A backlink is simply a link from one website to another. Although there are more than 200 known Google ranking factors, backlinks rank as one of the most important for Google search.
This is because backlinks act as a vote of confidence or a recommendation to the search engine and the searchers, telling them that your content is relevant, credible, and trustworthy.
Generally, businesses want as much traffic as possible to their websites. Because backlinks act as votes of confidence, they indicate to Google that your content is highly noteworthy and worth ranking higher. So, when a keyword is entered, your content ranks higher than others in the same niche. These are some of the reasons why some people wonder about the costs of link building and opt for paid links. But, how do you build backlinks without paying for them?
There are several ways of building backlinks without paying for them, but here are the most effective ways of doing so:
Become a Guest Author
One of the best ways of growing backlinks is by becoming a guest author on popular domains in your niche. This is the best way to reach new audiences and have them redirected back to your website through backlinks. When you find domains that are a good fit for your blog or website, you can reach out to them offering to write content for their domain.
Work With Infographics
While this may not suit every brand, infographics are one of the best ways to earn backlinks without having to rely on guest posting. Charts and graphs with original data, diagrams visually explaining complex concepts, and one-page templates are easy to reference, thus earning you more backlinks. With this method, you do not need to reach out to other reporters or write guest posts; the more relevant your infographics are, the more backlinks they are likely to generate.
Promote Your Content
Even if you create the best content available in your industry, you still have to get it in front of people who will link back to it. So, while you focus on creating great-quality content, you should spend time and resources on promotion, as well. Simple email outreach to promote your best articles can help you build the backlinks you need.
Maintaining an active social media presence can also help to promote your content. And, sometimes it even makes sense to invest in paid traffic for your best and most link-worthy content.
Write Testimonials and Get Interviewed
These are two of the cheapest ways of building backlinks–writing testimonials for popular websites you use can earn you free backlinks from them. There are also tons of websites offering free online interviews, and you can participate in those to get free backlinks.
Respond to Q&As
You can also answer questions on Q&A websites like Quora and Yahoo Answers to build backlinks. Although this doesn’t guarantee quality backlinks right off the bat, you can get decent and legitimate backlinks by answering important or trending questions.
Reclaim Unlinked Mentions
Using SEO tools, you can see who mentioned your brands in blogs or the news without linking them. Then, you can send them a quick note, asking for a proper link attribution.
There’s no guarantee that you’ll get a link, and site owners often intentionally refuse to link to sources, but it’s a low-cost way that you can build links at scale.
Connect with Sources
There are free tools that help connect sources like bloggers and journalists to people that want links and exposure.
In Summary
While the process of building quality backlinks requires time, dedication, and resources, it is a worthwhile one. Posting quality content, leveraging relationships, and working with other reporters can guarantee you quality backlinks.
One of the most widely-used alternatives to these link-building techniques is the use of private blog networks, or PBNs. PBNs require an initial investment but can continue to yield results for years, and you have complete control over the outbound links on a PBN that you own.