Inbound links are an absolutely critical component of ranking your business higher in Google for competitive terms. Links help Google judge your website on everything from trustworthiness to popularity, so low-quality links can actually hurt your site rankings. And if you can get links from credible sites with high authority, though, they can drive a dramatic boost in your rankings.
Link building is the process of attracting links to your website.
Here are some techniques for building links:
- Leverage Offline Relationships: We recommend requesting links from businesses and organizations that you’re already affiliated with. These could include charities that you sponsor, associations you’re a member of, or referral partners that you regularly do business with.
- Competitor Research & Outreach: By analyzing your competitors’ links, you can find opportunities to get similar links. We recommend using Open Site Explorer and Ahrefs.com to see which websites are linking to your competitors, and then taking actions to get similar links to your website. In most cases, you’ll see that your competitors’ links consist of directory submissions, press releases, blog mentions.
- Directory Submissions: Submitting to industry-specific, local and national directories. We recommend submitting to quality, relevant directories in order to build an initial foundation of links. Plus, if you’re looking to improve local rankings, directories can help build citations (mentions of your Name, Address and Phone number).
- Press Releases: When you submit a press release that gets distributed, those syndicated mentions can help build more links to your website (plus citations, if you include your business Name, Address and Phone number in the release).
- Guest Blogging: By publishing blog articles on other blogs, you will receive a byline and a link in the article pointing back to your website. These links can help generate relevant traffic to your website, plus the links can improve your rankings.
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