BACKLINKS

BACKLINKS

Today you're gonna learn exactly how to build powerful backlinks to your site. In fact, I've used the strategies that I'm about to show you to get links from sites like Forbes, TechCrunch, Inc., Entrepreneur, and more. Today I'm gonna briefly tell you nine proven link-building strategies and some advanced techniques I've never heard anyone else talk about.

Strategy :

So let's get started. I started my first blog way back in 2004. Back then, spammy and hacking black hat link-building was all the rage. In fact, my go-to strategies were things like articles directories and link pyramids.

Link Pyramid :

Link Pyramid in SEO is a strategy that is followed to build backlinks and send backlinks to other backlinks. It is one of the many methods used for ranking a website in the SERPs of Google. The link pyramid is one of the earlier strategies developed when Google put a value on backlinks. Link pyramid? That sounds amazing. These black hat links worked okay until Google unleashed its Penguin update. This update wiped out 98% of my Google traffic literally overnight.

SERPs : 

Search Engine Results Page (SERP) The page that a search engine returns after a user submit a search query. In addition to organic search results, search engine results (SERPs) pages typically include paid search and pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements.

White-Hat SEO :

That's when I decided to go all in on white hat SEO. Thanks to the white hat link-building strategies I tell you what, my organic traffic went off like a rocket. I also started to rank for competitive keywords like video SEO, keyword research, on-page SEO, and more. Without further do, let's kick things off with strategy number one.

Link Roundups :

What's a link roundup? Simply put, these are weekly, daily, or monthly curated lists of the best content on a particular webpage. The sole purpose of these pages is to link out to other websites, basically blog posts that feature links to other people's blog posts. Imagine if people publish blog posts to link out to quality content, the type of quality content that you already publish on your site. That would be awesome, right? Fortunately for us, that's a real thing and they're called link roundups.

Here is an example of a Link Roundup :

What are link roundups exactly? Link roundups are daily, weekly, or monthly blog posts, that curate and link to outstanding content. For example, this is a link that I recently built from a roundup. Now let's break down the exact process that I used to get that link. First, you need to find link roundups in your industry.

Here are a few search strings that work really well :

"KEYWORD" + "LINK ROUNDUP"

"KEYWORD" + "ROUNDUP" 

"KEYWORD" + "BEST OF"

"KEYWORD" + "THIS WEEK"

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Just pop these search strings into Google and you should find tons of high-quality roundups. Once you find the link roundup that seems like a good fit, it's time to pitch your content.

Here is the E-mail Script that I personally Use :

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You want to send the script to the person that runs the roundup. As you can see, this script isn't pushy or spammy. I just let the person know that my content exists and gently suggest that they include it in their next roundup. If your post is a good fit for that person's roundup, you'll get a sweet reply.

Broken Link Building :

It's time for our second strategy, broken link building. Broken link-building is one of my all-time favourite link-building strategies. Why? You see, when most people build links, they send generic pictures that offer zero value. Can I have a link, please? Thank you. Send. Here is the step-by-step process. First, add Check My Links to Google Chrome. Check My Links is a free Google Chrome extension that finds broken links on any page.

BACKLINKS

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Value Adding :

Let's move on to step number two. Find a site that you want to get a link from. You probably already have a few sites in mind. If not, just Google keywords related to your industry. The sites that show up in the search results are great sites to get backlinks from. For example, last year I wanted to build links to a list of SEO tools so I googled things like SEO checklists and SEO tutorials. Next, it's time to check for broken links. To do this, just visit a few pages on the site you just found and run the Check My Links extension. This will reveal all the broken links on that page. Finally, let the site owner know about their broken link and offer your content as a replacement. For example, when I find a broken link on someone's site, I send them this email.

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Note how I personalized my email. The more you personalize your email, the more links you'll get. Anyway, when they reply to my message, I sent them the URL of the broken link, I also pitch my SEO tools post as a replacement for the dead link. Because I added value first, and then ask for something in return, people were happy to link to me.

Build Links from Podcasts :

Now it's time for strategy number three, build links from podcasts. A few months ago, I was checking out where one of the sites in my niche got their backlinks from and I noticed that a big chunk of their backlinks came from going on podcasts. So I decided to become a guest on as many podcasts as I could. In fact, I appeared on over 25 podcasts over the next year and 1/2. Not only did these podcasts send some serious traffic my way but they resulted in tons of high-quality backlinks.

