Link Building for SEO: A Guide to the Basics

Learn wherefore you should adhd nexus gathering to your hunt motor optimization (SEO) strategy and however to bash it.

What Is Link Building successful SEO?

Link gathering is an SEO strategy that involves acquiring links from different websites to your own. 

Search engines, including Google, whitethorn spot these links arsenic signals of authority. This cognition tin effect successful higher rankings successful integrated hunt results.

Google treats definite backlinks (links from different sites) arsenic endorsements. If galore high-quality domains nexus to your site, Google whitethorn presumption your tract arsenic trustworthy.

For example, Semrush’s Backlink Analytics instrumentality shows that bbc.co.uk has backlinks from much than 1 cardinal domains, including reputable sites similar cdc.gov, microsoft.com, and britannica.com.

Google’s algorithm factors successful this robust backlink illustration erstwhile determining bbc.co.uk’s placement successful applicable hunt results. The tract apt receives beardown rankings, partially owed to these backlinks.

Google considers galore different ranking factors too. However, our study shows that 8 of the apical 20 ranking factors subordinate to backlinks.

Backlinks tin accumulate naturally, but proactively gathering links tin assistance you enactment competitory successful search—if you pull the close links.

What Affects a Backlink’s Value?

Not each backlinks person the aforesaid interaction connected SEO. Some whitethorn person nary effect astatine all, and ones obtained done spammy tactics (sometimes called toxic backlinks) tin beryllium harmful.

Here are the superior factors that power a backlink’s value:

Authority

Links from authoritative sites usually person much SEO impact. For example, a backlink from bbc.co.uk volition apt impact your SEO much than 1 from an chartless blog.

Semrush measures authoritativeness with a metric called Authority Score—which is connected a 100-point standard and factors in:

• Link power: Quality and quantity of a site’s backlinks
• Organic traffic: Estimated monthly unpaid visits from hunt engines
• Natural profile: How spam-free a site’s backlink illustration seems

In the Semrush Link Building Tool, you tin cheque each prospect’s Authority Score nether the “AS” column.

Earning links from little authoritative sites is good due to the fact that a balanced backlink illustration includes some high- and low-authority sites. 

The BBC’s illustration shows this pattern: much links from low-authority sites and less from high-authority sites.

Relevance

Backlinks transportation much value erstwhile they travel from sites successful your niche, due to the fact that those sites linking to you implies you’re well-respected by experts successful the field. 

Links placed wrong highly applicable contented besides usually supply stronger SEO benefits.

For instance, if you merchantability hoops shoes, see 3 hypothetical backlinks:

• Backlink 1 from a gardening website successful a blog station astir plants (likely minimal worth due to the fact that the tract and taxable are irrelevant)
• Backlink 2 from a sports blog successful a station astir cardio exercises (some value, since it’s astatine slightest successful your niche)
• Backlink 3 from a sports blog’s “best hoops shoes” buying usher (high worth and highly relevant, and the nexus is genuinely utile to readers)

Link Placement

Links placed much prominently connected a leafage tin person greater value. Google’s “reasonable surfer model” (described successful this patent) considers however apt users are to click a nexus based connected its location.

Links successful sidebars oregon footers often person little interaction than those successful the main assemblage content. Generally, an earlier placement successful the main contented is best:

Anchor Text

Backlinks with descriptive anchor text (the clickable text) tin assistance hunt engines recognize what the linked leafage is about, plus:

• How the linked leafage relates to the referring page
• What kinds of keywords (search terms) the linked leafage should perchance fertile for

For example, anchor substance similar “basketball shoes” is much utile than “click here.”

Anchor substance indispensable work naturally. Over-optimized anchor substance tin awesome spammy nexus gathering and pb to a punishment that hurts your rankings.

Check your backlink anchors with Backlink Analytics. Enter your domain and spell to the “Anchors” report:

Nofollow, Sponsored, and UGC Attributes 

Some links incorporate a nofollow attribute (or different attribute) that tells Google not to walk ranking signals. 

Here’s an overview of those attributes:

These types of links tin bring marque consciousness oregon referral postulation but usually don’t assistance with rankings.

In HTML, a nexus with the nofollow property (a “nofollow link”) typically looks similar this:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Anchor Text</a>

Backlinks without these attributes are often called “follow oregon “dofollow” links, and these are the ones that tin boost SEO. 

You tin spot immoderate site’s ratio of nofollow to travel links successful Backlink Analytics nether the “Link Attributes” illustration successful the “Overview” report:

How to Build Links (and How Not to)

Below are the 4 astir communal ways to physique links. Some of these methods enactment amended than others. 

Earn Links 

Earning links means that different sites determine to nexus to you without you asking them to. This attack tin beryllium cost-effective and avoids Google’s spam guidelines.

One mode to gain links is by creating link bait—high-quality contented that attracts backlinks naturally. 

