Link building is one of the most important off-page SEO techniques. Links from authoritative, niche-specific websites have a great impact on search results. But with millions of different websites and blogs out there, how we can decide which one of these is good for placing our link?
For this to know, we need to have advanced knowledge in link prospecting and link scaling processes, because the process is the thing that separates the wheat from the chaff in the SEO world.
Of course, like with any type of SEO activity, we have white and black hat techniques we can use for these tasks. In this article we will only focus on white hat techniques, so you can forget about forum spamming, do-follow comments, and even Pitchbox.
Elements Of Link Building Process:
Each link-building campaign starts with mapping the important phases. Here is the link of key groupings you should have in mind:
Strategy Creation– the first thing you should do, is determining what types of links to the source. When it comes to the strategy you should also learn basic things about websites and blogs you are going to target, have a basic understanding of the quality of different types of links, and of course, determine what types of links you are going to attack during your campaign.
Keywords Picking– To find relevant websites in some specific niche, link builders need to determine the right keywords that they are going to use during link prospecting. These keywords can be found on Google Analytics or even better by using some more specific keyword picking tools like AdWords Google Keyword Planner for example.
Keyword picking usually requires you to make keyword lists. This can be done in Excel, but most link builders like to use Google Docs spreadsheet software, because it allows them to share their lists, with other members of the link building team or their clients.
Prospecting Process– in this phase you will search for link opportunities and choose the ones that seem the most authoritative and accepting towards your links. This is a very elaborate part of link building and many people use link prospecting tools that help them to choose the right websites and blogs out of millions of others.
Some of the basic knowledge you should have for conducting an efficient link prospecting process includes knowledge of search engine commands, advanced use of link prospecting tools, ability to find website contacts, and of course the advanced knowledge of Excel or some other spreadsheet program.
Prospect Outreach- This phase includes a crucial moment when link builders contact bloggers and website administrators. They need to have a different approach when contacting various types of link opportunities.
Bloggers require a more personal approach while for government, educational, and news websites you need to write emails that sound much more official. Creating email templates can also be very useful, especially if you are planning to contact a long list of bloggers and website administrators.
Creating Content- Most link-building strategies include content creation. Free content is used as a medium that includes links and places them on desired web pages. Content that you create for purpose of link building needs to be of good-quality, interesting, useful, and innovative.
It also needs to be created in accordance with all prospect website’s rules. Finding creative and cheap content creators is one of the most important parts of the link-building process. Of course, most bloggers and small-time online entrepreneurs decide to create content themselves.
Link Building Team:
Bloggers and beginner web administrators mainly do the whole link building themselves, but if you want to lift this process to a more professional level you will need to assign more people to it. This is how usual SEO agency division of labor looks like:
Lead SEO– work of Lead SEO includes tasks like website analysis, content analysis, keyword tracking, and project management.
Link Prospector- He/she does web research, finds link opportunities, and adds them to Excel or Google Docs spreadsheet. This person is usually responsible for the whole link prospecting process.
Outreach Manager- The outreach manager is a sweet talker, and his/her job is to contact bloggers and web administrators, negotiate with them and determine topics, which he/she will forward to the Content Creator.
Content Creator- this position is usually taken by one or a few freelance writers, designers, video editors, etc. They create content on-demand and add links to it in a natural way.
It doesn’t matter whether you are building links for your own website or for your clients, link building process is definitely one of the most important tasks each SEO expert team needs to do in order to boost a website’s visibility and conversion.
Automating this process allows link building team to devote their attention to the most important link opportunities and tie more good-quality links to their website or blog.
Conclusion:
I hope you have enjoyed the strategies and if you have more tips for white hat link building so please do comment to more engage with this topic.
Prasenjit Dutta Chowdhury, Known as a @digitalprasen is a digital marketing expert, passionate about SEO & content marketing.
He is a SEO and Content Marketing Coach, Consultant, Blogger, Author and Expert for Roofers!
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