Since the beginning of SEO, the factors search engines use to determine which page to rank above another have been changing. Techniques have come and gone, but one thing remains constant: links are still as valuable and relevant as ever.
In fact, I will say that link building is the most important factor in determining which site ranks above another. Google doesn’t say exactly that link building is the “most important” factor, but they have announced that it is one of the top three factors.
The problem with link building is that in an attempt to combat spam and abuse of their search results, search engines are constantly evolving the criteria in which you evaluate links. A link building technique that worked in 2015 may not work in 2018.
Below are six link building techniques that still work in 2018 and will be just as effective for the foreseeable future:
#1: CONTENT REALLOCATION AND DISTRIBUTION.
An evergreen link building technique that will work in 2018 and be effective for the foreseeable future is to repurpose your content. A single piece of content can be repurposed into a dozen or more different pieces of content.
For example, a blog post can be turned into a slide presentation, a video, a podcast, a social image, an infographic, etc. The different content from the original blog post is then distributed to different channels (e.g., infographics, directories, slide share pages, video pages, social media, etc.) and all with links pointing to the original content.
#2: BROKEN LINK BUILDING.
Broken links are bad because they disrupt the user experience. Users don’t like them. Search engines don’t like them either. However, they present an opportunity for you and will still be effective many years from now.
There is smart broken link building and dumb broken link building. When you use the smart approach to link building, you find that every broken link you find on a website provides more than one link opportunity.
Suppose you discover a website that is linked to with a broken link. Not only can you contact the website to inform the owner and suggest replacing it with your link, but you can also take things to the next level by using tools like Ahrefs Site Explorer to find other websites that link to the broken page. You can then access all of these sites to increase your chances of getting a link.
#3: CREATE RESEARCH CONTENT, ASSETS, AND OUTREACH COMBINATIONS
Search engines emphasize the usability of content for their users and make it clear that this is one of the factors they use to determine which websites should rank higher. How do you create useful content that serves as a linkable asset? By creating a research object.
Your research content can be in the form of a list article or an infographic. However, if you combine the two, you’ll get even better results.
Here are some tips for creating research resources that users will want to connect to:
Identify a topic of interest that is relevant to what your audience wants you to do.
Make sure a single research article focuses on a single topic – don’t try to create research content that focuses on everything under the sun.
Make sure every study and data you cite is properly backed up.
Since you are creating a linkable asset, usability is a must. Organize your data and facts in a way that can be easily cited, copied, and referenced.
After you have created your research article, you can boost the link building process by contacting relevant publications and blogs in your niche. Once you get the initial links, people will naturally link to your research content over time. To keep the momentum going, be sure to update your research piece regularly to keep it current.
#4: INFOGRAPHICS LINK BUILDING
One of the most effective ways to push your link building is to harness the power of infographics. Building links through infographics is still more effective than ever in 2018.
If you’re trying to build links to infographics, here are the steps you should take:
- Determine a core topic.
- Gather your facts and data.
- Design the infographic to highlight the most important and relevant facts.
- Once your infographic is published, submit it to as many infographic directories as possible.
- Ask them to use it and link it to you.
#5: LINK BUILDING WITH IMAGES.
If you have created a number of original images that you use on your website or that you have published on the web, there is a good chance that you have a lot of links that you still need to claim. Many people are likely to use these images without giving you permission. You can take advantage of this fact by seeking out the people who are using these images.
If you ask how it’s very simple. Visit Google, select search for images, and upload the image you want to search for. Google will show a list of all the different websites that use the image or a version of it. All you have to do now is write to the owners of the websites and ask them to link their images to their websites.
#6: GUEST BLOGGING.
The type of guest blogging that works involves the following steps:
- Focus only on guest blogging on websites that are currently relevant to you.
- Make sure that these websites are highly authoritative websites. The higher the Domain Authority and Trust Flow of the websites you target, the better.
- Make sure your articles for these sites are comprehensive, detailed, and of high quality.
- Try to get relevant, contextual links from your guest posts to these publications. The organic link is good, but the content link is better.
Link building is getting more complicated, but most of the techniques above are still effective and will work for years. Use them and watch your search results.
