Website owners are constantly on the lookout for new ways to improve search engine results page (SERP) rankings, increase visibility, and drive traffic to their pages. They may enrich or improve search engine optimization (SEO) through various methods; one of the most effective means is through link building.
Internal and external links can be valuable for a website. Search engine algorithms recognize backlinks from reputable websites as confidence votes. Essentially, the more reliable references, the higher a website can rank for key terms or topics. Since this is the case, sharp website owners develop a link building campaign. In this way, they plan to acquire high-quality links consistently and look forward to increased webpage traffic.
An excellent link building strategy may require significant time, energy, and money. Naturally, business owners want to create the most efficient link building campaign possible to minimize expenses and maximize ROI. Find out more about link building and how to create a successful campaign below.
What Is a Link Building Campaign?
Link building can be a challenging task. Web developers must campaign large or popular websites to host content or promote their work. Likewise, they must carefully select and link internally within their own pages. Ultimately, this can be a lengthy process. Yet, suppose individuals need to find, assess, and contact each website with only vague requirements in mind. In that case, it becomes much more difficult and long.
However, if webpage owners can develop an excellent link building campaign, they will have a clear idea of what they are looking for, how they are evaluating or measuring, and what they are doing every step of the way. In turn, they will be able to maximize their efforts and their results.
A link building campaign is a plan and path towards acquiring high-quality links long term. It establishes how the website owner qualifies links, how many links a website currently has, how to obtain more links, and how to measure and monitor results.
In general, a link building strategy focuses on both :
External Links:
reputable websites linking to the website in question.
Internal Links:
links connecting different website sections or between domains owned by the same individual/business.
How To Develop an Efficient Link Building Campaign
Business owners may be inspired to create a strong link building campaign, yet need guidance on where to start. Experts recommend following these 8 steps to ensure favorable outcomes:
1. Assess the Current Situation
Similar to most projects, the first step involves evaluating the current situation or status of the website. In this way, website owners and developers know what they are working with. Then, they can establish how far they need to progress and how they can reach that objective.
While assessments can be conducted manually, that can be extremely tedious. Professional SEO teams or advanced tools can speed up the process and provide accurate results. For external linking, it is important to check how many backlinks the website currently has, which websites provide the backlinks, the reputation and popularity of those websites, and the current backlink status of the main competitors. In the case of internal linking, it is critical to audit how many internal links there are per page, their relevance on the particular page, and how they respond when clicked (broken links, redirects, blocked content, pop-up windows, etc).
2. Focus on Goal Setting
A clear vision of success is key for any plan. When web developers and content creators have a link building goal, they can direct their efforts properly to achieve it. Likewise, it provides a standard to measure performance against later on down the road.
The most common objectives are set numbers for backlinks, traffic, or search engine ranking. Other websites prefer to focus on steady and consistent improvement over time without establishing specific numbers; in this way, they may pay more attention to quality rather than quantity.
3. Start with Internal Linking
Internal linking is considered the easiest part of a link building campaign. As an added perk, it does significantly impact search engine rankings; it allows search engine algorithms to crawl and understand the content on a website and index it appropriately. Likewise, it can help showcase and determine the hierarchy of pages, providing a corresponding ranking in SERPs.
Since this is the case, starting with internal linking can be a good step. Website owners should plan how to comb through current internal linking opportunities and consistently employ internal links in new content.
Web developers and content creators should look at navigation, blog content, and product links for internal linking choices. That said, they should not choose and place links at random. They should select relevant links for the current page and content and put a reasonable amount throughout their text. In this manner, search engines can accurately assess and determine ranks for each webpage.
Additionally, search engines need to be able to find the webpages to index or rank them. Web developers should double-check that all links are direct and unbroken. Another smart move is to use proper terms or topics for the anchor text. For example, a search engine can understand “find out more about rabbits’ nutrition” more easily than “read more.”
