linking websites come into the picture. While looking for prospective backlink hosts, try to choose and shortlist areas related to your niche and industry. Further, outreaching sites related to your niche is easier and more rewarding compared to approaching unrelated sites and bloggers for mentions and backlinks.
Authority
The word ‘Authority’ stands for a different meaning in SEO. It refers to the overall quality and credibility of a website page. The ‘Authority’ of a website page is quantified in the form of a score, and a higher score implies higher weightage for the backlinks and mentions of guest sites in a particular site. If you are stepping into an active link-building process, try getting backlinks from authoritative sites in your niche.
Position of the link
While you are overboard in the process of earning backlinks for your site, remember to focus on the position/placement of the backlink in the site. Backlinks posted at the end of the page or sidelined do not guarantee many click-through rates. For a link to seem genuine, try to get it placed in the middle of the article, appropriately embedded in the text, or anchored in the relevant word or phrase for better click-through rates and page visits, so do not lose it with the position of the link.
Unlinked mentions
Unlinked mentions stand for mentioning your brand/site name on other sites but not linking the statement to your website. It may be like sending in a Letter of recommendation without any supporting attachments. Still, you can mention it from an authoritative site in your niche. In that case, the mention is worth it because search engines and readers may see it as a genuine validation from a reputed site.
Linkable assets
Linkable assets refer to content pieces that earn backlinks without much effort from your side. It includes infographics, illustrations, research articles, in-depth guides, ebooks, and so nanites related to them add them as a necessary reference to readers. While linkable assets are hard to create, they are easy to post and earn credits and backlinks.
An effective way of earning backlinks to your site is by creating content that other sites would wish to feature and refer to their site. Links are included in the article to give further and detailed explanations to readers. Hence, the content you create for backlinks should be worth the extra mile readers take to know more through the link.
Some wonder tools for website backlinking
Some tremendous link-building tools by Semrush and others can bring your outreach link-building process into steady action. Methods and tips for Outreaching can only take you halfway through the process. With relevant tools, the procedures are viable and remain shrouded as theory.
Backlink Gap tool
You must look at your competitors’ backlink profiles and referring domains for well-rounded link building. Through this, you can discover the gap in outreach link-building between you and your competitors related to the niche/industry.
Backlink Gap tools let you analyze and compare the Backlink profiles of your domain with that of your competitors. You can cross-check your domain against at least five other domains. Besides, this Semrush tool shows you some untapped backlink opportunities through a list of domains you can target for your link-building campaign.
Backlink Analytics Tool
The Backlink Analytics tool by Semrush is one of the market’s largest and most up-to-date backlink checkers. It allows to:
- Keep track of any domain’s link-building progress
- Get notified about deleted backlinks
- Find the ‘Authority score’ of a website before requesting a backlink.
- Spot backlinking opportunities for your domain
- Peek into your competitors link building progress and most referred domains
Link Building Tool
The link-building tool by Semrush is the tool you need to approach for action in the link-building process. It lets you kick start the process of link building through 3 easy steps-‘Research, Connect, and Track’.
Research new backlink sources and shortlist the suitable domains through a ‘progress list.’
Connect with prospective and shortlisted domains through the contact information provided by the tool. Unleash the outreach action by sending personalized messages to the domains.
Track your backlinks’ progress, additions, and omissions through the link-building tool. If a backlink has been taken down, get an option to contact the site owner immediately.
Backlink Audit Tool
How about a tool that helps you keep track of the health of your backlink profile?Irresistible. Use the backlink audit tool by Semrush to find the authority of domains and toxicity score of your backlinks. Keep live track added, deleted, and working backlinks.
Keyword Magic Tool
Keyword magic tool by Semrush is one of the largest databases to find keywords for the SEO optimization of your site. Find millions of keywords related to your niche and filter them using relevant metrics. Also, get an opportunity to generate your keyword optimization for SEO.
Help a Reporter Out/Qwoted/Source Bottle
Online platforms like HARO, Qwoted, and Source Bottle can be used as practical tools for Digital PR and sharing linkable assets. Become a high-quality content source for journalists, bloggers, and reporters through the help of these apps. For instance, Help a Reporter Out(HARO) helps to connect writers and sources who need backlinks and exposure to people looking for high-quality content.
News Alerts
News Alerts by Prowly is an app that can help you keep track of unlinked mentions of your brand name. With News Alerts, keep track of the media coverage, exposure, and sentiment you receive.
Other tools like Domain Overview Tool, Bulk Analysis Tool, and Help a B2b Writer are worth trying out during outreach of website backlinking.
To conclude,
Link building for your website can have rippling effects on your SEO campaign because it can increase click-through rates, page views, website traffic, authority score, and SEO rankings. If done well, link-building through outreach is worth the effort and resources.If you still need assistance with website backlinking and outreach, reach out to reliable SEO optimization services by Write Right.
