Earned links are vital to every online business
Having the product or service that meets the market and exceeds your competition is one thing. But if you’re not being found by the right audience, and authenticated by authoritative sources – the offering itself will not be found on page one. The proverb, “if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it” comes to mind. So give your business a fighting chance, and claw your way to the top spot with these 8 ways to acquire earned links.
1. Link building
The trusty backlink is a friend to us all, but no longer enough to make up your entire SEO strategy. When looking for link building services, you want to know that the link and content is residing on a website that that is quality. Is this third party website relevant to your offering, and a destination that your potential customers may find themselves?
2. Collaborate
Collaborating is a key way to acquiring earned links, and solidifying your brand presence with businesses and brands that echo your identify. A strategic collaboration will double your distribution, and garner new and authentic interest to your destination page.
3. Be topical
Consumers align themselves with brands that share their values. You can acquire earned links by instigating debate or weighing in on issues that affect the industry in which your business operates in. These insights can be published on your own platforms, or third-party websites with page authority. Be the voice in your own market.
4. Work with influencers
Engaging influencers is a successful channel that bridges your brand to inactive and potential customers, and they’ve made an art of generating links. Tap into their platform with a content plan that will resonate with their following, and soon to be yours. You will always get more bang for your buck if you hone in on the right influencer that plays in your space, as opposed to someone with a large and broad following. Get specific, and leverage an existing community.
5. Be informative
Positioning your brand as a reliable source of information allows you to acquire earned links. Research materials, opinion pieces, white sheets and surveys are a sustainable way to drive traffic to your website and enrich your audience in the process. Gauge your research topics and inquiries around FAQs and solving a common problem that your product or service can aid.
6. Blog often
Build it and they will come. This applies to your brand story, and your earned links. Onsite and outreach blogs can be engineered in response to common questions, inspiring ideas – and really just about anything. Commit to a calendar of blog activity with keyword-rich content so you can improve content and website relevancy and increase traffic.
7. Be social
If social “isn’t quite right for your market,” you may want to re-evaluate your target audience. 60 percent of Australians are on Facebook, sharing and interacting with their interests. This is an ample space to capture traffic, when they are open to consuming content. Introduce your product or service on social, and acquire targeted earned links.
8. Ads
Probably a no-brainer, but many businesses don’t seem to get this part right. The budget gets topped up, and the image may change – but where is the optimization? Well placed ads that utilize the right data and promote the right message, may be what your business needs to acquire earned links. Experiment with new ad sets that drive quality traffic, and place then within websites that have domain authority.
As the digital landscape shifts, so does the behavior of its users. In 2019, pivot your benchmarks to center around acquiring earned links through link building and sustainable strategies. The greatest success will come from domain and page authority, with the credibility impacting your search engine ranking.