Backlinks are one of the most critical keys to SEO. A backlink is an incoming link from another website. Backlinks are considered as “votes’ for a website on Google. The more backlinks you have, the higher your page will rank in search engines.
Backlinks show how credible and useful your website is. Backlinks from high-quality websites that have authority can benefit your site significantly. Whereas, low-quality backlinks from spammy websites can actually hurt your website’s ranking.
So getting high-quality backlinks becomes crucial to your SEO strategy. Knowing how to get those quality backlinks is vital to getting your site to rank in the search engines. The more quality and high authority backlinks you have, the better off your website will be.
In this post, we will show you 10 easy ways to get backlinks without spending money.
1. Guest Posting on Authority Blogs
You may think that guest posting is just helping another website out by guest posting on their website, but it’s actually a two-way street, and you will be helping each other out mutually.
Guest posting is different from ghostwriting because ghostwriters will not get any credit for their posts. Guest posting allows you to get credits for the article by showing your profile a the end of the post. Not only does the profile helps you to establish yourself as an authority, it also provides a backlink back to your website.
Publishing on an authority website will increase the reach and view of your post as Google tends to favor high authority websites. Your post will also show up in higher in organic searches for the website you have written for compared if you publish it on your own new blog. This might help generate more views for your website.
There is a lot of online competition out there, and you need to stand out from the crowd. Guest posting on a high authority website will considerably build your reputation.
It can take s0me time to find guest posting opportunities. An easy way is to search on Google. Type in “Guest Posting” or “Write For Us” to get results. You can also add your niche. Examples are “Freelance Writing” “Health and Wellness” or “Finances”
The internet is filled with guest posting opportunities on high authority websites, you just have to spend some time to reach out to the website owner.
2. Blog and Forum Comments
People go to blogs to get information. But sometimes they may need more information then what the post may have written. This is where you help them out.
First, look for blogs in your niche. Follow them on their sites. This includes video bloggers. And then, you start leaving relevant comments. And they need to be connected to the post you are commenting on or else it may get seen as spam. Most websites have a comment or question section. They also include asking and answering questions, “tell your story” and ideas sections. Sometimes the answer you want to give is too long for a comment section. So leave a summary and a backlink to your website with the information.
3. Broken Links
Look for pages that are old or blank and give off a 404 error reading. You will want to find resource pages for your niche and check them for 404 errors. You do not have to click on every link yourself, which is very time-consuming. To check for broken links, you can use the “Check My Links” browser for Chrome extension, and they will find them for you.
Once you have found a broken link, ask politely if they will use yours instead. Make sure your content is relevant to the topic getting discussed.
4. Link Reclaiming
Other sites will sometimes mention your business or name without a link to your site. There is a tool to use called “Buzzsumo” to find them. This will let you know every time you get mentioned online. What you need to do is send them an e-mail thanking them for promoting your business and compliment them and then ask them if they would include your link. Politeness is the key. Don’t be pushy.
5. Google+
Create a Google+ profile account, which is very easy to do. Add your link to it. This is an extremely simple way to get a powerful backlink to your site.
When you get logged in, it will show as a no-follow link. But there will be people who find it and are not logged in and will get to see it as a do-follow link. (which is what you want) Your profile can also show up in search engine results, and people may want to follow it.
6. Create Quality Content
To guest post, replace broken links, ask for links all require quality content. Quality content will mean more people will mention your site. Your content must be worthy of a backlink and must be unique, and add value to the website you want a backlink from
Your content must enhance the user’s experience, and it is the most significant way you can control the possibility of getting a backlink. This is something that ranks highly in Google’s algorithm. Google wants users to have the best possible experience possible when they suggest websites from their ranking system. The saying goes, “Content is King,” and you need to produce content accordingly.
7. Spy On Your Competitors
The chances are that your competitors have great backlinks. The simplest way to find them is to follow them on social media. That is where they are going to produce their best content. This will give you hints on what the companies content is. Google Alerts is one other way you can keep track of their new material. Your goal is to write longer and better content to get the same backlinks that they get.
8. Utilize Lists
People love lists. This form of content is hugely popular. The longer and more abundant the content is the better. If you see someone has a list of 10 items, then you may want to write a list with 20 items. This will make people want to link to your site more and give it a higher authority,
This type of post makes it easy to read because it is well organized, and paragraphs are shorter, and it will hold a person’s attention better. You can also write longer content a lot easier.
9. Pitching
Pitching is the easiest way to get a backlink. You simply ask for one. You may not get it, but one crucial thing you must always remember with backlinks you have to give something to get something. You need to offer them something that is to their advantage. They want the same as you, which is excellent and quality content. Let them know you created a backlink for them on your content and give them the link.
You need to keep your pitch short since most people get hundreds of e-mails a day. But at the very same time, you really don’t want to leave out important and relevant information in your pitch. One vital thing to get your pitch read and not end up in the trash or spam folder is to have an eye-catching subject line. You want your e-mail to get read, and this will help you out big time in reaching that goal.
Your pitch is vital in deciding if you get a backlink or not. But remember one thing, don’t be pushy or desperate sounding as this will turn a person off to what you have written.
10. Internal Backlinks
Internal links are just as important as external backlinks. Internal backlinks help to pass link juice to your inner pages. It also helps to improve your website user experience. Google cares deeply about user experience, and anything that makes the user experience better is a plus in Google’s determination on how to rank a website in their search engine results.
Internal backlinks are simply links that are on your website that directs users to another part of your website. But do not overload your site with too many links. You should keep them below 100. And of course, it depends on the size of your website. The larger ones get more links then smaller ones would receive.
As you can see, there are so many ways to get backlinks to your website. They are all free and easy to implement. Getting good quality backlinks is vital for getting your website recognized and ranked by search engines. Try these examples, and you will be on your way to ranking on Google and other search engines. If you put the work into it, you will gradually see results.