Why building links between websites is good for SEO.

Explaining SEO and Backlinks might be easier if I bring a theoretical example from the “non-digital” human world.

Let’s imagine you are someone very popular, with a lot of friends, acquaintances, and business partners that you keep good relationships with. Imagine this vast network of connections in your social network.

This can often bring you new opportunities, as your contacts might recommend your services to their friends  when suitable and vice versa. Because you have such a big network, they may have already heard about you before – from a different person. This is a great way to build credibility.

The same rules apply in the digital world and SEO, where backlinks can sort of function as referrals. As I explained in my previous blog post “The first thing to understand about SEO”   backlinks are all about creating authority, and authority is what gets you raking higher in SERP (Search Engine Results Page) 

The basics of Directory backlink building for SEO

The first and most easy way to start building backlinks for your website is through business directories.

Here is a helpful article that consists of a list of business directories with great Domain Authority. Let’s keep in mind that it is also the quality of the links that matter, not just quantity.

Find all your relevant Business Directories, and create an account for all of them. 

Once your account is verified, create your business listing. 

It is a tedious task if done all at once, so break it up, maybe create one listing a day. SEO is slow anyways so you won’t see the new backlinks in your analytics for a long time. It can take multiple weeks or even months for the Google crawlers to discover new links.

Of course the most important thing is to add your website link to the listing. 

The second most important thing is to keep your business details consistent across all the directories, same address, same phone number, etc.

How to create more organic backlinks 

You will need to create and scale relationships to build organic backlinks. 

It is about carefully and tactfully building relationships with bloggers, business owners, influencers, freelance journalists, etc. 

This is a task that can seem daunting at first. The key here is to break the task a part and start small, take it one step at the time. Be genuine about who you want to reach out to, and create that connection with. 

Is their content relevant to your message? 

Does it make sense for them to link to your website, blog post, or pillar page?

The best way to start building a relationship is to provide value to them first. It is not suggested to start by asking for a favor.

Freelance journalists and bloggers are a great opportunity to reach out for in the beginning, as they are constantly searching for topics to write about.

It’s all about working together – you are helping each other become more successful.

The next step is to reach out for big publications –

This is a bit more complicated as you need them more than they need you. Also – they have already accomplished themselves as an authority, and they probably don’t even know you exist.

Emailing them directly will probably bring no results.

The easiest way to build relationships with them is by responding to press request alerts

Press request alerts are requests from journalists, asking for sources of information and quotes from industry experts.

You can sign up for services that send these requests to your inbox.

A couple of notes are: 

• These need to be responded to VERY QUICKLY to be successful. To be able to do that, have a list of quotes and phrases ready on your relevant topics.
• You will be getting A LOT of them, so be prepared for a massive influx of these emails. For example, you can use your email filters to showcase only the ones with your desired keywords in them.

The response should be quick, clear, and simple with a few options for quotes and your short bio and website link included.

This is a way for you to prove yourself to be valuable to these bigger publishers, start building on and nurturing these relationships as they will come in handy. When they publish your quote or opinion, they usually (not always) include a link to your website, giving you that desired high ranking, high authority backlink.

MMR is a Melbourne based Creative Agency, focusing on problem-solving in different areas. We specialise in graphic design, digital, marketing, SEO and Data Cleaning.

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