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Link Building For SEO – Why You Need it Now & How To Begin Outreach
You may be thinking that only the content on your website is important when it comes to your search engine optimization (SEO).
You’d be wrong.
Backlinko analyzed over 1.8 million Google search results, and they found that the #1 result in Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than positions #2-#10.
What Are Backlinks?
Backlinks, also known as inbound links, are links from another website to yours. Backlinks are seen as “votes” or “endorsements” for a specific page.
Search engines like Google use these backlinks as a ranking signal and can improve your visibility in search engine results. In fact, Google has confirmed that backlinks are one of their three most important SEO ranking factors.
Why Are Links Important?
Links are one of the primary ways that search engines discover the content on your website.
When a search engine bot crawls a site and finds internal links or external sites, it sees them as valuable. Those search engine bots will start recognizing your content and the value it brings to the topic written.
As this process plays out and the bots see that you have authoritative content, it will start ranking you in their search engine, and their visitors can find your pages.
Therefore it is important to incorporate link building in your SEO strategy.
Helpful Link Analysis Tools
Now that you understand the importance of link building let’s talk about what tools you can use to pick the best links to incorporate.
When trying to determine which links will boost your SEO, you can use the two tools:
- AHREFS – This tool will help you identify the metrics that the backlink you are looking at has and whether it’s worth pursuing. Key metrics include the domain rating (overall strength of the domain) & URL rating (specific page strength).
- MOZ PRO – Moz will complement your link analysis process. The metrics they use are very similar to AHREFS but slightly different at the same time. These metrics consist of Domain rating (overall strength of the domain) & Page Authority (specific page strength). Their most valuable metric is the spam score which helps to identify quickly if a site is using white hat SEO (lower score = better).
Once you’ve analyzed your links you can now start adding them to your content and creating backlinks.
The Anatomy of A Great BackLink
Now that you have your links picked it is time to start adding them to your website.
The best place to put a link is in the body of the text with a descriptive anchor text and contextual content around it. Meaning, this backlink is relevant to what the content is about.
What is an anchor text?
Your anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. You want your anchor text to be relevant to the page that you are linking to.
The anchor text should be natural and not over-optimized for the keyword you are trying to rank. Otherwise, the search engine might see it as keyword stuffing and penalize you for it.
Anchor texts are important because Google and other search engines use them to help understand what your page is about and which keywords it should rank.
There are two ways to identify a backlink:
The two types of backlinks are Do-Follow and No-Follow:
- Do-Follow backlinks pass authority to the site it is pointing to. This is important to keep in mind when building a backlink because over-optimizing this type of link could do more harm than good.
- No-Follow backlinks don’t pass authority and are mostly used to have an “honorable mention.” This tells search engines you don’t necessarily endorse that website.
Whether it is a profile link, guest post, forum link, or resource link, a good rule of thumb is that the more useful & relevant the content you are linking to is, the more weight and value that link holds.
Search Operators to Find Backlink Opportunities
Now that you understand the different types of backlinks let’s talk about how to find backlinking opportunities.
*City can be replaced by a “keyword” relevant to what you are trying to rank or just a broad niche
To find events near you, use these search parameters:
– City + intitle:conference
– City + intitle:exhibition
– City + intitle:expo
– City + intitle:seminar
– City + intitle:trade show
– City + site:meetup.com
– City + “submit an event”
– City + events
– City + events page
– City + find an event
To find organizations that accept donations, use these search parameters:
– City + “contributors”
– City + “donation links”
– City + “donation lists” + “contributors”
– City + “donations list”
– City + “list of contributors” + donation
– City + “sponsors”
– City + allintitle:”contributors”
– City + allintitle:”sponsors”
– City + contributors page
– City + contributors page + “donate”
– City + donate to us
– City + donation list + “contributors”
– City + inurl: keywords
– City + scholarship inurl:k12 100
– City + sponsor us $100
