If you want your website to rank higher on Google and have your sites set on page one of the search results, building backlinks is an integral part of the process. In fact, according to OptinMo nster, the sites with the most backlinks tend to rank higher on Google.

But how does a new business build backlinks? This is not the time to spam your friends, coworkers, and social media connections and ask for random links. In fact, this method is likely to backfire and do the complete opposite -- it’s likely to reduce your site rankings because Google is much wiser than you think.

Create Compelling Content First

Before you focus on building backlinks, it’s essential to create compelling content that serves your audience and entices other companies or experts to partner with you. Before creating your content calendar, use your keyword research to plan a list of 10-15 blog posts around your core topics.

Next, research industry experts on those topics and identify areas other blogs have overlooked. When you create content that offers a new perspective or controversial opinion, traffic tends to increase.

Don’t forget that content also includes visual elements such as infographics. Infographics are great tools to build backlinks because bloggers can easily add them to other posts to support similar content. (I love using Visme fo r my inf ographics!)

Once you have your content written and published, you can begin your outreach to partner with others in your industry and identify opportunities for backlinks. When you work the process in this order, you will already have significant analytical data to share with potential partners.

When you’re ready, use these four ideas to create new backlinks to your website.

Four Ideas For Creating New Backlinks

Review products or services you love

Offer to provide testimonials for industry software and hardware tools you use every day in your business. For example, I have a Styled Stock Society members hip for my stock photography and Canva templates. I could reach out to the company and offer to submit a testimonial for the product. Typically, companies will publish these reviews on their website, along with your name and your company -- linked, of course!

Leave comments on related blogs

One of my most visited web pages is a direct result of a comment I left on a similar blog post in which I respectfully disagreed with the author. My comment was kind and professional and offered another perspective on the topic.

Because the blog used Dis qus for its comment section, it required me to log in and provide my website link. That link currently drives thousands of visitors to my website each month.

Join your local Chamber of Commerce or Rotary Club

In this post about maximizing your Chamber of Commerce membership, I madea case for how you can benefit from membership without loving to network or attending every event.

One of the major perks of Chamber membership is that most offer a membership directory of professiona l services. In addition, chamber websites tend to have high domain authority, and therefore, these backlinks are very valuable.

Analyze your current referral source

Inside Google Analytics or even Squarespace Analytics, it’s easy to see which websites are currently referring traffic to your website. By analyzing the top performers in this category, you can create a list of similar websites and begin outreach efforts.

For example, if your company offers practice management software and your local dentist already links to your business website, perhaps other local dentists or doctors would do the same.

Building backlinks is just one part of a comprehensive SEO strategy, but it is a valuable one. When you’re strategic about how you build your backlinks and how you continue to create relevant, trustworthy, and authentic content, your website traffic will grow beyond your expectations.

Until next time,

Andrea

One Nine Design is a digital marketing company helping small businesses and nonprofits learn how to use their website and email list to grow their reach and make a bigger impact!

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