Focus connected contented that resonates with audiences and replicate palmy formats, specified as:

• Visual assets (infographics, charts, diagrams, etc.)
• Original probe and information (industry studies, surveys, proprietary research, etc.)
• Online tools and calculators
• In-depth guides and tutorials

Use Backlink Analytics to spot which pages connected your tract (or a competitor’s site) gain the astir backlinks. 

Go to the “Indexed Pages” report.

The “Domains” file shows however galore antithetic sites nexus to the leafage successful the corresponding row.

Click the icon successful the “Title and URL” file to spot the contented for yourself, oregon click the nexus successful the “Domains” file to spot wherever each the page’s backlinks travel from.

Ask for Links

Asking for links involves contacting website owners oregon contented teams with a nonstop request. You whitethorn person a nexus if:

• Your contented benefits the site’s readers
• The tract proprietor wants to recognition you for thing you contributed

Semrush’s Link Building Tool helps you find high-quality nexus prospects (sites that mightiness nexus to you) by looking astatine your competitors and the keywords you privation to fertile for.

After mounting up your project, reappraisal prospects successful the “Prospects” tab and determine which ones to pursue. Then way the full outreach process successful 1 place.

Add Links

Manual nexus additions connected different websites mostly aren’t effectual for SEO due to the fact that Google doesn’t privation to number links you spot yourself. 

For example, adding your ain nexus to:

• Social media profiles
• Business directories
• Forums, communities, and Q&A sites (like Quora)
• Blog comments
• User illustration pages

You tin inactive adhd links successful these areas to assistance users, but debar spammy intent. Otherwise, it whitethorn harm your marque and interruption Google’s guidelines.

Buy Links

You should not bargain SEO links that are intended to power your rankings.

Don't bargain immoderate links unless those links usage rel="sponsored" oregon rel="nofollow", which tells hunt engines to disregard them.

Paid links without these qualifiers interruption Google’s nexus spam guidelines, and Google volition apt disregard oregon penalize them. 

You tin wage for link gathering services wherever you prosecute an bureau oregon freelancer to assistance you physique links, but bash not connection outgo to sites hosting your links.

9 Best Backlink Building Tactics

Below are 9 link gathering strategies that tin assistance you get prime backlinks.

1. Conduct Email Outreach

Email outreach involves asking tract owners to nexus to your content. Even the champion contented needs promotion to get noticed.

Use Semrush’s Link Building Tool to find prospects to scope retired to. 

Open the instrumentality and click “+ Create project.”

Next, participate your domain, springiness your task a name, and click “Create project.”

Add the keywords you privation to fertile higher. These keywords should beryllium related to the page(s) you’re trying to physique links for. 

After you’ve added your keywords, click connected “Competitors” astatine the bottommost of the pop-up.

Now, adhd the competitors you privation to outperform. When you’re done, click “Start Link Building.” 

After the instrumentality has analyzed the data, click connected “View prospects” to spot everyone you tin scope retired to for backlinks. 

You tin cull the prospects you don’t privation to scope retired to. For example, if the tract isn’t applicable oregon you don’t privation a nexus from that website.

To cull a prospect, click connected the trash tin icon. 

For prospects you do privation to scope retired to, click the “To In Progress” button, and they’ll beryllium added to the “In Progress” tab. 

From the “In Progress” tab, you tin interaction immoderate imaginable via a connected email account. 

Click connected the “Contact” fastener and the surface volition grow to amusement an email template with default information.

Now, customize your emails to marque your transportation circumstantial to the prospect. 

After you’ve sent your emails, the “Status” file shows whether your email was sent, received, opened, oregon replied to. You tin click the cheque people successful the “Actions” file aft you person a backlink. 

2. Become a Source

Reporters often question adept input oregon unsocial assets. By providing invaluable insights, you tin person backlinks successful the resulting articles. 

You tin find these requests connected platforms similar Connectively (formerly HARO/Help a Reporter Out). Search for requests that are applicable to your expertise and nonstop a transportation to the newsman done the platform:

You tin besides find requests by searching for #JournoRequest connected X (formerly Twitter).

Contacting journalists successful this mode tin pb to backlinks similar this one:

3. Try Broken Link Building

Broken nexus building identifies breached backlinks connected different sites. You past suggest your contented arsenic a replacement. 

This attack works due to the fact that tract owners typically privation to hole breached links.

Use Backlink Analytics to find a competitor’s breached pages. Enter a competitor’s domain and click “Analyze.” 

Then, spell to the “Indexed Pages” study and cheque the container adjacent to “Broken Pages.”

You’ll spot a database of breached pages connected the competitor’s tract sorted by the fig of “Domains” (how galore antithetic sites nexus to them). 

Look for a breached leafage that you person a bully alternate for, and past click the fig successful the “Backlinks” file to spot each the page’s backlinks that you whitethorn beryllium capable to inherit.

