Creative Link-Building Strategies For SEO

The new web ranking climate necessitates Creative Link Building Strategies, and website developers to change their marketing strategy to include quality alternatives to the old SEO link-building strategies. This is so because

Google’s new algorithms differentiate between unnatural and natural links
Boycott websites that have excessively unnatural links
Provide a bonus by ranking websites higher if they have natural inbound links

While it is not possible to completely wipe out link building, the strategies used need to take a natural route. Here are some alternatives that are used to create better backlinks.

Content works best

You should know SEO strategy Don’s Content hat, Nothing works like good content and Google is always on the lookout for websites that have great articles, infographics ( How to Effectively Use Infographics as a Marketing Strategy – [ Infographic ] )or videos. Useful and informative content that visitors, bloggers and researchers use from your website as references in their own articles or blogs creates natural backlinks. Other people looking for similar information will definitely visit your website after reading their articles.

Content used as the reference

Unique content that is relevant to your website and which gains in popularity on the internet is what helps rank your website. The more the people who visit your website, the more the ‘votes’- and if they provide a link back to your website it builds a natural link. Good articles get linked when there are more ‘shares’. Your written content needs to be of a high caliber so that people can quote it in their own content or published work.

You can guest blog on other people’s websites and provide a link to yours. You can also create an e-mail list or send a newsletter that informs all stakeholders about your recent activities and events. You can inform them about any new content on the website so that they open your website link to read it, or watch a video or study the infographic or data that they might find useful and informative. If they in turn ‘share’ the link with others then you are building natural backlinks.

Insert your brand into content

If you are a traditional SEO strategist and wish to continue in the old ways just give a little twist to your strategy. Google algorithms are sophisticated enough to detect brand names and associate them with your websites. The more your brand name is mentioned on external platforms the more domain authority you’ll collect.

Guest blog posts that mention your brand inside the content is natural link-building. Suppose a journalist finds your website remarkable because of some aspect and mentions it in their publication; your brand name gets recognition. You in turn mention on various platforms that your website has been written about by a well-known publisher, you create more recognition and links to your website. Getting your brand name on other people’s blog posts is not easy because you have to have something different and something unique to get noticed.

Just as high-quality content sends a signal to Google algorithms, so does social media presence. Your domain authority and trust will get a boost if your brand has an active social media Campaign presence. What you need to aim for is to have well-written content so that the link to that page gets shared on social media sites. If the link to the content page is ‘shared’, ‘liked’ and commented on it builds your rank because Google is bound to recognize the brand name.

Creating valuable, informative, relevant content as often as you can and sharing that with your social media audience is an alternate link building strategy. Social media is where the buzz is these days as the content is making the rounds all the time. It is not only shared but mentioned to others and even discussed and links are tweeted and re-tweeted. A mention helps to share the link while a discussion in which you also participate gets your brand, reviews and recognition.

Do you figure in third-party reviews?

Reviews on your own website are good but when you are mentioned in reviews on third-party sites they are considered more valuable by Google. Not only people but Google also read reviews on sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp, they read through Quora. If your brand has a good review on more than one website you increase your brand search value and Google notices and ranks you better. If these websites mention you they will also provide a link back to your web page.

Getting reviews is hard work

However, if people don’t write reviews then how do you get noticed? Listing your business on reputed web directories, pertaining to your business, or on listing sites like Google+ local can get you reviews. You can ask your customers to write reviews about you on third party sites by offering discounts. But be cautious- only the customers who have had a good experience with your brand will give you a good review. If your brand or service is of high quality it will get noticed and mentioned on discussion forums also. Also, providing useful comments or tips on the forums help. Those searching for keywords related to your brand will likely ‘find’ you through one of these links and reach your page. These are all natural link building strategies.

Offline marketing helps

Offline ways to build your personal brand is to speak at conferences, organize events, lend a helping hand and get press coverage. It’s a good idea to mention your website at these events so people view your website.

Conclusion

Is link building really a thing of the past for long-term SEO strategy then? The answer is a simple no. Google might have changed the algorithms, but they still need some kind of external links to rank web pages. What has changed is the quality of the links from spam to something more creative and natural. The idea is to have a judicious mix of both kinds of links so you get the brand name out there and don’t get penalized by Google.

Creative Link Building Strategies