Reach out to your contacts: One of the first things you should do if you’re trying to get more links is to reach out to your circle of contacts, like your friends, family, and colleagues to ask if they would like to link to you. One thing to remember is you only need links from sites that are relevant to your own, otherwise they won’t really help you. People probably won’t want to link out to you, if they don’t see what you do as related, for example, if you own a music store but they sell football gear. Asking the people, you know is a superb way to pick up a few links though, especially when you’re just getting started. Especially since now lots of people have a website or blog, and you likely know at least a few people in niches related to your own.
Submit your Blog to a directory: Do you have a blog? If you’re selling or promoting online, you really should, and if you do have one, you can submit it to a blog directory for free. This is an excellent opportunity to pick up more targeted visitors, as the people who search these directories are looking for content to engage with, in a niche they enjoy. Just make sure you do your research and shop around for directories that see some traffic. Sites like Bloggeries, Bloglovin, AllTop, and Best of the Web are all solid choices, and many of these have been around a long time.
Company Directory Submissions: If you have a company, you can score even more backlinks by submitting your site to online business directories. The goal here is relevance, so it’s better to look for niche specific business listings, rather than generic, though of course you can always try both. When you’re looking for directories to submit to, as well as shooting for industry specific sectors, you should seek out high authority sites, with a good domain authority. Remember, even though Google doesn’t display domain ranking metrics, you can assess a site’s domain ranking indicator using tools like Moz’s Domain Authority. The great thing is you can do this even if you’re a solo start up and haven’t registered your company officially. All you need is a business, and as you’re promoting online, you most likely already have one, so this is an easy way to pick up some backlinks that could help to raise your search ranking.
Resource Page Link Building: Resource pages are an excellent way to build relevant backlinks as they are there to link out to relevant sites. This is great as it means if your website is related to the page, you’re almost guaranteed a link. Check the Resource Page’s site authority, and page authority, before you submit as having your link posted on sites that Google doesn’t rate, won’t help you and could even harm your SEO efforts.
Easy 4 step guide to link building on Resource Pages:
- Hunt out relevant resource pages: First you need to find relevant resource pages and you can do this easily using Google. There are some handy search strings you can use to unearth these sorts of pages, if you’re wondering where to begin. To discover resource pages where you can post your link, try entering your keyword then any of these search strings: “YOUR KEYWORD” + inurl:links, “YOUR KEYWORD” + “useful resources”, “YOUR KEYWORD” + “helpful resources”, “YOUR KEYWORD” + “useful links”.
- Assess site relevancy and authority: Once you’ve found a likely page, you need to check whether it’s worth your time. Check out the Page’s authority using Ahref’s URL Rating, and the site’s Domain Authority with Moz’s tool. Don’t forget link placement either, so have a look to see where the links to other sites are posted. Will your link be stuffed in a sidebar or squashed out of site at the bottom of the page? If so, it might be better to go for another site, as Google doesn’t look upon this favourably.
- Submit content that’s highly relevant : Now you’ve found a site that will give you a good backlink, you need to choose some content from your website that will be a good match for the Resource page. It’s no good just picking your most popular or well-written posts, the content you submit needs to be highly relevant to the site you want a link from. If you don’t have any, you might want to consider creating some, rather than submitting a piece that probably won’t get accepted. Once you have chosen your content, it’s time to reach out and ask for that link!
- Contact the person responsible for posting links: Okay, so you have a piece of content that’s perfect - now you need to let the website owner know. You don’t need to send a long message, a short, polite and to the point one should do the trick. If you’re stuck for what to say, why not try customizing this template:
SUBJECT LINE: RE: QUERY RE: [THEIR WEBSITE]
Hi there,
I’m [INSERT YOUR NAME], from [YOUR WEBSITE] and I discovered your website when I was looking up information on [TOPIC]. I’d like to thank you for posting such an awesome resource page, I’ve found a ton of useful links there, especially [EXAMPLE OF HELPFUL LINK]. I actually published a [GUIDE TO RUNNING/ PIECE ON ETC…] in [SEPTEMBER/ THIS MONTH/ ETC...] It covers [BRIEF DETAILS] and [MORE BRIEF DETAILS] and you can check it out here [YOUR URL]. I thought my piece might make a helpful addition to your page, and wondered whether you might want to link out to it?
