SEO is not for the faint of heart. There are a lot of different aspects that go into getting a website front and center on Google. Link building is a great way to expand your reach and make an impression on a greater audience. Building backlinks in particular though, can be tricky.When your website is linked to outside of your domain, that creates a backlink, also known as an external link. Of all of Google’s ranking factors, backlinks are among the top three. Good backlinks should be relevant and be coming from authoritative websites, and should not be paid for. If you are willing to put in the time and the work, building backlinks can greatly boost your website’s SEO. 

There are a lot of different techniques to try out when trying to build backlinks. On a basic level, building backlinks is about outreach. Reaching out to authors and businesses and writers and all kinds of different people. You have to be able to communicate with people to build backlinks. You are trying to get your site out there, and to get the word out online, you have to get it out with people too.

Help Another Brand

Building backlinks to your website cannot happen overnight. In order to build backlinks, a lot of research and time is needed. One way that a lot of people build backlinks is through looking for broken links. If you go to a page that is linking to content similar to your own and that link does not work anymore, you can reach out to the author or owner of the site and propose that they use your link instead of a broken one. This not only helps you by creating a backlink, but it also can help the owner of the website as well. Getting rid of a broken link helps their SEO and yours.

Another place where you can help the author or owner of a website is by finding unmentioned brand mentions. Setting up a simple Google alert can help you to find mentions of your brand online. If you find that you’re being mentioned with no link to your website you can reach out and provide your link. This will help the brand mentioning you because Google wants to boost websites that are using good links. This will also in turn help your own brand’s SEO. 

Does your website sell or provide services for another business? If so, another great way to build backlinks is by making sure other brands are providing a link to you, as their supplier. Supplier links are there so that customers know where something is coming from or to know who is providing a service. If you find that your own customers are not crediting you on their website, reach out to them and explain you want to be credited with a supplier link. This will help your own brand’s SEO by providing another backlink, while also providing the other brand a link to put on their site, helping them out too. 

Oftentimes when comparing different brands, we as consumers look at reviews and testimonials. While they are important to have as a company, it is also beneficial to provide your own testimonials. Providing testimonials to businesses not only can grant you exposure and build backlinks, it also gives more authority to whoever you give the testimonial to. 

HARO

Other websites and brands are not the only people you can help you when it comes to building backlinks. You can participate in HARO (help a reporter out). When you go to HelpAReporter.com, you can sign up to be used as a source for stories pertaining to your business and your expertise. Journalists need sources to be credible, and getting used as a source can help them to build their authority, and you to build backlinks. Another thing that journalists do though, is write about businesses. They are always on the hunt for something to write about, and writing about a business can help get views for the news source. A piece about your business will not only get you more exposure, but also provides a place for your company to be linked to online. Everyone benefits. 

Groups and Associations

Many businesses are a part of some kind of group or club or association. You may be in your town’s Chamber of Commerce, and they may have a website. If they have a list of members and you are not linked to on there, you can reach out to them and request to be linked to. This applies to any group or organization your business is involved with. 

Press Release

Journalists are taught early on that a great place to find stories to write about is in press releases. A digital press release can help get a little more exposure for your business and providing another link to your business, while also reaching journalists. If a journalist picks up your story then you get even more exposure and another backlink. 

Advocate

While outreach is a major part of building backlinks, advocating for your business is another big part of the process. One way to advocate for your business is by finding websites that mention your competitors and reaching out to them to explain why they should be talking about, and link to you. Another way is to find articles that have a list of businesses, or listicles, mentioning your competitor, but not you, and reaching out to them and advocating as to why they should be listing your business and linking to your website. While it may seem daunting, people will listen. 

The Skyscraper Technique

In SEO, there is something called the Skyscraper technique. To put it simply, you want to find good content, make better content, and then advertise it to the people who liked it, and linked to the good content. The idea is that if someone likes the good content, they will like your content as well, and if your content truly is better, they will want to use it and link to it. This can get you backlinks if executed well. 

Building backlinks for your website is not an easy task. It takes a lot of hard work and sometimes even persistence. With enough outreach, confidence, and with the right tools, you can build more backlinks and improve your SEO.