Why Do We Need Links and How They Help to Promote the Site
To effectively promote your site to the top of the search results, you should use eternal links on authoritative resources.
Links are called eternal because they are published once and remain on the web resource forever. They can be without anchors, for example: buy, more details, more, etc. Anchor links usually contain a keyword and allow the user to understand the information they will receive by clicking on them. Such hyperlinks affect search rankings.
When crawling a website, the crawler considers the number of external hyperlinks leading to the site. The more references to a web resource, the more authoritative it is. Hyperlinks drive referral traffic and boost sales. Google notes that links are the #1 ranking factor when paired with good content.
However, do not think that it is enough to buy more on the link exchange for a promotion. Google’s Penguin filter will identify spam mentions and will not count them in the ranking. Read the related article – Algorithms That Affect SEO. The quality of the donor site is most important.
Where to Place Links and How to Evaluate a Donor Site
When choosing a location, it is important to understand how it fits the specifics of your business. The closer the donor site is to your topic. The more traffic the link will give and the higher its weight will be. You can find resources on where to place a hyperlink using the Link Building Tool from Semrush and LinkChecker.
Enter the keywords you plan to use to promote and the chosen region.
SEMrush
There are situations when the program cannot find donors automatically. You need to specify a site with similar topics.
SEMrush
A selection of donor sites is ready.
SEMrush
Not all sites will work for you. The list may include resources of competitors who will definitely not post links to your site.
Add suitable sites to In progress. There will be an opportunity to contact the owners of web resources and agree on the terms of content placement.
SEMrush
You can see where competitors are posting links to their resources through the SERP. Read the related article – SEO Competitive Analysis. To do link research, quote a competitor’s domain name in your search. Your hyperlinking ideas will be ready.
You can use Google research tips and find links to competitors’ sites using the link format request: www.moz.com.
Completely different resources were at the top. Once you have found the sites where you plan to place the hyperlinks, assess their quality. This is one of the longest and most complex processes.
Pay attention to the following parameters:
1. Domain rating
The web resources that are engaged in the massive placement of links have a low rating. Google indicates that selling and buying links is against the rules in its building tips.
The resource will fall under sanctions, and the search engine will not consider such a link. You can check the authority of the donor site using Semrush, MozTrust, Serpstat, etc.
2. Analysis of requests for which the donor site is at the top
You should post links to a resource that is highly ranked for the keywords and relevant to your business. If the site ranks poorly for key searches, it is better to find another one. You can check positions using Semrush and Serpstat.
Serpstat
3. Compliance of the resource with your topic
You can place a link to a website selling fishing tackle. However, it is unlikely that it will drive you traffic if you are selling wedding dresses.
4. Domain geography
When promoting on the regional market, it is important that the domain is registered in your country. For the international market, this item can be skipped.
5. Resource content structure
The quality of the site is indicated by a logical structure, content, and the presence of headings. If the site is designed for robots, there is no point in wasting time. You can do analytics manually, but it is better to use Netpeak Checker when working with a large number of resources.
6. Study of the link mass of the donor resource
It is important that your donor’s links are of high quality. Analyze anchors and domains that link to your site. If you find a large number of sites with a low level of trust and purchased hyperlinks, then refuse to cooperate with this resource. It is important that all links look natural.
Also, pay special attention to the growth dynamics of hyperlinks. It should be as uniform as possible. The presence of a sharp increase or decrease indicates artificiality.
Link analysis can be done using Semrush and Serpstat.
Serpstat
7. Update date
The more often updates occur on a web resource, the more often it is visited by a search robot. A site that has not been modernized for the last six to 12 months will be a bad donor. Checking can be performed in Netpeak Checker via Last Modified or manually for each site. Netpeak Checker shows change dates for websites with an HTTP header.
8. Popup, an affiliate advertising
Google loves sites that advertise for its clients. However, this is not the case on its own. A site that is overloaded with ads and pop-ups will be considered spam.
9. Web resource security
Your resource should not be under the sanctions of the search engine, use phishing, cloaking, doorway pages, and other black-hat SEO tools. You can check a website for hacking and penalties using Netpeak Checker.
How Much Does It Cost to Post a Link?
Placement of hyperlinks can be free when the resource shares your content or paid. Google does not approve of buying and selling links. But, if you did it as naturally as possible, then the money was not wasted and the purchased hyperlink will be taken into account by the robot.
The cost of placing on various resources varies from $5 to $1000. The price can be different for different companies and depends on the greed of the resource administrator. Some sites have a clear price list that they will send upon request.
White Hat Link Building Tips
In order for the search robot to reach links on your site, they need to be properly formatted.
The hyperlink consists of:
- Anchor tag “a”.
- Hyperlink referral location “href” that specifies the URL.
- Visible Link text.
- Closing tag </a>.
It is formatted in the following way: <a href=32https://linkchecker.pro32> LinkChecker </a>. The user will only see the visible LinkChecker text.
Google is only positive about quality links that are placed for people. It is strictly forbidden to use hidden mentions. Namely:
- White font on a white background.
- Close the link with a picture.
- Move text outside the screen using CSS.
- Use of too small font for text.
- Hide the link with invisible symbols.
The ban on hidden text does not apply to cases when JS images are described, etc. It may seem that building a link profile is a simple process. This is far from the case. It should be clear what you need links for. The correct answer is to increase awareness. Good articles that popularize the product will eventually start giving referral traffic one way or another.
Before placing hyperlinks, you must have a strategy in place. Its components can be:
1. Valuable content
The best way is to publish content that other resources want to share. Do not forget to ask them to link to you. Be sure to keep a blog where you post useful tips on using your product and make reviews. Engage well-known experts and influencers in your industry in creating content, this will add value to your publications. Be a newsmaker but keep trends in mind.
Google Trends and Google Consumer Survey allow you to instantly track topics that are relevant in your niche and be the first to create unique content. Read the related article – How to use Google Trends for SEO in 2020.
Add specific data to articles and do your research among buyers. Such content will allow you to get high-quality natural links to the site and increase traffic.
2. Quality product
Produce good products or provide professional services. Authoritative resources will write about you. Everyone has seen the top 10 reviews, etc. You can be in their place.
3. PR
Arrange interviews with reputable publications with company top officials and top employees. Invite journalists to present innovative solutions and products. By doing this, you will promote the company and get mentions on the sites of authoritative resources.
4. Guest blogging
You or your specialists can act as experts on the trusted resource. The resource itself will give a link to the site.
5. Clear description of the types and content of links
You will need links to the home page, product pages, hyperlinks that contain the company name, and keywords.
When promoting your site, regularly monitor the quality of the link mass. You can use the services mentioned above like Semrush, Serpstat, etc. If the rating of the donor site deteriorates or low-quality links are detected, you can send a request to remove the hyperlink.
The best way to build quality backlinks is by choosing reputable donor sites or creating a product that people will want to write about and content that will be shared.
