We have made an advanced link building checklist for you to follow and achieve success:
Embrace the idea of being the frontrunner
This strategy may seem straightforward in principle, but executing it successfully can be challenging. The objective is to position yourself as the initial individual to explore and dissect a trending narrative—ideally, among the earliest to do so.
Create a Blog Network (White Hat)
Imagine establishing a network of like-minded, non-competing blogs that can mutually benefit from one another. By agreeing to share content, exchange strategies, and engage in meaningful discussions through comments, you can effectively amplify the reach of your blog posts.
However, it’s important to keep a note that this isn’t a link exchange where you swap links. Instead, envision a relationship akin to the Avengers—each member retains their independence yet occasionally collaborates to provide support and assistance.
Some of my most valuable strategies and insights have originated from a close-knit community of bloggers with whom I share a genuine friendship.
Browser Toolbars and Extensions
While the prominence of browser toolbars has diminished over time, they can still be effective if they address a specific and urgent requirement.
Acquiring Established Websites
In advanced strategies, purchasing existing websites can offer valuable assets such as content and backlinks coveted by every website. By acquiring a site, these assets become yours to leverage. In addition, you can operate the developed site independently or redirect its resources to enhance your existing website.
Pro Tip: Watch for websites that have not been updated. This often indicates a waning interest on the site owner’s part, potentially opening up an opportunity for you to negotiate a purchase.
Collaborative Brand Content
Engaging in collaborative brand content can substantially simplify the entire process of content development and promotion.
Firstly, dividing the tasks involved in creating content makes the workload more manageable for both parties involved. Additionally, joining forces enhances the collective efforts to promote the content and expand its reach effectively.
Introduce a New Industry Term
Introducing a novel term within your industry can be an excellent method to attract passive links. While it undoubtedly requires effort and a sprinkle of luck for the term to gain traction, once it does, you can enjoy many monthly links directing toward your website, all without the need for active outreach.
Comprehensive Guides
Comprehensive guides hold a special place among my favorite link building strategies of all time.
However, it’s essential to acknowledge that creating them can be arduous, requiring significant effort and dedication.
Contrarian Content
When the majority within your niche shares a unanimous perspective on a particular topic, don’t hesitate to publish a post presenting an opposing view.
Approaching this with finesse and precision can result in substantial exposure and attention for your content.
Crafting an Exceptional WordPress Theme
Developing unique WordPress themes has the potential to secure great backlinks for your website.
Create Content That Sparks Controversy
Controversial content can serve as a powerful catalyst for attracting backlinks. Not only will those who share your viewpoint enthusiastically distribute your content, but even those who disagree will also be motivated to share it.
Leveraging Data and Research
Data possesses immense potential as a valuable resource for link building checklist.
Why is that? Firstly, people are highly drawn to data-driven content, as it carries a sense of credibility and authority. Moreover, data is readily citable, making it an attractive asset for others to reference and link to.
Providing Design and Coding Assistance
If you possess graphic or web design expertise, consider reaching out to individuals and offering your services at no cost.
Alternatively, if you come across a website with broken CSS, you can proactively provide them with a free fix.
However, it’s essential to note that exchanging services for links is strictly discouraged by Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Hence, the objective of this strategy is to establish a connection and hope that the relationship ultimately leads to potential links in the future.
Addressing Content Gaps
Have you noticed a specific niche website needing more content that you could effortlessly provide?
If the answer is yes, think of reaching out to the website owner, highlighting the quality of their existing content, and expressing how it could be further enhanced with an additional element. Strive to strike a delicate balance, emphasizing the value you can bring while maintaining the quality of their current content.
Secure Your Column
While one-off guest posts have value, seeking opportunities that could grant you a regular column on an authoritative website within your niche is equally essential.
Why are column links preferable to guest posts? Firstly, these links appear more authentic and carry greater legitimacy. Additionally, with a column, you can acquire multiple links per month. Furthermore, having a dedicated column on a renowned platform like Forbes instantly enhances your credibility.
Moreover, if the website boasts a substantial audience, the links you receive will bolster your SEO and drive targeted traffic to your website.
Obtain Your Own Wikipedia Page
Acquiring a Wikipedia page dedicated to you or your company is an invaluable asset for SEO. Here’s why:
Firstly, it contributes to building your Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T), crucial for establishing credibility in the digital sphere.
Secondly, having a Wikipedia page enhances your reputation and legitimacy, attracting more links to your website as time progresses.
Guestographics: Advanced Infographic Promotion
Congratulations on creating an infographic! However, the work continues. It’s crucial to promote your infographic actively, but not through spamming it to numerous blogs. Instead, consider utilizing the strategy known as Guestographics—a strategic and non-spammy approach to promoting your infographic.
With Guestographics, you can strategically collaborate with relevant platforms and publications to showcase your infographic in a way that adds value to its content and audience. This approach allows for targeted promotion while maintaining a respectful and non-intrusive system.
Harness Your Influence
Your influence can be a powerful tool to establish connections with prominent bloggers, improve email open rates, and enhance the effectiveness of your outreach efforts.
However, it’s important to note that having influence only guarantees effortless link building. As someone who has cultivated a substantial following in the marketing industry, I can attest from experience that outreach remains challenging. While influence may boost your link building outreach success rate by a maximum of 5-10%, it is no magic solution. Nevertheless, it undeniably provides an advantage.
Furthermore, your influence extends beyond outreach and can be utilized for other purposes outside direct outreach.
