6 Not-So-Obvious Best Practices for Powerful Link Building [+ INFOGRAPHIC]

We all know guest posting is a great way to build your backlink profile. But what about some lesser-known tips? Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered. But first, you might be wondering how link building fits into your long-term brand growth. Link building and outreach are key parts of your overall SEO strategy. But are they really necessary?

Do I Need to Make Link Building Part of My SEO Strategy?

The answer to this is 100% yes. In fact, a majority of marketers say their backlink profile is a major contributor to their SERP performance.

And while Google has never confirmed that backlinks improve ranking, the evidence speaks for itself.

So, how do you incorporate link building into your SEO strategy? Guest posting is a great place to start, but there are other best practices you can begin incorporating right now to increase your backlinks and boost your rank. 

#1: Use Infographics to Make Backlinks a Breeze

Infographics are snackable, scannable nuggets of information that are easily shareable. Condensing statistics and how-tos into visually appealing, bite-size packages makes them a perfect candidate for backlinking.

What does your infographic need to be a useful link building tool?

• Visual appeal and eye-catching design
• Quick statistics and accurate data or at-a-glance how-tos
• Promotion across your distribution channels
• Shareable plug-ins and embed codes

#2: Leverage Longer Content

It’s true that “less is more”...except when it comes to content. Long-form blogs tend to perform better than their shorter counterparts, but there’s another benefit to consider — longer blogs also get more backlinks.

Remember that it’s not just about the length of your content — you should also be publishing frequently on a consistent schedule and/or refreshing and repurposing old content.

#3: Conduct (and Share) Your Own Research

Primary research gets more backlinks. If you do your own first-party research, industry websites will want to share it. But you don’t have to have a team of researchers to get great, shareable and meaningful data. Here are a few ways you can develop primary research:

• Conduct surveys and polls with your customers
• Schedule in-depth interviews with clients
• Hold a focus group with a select group of customers
• Use incentives to increase responses

Package your findings up in a long-form blog, an infographic, or a downloadable whitepaper or guide and you’ll start to see the backlinks coming in!

#4: Diversify Your Link-Building Strategy

Content strategy and guest posting will always be the go-tos for link building. But as evidenced here, there are many ways to improve your portfolio and boost your SERP rank.  

As you can see, all of these different tactics provide results. Instead of focusing all your energy on one, draw inspiration from many and make them a consistent part of your link building strategy.

#5: Don’t Neglect Internal Links

When we talk about link building, what do you think of? Probably external links from third-party websites, right? But if you’re ignoring your internal links, you’re forgetting one of the key elements of a robust link building strategy.

Focusing on one or the other exclusively is a serious misstep. Internal linking is critical for SEO as it gives Google key information so the search engine can appropriately rank your site. Using internal links, you can build authority for low-performing pages. You’ll also improve UX since you ensure your site is easy to navigate and important information is easy to find. 

Your internal linking should look something like this:

#6: Use HARO to Be the Expert

HARO (Help a Reporter Out) is an excellent way to build backlinks and also to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

There are two ways you can utilize HARO to build backlinks:

1. As a source: Browse topics for those relevant to your industry and submit your feedback for possible inclusion in an article or blog.
2. As an outlet: Submit your query and get responses from experts on your selected topic. Be sure to link them in your content and you may get a share or reciprocal link in return.
   
   

Want more tips and advice on creating a link building strategy that works?

At FPS, our outreach experts know how to build a backlink portfolio that improves your search rank, and our SEO team can create a strategy that includes both internal and external link building to get you unbeatable results. Get in touch with us to learn more!