A site without backlinks is essentially invisible online. Not only do backlinks determine your page rankings in search engines, but they also show search engines what types of sites and topics relate to your website. Over the years, new platforms, online capabilities, and browser ranking factors have changed the ways that backlinks get built. Today, there are tons of great ways to build up your site’s backlink profile and get your site recognized by search engines. Here are eight back-linking ideas that you can consider to improve your rankings.
- Guest Posting
Guest posting has been and will continue to be an excellent way to build high-quality backlinks to your website. Not only do you get the backlink, but you also get exposure as a writer for your niche. Many bloggers have quickly grown their blogs by using guest posting as a backlinking strategy exclusively. And while the waiting period to hear back from some sites may range from a few days to several weeks, it’s undoubtedly worth the effort.
- Beta-Testing
Try various products related to your niche and post your reviews online. Reaching out to the product maker to let them know of your analysis can result in a link back to your site, which means it’s best to make sure that your review leans more on the positive side.
- Blogging Hubs
Check out places like GrowthHackers, Medium, ThriveGlobal, and GrowthHub to network and interact with other bloggers. Not only can you get backlinks from them, but you can also introduce yourself to their online audiences and gain quick followers.
- Quora and Yahoo! Answers
Quora and Yahoo! offer an excellent place for you to display your expertise in your niche. Your profile will include a link back to your site, but you can also find creative ways to weave your offerings into your answers by addressing related questions. High-quality answers can raise your profile and make other users want to link to you.
- Create Viral Videos
Think of creative videos to make for your site. They can be funny, shocking, heart-warming, or controversial–just make sure they’re entertaining. Great videos have the potential to go viral almost overnight with the help of Youtube, Instagram, Vine, and other video sharing platforms. You can drive crazy amounts of traffic back to your site, and you’ll receive a backlink every time it gets shared.
- Get on Wikipedia
Sign up to become an editor on Wikipedia. Then find a topic that’s related to your niche and create a post about it on your site. Try to make your post as data-driven as possible, including any research studies, interviews, and other factual information that you can source. Include a blurb from your post on the topic’s Wikipedia page and be sure to link to it. Getting a backlink from an authority site such as Wikipedia goes a long way in Google’s eyes.
- Create .Edu Resource Pages
A solid .edu backlink is always useful for link building, as Google places a high amount of trust and authority on these sites, which typically are educational institutions. Make a list of 20 to 30 .edu sites and check out their resource/reference pages. Next, craft a list of resources which match any of the categories. For example, you could compile a list of scholarships within a particular city or a list of online free reading resources. Once you’ve created your post, reach out to the site’s webmaster and suggest your post for inclusion into their resource list. The chances are that they’ll accept it if it’s relevant and helpful.
- Create Best-Of Lists
Most sites love a good list, and they definitely have the potential to go viral (Buzzfeed is known for their viral list). Your list can be “the best of,” “the worst of,” “the most (XYZ).” Brainstorm your list ideas and think of things your audience likes, such as hobbies, apps, online places, products, etc. Next, create a list that includes 10 to 20 items ranked from best to worst. Be sure to include short blurbs about why you’ve rated them accordingly, and then share this post on online communities related to your niche as well as your social media accounts. You’ll naturally receive backlinks as others share your list, so make it awesome!
Though Google updates continue to place stricter rules on the acquisition of backlinks, there are always acceptable ways of doing so. It may take more ingenuity these days, but organic traffic building is still possible.
