Powerful Link Building Strategies To Build A Strong Backlink Profile

Link building is critical when it comes to boosting your SEO rankings.

But did you know not all backlinks have the same power? So just before we jump into link building strategies, it’s important you understand what makes one backlink worth more than another.

A good backlink has:
Relevancy: The more relevant to the topic you’re writing about, the better.
Domain Strength: The more well-known the site, the more powerful the link.
Page Strength: The more well-known the page, the more link juice you will have.
Anchor text: The more accurate the anchor text (text your link is attached to) is to the topic of the article, the better.

If your backlinks are lacking in these key areas, it will have no impact on search results.

That’s why, to help you out, I’ve compiled three powerful link building strategies like:

• Competitor backlink analysis
• Broken link building
• Testimonial backlinks

…to help you score backlinks from strong relevant sites.

This way, you can create a powerful backlink profile.

Let’s go!

Competitor Backlink Analysis

One of the best ways to acquire high-quality links is to spy on your competitors and steal their backlinking strategy.

In fact, it’s one of the best strategies when it comes to win rate and the time invested to win each link.

Here’s how to start.

1. Make a list of your competitors
Compile a list of 5 competitors (larger or smaller) that rank for the same keywords you want to rank for.

2. Analyse their backlinks with Ahrefs
With their Site Explorer, enter your competitor’s link, and click the Orange search button.

To your left, click on the Backlinks button.

You can organize the backlinks by clicking on the Link type button in the bar above.
The categories include:
* Follow
* Governmental
* Educational
* Editorial

3. Export the list of URLs and work backwards
Make sure the URLs are saved into a spreadsheet. Once you have your list, open each backlink in a separate tab. From here, think about what your competitor did to gain that link.

You should ask yourself:
Was it because of high quality content?
Was it because they provided something that is unique?

The more you reverse engineer your competitor’s backlinking strategy, the better you’ll understand the process.

You’ll also uncover new opportunities and gain a better understanding of the type of content that gains the most links.

Broken Link Building

Links often break and don’t work for one reason or another.

Unfortunately, most website owners don’t know when their links are broken. This can damage their site’s:
– User Experience
– Reputation
– SEO

However, broken links can also be a great opportunity for you!

By informing the website owner of their broken link, you can:
– Develop a relationship with the website owner
– Add value to them
– Gain a high-quality backlink

Here’s how to start:

1. Define a Target Website
First, define the type of sites you’d like to find a broken link and gain backlinks from. The best sites are generally personal blogs and small companies as the owners of these sites would be grateful for your help and will thank you with a link.

2. Finding the Broken Links
When you have built a list of desirable websites, you can search for broken links.

You can use Check My Links, a Chrome Extension that can identify active and broken links on a page.

Alternatively, you can enter the site into Ahrefs. It will list out all the broken links on the website.

3. Contacting the Blog Manager
When you’re contacting the blog manager, your first goal is to create a relationship and build trust.

If you have a relevant link to replace the broken link, let them know about it. But if you don’t, focus on fixing the existing broken link. You’ll find many more opportunities down the track to request a link.

Remember, don’t contact them to get a link. Do it to help them have a great page and polished user experience for their readers.

Testimonial Backlinks

Did you know that you can easily earn a powerful homepage link to your site by reaching out and offering positive testimonials?

For example:
Here’s my Surfer SEO Testimonial, which included a backlink to my homepage.

Below are a few more examples of how testimonial link building helped me gain high-quality homepage links to quality domains.

Here’s how you can get started:

1. Generate a list of target services and products
First, identify the site for services and products you’ve used that you can provide testimonials for.

Ideally, the website should:
– Be relevant to your niche
– Have existing testimonials

These products and services can be the ones you’re currently using in your business. If you’re stuck, you can look at other services/products people in the same niche use.

2. Find the right person to pitch to
Sometimes you can use the contact form or write for us page on the website. Other times there are submission forms. But if you need to identify the right email contact, you can use tools like Find That Lead or Hunter to contact the right person.

3. Send them your pitch
Before writing the testimonial, pitch the company. Keep your email pitch short & simple

Make sure you:
– Introduce yourself
– Tell them how the tool has helped you
– Provide specific results
– Ask if you can put together a testimonial

4. Write the perfect testimonial
Once they agree, you can put together an amazing testimonial by including:
– What you liked the most
– How the product or service helped you
– Specific results
– Your personal recommendation

Bonus Link Building Strategies

If you’re keen to try out a few other link building strategies, here are a few other options:

1. Crowdfunding:
You can buy high da backlinks or build it by donating to a crowdfunding project via:

– Donor links: Pages that publish the details of all donors, including a link to the donor’s website.
– Package links: Links that are given amongst other things if you donate a set amount of cash.

2. Hosting/Sponsoring Events:
Event link building is a great way to boost your backlink profile.

There are two ways you can do this:
1. Host an Event: Create an event where a third-party event site links back.

2. Sponsor an Event: Sponsor an event within your niche and gain a link as a sponsor.

3. Resource Pages:
Many websites have a resource page that lists products and guides they use. By offering highly valuable and extremely useful evergreen content, they can feature you on the resource page and you can earn a valuable backlink.

Rounding Up
If you want to improve your SEO rank, you need to have a strong backlink profile.

Ideally, you gain backlinks from sites that:
– Are relevant to your niche
– Have high domain strength
– Are from well-known pages
– Have accurate anchor text

Pick 3 link building basics strategies you want to use this year and be persistent with your efforts.

Master them and you’ll see results in no time!