Link building has been key to SEO for years, but these days it’s all about link quality over quantity. It’s no longer enough to have reems of external links (also called backlinks) pointing towards your website; they need to be high-quality, relevant links from websites with high domain authority. These links will make your website look more trustworthy and authoritative, helping search engines to rank you higher. Don’t just take our word for it; Google confirmed that links and content are the two most important ranking factors back in 2016. Plus, the more relevant places that link to your website, the more chances you have of gaining relevant referral traffic.
Follow our 25 link building tips for 2019 to make sure that you’re attracting relevant links and getting the most out of them.
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- Understand your existing links
Tools like SEMRush can help you see which pages are linking to you, and their quality. This snapshot of your present link profile will help when it comes to tracking the progress of your work. - Put someone in charge
Link building can be resource intensive, so it’s important to have someone dedicated to promoting your content and always looking for new opportunities. - Create inspiring content
Creating content that people are excited to share is the best way to earn natural links back to your website. Infographics are popular and engaging, performing the best in comparison to other visual formats. - Leverage existing relationships
Reach out to relevant partners, customers, industry associates – anyone you share common ground with – for valuable in-content links. - Build new relationships
Identify niche-related communities: blogs, forums, social media groups. Contributing to discussions within these will help create contacts who should be primed to offer you backlinks going forward. - Optimise your blog
Make sure that your blog is regularly updated with unique and engaging content. Post about your passions and expertise, creating linkworthy content that people will value. - Look at competitor links
Try a tool like Majestic for an in-depth look at competitor link profiles, providing you with ideas on where to focus your efforts. - Pursue links your competitors don’t have
Once you have a clear understanding of your competitors’ link profiles, you’ll be able to identify inbound links they don’t have. Pursue these for a competitive edge. - Links from bloggers
Establishing connections with relevant bloggers can earn you quality links. Try offering them your product or service for free. Using a blogger outreach service can speed up the process of identifying and reaching out to new contacts. - Connect with influencers
Influencers within your niche will be well-respected and authoritative. Their recommendations carry weight, and a link from them is valuable for SEO and your reputation. - Guest blogging
Reach out to websites where your input and opinion will be valuable. This will build links and your reputation as an authoritative voice. After a while, websites should start approaching you for guest content and blogs. - Interviews
Text interviews, videos, podcasts – interviews provide a valuable opportunity to earn backlinks in any format. Be as helpful and expert as you can, to increase your chances of being approached again. - Links earned from webinars
Webinars are a great opportunity to position yourself as an expert and to earn links. Host your webinar somewhere that makes it easy for other websites to embed your content, such as YouTube. - Links from surveys and research
Holding surveys or commissioning research on a regular basis – and publicising the results – can generate content that editors love to link to. - Trend-watching
Keep your ear to the ground for new trends that are relevant to your niche. Being the first to share insight or opinion will earn you quality links. - Content round-ups
Does your industry have regular content curators who round up the best pieces from the month? Earning a link in these is a great way to generate relevant referral traffic. - Turn mentions into links
Use tools like Content Explorer and Screaming Frog to discover unlinked mentions. These could be your brand name, unique products or services that you offer, or brand representatives. Once you have your list ready, reach out to the websites in question to see if they’ll add the link in, making the experience more useful for their users. - Prospect for broken links
Scan industry or influencer blogs for broken links using a tool like Check My Links. Contact the publisher with any you find and use the opportunity to pitch your content as a replacement. - Outdated content
Scour industry/niche publications for content that is outdated and offer to provide fresh, up-to-date content in exchange for a link. - Testimonials
Reach out to businesses and suppliers you’ve worked with, offering them a testimonial in return for them linking back to your website. - Feature in membership lists
Join industry or local associations or organisations. These usually have an online directory of their members, which include business details and website links. - Run competitions
Run weekly or monthly competitions and contact relevant websites to see if they’ll provide a mention, with a link, on their site. - Business listing websites
Create profiles on business listing websites for your industry. You might need to pay a small fee, but you should be able to include a link back to your website. - Press releases
Having news about your business or brand picked up by digital news publishers is a quick way to generate high quality, natural links. - Internal linking
Internal links might not be as powerful as external links, but they still play a part in where your pages rank. Make sure that your internal links help guide your website visitors through your content logically and helpfully.
It’s simple when you break it down – the higher you rank in search engines and the more places you promote your content online, the more potential customers or partners you’ll drive to your website. Follow our top link-building tips and watch your SEO performance soar.
