In the modern age, optimization has several definitions. Ask any expert, and they will come up with their views and whatnot. Speaking of which, SEO creation can actually make you wear numerous hats simultaneously. If you tend to study search engine optimization, you will most likely interpret what forms gray hat SEO, white hat SEO, and black hat SEO. However, understanding the distinction is integral to acknowledging why your optimization approaches might be making you go under Google’s radar. And, we are not talking about a good way here.
Google’s algorithm is a pivotal one that can support some of the best SEO processes while penalizing others. When it comes to white hat strategies, they can make your web page rank higher than initially observed. Consequently, you need to think of them as the plans that might get a “thumbs up” from Gray or Black hat methods or Google as the ones that Google lowers upon. Moving on, white hat search engine optimization methods are a set of approved tactics and approaches developed to enhance a site’s ranking on search engine results pages.
It enables you to focus on a human audience instead of various search engines and strictly follows the terms of services rules brought forward by Google. Here, link building is a method of obtaining hyperlinks from several websites to yours. In addition, it’s one of the various tactics utilized in white hat SEO strategies. If you’re unaware of the fact, white hat methods allow users to navigate through different pages on the internet. This is where a search engine like Google utilizes links to crawl the website and its web pages.
What is Link Building?
Well, this is for beginners. To begin with, link building is one of the primary pillars of the White hat SEO method. All search engines now value link qualities instead of quantities. Obtaining links from relevant and genuine sites are votes of trust and confidence for your site. This way, Google rewards your website with a better ranking.
Google has enhanced its algorithm to satiate user intent, making the use of white hat SEO strategies integral for efficient link building. Back in April 2012, Google happened to launch the Penguin update. The update aimed to catch websites spamming their search engine results and violating the terms and conditions by acquiring or buying them via specific link networks designed initially to boost Google rankings.
White Hat SEO Link Building Strategies:
It is essential to know how to understand white hat SEO. As a result, let’s begin with some effective and crucial white hat SEO link-building tactics.
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Request for links from Partners and Friends
This is one of the easiest ways to build reputed links for your site. Think about friends, customers, relatives, and partners who have their blog or site. However, always determine their domain authority before requesting links. Increase your network by making friends. Find influencers and ask them through email outreach to provide you with a do-follow backlink to your blog or website.
One can also get in touch with industry experts and request to review your services or products, as it is an ideal way of marketing your content. Remember, internal linking is also valuable and allows Google to find, index, and follow all the pages on your website. Using these strategically, internal links can offer PA to relevant pages. Through such a method, you will achieve not only backlinks but also their feedback or testimonial to increase the credibility of your enterprise.
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Directory Submission
Directory submission is one of the processes of listing a blog or site on business directories or web directories. Consider submitting your site under the proper subcategory or category to develop backlinks. In addition, there are several directory submission lists on the internet, both paid and free. However, prior to submitting your site, it is recommended to check the DA and PA of the directory site that you intend to approach. The domain and page authority can assist you in ensuring that targeted directories are of the utmost quality. Furthermore, a specific directory should be indexed and fast cached with the search results.
Numerous online directories with spam links offer zero value to your site. The Google Penguin Algorithm is designed to penalize your site if you tend to submit it to such directories.
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Turn Mentions into Backlinks:
Looking for your non-linked brand references and mentions and changing them into backlinks is another ideal technique. Having said that, while you perform such activities online, it’s very much possible that people are already mentioning your brand without linking to it. As a result, utilize good social listening tools and locate all the non-linked mentions that need to be converted.
It’s time for you to analyze all the non-linked mentions and categorize them on a sheet. Remember, these could be reviews, testimonials, recommendations, and suggestions. In this way, you can plan an outreach strategy and convert several relevant mentions into working backlinks.
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Backlink opportunities from your competitors
This is an advanced approach to acquiring backlinks for your business. And, if you did not know, there are a handful of tools for website audits, such as Ahrefs and Semrush. You can audit a competitor’s website and analyze the backlink sources here. Semrush is one such tool that can be perfect for this purpose. Moving on, filter such results for do-follow links and export the results on your excel sheet. In the following step, consider entering your potential keywords and check if the competitors get backlinks using the specified keywords.
Now, when you have all the do-follow and high authority sources of backlinks, plan an outreach approach to acquire backlinks from such sources.
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Guest Blogging
Yet another effective way of creating links is guest blogging. In reality, it is more than obtaining a connection from various sites. When you write a blog post, you build a robust relationship with the owners of the website. You will be earning a promotion, appreciation, and an excellent backlink to help your website gain authority. If you do not go about it, many websites allow guest posts on them. So, consider creating a list of them. Besides, reach out to them and have a conversation through emails.
You can build a solid relationship with the website owners and tell them about your interest in their posts. Post that, tell them that you wish to contribute as one of the guest authors. From here and out, it is the right time for you to perform some brainstorming on your blog title and choose a valuable and effective content piece for them. Stick to some thumb rules.
Do not promote your organization, brand, or yourself. These blogs are not appreciative of such content pieces. However, you can provide your website link and introduction in the ‘About the author’ section. And once the post is published, share it within your network.
Conclusion
It is essential to understand that link building is not a brief activity. It requires a good amount of engagement and effort to acquire ideal results. As a result, focus on white-hat link-building techniques and plan an efficient strategy. Avoid investing your money and time in black hat techniques. They only offer negative consequences. Moreover, abstain from buying and using unapproved spam directories for link-building purposes. SEO is one of the systems of growing the quality and quantity of traffic to your site by organic search results.
