Link building is a key aspect of SEO. This is the process of publishing content on websites other than your own that contain links back to your website. When high-quality websites link to your page, Google and other search engines will raise your rankings. Links on other websites can also help you drive traffic to your landing pages, which will grow your audience and your sales.
While many businesses want to invest in link building, few have the time and resources. Here’s how you can outsource the process to scale out your efforts without sacrificing quality.
Link-building agencies have large networks of publishers.
As a business owner, you might know a few people who manage websites, but your personal network can’t compete with a company that provides professional outreach services. Many SEO agencies have years of guest blogging experience and know hundreds of publishers. When you outsource link building to them, you gain access to this network.
Talk to potential link-building agencies to learn about the types of websites they guest post on. You can request certain niches or domain authority levels for them to link to.
Link building is also content creation.
Ethical link building isn’t just focused on stuffing links on websites. These agencies will work closely with business owners to create quality content related to the subject or your brand. Quality content increases the chances that you will get referral traffic to your website and drive new customers to your business.
Many link-building agencies also have a team of freelancers who write content for them. Then they place the content on relevant websites.
For example, if your business sells power tools, you might place a good link on a home improvement website or a DIY blog. Readers will appreciate the advice in the high-quality content and might click on the linked anchor text to your website. This creates a positive experience for your brand, the website you guest post on, and the reader.
Watch out for black hat link-building agencies.
Not every company is focused on building quality backlinks. Some firms practice black hat SEO, or link-building strategies that Google punishes. Black hat techniques typically ignore content quality in favor of pushing spammy links into blog posts. For example, an article about gardening could have links to gambling websites or predatory lenders.
Spammy links are a red flag for bloggers who don’t want to support scammers on their websites. If a website manager finds a bad link in a blog post, they will likely ban the guest poster who submitted the piece.
If Google picks up on these links, the search giant might punish your website and drop your site in the search results. This is why you always want to hire an experienced agency that has a good relationship with Google and other search engines.
Track your rankings over time.
By following white hat best practices, you can achieve higher rankings in the SERPs over time. Many link-building campaigns take several months to drive results. You should work with a marketing agency for at least six months before you decide whether they are right for you.
If you are worried about the timeline to see results, ask about their success stories. See if the marketing agency can provide testimonials and case studies that show customer traffic increasing over time. This way, you know their SEO strategy is sound.
If you don’t have the time for content creation or the network for link building, consider outsourcing your efforts to an agency that provides link-building services. They can help you grow your organic traffic by creating good links on quality websites. This is the best option if you are new to SEO and the world of referral traffic.