by Francois Muscat | Oct 2, 2020 | Link-building, SEO
Building good links is not easy, but definitely still worthwhile. We all remember the days before Google started to clamp down on link building in 2012, when generating traffic off other websites could be done without too much effort. But being in an era where customers are sensitive to brand endorsement, link building is now more vital than ever before and certainly not dead.
Why link building still matters
Link building is still crucial to any SEO strategy. If you want to create valuable backlinks, white hat SEO is the way to go. You will rank higher on SERPs if you curate backlinks from sites that are considered to be credible, as domain authority is vital to ranking in Google’s algorithm.
Social media marketing has become a mecca for link building, as one influential person sharing your content could lead to thousands of impressions and traffic. But you’ll strike the jackpot if you’re getting that content published or mentioned in other articles – because just like that, you have the potential of creating a valuable backlink to your site. If you’re generating highly engaging content or speaking to your identified audience, thousands of people could be sharing your links, and in turn, be doing the link building for you.
When it comes to content marketing, always ask yourself what you can do to be different or better. Hundreds of people could already have created content on your topic, so look at theirs and improve on it. By being better and different in your approach, your content will be considered to be fresh and more likely to be picked up when pitching your ideas. You can create and achieve backlinks through simple (albeit somewhat time-consuming) tactics, such as manual outreach to others in your industry to see whether they would want to feature your content, or by being a guest on a podcast, or even by getting in touch with website owners with broken links.
If you want more advice from a digital marketing agency on effective link building strategies, contact WSI OMS today.
by Marelise da Silva | Apr 6, 2020 | Link-building, SEO
Link building forms an integral part of a successful SEO strategy for any and every business out there. However, there is an art to getting it right and ensuring that the amount that you spend is worth every cent in the long run. Below are five great tips for improving your link building ROI going forward.
Keep an Eye out for Broken Links
Once you have created a number of positive backlinks to your company website, you should never just forget about them and continue creating more. It is essential for the stability of your rankings to keep checking to ensure that all of the created links are working properly. If you notice any broken links or links that are directing users to the incorrect web page, report them to the website owners or relevant webmasters and request that the issues be fixed. And, there is no need to track links manually, either. Majestic is a wonderful tool to use.
Use Competitors’ Links to Your Advantage
Not sure what direction to take when it comes to content marketing and creating new content? Dive into your competitors’ high-performing links, with the help of tools such as Ahrefs, and incorporate them as citations in a new article.
Get Important Sites Involved in Your Link Building Strategy
Has one of your competitors managed to create backlinks via a reputable website that is not currently linking back to your company website? Get busy creating a relationship with the site and crafting content that will earn you a backlink, too.
Create Guest Posts
There are many websites out there that will accept guest posts from businesses. Sometimes they charge a fee to publish the post containing your link, but many will publish for free if the content provided is exciting enough (and not promotional in nature).
Turn Mentions Into Backlinks
Use a tool like LinkResearchTools to discover your brand’s various mentions from around the web. Then contact each relevant webmaster to request that the mention is turned into a backlink.
Here at WSI OMS, we are a digital marketing agency that is fully equipped to help you maximise your link building, social media marketing and SEO strategy. Contact us today.
by Francois Muscat | Mar 16, 2020 | Link-building
Google’s algorithm reviews over 200 factors when ranking a page. Link building is one of the quickest and most effective ways to help your website rank on Google.
Top 5 tips to create a link building strategy
1. Build relationships
People are more likely to link to your website if they have a relationship with you. Before asking anyone for backlinks, start building relationships with businesses, bloggers and influencers in your industry.
2. Create a blog
The benefits of blogging can be an entire article on its own. However, when it comes to link building, posting frequent high quality content with backlinks to your site can work wonders.
3. Write a guest post
Craft an article about a common problem faced in your industry, offer a solution and include a backlink to your website. By posting this article on a credible website, you not only build a link, but you build a high quality one.
4. Give a testimonial
Write a testimonial for a client or company you’ve worked with and post it to either their website or a website relevant to your industry. Be sure to include a link to your website!
5. List your company website in an online directory
If you can find a credible, industry-specific online directory, be sure to list your website. Not only will this drive traffic to your website, but it will also help you rank on Google with your link.
