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How to Start a Strategy to Build Links and Get Backlinks

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Whether you've just joined a marketing department, decided to go adventurously, or try to place your small business on the digital map, you've come to the right place. You are here because you know that link building moves the needle visibility of search engines. The best search engine spots are highly competitive, regardless of sector and search rankings are critical to a company's overall digital marketing strategy.

I'm here to tell you how link building works, what you can expect, and how you can start. You will never be an effective link builder if you do not understand the basic concepts. This post describes the principles and practices that you can implement for your own account.

There is, of course, a lot of whimsical information that circulates on the Net, for my part, I like to read the case studies that mention some success, but you have to master the fundamentals before you start.

How (and why) build links
The Web is built on links. 
When you visit a website that hosts content on a topic you love, and that they are linked to other content like "know more", what is the probability of clicking on that link? If you trust this website, I would say the answer is "very likely".

Imagine, just for a moment that Google does not exist. Or, more generally, that search engines do not exist. If there was no Google, how would you find the content you want? How could you read your favorite topics or buy new gadgets or household items?

You must click on the links that offer trusted Web sites. Before the ubiquity of search engines, blogrolls and resource pages helped us find the content we wanted. And all these pages were built on links. Internet users viewed these links as valuable as gold. And, to this day, they are still.

Basically, if another website connects to your website, it is a trusted brand.

Links are a big part of Google's global search algorithm, and they are an important part of ranking in search engines. If your website has links from reliable and relevant websites, Google notices these links and is likely to place you higher in the results pages on selected keywords.

The text part of a link is called "anchor text" (in the past, link builders have abused anchor text.) They have built hundreds (or thousands) of links on unwanted websites 'No human being ever visited.' Each link on these sites repeated the same anchor text).

Let's say you ran a building business. In the past, you could have introduced 1,000 links on websites with "house building" as anchor text, and you would probably have been ranked in the top 3 Google search results on that phrase. This tactic no longer works and Google can penalize you for that, if you try to bypass the system. Do not place links on unwanted websites, and do not block "house building" in unrelated content. Your visibility on the search engines will not increase and it will probably hurt you.

A good link is a vote of confidence for your website. For Google to consider that your link a good link, it must come from a reputed website that is also relevant to your website, and the anchor text must be natural and make sense from a perspective perspective human. 
In 2017, it is important to have the "reader" in mind when you build links. The goal is to create links from other sites to your website.

But these ties must make sense.

Relevance
Now that you understand why inbound links matter, and how Google appreciates them, it is important to talk about their "relevance". 
Some irrelevant links will not hurt your ranking on search engines, simply because each link is not commercial.

Let's say a blogger who deals with cooking makes a link to your company's building website. 
At first glance, this seems irrelevant. But if this blogger writes a personal blog about renovating his house, and uses your material and link to you, the link becomes meaningful in the context of its content. 
These types of links should be the exception rather than the rule.

In general, there are two types of relevant links: 
- links corresponding to your niche or sector 
- links related to your location

If you have a website to present your building business, you would want links dealing with building or home renovation, or even links from manufacturers and related distributors. If your company is based in Lyon, you would also like links from other websites dealing with other topics but based in your city.

Do not get me wrong, it's great to get links from reputable sites like the Huffington Post, Gizmodo or BuzzFeed. But if these links are not necessarily relevant to what you are doing, they may be less valuable than a small blog link dealing with renovation.

Time is a scarce resource and building links takes a long time. In my experience, it is best to be realistic and opt for relevant websites rather than reputable websites.

Different types of links
There are different types of links you can build, and some are easier to build than others. The easiest links are not always the best - in fact, they are usually not. But as we do not have much time, so it's best to build effective links that make sense, and leave others behind.

Here are the most common types of links: 
- Link to existing content - these types of links come from blog posts, articles and other content already written. Let's say you read an article on home improvement and your site offers a blog post on the same topic. You contact the author of the original article and ask him to include a link to your blog somewhere in the article.

- Link in new content - this is often associated with guest blogging. You find a target website (relevant to your site), you propose to write content that will be linked to your site in a way that makes sense, and you ask to publish it.

- Resource pages - Many blogs and websites have resource pages, which are lists of links that the website reader can find useful or interesting. In this case, you should contact the webmaster and request that a page of your website be listed as a resource.

- Brand Mentions - If someone has mentioned you without linking to you, ask them to bind you. It's so simple.

- Link in directories - There are many directories on the web that no one ever visit. But there are many useful directories, really animated by humans and that people actually use. If you find a good directory related to your industry, place your website or email the webmaster!

There are other types of links of course, but these are the most common links you can build at the beginning, even in the early years.

Search Keyword
Before you start building links, you will need to do keyword research in order to track search queries and discover the best link opportunities. Your keywords are part of the search phrase you are trying to rank. In our example, we would like to rank on "building business", "home renovation" and some other key phrases.

To know what people are looking for, however, you need to do some research. 
Finding the right keywords is important, and thousands and thousands of pages are written on keyword research each year. 
You can get good insights from tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Keyword.io, or Moz Keyword Explorer. 
Searching for keywords is absolutely essential for link building.

Prospecting
Once you have your keywords in place, you will need to go in prospecting. Link prospecting is simply "finding relevant websites", they are traditionally referred to as "target sites". These websites must be relevant to your website, both from the point of view of the sector of activity or the geographical area. When I find target websites, I usually do dozens of Google searches and enter my target sites in a spreadsheet. There, I list the URL of the target site, the contact information and the date on which I contacted the website. Link prospecting takes time, but it is one of the most relaxing and fun part of the link building process. It allows you to explore the web! You will find some sites that you have never seen before, and you might even discover some rather odd things along the way.

Sensitization
Once you have found your target sites, it's time to start the awareness process. 
Awareness simply refers to contacting someone who manages your target site. It can be a blogger, a journalist, a webmaster or any other person who has control over the site. When you communicate with them, simply ask for a link!

This is the hardest part of building links, because here is a harsh reality: nobody owes you anything.

People can do whatever they want with their own websites, and this often includes ignoring your link requests. Webmasters and bloggers have been so much solicited in recent years that they saturate! Provide them with good content, or make sure that the content you ask them to link is something their audience will love to read. Make sure you ask them to bind to something useful. Create a linkable item. Always remember that no one wants to link to a product page.

Stay competitive
This is the most difficult part. There are no real shortcuts, and it takes time and practice to succeed. If you want to be an effective link builder, you will have to spend hours there. Even if you build 6 relevant links in a month (and that's already very good!), You'll have to do even better next month. If you stop building links and your competitors are validating new links, you need not tell your work will be ruined.

You should also keep abreast of new Google algorithm changes and avoid spam at all costs. 
It's a never ending battle, but it's really worth it.

General advice
If you have already practiced all the points raised here, I applaud you. Link building is a great commitment, but it is also very effective. If you are willing to put time and effort into learning, practicing and progressing, your success will be evident.

Before concluding, here are some general tips:

- Do not be discouraged 
- Do not put all your eggs in the same basket - try to build different types of links and diversify your backlinks profile 
- Always maintain spreadsheets that tell you which sites you have applied to 
- Realize that even good links may take time to get you results 
- Always try to find out more about link building

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