In the simplest terms, link building refers to the process of increasing the amount and quality of inbound and outbound links to and from a website. Google and other search engines on the web identify these links as outside recommendations to your website. And the greater your site’s recommendations by high-quality external links, the greater your site’s credibility and trustworthiness. Consequently, search engines tend to measure your website’s ranks on the volume of links pointing to your website.
Importance of Link-Building
Undoubtedly, link building is a crucial determinant for the health and success of one’s site. But there’s a catch. Link building constitutes more than generating a bulk volume of links for higher rankings. For that reason, some SEO pros regard link-building as the most challenging SEO practice to execute. With the help of the latest technological and digital tools, search engines base a site’s ranking on analysis of various other factors. Among these factors is the relevance between the two linked sites and the quality of those sites. What do we mean by relevance? Well, you need to ensure that your link doesn’t seem out of place. It’s a good idea to refrain from placing your site’s link in irrelevant content or on low-quality websites.
Moreover, SEO experts suggest getting backlinks from websites with significant authority, preferably those in your niche. Try including your links in a blog/article on a topic that relates to your website.
Besides determining your ranking on a search engine, backlinks are also helpful in discovering new web pages. It’s common knowledge that search engines are on a constant crawl of websites to find undiscovered web pages and index them. Hence, when you put your backlinks out there, it can help direct the search engine’s attention to your site. Although the search engine algorithm is hard to understand and is constantly evolving, the importance of backlinks remains unchanged. It’s no wonder then that link-building remains a top priority in SEO. Improving your website’s authority through outbound and inbound links can be the tie-breaker in gaining the first rank on search engine result pages or losing your site among billions of others.
Below are some more specifically defined reasons as to why link building is an integral aspect of SEO.
1.Improves Your Rank on SERPs
Nothing contributes to a website’s growth other than link-building since links are the primary ranking factor in search engines. Usually, most people turn to search engines when looking for answers to their queries. And the majority can’t be bothered to see past the first three search results. Without acquiring a sufficient amount of quality backlinks, you cannot imagine ranking well with search engines. Backlinks come in numerous shapes, forms, and types, so you have a wide playing field.
For instance, if your website features good-quality content and has overall good health, it will automatically induce other sites to link to yours. That way, you can start link-building without even putting too much planning or effort into the process. Still, this strategy is only successful if your brand is well-known to people.
2.Boosts Brand Awareness and Exposure
With all its other benefits, such as increased site authority and traffic, link-building can also supplement a company’s brand awareness among consumers. The prime goal for most companies is to maximize the firm’s value and become widely recognized. According to SEO specialists, when websites run link-building campaigns, they’re indirectly investing in improved brand exposure and awareness.
If your link-building is reliable, these campaigns can sometimes be your ticket to becoming a household name and the preferred site for customers. The basic notion behind link-building is to acquire external sources that point or link back to your site. If you keep honing your link-building strategies, you’ll ultimately get enough quality sites to link back to your domain. With increased awareness and exposure of your domain, these links can improve your site’s branded traffic along with non-branded and organic traffic. Plus, you can more than double your brand’s search volume through link-building.
3.Generates Site Traffic
Lastly, link-building can help drive increased traffic to your website. SEO experts say that obtaining quality backlinks allows a site to earn a higher search ranking, drive more traffic, build a loyal readership and client base. The sites can then convert this base into leads and ultimately into paying customers. A higher search ranking through link-building offers two-fold benefits. First, you can increase your website’s organic traffic. Secondly, your site can earn more clicks. The moral of the story is that the more top-quality sites with high organic traffic feature your site’s link, the more significant the increase in your website traffic.
To avoid getting banned or penalized by search engines, only put your links on pages or sites that are somewhat related to your website. By staying relevant, you can also boost your referral traffic. When a visitor opens a blog/article with your website’s link, you need to keep them engaged. The ideal way to do so is to place your link in content similar to your brand offerings. For example, you put a gardening tools website’s link in a wedding photography blog. Since the link isn’t near relevant to the content, it’s unlikely that people will follow the link or explore the original site further.
Are you confused about where to begin link-building for your site? Strategies to get other pages to link to you? Here some fool-proof strategies to help you out in asking other websites to create links to your site:
- Register your site with online directories
- Try submitting news and other editorials for press releases
- Focus on creating engaging content that compels people to link to your site
- Target your goods and services towards influential or credible sources/people
- Ask around for links in your circle, e.g., friends, associates, and partners
In a Nutshell
The nature of link-building is, in essence, organic yet ever-changing. Hence, it’s vital to practice these strategies every day and be willing to adapt when need be. When you offer good content that adds value to other sites, your off-site SEO and link-building efforts will pay off in the long term. This article shed some light on why link-building is such an indispensable part of SEO. Some of the reasons include improved ranking on search engines, more significant site traffic, and increased brand awareness.
