SEO for beginners: Four ways to backlink like a pro
SEO, or search engine optimization, is one of the most important aspects of a successful website. However, it can also be one of the most confusing.
This blog post is designed to introduce beginners to the basics of SEO, with a focus on backlinking. We’ll cover what backlinking is, how to do it effectively, and some tips for getting started.
So, whether you’re just starting your online business ventures or you’re looking to improve your ranking in Google search results, read on for some valuable information.
What is a backlink?
If you are new to search engine optimization then the best place to start before we continue any further with the article would be to understand what a backlink is. To put it quite simply, a backlink is a link that is found on another website that points back to your website. In other words, a backlink is an incoming link to a page on your site, that is found on other websites.
Why are backlinks important? Because search engines like Google treat backlinks as a sign of credibility, and as such, the more backlinks a website has, the higher its ranking is likely to be.
Four ways to backlink like a pro
As Cozab explains on their website, one way to gain backlinks is to have link assets. Other ways include recycling broken links, guest posting, linking images, and more. Let’s look at each of these four methods in more detail.
1) Recycling broken links
Another very effective way of acquiring backlinks, albeit relatively unconventional, would be to attempt to recycle broken links. One benefit of doing this is the fact that your competitors probably won’t be using this strategy. The only downside to this is it can be particularly time-consuming; however, the payoff is well worth it.
Have you ever clicked on a link, only to be redirected to a 404 error? You would be surprised as to how many of these pages exist, and many sites don’t even know. As such, a great idea would be to message the site owners asking to replace the broken link with a link to your web page if the content is similar of course. All you need to do is use a backlink analysis tool and filter the “linked page status code” to a 404 error.
2) Guest posting
If you are looking to acquire high-quality backlinks then one of the best ways to achieve this would be through guest posting. If you are unfamiliar with the term guest posting is creating content that is hosted on another website or blog and has a link to your website within that article. Most websites will allow you to do this for free however some will charge you to have your article with the link on their site.
To guest post, you need to find opportunities, which you can do through various search phrases on Google, such as “your keyword + “guest post””. You can try different variations of this until you have found a few applicable sites.
The next step is to approach the site, which can be done by sending a pitch. Your pitch should include links to previously published work, a few title and topic ideas, and brief descriptions if the titles don’t allude to how the piece will read. Finally, when writing the content, it needs to match their style.
3) Linking images
Another relatively unconventional method of gaining backlinks would be to link to images. This method is going to become increasingly popular over the next few years since Google is now including images as search results when applicable.
As such, if you are taking great images and not just using stock images, you might find that your images land up on other sites. If this is the case, you need to ensure that those images link back to your site. More importantly, the sites that are hosting your linked image need to be of high quality, or at the very least, not shady.
4) Creating great content
Finally, one of the most consistent methods of gaining backlinks would be by creating great content. If you have heard the expression “content is king”, this is even more true with search engine optimization. Consider the primary purpose of search engines such as Google; they exist to answer the search queries of users.
If you are creating great, unique, and worthwhile content, you will be answering those questions and you will be rewarded with higher rankings. In addition to this, if your content is as great as you think it is, people will want to link to your content as a way to make their content more credible.
