If you've had any exposure to SEO, then you'll know the importance of link building (basically, links act like votes of confidence in your website, increasing the chances you'll rank well for your keywords of choice).
However, building backlinks certainly isn't easy - especially if you're a smaller website with a more limited budget.
With that in mind, how can a small website build backlinks successfully? Here are a few strategies you might like to consider:
There are a number of different ways a small blog can successfully build backlinks. Here’s a “cross section” of ideas:
- Focus on creating great content. I know this has been ‘done to death’ but having good content does help increase the chances of naturally/organically picking up links, without having to go out there and promote for them. For example, I’ve built a couple of sites that picked up good quantities of backlinks through the strength of the content alone … I never once asked for a backlink. Instead I identified problems that my audience had, and then provided detailed answers/solutions. Use something like Answer The Pubic to identify questions to which you can provide answers - see my video below on using Answer
Find content that is already getting backlinks from other sources, do a better version, and then promote that. This approach is commonly referred to as ‘Skyscraper’ content, as popularised by Brian Dean from Backlinko (although presumably the technique predates his discussion of it).
Broken link building. This is where you identify broken links to an old resource, and then offer the webmaster your version instead. I think this has been done to death in some respects, although there’s probably still a lot of opportunity in it if you approach it right.
Easily accessible backlinks. Some platforms and websites (like directories) let anyone create backlinks. These will generally never be as high value as quality editorial links that you have to work for … but for smaller blogs in less competitive niches they could be all you need to get ahead. Another place to look is Web 2.0s - these are basically platforms that allow you to build "mini sites" for free.
If you want to know how a small website can build backlinks, then hopefully the answers above are helpful.
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