Although link building became something of a dirty word several years ago, with so many businesses abusing the practice with black hat tactics like linking schemes, link farming, and more, links are still a valuable way to increase online visibility, both with consumers and search bots. Google has changed their algorithms over the years to favor organic link building with high-value websites over other tactics, but there are still plenty of opportunities to increase backlinks without raising the ire of search engines and risking delisting.
When paired with other SEO strategies, the right link building techniques can help you to spread your branding message and bolster your marketing campaigns. The question, of course, is how to do this effectively. When you partner with an experienced and reputable Asheville internet marketing agency, you can zero in on the strategies and techniques that will best serve your company and deliver the greatest returns. Here are a few suitable white hat options to consider.
Listing with Directories
You might think listing with online directories is an antiquated way to get links, but it’s a perfectly respectable first step in any link building strategy. It’s also a good idea from the standpoint that you want directories to list proper information about your business. If you fail to claim listings, they may still appear on directories with incomplete or incorrect information.
This could be bad for branding and cause you to lose business if interested consumers can’t connect with you. It’s simple enough to claim listings with major directories, so why wouldn’t you? You won’t collect a lot of links, but it’s just one more way to increase quality backlinks and gain the added advantage of ensuring that consumers who find you through directories can actually locate correct contact information.
Branding Content Links
Content links that refer back to your brand are among the best ways to build an effective network of backlinks. There are several good ways to go about it. First, you need valuable content that readers find relevant and engaging, such as timely articles, concise infographics, or even press releases.
From there you need to partner with reputable websites within your industry or niche that are already highly ranked. You may be able to get more backlinks with websites that have lower ranking, especially by offering guest blogs in exchange for backlinks, but these links simply won’t carry the same weight with search engines, which means they won’t deliver the same boost to your own rankings.
Google and other search engines take a variety of factors into consideration when deciding which websites receive top billing for related searches, including the relevance and value of content, so this is a good place to start. However, the quality of your link locations is also important, which is why you need to work with your Asheville branding and marketing firm to find suitable partners to link with.
Working with Your Branding Services Agency to Secure Affiliate Links
In addition to content links, it is still entirely acceptable to trade links with trusted affiliates. It’s not so common anymore to see extensive lists of affiliate links on the sidebar of a website, but as your Asheville internet marketing expert can attest, you and your affiliates can certainly find modern ways to link to each other, gaining mutual advantage in terms of building your network of high-value backlinks.
Creating Sharable Content
You can take organic link building to the next level by encouraging readers to do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. Creating content that begs to be shared and embedding links within is a great way to spread your brand and support your online marketing efforts. You will have to work with your Asheville branding and marketing company to create truly sharable content if you want it to go viral, but when you put effort into creating engaging content that is easy to share (think infographics, videos, and more), you stand to see an incredible return in the way of multiplying backlinks.
Tracking Broken Links
Years of growing your brand online could result in a vast network of links. If you fail to track them, you could end up with a lot of broken links that no longer route customers to your site and that don’t earn you any points with search bots. Your branding services agency should be able to help you track and maintain links to ensure they remain functional and valuable.
With help from a trusted partner like Storypowered, you’ll have the expertise needed to engage in effective white hat link building techniques that will boost your brand and lead to increasing successes.