After reading What is Link Building? Part 1 you've probably been asking yourself, 'How do I increase my inbound links?' or 'Where would inbound links be valuable?' Well, Part 2 is here to answer those questions.
How to increase your inbound links
Content Creation
Content creation is a critical part of any link building strategy. Creating valuable content that people want to share with others is a great way to build links. Content can come in the form of:
- eBooks & Whitepapers
- Checklists
- Self-Assessments
- Blogs
- Videos
- And any other content you feel will benefit your target audience.
Something to keep in mind when creating content is to make sure it has a value to your target audience. Viral content creation refers to the process of publishing highly valuable, highly shareable content on your website and then sharing your links on social media networks. If you create amazing, useful, or even amusing content, people will want to share it with others. This will then lead to more links to your website. When you are creating your content ask yourself, 'How useful will this be to my target audience?
Social Media Marketing
Building a social following online is another great way to build links. Building relationships with online followers in your industry is great for both link building and online marketing as a whole. Google also places a value on the social media attention of your webpages. Just remember, keep the content and comments valuable and engaging.
Guest Blogging
Contributing blog posts to other sites, or 'guest blogging,' is a great way to increase inbound links to your site. You may be asking yourself, 'Where do I post a guest blog?' Well, there are many different ways to go about this. A good place to start is looking at your connections. If you know someone in your industry that has a popular blog ask them for the opportunity to post a valuable guest blog. Finding other places to post guest blogs can take a little more time.
Press Releases
Earning the attention of the press and news media is an effective way to earn links. If you are offering a new product, have gained a new partner, or have any other valuable company news you will want to release this to the press. You can submit a press release to distribution sites or specific syndication sites. Some options are paid, while others are free.
Get your Customers to Link to you
If you have a new or loyal customer that has a valuable website, blog, or some other influence on the web you could ask them to write a review of your product or service and have them include a link to your website. Also, you could offer your partners partnership badges to post on their websites that link back to your site. An example would be the HubSpot Partner badge on the bottom of our homepage.
Submit to Relevant Directories
You can submit your website to general web directories, niche-specific directories, paid directories, local directories and others. Be careful with directories though, since some directories can actually carry risks and others aren't worth the time and effort.
Link Building Tips to Keep in Mind
With the update to Google's algorithm, Google Penguin 2.0, it is clear that the quality of inbound links is very important and you need to avoid any link building that could be considered spam. Keep these tips in mind when developing your link-building strategy.
- Make sure links to your site are on websites relevant to your industry and target audience.
- Look for authoritative websites with a high number of visitors.
- Make sure the websites are trustworthy. You don't want your link on a spam website.