Regardless, thanks again for compiling your page, I’ve bookmarked it as I’m sure I’ll be referring to it quite a bit in the future.
Take care and have a great day,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR WEBSITE]
Score easy backlinks with Broken Link Building: Stuck for backlinks? Have you tried broken link building? It’s one of the easiest ways to get great links that gives you a great chance of success. One of the reasons it’s so effective, is that instead of having to ask for a link, you have a solid in from the start, as you’re immediately offering value.
4 steps to getting backlinks with Broken Link Building:
- Identify broken links: To start with you need to find some links out there that are broken and to do this you can install some quick, easy software that will aid you in your search - Check My Links and Link Miner. These two cool little tools are Google Chrome Browser plugins and they help you see if the page you are surfing on has any broken links.
- Spot relevant pages with a ton of links: Now you’ve got the ability to discover broken links, you need to find sites you can scan. Resource pages are a great idea, as they usually always have loads of outbound links, and you can use the search strings in the Resource Page guide to find them. Just in case you forgot, here they are again: “YOUR KEYWORD” + inurl:links, “YOUR KEYWORD” + “useful resources”, “YOUR KEYWORD” + “helpful resources”, “YOUR KEYWORD” + “useful links” Whatever pages you choose, make sure they are relevant to our niche and the content you publish. You also need to check their Domain authority and Page authority, as well as where the links that appear on the site are placed.
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Scan for links that are broken: Got a site in mind? Great, now it’s time to scan using the plugins you just installed. Simply run Check My Links or Link Miner and the tool will display all the broken links on the page you are on. Now you know what links are broken, you can copy and paste the info, as we’re about to move on to the next step - letting the site master know.
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Tell the webmaster they have broken links up: Everyone wants to know if there is a problem with their website, and they’ll usually feel grateful that you reached out to tell them they have broken links, which means they are much more likely to want to repay the favour - by giving you a link! The idea is to inform them they have broken links, then suggest some relevant content of yours that can replace it.
You can try this template when you contact webmasters - but remember to customise it to suit your needs first:
SUBJECT LINE: SPOTTED AN ISSUE WITH [THEIR WEBSITE]
Hi [THEIR NAME],
I just wanted to reach out to ask you if you’re still updating your website, as I was browsing [THEIR URL] for information on [SUBJECT] when I noticed you have several links up that aren’t working anymore? In case you wanted to fix this, I’ve made a note of the links I found that are broken: [LIST LINK] LIST LINK ETC...] If you need content to replace these, I’ve just published a [NAME OF PIECE] on [SUBJECT]. Your site visitors might find it helpful as it covers [BRIEF DETAILS] and it could make a good substitute for [NAME A BROKEN LINK].
Hope this helps, take care,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR WEBSITE]
Make sure you have an RSS feed: Do you have a blog on any of the most used websites, like Blogger or WordPress? If so, you likely already have a ready-made RSS feed but if not, you can easily create one. Having an RSS feed available can give you a boost when you’re link building because some sites scrape content from them. When they do, they don’t always link to your original post, but since it’s your content, you can add in links, which they’ll automatically copy. Make sure you include internal links to other relevant pages on your site, and the next time a content scraper mines your site, you’ll snag some effortless backlinks.
