Links to your website from reputable sources are an important part of search engine optimization (SEO). This is because the major search engines, such as Google or Bing, view this as a sign of authority and give it significant weight in their ranking algorithms. Since websites with a high volume of links rank higher in organic (unpaid) search results, link building campaigns are a common SEO tactic.
What is a link building campaign?
A link building campaign is a concentrated effort to increase the number of links to a particular website. It can a range of link building strategies, from publishing link-worth content on your own site to conducting backlink outreach.
If you’re wondering whether a link building campaign could help your overall SEO strategy and business, the following overview can help.
Steps to successful link building campaigns
Link building campaigns should always be based on ethical, also known as “white hat,” SEO tactics. Websites should want to link to your content because of its inherent quality, not through any enticements or deception. Examples of unethical, or “black hat,” link building tactics include paying for undisclosed links, leaving comments with your link on another site (link spamming) or building a blog or blogs that links to your website. Search engines are constantly attempting to identify and penalize websites that engage in these tactics, and the risks almost never outweigh the rewards.
In contrast, an ethical link building campaign should consist of the following steps:
- Create a well-made, user-friendly website with content that people want to link to.
- Identify your target audience for the link building campaign — who are you trying to drive to your site?
- Make a list of reputable blogs and websites that are popular in your industry and that your target audience visits and reads.
- Focus your content creation efforts on being naturally linkable by your target sites and that are genuinely useful to your audience.
- Perform outreach introducing your business to target sites to gauge their interest in linking to your site.
High-quality content for linking includes blogs, white papers, e-books and infographics. Special events, promotions, competitions and even charity drives are also great ways to drive interest and build links to your website or blog.
Our experts can help you create winning link building campaigns
Link building is an area where businesses need to stay true to their brand to succeed. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and at Burg & Co., we’ll help you find the SEO and digital marketing strategy that is right for you. To learn more about how we can help, contact us and schedule a free marketing consultation with our experts.