At WSI OMS, we are experts at developing cutting edge link building strategies that improve SEO. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you develop a link building strategy that will have you on the first page of Google in no time.
by Francois Muscat | May 13, 2019 | Link-building
The goal is to boost your website’s SEO and organic rankings with the help of high quality backlinks. The question is, how do you actually go about landing those high quality backlinks? The secret is to find a way in which to build beneficial relationships with journalists, editors and content contributors who have the power to publish your content and, of course, link back to your website on various respected platforms. Here’s how Twitter can help with this:
Optimise Your Profile
Journalists and editors will take you much more seriously if your Twitter profile is complete, informative and, most importantly, grammatically correct! Give both professional and personal info on your profile and be sure to list your contact details as well. Also, ensure that you are regularly active on the platform and use your timeline as an opportunity to really showcase your personality.
Follow the Right People
Twitter lists make it easy to keep up to date with your prospects and their Twitter activity. Keep journalists who have published or shown interest in your content in a separate list to those with whom you would still like to build a relationship.
Engage
The key here is not to come across as though you want something from those that you engage with. Try your best to be authentic in all of your interactions. ‘Like’ the tweets that you truly connect with, retweet the tweets that you agree with and reply to tweets that really spark something inside of you. If your reply is genuine and contributes something of value, there’s a good chance that it could be the start of a conversation and, hopefully, a solid, mutually-beneficial relationship between you and the original poster.
Remember – it is also all about timing. Don’t send a pitch through to a journalist after you just had your first two-minute conversation with them. Take your time to really build and work on that relationship so that trust is forged before asking for any favours.
When it comes to SEO and link building, WSI OMS can help make your life easier. Just as search engine optimisation, web design and social media marketing experts, we have the tools and expertise necessary to make sure that your brand really stands out. For more information about our services, do not hesitate to get in touch with our team.
by Marelise da Silva | May 4, 2017 | Link-building
The age old saying ‘No press is bad press’ definitely doesn’t extend to link building! When it comes to SEO and creating external links, there is a massive divide between those that will help boost your rankings and those that will cause them to take a knock. Here are our top link building no-no’s that every business should know:
You may think that this is a simple way in which to fool Google, but rest assured that it won’t take the global search engine long to uncover your black hat strategy. With constant algorithm updates, there’s no more hiding – and once discovered, your SEO rankings are going to plummet quite drastically indeed. In short, it just isn’t worth it.
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Steer Clear of Low-Quality PR Sites
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how interesting or well-written your press release is, if you distribute it onto every PR site that you can find, it is going to have a detrimental effect on your SEO. Be very selective about the PR sites that you choose. Remember that since the Google Penguin algorithm update, the distribution of content to free PR websites is strictly frowned upon.
Before recent updates were implemented, link pyramids were a common link building strategy that worked for a while. However, now that Google has improved its ability to detect this type of activity, it can quickly identify these pyramids as spam. Yes, you guessed it, it definitely won’t do your rankings any favours!
Need help with mastering the art of link building? As a leading digital marketing agency, WSI OMS is here to help. Contact us today for more info on our wide range of services.
by Francois Muscat | Jul 7, 2016 | Link-building, SEO
Link building has always been a big factor in ranking at the top of search engines, but like with most things internet based, the process has changed over the years. It’s important to know why links, especially inbound links, should remain a big part of your SEO strategy.
Google states there are over 200 ranking factors, yet content and links rate amongst the highest. Just a few years ago, the focus was on the quantity of links, but today it’s more about quality and trust. There are several reasons why links are important, the first being it’s a vote of confidence – when one company links to another’s website, it’s them saying yours is a quality resource. Your ideal links should be from trusted and reputable websites, offering relevance. Search engines assume that quality websites link to other quality websites.
Another reason link building is vital for your SEO, it’s part of a long term strategy. Quality links, over time, will strengthen your position and build up your reputation. Domain authority, while not directly impacting search engine rankings, is a good indicator of which key words will push up your website rankings. As you build up more quality links, your domain authority increases too.
Over 50% of B2B marketers say that SEO has the biggest impact on lead generation, so link building can’t be ignored. So how do you get external websites to link to yours? Here are a few ways:
- Create compelling content that people will want to reference and link to
- Submit your news to press releases and submit your site to directories
- Ask people you know and people you work with to link to your site
- Put your product, service or offering in front of influential bloggers
Link building this way can be arduous and risky – you have no control of what other people say about your product or service, or the quality of their websites. There is a safer way to build links to specific pages you want to improve search ranking for, and that’s through your anchor text. Search engines take into account the actual text a linking page uses to talk about your content. Building external links to your site is important, but focusing some of energy on internal links with rich anchor text to targeted pages, can provide you a big boost in ranking.
If you’d like to find out more on SEO and link building for your company website, contact us – we know all about the power of quality links and would like to help drive more traffic to your site.