Offer up discounts: Promotional offers and discounts are superb ways to get links, because discount and bargain sites LOVE to link out to URLs that offer them. You will need to make a list of sites that list discounts, and check to make sure they are active, have good Page and Domain authority, and solid link placement. Then you just need to do some simple outreach to let people know you have a great offer going on. You can try customising this short template:
Hi,
I’m [YOUR NAME], from [INSERT SITE], I sell [WHAT YOU SELL] and am currently running a [TYPE OF OFFER] on [PRODUCT] for [DURATION OF OFFER]. I thought you might want to share this with your readers, as [BRIEF DETAILS ON WHY THIS IS A QUALITY OFFER]. If so, you can find the offer up here [YOUR URL] and the discount is available by [HOW PEOPLE CAN GET THE DISCOUNT]. Thanks for considering my request and congratulations on making an awesome website,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR WEBSITE]
Work your mentions: Creating content that namechecks someone you’d like to approach for a link, or links out to them gives you an excellent way to approach influencers, as you’ve already paid them a compliment. It won’t work every time, but it’s a solid technique, as long as you’re polite and you have taken the time to send a personalised message. You can mention specific people, i.e., bloggers, content creators etc…, or you can namecheck products or websites. Either way, if you’re including mentions or link outs in your content, you should always let people know - as they may share and link the content, they are mentioned in. Even if they don’t, now they know who you are, and they’ll look upon you more favourably the next time you make contact.
To reach out and let people know you’ve mentioned them, try this easy approach:
Hi [THEIR NAME],
I’m [YOUR NAME] from [YOUR WEBSITE], I run a blog on [TOPIC] and I just wanted to let you know I’ve mentioned [YOU/ YOUR PRODUCT] in my recently published piece on [SUBJECT]. I’m a big fan of your [PRODUCT/ BLOG/ ADVICE ETC…] as I [REASON WHY YOU LIKE WHAT THEY DO], so I wanted to share it with my readers. If you’re interested in reading the piece, it’s up here [URL OF YOUR PIECE].
Thanks for making awesome [WHAT THEY DO], have a great day,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR WEBSITE]
Don’t forget your Email Signature: It’s an obvious one but so many people forget to maximise their chances of getting an easy link by forgetting to fill out their email signature. Think about it, if you’re contacting a lot of people every day, say 100 or so, you could be missing out on a ton of traffic. It doesn’t take barely any effort to post an email signature, and you only need to do it once, so make sure yours is filled out with the link you’d like to drive traffic to, so you don’t miss this link scoring opportunity.
Guest Blogging Done Right: Just because Guest Blogging isn’t the magic bullet it once was, and Google has downgraded links that come from guest posts, you can still use it to boost your link-building strategy. It may be true that bloggers are swamped by guest blog requests but if you laser focus your pitch and select a highly relevant website you can make it work for you. When it comes to Guest Blogging, site relevancy is even more important than Domain Authority, so pick a site that’s closely related to what you do. This will help you score higher on Google, but it will also up your chances of getting a yes.
Stay away from sites that accept just about anyone as they’re usually desperate for content and getting a link on there won’t help your SEO - and it could damage it. If you do score a post, and you include links within your piece, make sure you avoid using exact match text in your outbound links, so you don’t pick up any penalties from Google. Remember, you don’t want to build a link-building strategy that’s solely or mainly built around guest blogging, as this won’t do much for your SEO.
Create posts around the most popular types of content i.e:
● List posts - Top 10 strange facts about, Top 5 ways to etc...
● Guides and How to’s
● Relevant original news or research (or a unique take on current related news)
Always include plenty of visuals in your post, as these help to break up text blocks and add interest, so people keep reading. Keep in mind Google prefers long form content, and ideally your piece should run to around 1000- 1200 words. If you can, shoot for this amount, but bear in mind how much you can write may depend on the site owner’s preferences.
Sample Guest Blog pitch you can customise and use:
Hi [THEIR NAME],
I’m [YOUR NAME], I run [WEBSITE] a blog on [TOPIC] and I’m reaching out as I wanted to say I love your blog on [TOPIC]. I especially enjoy reading your [MENTION SOMETHING SPECIFIC] and found [MENTION WHY YOU FOUND SOMETHING THEY WROTE USEFUL] really helpful, as I’m [MENTION WHY. I’ve also wanted to let you know that I’ve got an idea for a piece your readers may enjoy on [TOPIC]. It’s a [TYPE OF PIECE i.E LIST/ GUIDE] on [TOPIC] and it will cover [MENTION A FEW BRIEF DETAILS]. I estimate the piece will run to about [WORD COUNT] and if you’re interested, I can get it to you in [SUGGEST A DEADLINE].
Thanks for considering my request, I’ll continue to follow your awesome website,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR WEBSITE]