Branded Strategy :

Moving right along to our next technique, create branded strategies and methods. A few years ago, I was searching for some productivity tips and I came across a post called Empty bucket, a productivity approach where you use your empty as your to-do list. But that wasn't what grabbed my attention. What shocked me was that this simple idea generated over 5,000 backlinks. When I looked over those backlinks, I noticed a pattern. Most people link to the page because it outlined a strategy with a unique name, Empty Bucket. That's when I decided that I would try naming my strategies too. The next time I talked about a strategy on my blog, I called it the incandescent technique. How did it go? The post where I first mentioned the incandescent technique has been linked over 9,000 times. If you look at those links, 90% of them are because I gave my strategy a unique branded name.

HARO :

Okay, moving right along to strategy number five, become a source for reporters and bloggers. Here is the deal. Fortunately, this isn't as hard as it probably sounds. In fact, it's very doable thanks to a free service called HARO. HARO is like a dating site for public relations. HARO connects bloggers and journalists that need sources to people that want links and press mentions. To be clear, this strategy takes work and it's not always easy. But in my experience, it's one of the best ways to build quality backlinks at scale. With that, let's dive into the step-by-step process. First, register as a source. Once you're signed up, you'll get three emails a day from reporters looking for sources. When you find a request that seems like a good fit, send them your pitch. For example, a while back, I saw a HARO request from someone that wanted to know what's the difference between graphic design and web design. So I submitted this pitch. in short, give your link to research about the same question then they will mention your link in popular and relevant sources.

Pre-Outreach :

Next up, we have strategy number six, pre-outreach. A while back, one of my readers, was getting ready to publish his epic piece of content. But for that to happen, he'd need to build links. So he decided to promote his post before he even published it. This is known as pre-outreach. Here is how it went down. First, he found blogs that wrote about, "Work Place Problems" and he sent them this message "10 Useful solutions for Office management".

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Because he didn't beg for a link, most of the people that talked to were happy to hear from him. Then once his post went live, he sent a link to everyone that responded to his first email. And that led to a bunch of social shares and a nice contextual backlink.

University Sites :

It's time for strategy seven, .edu resource page link building. It's no secret that links from .edu websites are super powerful. The question is, how do you actually get university sites to link to you? ".edu resource pages". Here is how it works. Most universities have resource pages where they link to content that could help their students and faculty. Here is an example of a resource page that links to content about nutrition and supplements. For example, let's say you have a website about nutrition. First, you want to find resource pages,

To do that, pop these search strings into Google:

SITE: EDU "YOUR KEYWORD".

SITE: EDU "YOUR KEYWORD"  + "RESOURCE"

SITE: EDU "YOUR KEYWORD"  + INURL: lINKS

SITE: EDU "YOUR KEYWORD"  + "OTHER SITES"

Then look to see if a piece of your content would be a good fit for that page. Finally, email the person that runs that resource page. Now keep this in mind, That's the bad news, The good news is, even one or two of these links can make a massive difference in your Google rankings. For example, I recently used this strategy to get a link from this resource page on the University of Oxford website. That single link made a significant dent in my organic traffic. If you thought that was cool, wait until you see strategy number eight.

The moving man method :

The moving man method is simple. First, find webpages, resources, or businesses that are outdated, just rebranded, or recently changed names. Then find sites that are still linking to these outdated resources. Finally, let people know that they're linking to something that's out of date. For example, A while back, I read that a website for a big SEO agency suddenly shut down. This meant they had tons of pages on their site that weren't working anymore, pages that lots of people were still linking to. Specifically, I noticed that an SEO infographic on their site no longer worked, which was perfect because I had just released my SEO-based infographic. Nice, That was the first step. Next, I had to see who actually linked to this infographic, and pulled all their links. Finally, I emailed everyone that still link to that infographic. I let them know that the image wasn't working anymore. I also let them know that my infographic will make a great replacement for your site.

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Guestographics :

Speaking of infographics, it's time for our last link-building strategy, guestographics. What is a guestographic? A guestographic is mainly a guest infographic. We've been using that term internally for years because it has a very precise purpose. Guestographics are created together with other trademarks and brands. This is their content using our infographics. So if you run a site about fitness and write a guest post for a site about iPhones, that's gonna look spammy. But when you write mind-blowing guest posts for quality sites in your industry, those links do help.