Click the icon alongside the URL to presumption a backlink successful discourse and spot if it’ll beryllium a bully acceptable for your projected link.

If you privation to prosecute an opportunity, find the email address for the due interaction and nonstop them your proposal.

4. Create Linkable Assets

A linkable plus is contented that often attracts backlinks naturally—like tools, information studies, oregon in-depth guides. 

For example, Semrush’s blog station connected content selling statistics has earned links from implicit 2.5K referring domains due to the fact that radical often mention it erstwhile discussing the value of contented marketing.

Here’s what our backlink from Adobe to that station looks similar successful context:

5. Find Unlinked Brand Mentions 

An unlinked marque mention is erstwhile a website mentions you oregon your concern without linking to you. Many tract owners are blessed to adhd a nexus if you ask.

To find these opportunities, usage Semrush’s Brand Monitoring app. 

After signing up, make a “New query.

Then, take “Brand.”

You’ll spot a pop-up similar the 1 below. For the champion results, you should capable retired each the sections, especially:

• Monitor this brand: Add your marque sanction and immoderate variants present truthful the instrumentality knows what substance to look retired for.
• Track backlinks: Add your domain truthful the instrumentality knows whether you received a backlink.

When you’re done, click “Create query” to spot a database of each the mentions found.

In the left-hand menu, spell to “Mention details” > “Backlinks” and prime the ellipse adjacent to “Without backlinks” to absorption connected your unlinked marque mentions.

For each unlinked notation you find, see reaching retired to the page’s proprietor oregon writer to petition a backlink. 

6. Analyze Competitor Backlinks

Reviewing competitor backlinks reveals what kinds of contented gain links successful your niche and which websites these links travel from. 

Go to the “Indexed Pages” tab successful Backlink Analytics to spot which pages person the astir referring domains. 

Look for patterns successful topics, style, length, and format among the top-performing pages. 

For example, if your competitor’s most-linked pages each incorporate videos, you whitethorn determine to incorporated video into your content selling strategy and stress your video prime erstwhile reaching retired to backlink prospects.

7. Reclaim Lost Backlinks

Recovering backlinks that you mislaid (such arsenic if the linking tract updated the content, deleted the page, oregon redirected the page) is often easier than gathering caller links.

To find mislaid links, usage Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool.

This study shows however galore referring domains person been acquired, broken, oregon mislaid implicit the past 90 days. 

To find mislaid backlinks, scroll down and click connected the “Lost” container astatine the apical of the list. 

To prioritize, filter the database to amusement travel links with low toxicity scores (these thin to beryllium high-authority sites).

Investigate wherefore a backlink disappeared. If the leafage inactive exists and is relevant, inquire the tract proprietor to reconstruct the link.

8. Do a Backlink Gap Analysis

A backlink spread investigation shows you which sites nexus to your competitors but not to you. If a tract links to a competitor, they mightiness beryllium consenting to nexus to you if you make superior content.

To start, unfastened up Semrush’s Backlink Gap tool. 

Add your domain and your competitors’ domains, and click “Find prospects.”

The “Best” tab shows domains that nexus to each your competitors but not to you.

The file nether each competitor’s domain shows however galore backlinks are connected each site. Click the arrow to spot details astir the backlinks, including the anchor substance and people URL.

Check the boxes adjacent to each the domains you privation to contact, and past click “+ Start Outreach” to nonstop them to the Link Building Tool and negociate the remainder of the nexus gathering process.

9. Digital PR

Digital PR focuses connected gaining online sum done absorbing stories. 

Create a press release that reporters mightiness prime up and immoderate sum whitethorn see backlinks citing your brand. 

For example, vacation parkland relation Parkdean Resorts created a mini vacation parkland for hedgehogs and tied it to a quality communicative astir hedgehogs becoming endangered. The run gained property sum (and backlinks) connected respective sites, including Lonely Planet:
 

How to Track Your Link Building Efforts

Perform regular nexus gathering audits to way new, lost, and perchance harmful backlinks. 

Semrush’s Backlink Audit tin bash this automatically. 

First, spell to the tool’s settings.

Select “Recrawl schedule.” 

Choose a monthly frequency. 

Then, click “Update.” 

You’ll person emails summarizing your caller audit data.

In the “Overview” tab, you tin besides show your site’s Authority Score. Progress whitethorn beryllium gradual, but dependable improvements successful AS often bespeak meaningful nexus gathering success.

Start Building Quality Links Today

Semrush provides tools to usher each measurement of the nexus gathering process:

• Link Building Tool: Discover applicable nexus prospects and negociate outreach
• Backlink Analytics: Study rival backlink profiles
• Backlink Gap: Pinpoint sites that nexus to your competitors
• Backlink Audit: Track your advancement and place toxic links

Use these resources to get high-quality backlinks and amended your SEO results.