Novel Approaches to Link Building
Link building is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy, and coming up with novel approaches can be a challenge. One way to brainstorm new ideas is to reverse common methods. This article will explore several passive and active link building approaches that have been polished and updated for today.
Introduction to Passive Link Building
Passive link building is a strategy that doesn’t require a lot of effort or outreach. It’s perfect for those who are too lazy to do traditional link building. The following methods are easy to implement and can be very effective.
Guilt Trip Copyright Infringers
Check who’s stealing your content and be firm but polite with them. If the site is legit, you might want to hold off asking them to take down your content. Instead, check if they’re linking to a competitor or similar sites. You can then ask them nicely to take down the content and, after they confirm, email them back to thank them. Then, you can suggest that if your content was good enough to be on their site, it would be great if they considered linking to you from their links page.
This approach is about being nice to people and still getting a link. Some people who steal content think it’s free to use if it’s on the internet, so educating them politely can go a long way. If they’re already linking to your site, you can offer to write a different article for them to use, as long as they link back to your site.
Reverse Guest Posting
Instead of publishing articles on someone else’s site, solicit people to publish on your site. Many people tweet, promote, and link from their sites to sites they’re interviewed on. Interviewing people with a certain level of celebrity can bring more people to your site, especially if they’re searching for that person.
Building Relationships
Authors of books are great for this kind of outreach. People are interested in what authors and experts say. You can find popular authors and influencers at industry conferences, meetups, and other social events. This is called relationship building, and it’s often overlooked in favor of online outreach.
Giveaways
Hosting giveaways can be an effective way to build links. Contact manufacturers of popular products and ask for a discount if you buy in bulk. Promote their products to your subscribers, readers, and members, and you can drive traffic to their site. This approach has been successful in the past and can still work today.
Leveraging Niche Audiences for Links
Identify an underserved subtopic in your niche and create a useful section that addresses a need for that niche. This can be a compelling reason for people to link to your site. For example, if you have a travel destination site, you can research gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and raw food dining destinations. Create a resource for those niches, and you might find that restaurants and lodgings will link to your site or mention it.
Outreach and Adaptation
Outreach to sites about a niche topic, not just to businesses but also to organizations and associations related to that niche. Tell them about your site, explain what it offers, and ask for a link. This method is flexible and can be adapted to a wide range of niche topics. If they have an email or publish articles, suggest contributing to those, but don’t ask for a link, just ask for a mention.
Conclusion
Building positive awareness of your site is crucial for link building. Focus on creating positive feelings for your site (goodwill) and generating positive word of mouth, otherwise known as external signals of quality. By using these novel approaches to link building, you can create a strong foundation for your digital marketing strategy and improve your rankings over time.