4. Qualify Excellent Backlinks
Now, website creators should move into external linking, the bulk of any efficient link building campaign. Ultimately, the goal is to acquire as many high-quality backlinks as possible to the website or web pages. Accordingly, the first step is establishing what qualifies as an external link. Then, they can continuously find the best websites to ask or petition for a backlink.
Common qualifications include:
Reputation:
The best websites for backlinks are well-known sources of credible information. Accepted URLs typically end in .gov, .org, and .edu. They can also refer to the official website of a famous brand; for example, a technology giant like Google. Search engine algorithms are likely to trust these websites to provide verified backlinks.
Authority:
Websites with similar content should be prioritized when looking for backlinks. Suppose an individual is reading a webpage about basketballs, linking to a webpage about rabbits. In most cases, search engine algorithms would not find the relevance between these two things, and it would not factor favorably into rankings. Alternatively, if it was a website about rabbits, search engines would pay more attention to it.
Popularity:
Popularity is an essential criterion for a website. If a website has a high amount of high-quality backlinks, it is more worthwhile to receive a backlink from it. Besides how a search engine reads popularity within a particular domain, it also creates more organic traffic to the website.
5. Find Backlink Opportunities
Understanding what qualifies as a high-quality backlink is only half the battle; website owners must also find and collect feasible candidates. It is important to check that each potential website publishes content that regularly includes backlinks and does so optimally (for example, with appropriate anchor text). Blogs, trade organizations, local news outlets, and directories are great options!
Individuals or teams should develop a plan to contact and propose ideas to the website when determining backlink opportunities. They may need to directly reach out to those website owners, fill out registration forms, or send in original content.
6. Establish or Create Backlink Assets
Most websites willing to place a backlink on their page want to avoid doing the heavy lifting; for instance, searching for a direct page link to include in their content. Naturally, then, businesses need to determine which web pages are appropriate. They may select on a case-by-case basis; however, having a list of well-performing pages or content on-hand is a more efficient idea.
In many situations, content creators must produce articles or blogs for their target website. This way, the website supplying the backlink receives value, and the business acquires a backlink; essentially, this is a win/win situation for both parties. Creating potential content ahead of time may be worthwhile, especially if petitioning a news, promotion, or blog website.
7. Reach Out to Candidates
How should website owners or marketing teams reach out to potential websites to host backlinks? The approach should be discussed as part of an efficient link building campaign. Since link building is an ongoing effort, developing templates or establishing protocols ahead of time can help speed up the process. In other words, it eliminates unnecessary work and administrative approval for every outreach.
Since there may be many types of backlink opportunities, take the time to create a process for each type. For example, writing a formal email template for .edu websites may be helpful. A casual, engaging text may be a strategic move for social media accounts. Of course, each proposal should be personalized to stand out from mass-generated messages.
Likewise, be sure to know what these websites may ask for in exchange for value. As mentioned above, bloggers may require pre-written, original content; social media influencers may ask for compensation or a product discount.
8. Monitor Performance
Every SEO campaign demands a way to measure and monitor performance; after all, website developers and content creators need to know if their efforts are paying off or if they need to alter or optimize certain efforts.
At the outset of the planning process, business owners and their teams set quantifiable or quantifiable goals. Depending on the objectives, they can use state-of-the-art tools to check metrics. For example, they can analyze how many backlinks they have now, their search engine ranking, or if their traffic increased in a certain period.
Additionally, it is critical to assess how specific processes work within the campaign. Are teams finding high-quality backlink opportunities continuously? Are potential websites responding to applications or messages? If they discover poor results for any of these steps, it may be time to return to the drawing board.
Final Thoughts
It’s no secret that a well-designed link building strategy can tremendously impact visibility and website traffic. When websites rank higher in search engine results, they can receive more visitors and improve conversion rates. Since website owners do not wish to throw their time and money away with poor link building results, they should follow the above steps and tips to develop an efficient link building campaign.