And it’s links pointing to your site. He didn’t specify which was more important, content or links. This by no means covers all the aspects of link building but will serve as a good starting point that should help you bring in valuable links from a variety of reputable sites. By looking at Moz’s backlinks, I might include the following sites: Search by keyword Here’s another simple technique for coming up with link-worthy sites. Now add those to your list: The importance of domain diversity When it comes to backlinks, diversity is a good thing. In other words, it’s better to get 10 links from 10 different sites than 10 links from the same domain. But what is always possible is creating better content. It also makes your content more appealing to link to. Match content with relevant sites At this point, you should have a list of credible, relevant sites you’re interested in getting backlinks from. Use research to compile a list of the “likely-linker” sites (pay close attention to their authority and relevance to your industry) Analyze competitors and keywords to assist you in this process Create a large, diverse list because Google looks closely at domain diversity Create great, link-worthy content Get in touch with site owners to see if they’d link to you Of course, not everyone will oblige you and instantly link to your site.
Google examines roughly 200 different factors to determine page rank.
That’s a lot!
But what’s arguably the most important is backlinks.
Here’s a chart from Moz that shows how important links are:
Backlinks have been, and continue to remain, one of the top ranking factors, making them Google’s primary form of “currency.”
In March 2016, Google Search Quality Senior Strategist, Andrey Lipattsev went on record describing the two most important ranking factors.
According to Lipattsev,
it is content. And it’s links pointing to your site.
He didn’t specify which was more important, content or links.
But you can bet they’re both incredibly important!
It’s fair to say if you ever expect to make any real headway with SEO, you need a link-building strategy.
The question is, how do you create one?
There are a lot of ways to go about it, and everyone has their opinion on which aspects you should focus.
In this post, I’m offering my advice on how to create a link-building strategy from scratch.
I’m going to highlight the most vital elements necessary for an SEO surge.
This by no means covers all the aspects of link building but will serve as a good starting point that should help you bring in valuable links from a variety of reputable sites.
Compile a list of sites
Your first order of business is to come up with a list of sites you want links from.
This is somewhat of a science because sites vary greatly.
For instance, a link from one site can be a godsend and have an incredibly high link value.
But a link from another site can carry virtually no weight and even result in a penalty.
Where do you start and what criteria do you use?
You’re probably already aware of at least a handful of blogs, publications and other digital resources relevant to your industry.
This is a good starting point.
If you know for a fact they’re popular and get a lot of love from Google, you’ll want them to link to you.
Besides that, here are a few other things you can do.
Analyze competitors
You can learn a lot by investigating your main competitors and finding out where they’re getting their backlinks from.
SEMrush is one of my favorite tools because you can unearth a ton of information within seconds.
Even the basic, free version can supply you with plenty of helpful data.
Here’s what you do.
Type in the URL of one of your main competitors.
I’ll just use Moz as an example:
Click on it:
This includes other helpful info such as the specific target URL, page score, anchor text and so on.
Browse through this list, and look for potential sites you would be interested in getting backlinks from.
Keep in mind if they’re already linking to a competitor in your same industry/niche, there’s a good chance they would link to you as well.
By looking at Moz’s backlinks, I might include the following sites:
Search by keyword
Here’s another simple technique for coming up with link-worthy sites.
Search by keyword on SEMrush.
Just enter a fitting keyword applicable to your demographic.
I’ll use “content marketing” as an example:
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