While having a website is certainly a good start in growing your business, other items must be considered. Your website should be sound structurally; think of it as a well-organized home. How do we invite people to the party, or how do we get backlinks in the case of a website?
What is Considered a Backlink
First, we need to establish what a backlink is. In its simplest form, a backlink is your website being mentioned on another website. As the other website mentions, it can take on many forms:
Naked: This is when a website mentions your name. No actual link is provided on the website, but your company name is recognized by the industry. Public relations is very good at helping in this type of scenario. We'll discuss the advantages of public relations later.
Dofollow Link: This is when a website provides an actual link to your website but, more importantly, puts its stamp of approval on it. By having the link be Dofollow, some of the website's street cred is passed along to your website. These websites are your friends and colleagues, people who you frequently associate with and recommend you due to your relationship with one another.
Nofollow Link: A link provided on another website but without the website's endorsement. Ever hear the phrase, " I read about a company providing X service; I've never used them personally, but you can check them out"? This is what a nofollow link is like. You're still being recommended, just not with the full support of the website.
What's important to note here is that your website needs a combination of all 3 of these to help boost its status in Google search. Even further down the rabbit hole is the way links are provided.
Backlink Structure
So, when we ask how we get backlinks, what type of link are we looking to have from a website? We've already covered the three ways a backlink can be provided, but let's discuss how it's written:
Click "Here": A simple link that provides very little help to the search engines to identify where they're going but still helps send more people to your website.
Branded Link: Mention your name, such as "RAB Consulting," as the link pointing back to your website. This helps in creating brand recognition and helping the bots understand the name of the company to associate with
URL Link: Your actual web address so users can match the link to the URL once they get there and feel safe
Keyword Link: When the other website states "SEO" as the link pointing back to your website, these links are very powerful in helping your SEO strategy but should be used sparingly so as not to become spammy.
To maximize your website's growth, diversify your backlink profile by incorporating dofollow and nofollow links. Dofollow links directly contribute to your site's authority and search engine rankings, while nofollow links, though not passing on link juice, still drive valuable traffic and increase brand awareness. A healthy mix of both demonstrates a natural link-building strategy, avoiding potential penalties from search engines.
Checking on Links
When you get a backlink, not everyone will tell you, and most won't. So, how do we see who has backlinked to us and if it's appropriate? We recommend using a website like https://majestic.com/ to help check your links. Look at your website at the domain level and see all the links pointing to you. Some that will stand out at first will be the social platforms you participate in. This is a good place to start learning how to get backlinks.
If you find a link inappropriate, i.e., you do not want to be associated with the website providing the website or the link they have is perhaps old, reach out to the website owner and ask if you can have the link removed or changed to something more appropriate.
Getting the Link
Now that we know the fundamentals and how to see what is pointing to us, how do we get a backlink? The easier answer is to write good content and tell everybody about it. As stated, this is the easier answer, but what does this mean?
Let's tackle content first. Believe it or not, your experiences are uniquely your own, and as you grow in life and your profession, you will become the subject matter expert. Whether cooking the perfect Cacio e Pepe or choosing the right penny stocks, everyone is good at something. Also, there are people in the world that want to learn that as quickly as possible and put that information in their quiver so they will read your content and watch your videos to get ahead quickly rather than struggle to learn all on their own.
So write with your voice and your true self. Certainly, we want to answer the questions, but you wouldn't believe how mundane the questions can be. Yes, people are looking for the meaning of life and the depths of that discussion, but just as many people want to know the difference between a hex head and a Phillips head screwdriver. Writing from your actual experience will take you very far online and help you get the backlinks you desire because someone will connect with your voice and link to your website as a recommendation.
Now, a blog is not a diary. You don't simply write down your thoughts and tuck them away in a secret compartment so no one can see them. You have to share your thoughts with the world. How do we do that? First, sharing on some of your socials, such as Facebook or LinkedIn, where links are allowed, is a good place to start. Allows people to get to your blog quickly.
Paying for a Service
We've discussed essentially all the ways to grow your brand for free. Now, let's talk about paying for services. This is a minefield. There are PR Services out there that can be very useful in getting your work out to others and getting you roped into your industry to get your company out there. PR Services tend to focus on all aspects, such as speaking engagements, newspapers, and websites. Since we're trying to build our online brand, they may not be the best fit.
Paying for backlinks. This is a dirty word in the industry; physically paying for backlinks is not a great strategy for getting backlinks. You'll have to do some digging, but instead of firms that physically distribute your money to whoever will let you buy a link on a website, there are backlink firms that essentially act like digital PR firms. Rather than buying links, your money is going to manpower to do things you may not have time to do. Write additional compelling articles to be featured on a website. Reaching out to the website to clean up your link structure, etc.
These services seem acceptable because they still follow the ethos of natural linking structures. They would be no different from hiring someone in-house to do the same thing. Whether you have this in-house or contract is up to you financially, but it is a great way to get backlinks.
We hope this helps illuminate how to get backlinks and gets you started on your journey. If you have any further questions or need help with SEO in general, please schedule a call, and we'll be happy to chat.
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