With Google, there are constant changes that come in their methodology of calculating search ranking. Backlinks continue to be the most important criteria for it.
Google has initiated a number of measures to improve search engine rankings. This includes their latest entry – Core Web Vitals. In this world of metrics, the one metric you should not lose focus on is backlinking.
Both from Low Authority to High Authority and vice-versa, backlinking tells Google that your webpage has content that is relevant and appreciated by the viewers.
As a simple rule, the more relevant and effective backlinks you have, the better your rank on search engines will be. Creating high authority backlinks is also very effective if you want to increase your website domain authority.
In this post, we will share all our knowledge on how to build authority backlinks that will give you excellent Google rankings. So let’s get started!
Table of Contents
A quick how-to for using this guide
This guide consists of three sections. All three are important, and only a holistic approach using all three will help you.
The first section is about “Top Practical Tips For Effective Backlinking”. This section details SIX GREAT tips that you should follow for optimising linking.
The second section deals with “Making Better Content For Links”. It will tell you how without doing anything, you can get ORGANIC BACKLINKS. So don’t miss it.
The third and last section is titled “Innovative Techniques to Adopt”. Here you will come to know industry secrets that help you BEAT COMPETITION and RANK HIGHER.
Top practical tips for effective backlinking
There’s no doubt that SEO is constantly changing, and what worked last year might not work this year. However, one thing remains the same: backlinks are still an important ranking factor. So if you want your website to rank high in search engine results pages, focus on creating quality backlinks from high-authority websites. Additionally, keep an eye on new SEO trends so that you can adjust your strategy as needed.
The below-given tips have been collated after extensive research and our personal experiences dealing with backlinking. Try to follow them as far as possible. These will ensure that you are able to rank higher in the web searches.
1. Find broken links and update them
Before you venture into backlinking the right way, it is important to remove the ones that are not right.
Yes, it starts with that. You need to make sure your house is in order before you implement the high-value tips that we are sharing with them. Finding broken links can be difficult considering that there is such a high volume of content on websites.
In such a situation you can use specific tools that can help you find broken links easily. You can easily find many useful broken link checkers to find broken links on the different web pages that your website has. You just simply search for “Broken Link Checker” in Google and you will see many tools.
But what do you do when you find such links? Once you find broken links, all you need to do is update them with new links. This should be easy and won’t take much time.
2. Place the link in the right place
Link position matters. Some content writers put the backlinks anywhere they want. They don’t pay attention to placement as they believe it doesn’t hold much value. Whereas research has shown that link placement matters.
So where should you place the links? The answer is simple; place your link where the audience’s attention would be concentrated the most. Usually, this means placing the links in the meat of your content, i.e., the middle.
This way, the link gains figurative importance and is more likely to be clicked and not ignored.
3. Focus on linking anchor text
If you’ve been using random phrases to backlink, then you’ve been doing it wrong. You need to focus on creating relevant anchor texts that mean something to your business.
Now you might be wondering what anchor texts are. Anchor text is that specific text which is made clickable by hyperlinking it. Usually, it appears blue in color and is underlined.
Your anchor texts should be relevant. Let’s take an example of a Potato Chips company. If the company is using anchor texts such as ‘best potato chips’ ‘barbecue flavored chips’ ‘sweet and sour chips’ etc., then these would be counted as relevant.
Why? Because they relate to the business. But, if these are irrelevant, then that won’t tell Google that your business is good in the potato chips industry. Consequently, your ranking on searches won’t improve.
4. Words around the anchor text
This tip is fairly intuitive. We’ll tell you how.
You have selected anchor words, hyperlinked them, and all that is done. But the sentences or words around your anchor text, maybe in the same sentence or paragraph, do not really connect with your anchor text. What happens then?
It is simple. This tells Google that the anchor text might not be as relevant. To understand this simply, imagine your anchor text as the main actor and the words around it as supporting actors.
The film will be great only when all of them play their part. Therefore, make the words around your anchor text relevant and connected to your anchor text. For the chips company mentioned above, these could be ‘crispy’, ‘fresh’, ‘spicy’, etc.
5. Page Authority
In study after study, it has been found that the most important factor when talking about effective backlinking is the authority of the page where the link is being placed.
A page with high authority leads to more credible linking and can have a massive impact on how your pages are ranked. The authority of your page increases when links to it are placed on high authority pages.
If you don’t know what is page authority and what is your website page authority score then follow this MOZ link. Moz is one the top-rated SEO software used by businesses and marketers for over 20 years.
6. Relevancy of the page
A toothpaste company linking to a dishwasher company doesn’t sound very convincing. This is why the relevancy of the page that you’re placing the links on matters.
A website that is connected to your business domain will serve you better in terms of page authority and search ranking than an unconnected website.
