Want to know how to outreach for backlinks? Relationships. Being successful at gathering links pointed toward your website (which improves your SEO and gets you more traffic) is all about building relationships. And you can’t start out a relationship by asking for a favor. Asking a stranger for a link to your website is like asking someone walking by to help you carry your groceries into your house. It is off-putting and just plain rude. As with any relationship, you must have consideration, build trust, and most importantly, give value. Here are three backlink outreach strategies that don’tmake it sound like you’re begging:

1. Consider Your Audience

Think about who you are asking. Consider that the structure of a company could change your message and how you ask for links. For example, you may be asking a small blog owned by a single person. Or, perhaps it is a large company website that has an entire marketing department and a generic customer service email. This will completely change the approach.
If there is a specific person, think about ways you can learn more about him or her. Start with the articles she’s posted on her site. Look to his LinkedIn or Twitter to find insight into his interests and motives. The more relevant a link “pitch” is for a reader, the more likely it is to be passed along or responded to. Building a relationship that goes beyond a hopeful link request requires connection. As studies show, we like people who are similar to us. Find common ground to jump-start important link-building relationships.

2. Build Trust

In order to form a relationship with a blog owner or webmaster, there must be a level of trust. Trust is built through genuine communication. Some of the most effective sales people in the world are not those with a cliché one liner or a flashy sales pitch; they are the ones who use transparency to build trust. When asking for links, be upfront about your intentions and reiterate how they can gain more traffic and better engagement with your content. Also, be honest and direct about what you want in exchange. Link building is simply offering some great content for a mutually beneficial exchange. When you approach link building like this, you can gain credibility as well as a link. This Moz post lists excellent examples of genuine, conversational outreach emails.

3. Give Value

Give your new outreach relationships as much value as possible. Interesting and juicy content, helpful tools, fun quizzes, captivating videos, and mesmerizing infographics will encourage links. It will also strengthen your outreach efforts because it gives an incentive to link to your site. Developing links to your content is an important way to grow your website and your brand. Building and maintaining relationships will undoubtedly gain you more quality links. Creating and sharing exceptional content will have all your link friends coming back for more, sharing more, and ultimately gaining even more links.

Proven Tactics for Effective Backlink Building

Now that you’ve laid the foundation by learning how to ask for backlinks directly by building relationships and trust, it’s time to explore specific strategies to secure those valuable backlinks. The following tactics can help you strengthen your outreach efforts by offering real value to those you connect with:

1. Create High-Value Content:

Start by producing content that naturally attracts links. This could be in the form of detailed guides, visually engaging infographics, or interactive elements like quizzes and tools. When your content is inherently valuable, others will be more inclined to link to it.

2. Contribute as a Guest Blogger

Reach out to established blogs within your niche and offer to write guest posts. By sharing your expertise with a broader audience, you not only build authority but also create opportunities for backlinks that drive referral traffic to your site.

3. Collaborate with Journalists

Use platforms like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to provide expert commentary to journalists. This not only helps you gain media coverage but also earns you high-quality backlinks from reputable sources.

4. Turn Mentions into Links

Keep an eye out for instances where your brand or content is mentioned without a backlink. A polite request to turn these unlinked mentions into backlinks can be an easy win for your link-building strategy.

5. Elevate Popular Content

Identify popular content within your niche and find ways to improve or expand upon it. By offering something better or more comprehensive, you increase the chances of earning links from those who have already linked to the original content.

6. Engage Thoughtfully in Comments

Contribute meaningful comments on “DoFollow” blogs or relevant websites. Thoughtful, high-value comments can draw attention to your content and lead to natural backlink opportunities.

7. Maximize Social Media

Ensure your social media profiles are fully optimized and actively use them to share your content. Engaging with your audience on social platforms can help generate interest and lead to backlinks from those who find your content valuable.

Should You Buy Backlinks?

You shouldn’t buy backlinks. While it may seem like a quick way to boost your website’s rankings, it can lead to significant long-term consequences. Here’s why:

• • Google’s Guidelines: Google explicitly advises against buying backlinks. Their algorithms are designed to detect unnatural link patterns, and if they catch you buying links, your site could be penalized, which might result in a drop in rankings or even removal from search results.
  • Quality Concerns: Purchased backlinks often come from low-quality, irrelevant, or spammy websites. These types of links can harm your site’s credibility and trustworthiness, rather than improve it.
  • Ethical and Sustainable Practices: SEO best practices focus on earning backlinks naturally through high-quality content, genuine outreach, and building relationships with other websites. This approach is more sustainable, ethical, and in line with Google’s guidelines.
  • Investment in Long-Term Success: Rather than buying backlinks, investing in content marketing, influencer collaborations, and organic link-building strategies is a more effective and safer way to improve your website’s SEO over time.

Contact Us For Help

Contact us for help improving your backlink profile and all things digital marketing. Our search engine optimization team stays on top of the latest backlink outreach strategies to ensure your website ranks higher in search engine results and attracts more organic traffic.