– City + sponsor us $100
– City + sponsors page
– City + “contributors”
– City + “donate”
– City + “charity online”
– City + “contribute”
– City + “donate for”
– City + “donate now”
– City + “donate online”
– City + “donate to”
– City + “goods for donation”
– City + “make charity”
– City + “make donation”
– City + “money for donation”
– City + “partner”
– City + “services for donation”
– City + “sponsor”
– City + “sponsorship”
– City + “support”
To find forums to participate in, use these search parameters:
– City + “forum”
– City + “powered by Fireboard”
– City + “powered by ip.board”
– City + “powered by phpbb”
– City + “powered by phpbb3”
– City + “powered by SMF”
– City + “powered by vbulletin”
– City + forum
– City + intitle:forum
– City + inurl:forum
To find local blogs you can partner with, use these search parameters:
– City + blogs
– City + bloggers
– City + blog
– City + updates
– City + inurl:blog
– City + intitle:blog
To find local websites that offer advertising to businesses, use these search parameters:
– City + “advertise on our site”
– City + “advertise on this site”
– City + “advertise”
– City + “partnership opportunities”
– City + “pay for a post”
– City + “sponsor a post”
– City + “sponsored post”
– City + intext:“this is a paid post”
– City + intext:“this is a paid review”
– City + intext:“this is a sponsored post”
– City + intext:“this is a Sponsored review”
– City + intext:“this was a paid post”
– City + intext:“this was a paid review”
– City + intext:“this was a sponsored post”
– City + intext:“this was a Sponsored review”
– City + accepting sponsored posts
– City + inpostauthor:“guest”
– City + inpostauthor:“sponsored author”
– City + inpostauthor:“sponsored post”
– City + intitle:“sponsored author”
– City + intitle:“sponsored post”
– City + intitle:“submit sponsored post”
– City + inurl: sponsored-post
– City + inurl: sponsored-posts
– City + inurl: sponsored*post
– City + inurl: sponsored*posts
– City + inurl:category/sponsored
– City + inurl:tag/sponsored
– City + sponsored post by
To find some local guest posting opportunities, use these search parameters:
– City + “Add Articles”
– City + “Add Content”
– City + “Become a Contributor”
– City + “Become a Guest Blogger”
– City + “Become an Author”
– City + “Bloggers Wanted”
– City + “Blogs Accepting Guest Posts”
– City + “Blogs that Accept Guest Blogging”
– City + “Contribute”
– City + “Guest Blogging Spot”
– City + “Guest Contributor”
– City + “Guest post by”
– City + “Guest Post Guidelines”
– City + “Guest Post”
– City + “Places I Guest Posted”
– City + “Publish Your News”
– City + “Submit a Guest Post”
– City + “Submit an Article”
– City + “Submit News”
– City + “Submit Post”
– City + “Submit Tutorial”
– City + “Suggest a Post”
– City + “This is a guest article”
– City + “Want to Write for”
– City + “writers wanted”
– City + “Add Guest Post”
– City + “Become a Contributor”
– City + “Become a Guest Writer”
– City + “Blogs that Accept Guest Bloggers”
– City + “Blogs that Accept Guest Posts”
– City + “Community News”
– City + “Contribute to our Site”
– City + “Group Writing Project”
– City + “Guest Bloggers Wanted”
– City + “Guest Bloggers Wanted”
– City + “Guest Posts Roundup”
– City + “My Guest Posts”
– City + “Now Accepting Guest Posts”
– City + “Submission Guidelines”
– City + “Submit a Guest Article”
– City + “Submit Article”
– City + “Submit Blog Post”
– City + “Submit Guest Post”
– City + “Submit News”
– City + “Suggest a Guest Post”
– City + “The following guest post”
– City + “This guest post is from”
– City + “This guest post was written”
– City + “Write for Us”
– City + inurl:guest-post-guidelines
– City + inurl:guest-posts
– City + inurl:write-for-us
– City + inurlprofiles/blog/new
– City + “submit guest post”
– City + “accepting guest posts”
– City + “contribute to our site”
– City + “contributor guidelines”
– City + “guest bloggers wanted”
– City + “guest post courtesy of”
– City + “guest post opportunities”
– City + “write for us”
– City + accepting guest posts
– City + become a guest blogger
– City + become guest blogger
– City + guest blogger wanted
– City + intitle:”guest blogging opportunity”
– City + intitle:”submit blog post”
– City + intitle:”submit guest post”
– City + intitle:”write for me”
– City + intitle:”write for us”
– City + inurl:”write for me”
– City + inurl:”write for us”
– City + inurl:category/guest
– City + inurl:guest-blogger
– City + inurl:guest-post
– City + inurl:guest-posts
– City + inurl:guest*author
– City + inurl:guest*blogger
– City + inurl:guest*post
– City + inurl:guest*posts
– City + inurl:tag/guest
– City + submit a guest post”
– City + submit guest post
– City + submit your guest post
– City + submit your own guest post
Best Practices For Finding Contacts
As you start finding websites, it is important that you gather the following information about your contact:
- Contact Name – Finding the right person to address the email to.