A relevant page will also have a relevant audience. This audience will be interested in your product and is basically your target audience. Do not miss out on the opportunity for an effortless sales lead by linking on irrelevant pages!
Therefore, if you’re investing in backlinking, then go for websites that have some connection to your business.
Making better content for links
You can use all the tips given above for an effective backlink. But, at the same time, you need to focus on the content that your website hosts. Fantastic content leads to fantastic linking.
It is as simple as that!
1. Use visual assets to link
You can link literally anywhere on a website. But is that something you should be doing? We say not. Your links should be where the chances of them being clicked are the most.
We already told you that this can be the middle of your text or some important paragraph. But more than text, visual assets have a higher chance of being clicked on.
Visual assets include charts, pictures, videos, etc. They’re appealing and people want to read the information they contain. They also catch a reader’s eye more quickly than a normal anchor text would.
Whenever someone uses your visual asset on their website, you will get a link. The most famous examples of this are embedded YouTube videos or infographics.
2. Don’t Copy-Paste! Research!
The thing with easy ways is that anyone can take them. Anyone can search for the best tips to rank higher on SEO and copy-paste content from there to create new content for their websites.
But how many writers would sit and research different studies that have been conducted to look for effective ways to rank higher on Google? A few? Not many? That’s why there are a few and not many high authority web pages.
The more relevant your content is, the newer and more usable it becomes, and the more people will link to it. Let’s say you have had some personal experience with ranking on Google and you think this can help others too.
Then go ahead and write about it! People will use it on their websites or guides and link back to you! If you think you can’t produce content for your website, blog, and social media marketing then you no need to worry about this because these days AI writing software and writing assistant software can help you a lot to reduce your headache of writing content.
3. Lists work
People love reading whatever their eyes find easier to read. Therefore, lists are famous for being ranked higher on Google. Therefore, a list of the top SEO tools in 2022 would rank higher than an essay on the same topic.
This helps people find your content easily which they will then link back to your site. This was found out by BuzzSumo in their study. They came to know that most of their backlinks were being generated on posts that were in the form of listicles, etc.
Innovative Techniques to Adopt
As per marketing experts, the realm of digital tech is the realm of innovation. You need to constantly adapt, work, and engage in critical thinking to outdo your competition. This means you need to think out of the box and make your efforts count.
We are here with some techniques that we think can help you get that edge in authority backlinking.
1. Search for resource pages
In your web search journey, you must have come across pages that do not do much but just have links to other pages. This can be in the form of people or companies that have inspired them or that they recommend.
You can find such recommended sections by doing some clever Google searching. You just need to use your mind creatively here. The search terms you use would look something like this: “Keyword” + “useful blogs” etc.
2. Help by finding broken links
Broken links on other websites are like treasure troves yet to be explored. Once an anchor text has a broken link, it becomes useless to the website it is on and to which it is being linked.
Finding links can take up resources, and most of the time, website owners aren’t interested in updating them, but would not mind if it is done. This is where you come in.
You can use tools that detect broken links and make a list of such links and pages. You have to follow this two-step process to excel at this technique:
- Find a website that is relevant to your business, run the tool on that website, find pages that are related to your domain and make a list of broken links.
- Email the webmaster informing them of the broken links, and in the same email, add suggested links with which they can replace them.
And voila! This one act of kindness helps you two immensely. The website owner gets fresh and updated links, while you get backlink authority!
3. Reclaiming what is yours
We are sure you publish great content that adds value to the lives of many. And we are also sure that people use your content but DO NOT LINK to it. This is a very common menace that is depriving many small business owners of page authority.
This can happen mistakenly, and people would have just forgotten to add a link to your site. In any case, you can inform them through email that they’ve not linked to your website when mentioning your name or content.
Most of the time, they will respond positively. Your tone should be friendly and humble as if you’re pointing out something that helps you both. If they still don’t link it, you can send a reminder email.
4. Get more visibility
The more people know your brand, the more links you are likely to get. It is that simple. Therefore, get started with your very own publicity campaign!
Don’t get nervous, we don’t mean you go ahead and get paparazzi following you! We mean reaching out to people in your domain that the audience listens to. This could be podcasters, influencers, etc.
If these people have a blog or a website, they can link your website there if they happen to interview you or feature your product/service.
This is a very effective way of organically growing links on your page. Adopt this technique now!
Final Words
Backlinks play a pivotal role in enhancing the web authority of your brand/website and also increasing search engine ranking. However, not all backlinks are created equal. Follow our ultimate guide on backlinking to get your website ranked and reach a much wider organic audience base.
I am a passionate, adventurous, and insatiate learner who loves to write about the latest technology trends. My experience working in an MNC has motivated me to understand that there are certain niche requirements for writing strategically about brands’ messages towards people’s interests which I’ve mastered over time through trial and error of many projects under various clients across diverse industries. It is my honest effort to put my experiences and knowledge of industry towards readers.
