What is the best way to find backlink opportunities?
I have a client who has a website related to family-friendly activities and I am wondering what is the best way to find backlink opportunities? Any suggestions on how to approach businesses to exchange links would be greatly appreciated.
1. Find website who are in a similar niche and then look at their external backlink profile.
A good tool to use is https://ahrefs.com/
2. Look for partners or any one you have sponsored in the past and link to these guys.
3. Create content marketing assets that these external sites are going to want to link to.
4. If you are still looking for link building ideas here are a few more resources to assist you -
http://pointblankseo.com/link-building-strategies
http://backlinks.com.au/10-surefire-link-building-tips-for-2013/
Hi Ivana All of the advice given here is excellent. However, there is one intangible. That is, its more about 'gut feel'. You do need to consider relevance, you do need to decide why you want this link or alliance and here come the gut feel - no matter how good the other business is, or for that matter how good the fit is with your business. The over ridding questions for me are- can I work with this person or business? Are the business ethics the same as yours? I have a few alliances, they work really well - you have to be comfortable working with the people in the business and you have to be sure you can protect your brand image. Bottom line is if you pass one of your customers/clients to your alliance/link and they mess up, guess who shares the blaim...
Hi Ivana,
It's easier to start with who you kind of know or have met in the past already. Put together a list of:
- Past/current customers
- Past/current partners
- Look through all those business cards you have or are going to collect through networking events
- People you know in business or owns a website
And just simply sent out a polite request to them :) Sometimes just asking helps alot!
You can also try drafting up a polite request and sending it around, who knows you might get some responses :)
Make sure in your request you tell them how it will help them and what you will give them in return :)
Best of luck!
Great idea. Thanks Wendy ... will ask client to go through his old contact list.
I agree with Wendy, it's best to build links with businesses that you know and are related to your niche. there is not much benefit linking to a website that really has nothing to do with your niche - these kind of links can look spammy to Google. The algorithm Google use is very complex and they are becoming more & more "fussy" about linking.
Thank you Trish.
Go back to your objectives: what's the purpose of the link? Is it to improve your SEO? Then it should be done through genuine content. Creating reciprocal links is certainly valuable, but this is not a sustainable growth plan. Geniune content is the way to go. Check out this article for more information: http://www.thehunterbox.com.au/generate-right-traffic-smart-seo-techniques/
Awesome. Thanks Katherine.
Ivana Katz, Owner at Websites 4 Small Business
Thanks James for all your suggestions. Really appreciate your help.