Organize Your Events
Hosting meetups and conferences presents a valuable opportunity to secure links from two primary sources:
Firstly, you can attract links from blog posts dedicated explicitly to events, such as inclusion in “Best Conferences in [Industry]” lists or roundups.
Additionally, if your event proves successful and leaves a positive impression, attendees and participants may link to it in their recap blog posts, boosting your online visibility and credibility.
Interactive Content: The Future of Content Marketing
Many individuals perceive interactive content as the “next big thing” in content marketing, and they may be onto something significant.
Microsites: An Underrated Link Building Strategy
Quirky and distinctive microsites often go unnoticed as an effective link building strategy. However, creating an entire website dedicated to a specific topic is captivating and entices people to link to it fervently.
Mobile App Lists: A Link Building Opportunity
Transforming your app into a source of valuable links is a straightforward endeavour. Alternatively, you can even create an app specifically to acquire these links.
If your app stands out as impressive and innovative, consider submitting it to individuals or platforms that curate lists featuring the best apps within your industry. This proactive approach presents an excellent opportunity to secure valuable backlinks for your app.
Newsjacking: Leveraging Hot Topics
Rather than aiming to be the first to cover breaking news, you can take advantage of trending topics through a strategy known as newsjacking. This involves writing a blog post on a popular subject, and there are several approaches you can employ:
- Story Curation: If you catch the story early in its lifecycle, you can curate the available information, ensuring it remains current as new developments arise.
- Quick Commentary: Provide a fresh perspective or insightful commentary on the topic, offering a new spin that adds value to the ongoing discussion.
- Delayed Recap: Once all the details of the event or story have emerged, write a comprehensive recap that covers the entire narrative, serving as a reliable and detailed summary.
- Detailed Analysis: After the dust has settled, thoroughly investigate every aspect, delving deep into the available information and analysing each point. Go beyond the surface to uncover exciting and lesser-known facts about the story.
By employing these strategies, you can make the most of hot topics and engage your audience with timely, relevant content.
Non-Brand Mention Tracking
Utilizing mention monitoring for link building extends beyond monitoring unlinked brand mentions. There are numerous other valuable applications, such as product mention monitoring.
Set up alerts to track mentions of your products or products within your niche. For instance, if people discuss your product in a forum, actively engage in the conversation, provide helpful answers to questions, and include relevant links where appropriate.
Similarly, you can employ the same approach with competing products. Identify instances where your competitors are being mentioned and reach out to the authors or content creators who wrote about them, introducing yourself and sharing additional information about your offerings.
By leveraging non-brand mention tracking in these ways, you can capitalize on opportunities to build links and increase your visibility within your industry.
Non-WordPress Themes: Expanding Link Building Opportunities
While WordPress themes undoubtedly have the potential to generate numerous links, it’s essential to expand beyond just one platform.
Consider other popular content management systems like Drupal, Joomla, and Shopify. These platforms also require themes and third-party applications to enhance their functionality.
By designing and developing themes for these platforms, you can go into a broader market and engage with a community of bloggers who may be eager to share your themes with their respective audiences. In addition, expanding your reach beyond WordPress opens up new link building opportunities and increases your chances of attracting valuable backlinks.
Plugins and Extensions: A Link Building Goldmine
Please don’t underestimate the power of plugins and extensions when acquiring valuable links.
PR Outreach: Harnessing the Power of Newsworthiness
Traditional PR tactics are still effective, provided you have something newsworthy to share.
It’s important to note that “newsworthy” doesn’t necessarily imply securing a spot on the front page of publications like the New York Times.
Research Papers: Establishing Authority and Attracting Links
Delving into a subject matter and conducting in-depth research positions you as a thought leader in your industry and presents an excellent opportunity to acquire valuable links. Furthermore, if you make a significant discovery, you can expect citations from scholarly websites, further boosting your credibility and link profile.
An exemplary case is a research paper that garnered over 16,000 links from over 3,100 root domains. This remarkable achievement may ring a bell for SEO enthusiasts who have come across it before.
Reverse Engineering Linkable Assets: A Powerful Strategy
Undoubtedly, you are already familiar with the practice of reverse engineering your competitors’ content. However, this strategy can extend beyond textual content to other linkable assets, such as infographics, visuals, videos, tools, and software.
By analysing and deconstructing the successful linkable assets within your industry, you can gain insights and inspiration for creating your own compelling and shareable content. In addition, this approach allows you to identify the key elements that resonate with your target audience and leverage them to develop highly linkable assets.
Scholarships: Leveraging Opportunities in Link Building
Although the strategy of scholarship link building has been subject to abuse, it can still yield positive results if approached thoughtfully. Hence, it is essential to include it on this list.
Here’s a breakdown of how this strategy works:
- Create a Substantial Scholarship: Establish a scholarship with a significant value, preferably at least $500, to attract attention and interest from potential recipients.
- Develop a Dedicated Page: Craft a webpage outlining your scholarship program’s requirements and details. This page will be the focal point to which other websites and institutions will link.
- Outreach to Colleges: Reach out to colleges and educational institutions that compile lists of scholarships, ensuring they are aware of your scholarship opportunity and can include it in their listings.
Pro Tip: Expand Your Search: Instead of solely relying on search strings like “site:.edu scholarships,” utilize tools like Semrush to explore a wider range of scholarship opportunities. By doing so, you can uncover significantly more scholarships than relying solely on specific search strings.
Have We Overlooked Something?
We can discuss one of your favourite link-building strategies or if you have any questions related to this topic. Our industry experts are well-equipped to offer guidance and support. For further information, explore our monthly SEO packages, tailored to your needs and requirements.