- Company Name – Company name or business name is usually used if you can’t find the person to address the email to.
- Website Link – The page where you want your link placed or relevant to your campaign.
- Email – The best email you can find for this person or company will highly increase your chances of getting a response.
If you plan on sending out a lot of emails, keeping track of all of this information will make your process more efficient. Staying organized will also help you come off better to your contact when you reach out.
Outreach Template
Here is a sample outreach template you can use to record each of the data above and stay organized. TEMPLATE
Link Building Email Templates That Get Results
Once you have found your contacts, use the templates below to outreach to your prospect.
There are usually two approaches at this point:
-
Rapid Fire Link Building
This is when quantity matters over quality. The goal is to get as many emails out there as possible.
There is often not much customization- just the name, website, and some other minor detail. This usually is best adapted to a resources link-building campaign.
While you may not always get a response, you increase your odds by reaching out to so many people.
-
Quality Link Building
This process takes more time but is 10x more valuable. At this point, you want to customize your email as much as possible to increase your chances of getting a response.
This is mostly used with guest post outreach where one high-quality link can move the needle. Personalizing the email to fit your contact will make them feel valuable and more likely to respond.
Broken Link Building Outreach Template
SUBJECT LINE: Quick FYI, There’s Dead Resource on Your Site
Hey [Insert name],
I came across you guys on Twitter a few weeks ago and have really been enjoying your content – thanks for sharing.
I just wanted to let you know one of your articles is linking to a 404 page.
URL: [Insert their URL with the dead link]
Anchor: [Insert their anchor with the dead link]
Dead link: [Insert destination URL with the dead link]
If you’re looking for something quick to replace it with, I actually have a great piece of content that fits in seamlessly.
You can review it here: [Insert proposed replacement link]
Have a great day!
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Guest Post Outreach Template
SUBJECT LINE: I’d Love to Write for Your Site!
Hey [Insert Name],
I’m sure you get a ton of spammy submissions so I’ll get straight to the point – I’d love to submit a post for publishing on your site.
If you’re still accepting posts, please let me know and I can put together a draft for your approval.
Thanks for your time!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Link Roundup Outreach
SUBJECT LINE: I’ve Got a Great Post for Your Roundup
Hey [Insert name],
Wanted to send over a blog post for consideration in your link roundup post.
[Insert SHORT, 1 sentence pitch on what it is]
[EXAMPLE: It’s a 4 chapter, custom-designed and developed guide to content marketing (creation, analytics, promotion, and resources/tools)]
If interested, you can check it out here: [Insert link]
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Sponsored Post Outreach
SUBJECT LINE: Quick Pitch in Regards to Your Roundup
Hey [Insert name],
Just wanted to quickly pitch you a piece of content for consideration in your roundup.
[Insert SHORT, 1 sentence pitch on what it is]
[EXAMPLE: It’s a 4 chapter, custom-designed and developed guide to content marketing (creation, analytics, promotion, and resources/tools)]
If interested, you can check it out here: [Insert link]
Keep me posted – I’m happy to push it out to my email list and social fans!
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Resource Page Pitch Outreach
SUBJECT LINE: Question About Your Article [Insert Title]
Hey [Insert name],
I know you’re busy so I’ll cut right to it.
I’m reaching out to high-quality sites with pages featuring [insert niche] resources.
I’d like to pitch my [insert your content title] for inclusion in your post: [Insert their URL of the resources page]
I realize it’s a pain for you to make changes, so I’d like to attempt to return the favor:
[Insert value add #1. Example: Tweeting the link to my 2,500+ active followers]
[Insert value add #2. Example: Pushing the link through my 1,500+ Facebook Community]
[Insert value add #3. Example: Including the link in my next Newsletter to over 2,500 subscribers]
If interested, you can check it out here: [Insert link to YOUR content]
P.S. – I can also push your latest content through my channels.
Let’s Get Linking!
Now that you understand the importance of link building, it is time for you to put these strategies in motion.
Which strategy did you find most helpful?
Let me know in the comments below!
To learn more about ways to build links to your site read our blog on Guest Blogging for SEO – How To Rank Your Site Faster!
Isaac Andrews
Isaac is an SEO specialist at Chatter Buzz.
