Utilizing Google Ads, you can purchase a prominent location in the numerous search results that appear after conducting a query. Yet unfortunately, the price for such an advantageous spot soon becomes exorbitant. Even with submitting just one search request to Google yields dozens or even thousands of outcomes!
Appearing in the organic search results of popular search engines is much more desirable than other options. Link building is essential to make this happen; with effective backlinks, your credibility and brand recognition will grow, making it easier for customers to find you online!
Quality backlinks versus online advertising
When you only use online advertising for that coveted position in Google, you quickly burn up your entire marketing budget. It is therefore interesting to obtain position gains, and thus free clicks, with quality backlinks.
Quality backlinks bring more traffic to your website and contribute to your brand awareness and online goal. The reasons why you should invest in getting quality backlinks are:
- The search engines need to see your content as the content they need to show users. Quality backlinks show the search engines that your content is relevant and therefore should be shown high in the search results.
- Quality backlinks are largely responsible for your place within the search results.
- Quality backlinks increase traffic to and from your website. This leads to more conversions.
- With quality backlinks you build on your branding; your name or brand gets much more exposure.
- You collect backlinks by collaborating with other companies. This way you also build your network.
What is a quality backlink?
When other websites link to your website, Google sees it as a recommendation. These backlinks must be of good quality to lead to the intended result.
Relevance to your website
Google only appreciates backlinks from real companies that are relevant to your website. If you get a link on a website from a totally different field, Google sees this link as less valuable.
Authority of the website
If the companies you get backlinks from have a lot of authority, you share in it. This is because the reputation of the website your backlink appears on is checked by Google. Backlinks from websites with less authority, therefore, have little influence on your SEO.
Anchor text of the backlink
Besides the relevance and authority of the backlink, the anchor text of the backlink is also important for its quality. Google checks what the backlink represents by the anchor text of the link. An irrelevant text like “click here” detracts from the quality of the backlink; so does over-optimization of the anchor text.
Alt tag for images
Finally, the alt tag, the description accompanying an image or picture, is important. When linking from an image, you need to add an alt tag to it. This makes it clear to search engines exactly what the image is about. As text for the alt tag you can include a keyword, as Google sees the alt tags on images as anchors.
Build a natural backlink profile
So to obtain quality backlinks, build as natural a backlink profile as possible. Make sure you obtain backlinks from sites with high authority and good reputati, this is how you end up creating quality backlinks.
4 ways to obtain quality backlinks
Obtaining backlinks is an ongoing process. Take your time to gather good backlinks and make a plan in advance. There are several ways to obtain a backlink:
Through a guest blog
It is very interesting to write guest blogs for other websites. You share your knowledge and authority and also obtain some backlinks immediately. In addition, you reach a new target audience and build your branding. After all, your name, your brand, is in the spotlight somewhere else.
Relevant guest blogs are important
Of course, consider the relevance of the website where you publish your guest blog. This is important for the quality of the backlink.
Finding guest blogs
You can use Google to find out what blog sites are within your field or market, so make time to search for websites that you can provide a guest blog to.
In the end, these websites will be happy with your content, so it’s a win-win situation for everyone!
Press release
A press release is not only a good way to get backlinks, it also creates brand awareness. So this way you are not only working on your findability, but also on your branding.
Important when writing press releases is to find the right balance between providing people with valuable information and making people aware of your company or brand. Readers can quickly see your press release as spam when that balance is lost.
Additional advantage of press releases
An additional advantage of press releases is that when the content is interesting and relevant enough, they are sometimes forwarded to other news sites. And so you receive even more backlinks.
Social media
Social media is also a good place to get backlinks. Backlinks on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn can contribute substantially to your ranking.
A good backlink structure from a social media channel includes multiple links from multiple posts.
A single link from 1 social media post is not effective. So make sure you get multiple likes or tweets. Those backlinks on social media are closely watched by Google, so that presents opportunities for your backlink profile.