​SEO agencies — new ones, established ones, and would-be ones — have the same goal in mind: to successfully drive leads to a solid online presence. They combine effective business strategies and digital marketing trends to boost the online growth of clients. And, of course, every SEO agency will stress the importance of link building in reaching their goal.

The trick to link building and its power over a digital marketing campaign isn’t a secret. In fact, anyone worth their salt in the industry will tell you that link building is a necessary process for increasing website traffic.

Link Building as an Integral Part of any SEO Strategy

Search engine optimization is all about lead generation; it focuses on increasing web traffic and improving rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). Meanwhile, link building is the digital marketing process of having external pages link to your website. It is one of the many ways that SEO providers bring in more site visitors and higher web traffic.

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Specifically, link building is a powerful SEO tool because of the following:

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• It builds domain and page authority, convincing both Google and consumers to trust your brand.
  
  
• It drives referral traffic from popular or authoritative websites that add the link to their content.
  
  
• It secures long-term exposure when incorporated in reputable directories and resource websites that people still visit years down the road.
  
  
• It will foster customer relationships because of the high chance that people intrigued by the page would want to see the source and, eventually, subscribe to the newsletter or interact through social media.
  
  
• It increases brand name exposure and, consequently, brand recognition through different pieces of content.
  
  
  

Additionally, link building has a direct effect on a website’s SERP rankings: the more quality backlinks your website has, the higher it will rank on search engines. In other words, your online credibility increases when more links direct to your website. This is because the number of links that lead back to your website is one of Google’s quantifiable indicators of how useful your website is to other people.

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Given its importance in boosting Google ranking and general website traffic, link building needs to bring multiple skills together to make an SEO strategy that much more effective. It should be a careful combination of content creation, old-fashioned marketing, programming, and psychology to intrigue viewers and convince them to visit a certain web page.

While search engine optimization does not revolve around links, Google also does take note of how much backlinks a web page accumulates. Digital marketers, thus, put a lot of effort into link building and other link-related factors. They make sure links go back to authoritative web pages with content that both the Google algorithm and site visitors can trust.

Fresh, Quality Content Brings in Backlinks

Relevant, frequently updated content is the hallmark of a trustworthy website. In this case, it means content that appeals to the target market and gets the approval of search engine algorithms at the same time. You will know if the content produced for a certain campaign is relevant if it does the following:

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• The content increases traffic on search engines.
  
  
• The content establishes that the brand is an expert in its field.
  
  
• The content influences readers to check out the brand’s products or services.
  
  

With relevant content, you are one step closer to bringing in targeted traffic — traffic that turns into leads and, eventually, into sales. The next step, naturally, is to make sure the content uses authoritative links that prove its credibility and includes mapped keywords that make it easier for your target market to find on Google.

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Once you get the hang of relevant content creation, you will bring in natural backlinks that Google will approve. This gives it a higher possibility of moving up the ranks of search engine results pages and boosting a brand’s online visibility.

Building Solid Backlinks Out of Your Content and Through Outreach

Link building is not the easiest thing to do, so you shouldn’t simply be satisfied with producing great content. There are many ways to approach the matter, from listing websites on a trustworthy directory and recovering dead backlinks to monitoring competitor brands. If you plan on launching your own link-building campaign, start with these steps and then build on from there:

Step 1: Review your website.

Before you do anything to promote your website, make sure it is up-to-date. Remember: you’ll have more links direct to your site if it is informational and user-friendly.

Step 2: Audit your existing links.

After optimizing your website, take a look at the existing links. Audit all link-related reports to figure out why certain links are successful as well as to find out what types of links you still need to secure.

Step 3: Review competitor links.

Auditing your existing links is important, but you also need to review competitor links. This way, if they are doing better in certain ways, you can study their techniques and find a way to go about it.

Step 4: Perform outreach.

Once you’re ready with a streamlined website and links, it’s time to perform outreach. In other words, get the word out to people you know can give you great linking opportunities.

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These seemingly modest steps go a long way in promoting your link-building efforts. Is it going to be enough, though? Getting the attention of online influencers certainly makes the process easier, but it isn’t a one-time deal. Inevitably, link building will require relationship-building efforts.

Fostering Good Ties with Niche Community Influencers

A brand will develop a better connection with the target market by maintaining a good relationship with niche-related communities. The close relationship, in the long run, gets people interested in what the brand has to say. And if the brand shares insights through relevant and reliable content, people would be more than willing to share it with their respective social network or communities.

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This exposure increases the chances of engaging influential bloggers and journalists who can turn heads in a certain direction.

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With that in mind, consider the following link-building tips that utilize quality content and influencers to strengthen a campaign.

First: find influential people in the brand’s industry.

The target market includes the people who potentially contribute to website traffic and online sales. Often, however, these people stumble upon a brand because somebody recommended it. Or, to be technical, they stumble upon a website because proper link building moved it up on search engine results pages.

Either way, influential bloggers and journalists have a hand in boosting traffic. They may recommend a certain brand or product to their community. Alternatively, they may contribute to the backlinks a brand accumulates.

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Finding influential people in a brand’s industry to spread awareness, therefore, is a massive help in strengthening a one’s online presence.

Second: talk about what influential bloggers and journalists are currently into.

Influential bloggers and journalists eagerly share material that they care about and that they know to be credible. So, after discovering the influencers in a certain industry or community, find out what they care about.

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When you know what they care about and what they are looking for in content, you will have an easier time generating content that pushes the right buttons and getting on their radar.

And third: publish shareable content. 

It’s not enough for your target market to find your content appealing; influencers should also be convinced that it is something worth sharing. Website traffic may increase engagement with your target market, but remember that influencers are the ones who draw attention to the site.

As such, publish content that influencers are willing to share.

And as an additional tip, make sure the content has Share Triggers — scientifically-backed psychological principles that entice people to share your content and link it to their own. These triggers make a better connection with the target audience, causing them to increase shares, backlinks, and traffic to a website. 

These tips are simple yet effective ways of improving your link building strategy through content and influencers.

Partner with Professionals

What is SEO without link building? Get in touch with a reliable digital marketing agency, today, to discuss all the possibilities that effective link building opens. A knowledgeable and experienced team will give you practical and actionable advice on boosting website traffic in no time.