What is link building?
SEO link building is an effective digital marketing technique used to create relevant hyperlinks, also known as backlinks or inbound links, from other sites to your website.
If you build them, they will grow
Content is king but, like a well-tilled field or garden bed, it’s useless until you plant the seeds to make it flourish. Think of backlinks as seeds for your web content. Over time, they take root to help your organic search and traffic thrive. Backlinks to your site’s money pages—those with the highest conversion rates—help grow revenue, and that’s when link building really pays off.
Not all backlinks are created equally
There are many factors that distinguish quality, high-value backlinks, but there are three characteristics that set them apart from the rest:
Anchor Text
The right words matter. Anchor text refers to the hyperlinked word or phrase in an online article that drives traffic to your website—essentially the push-button for your backlink. We use a balanced mix of keywords, your company name or URL, and “natural” text that is more generic to align contextually. Anchor text that relies too heavily on keywords can be subject to search penalties.
Topicality
The right anchor text in the wrong article is like a sore thumb—and search engines hate sore thumbs. We only build links that are contextually relevant and aligned with your company’s product or service offering.
Domain Rating
Domain rating (DR) is a numeric value that scores the authority and credibility of a website based on its backlink profile. Sites with higher DR are generally considered more reputable and reliable. We set a high standard for building backlinks with high-authority sites that deliver an average 50+ DR for all of our link building campaigns.
Looking for Top DR Backlinks?
Linkflow offers HARO (help a reporter out) links as part of select packages. Get credited as an expert source in your niche on high DR websites. We have built a network of relationships, worked on perfecting our pitches, and set up all the alerts so you don’t have to. Head here for a full breakdown of HARO link building, what goes into the process, and our expertise.
Improved credibility, authority, and confidence
Search engines regard backlinks as votes of confidence. As the number of backlinks from well-ranked domains grows, search engines increasingly look to your website as credible, safe, and relevant. This results in higher ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) and increased organic traffic. Since we focus our link building on your money pages, traffic is higher intent and more likely to convert to sales.
Our clients begin to see results in as little as 10 weeks, often with organic traffic increases of 30% or more. Conversion to revenue can accelerate by ~200% in less than a year.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does link building work?
Backlinks work as referrals from other websites. If your site has enough ‘referrals’ from other sites for a specific product, service, or topic, then search engines will consider you a reliable and authoritative source. Consider it a digital popularity contest for your company.
Why is link building important?
Search engines rely on backlinks from reputable, high-authority websites and domains to assess the quality of other sites. When backlinks direct traffic to your site, search engines reward you with improved organic search ranking. The bottom-line benefits of link building include increased traffic, better user engagement, and more conversions.
Is link building the main driver for organic search traffic?
Think of your website as a five-star restaurant built in the middle of a deep forest. Without backlinks, search engines (or your target customers) won’t be able to find it, understand your business, or know about your product or service offering. While link building isn’t the only factor to improve organic search, it is a vital component of your SEO strategy.
Is link building still effective?
Yes, when it’s done right. Many companies initially used link building to create hundreds of thousands of ingenuine backlinks to scam search engines into driving traffic to their websites. To prevent such fraudulent activity, search engines use sophisticated algorithms and update them regularly. The fact is, backlinks remain at the core of search engine algorithms and are not likely to change any time soon.
Are there consequences for poor link building?
Yes. Black hat link building tricks search engine algorithms with keyword stuffing, poor-quality content, private blog networks (PBNs), and reciprocal links. Search engines are smart enough to recognize and flag black hat links as unsafe, which lowers search rank and subjects them to other penalties.
Won’t I just naturally get backlinks with good web content?
Having website content so outstanding that other sites find and link to it on their own is certainly possible, but it’s difficult to achieve and can be an unrealistic objective. By building solid backlinks from high-authority websites, your target customers are sure to find your great content.
How much does link building cost?
Working with the wrong link building company can be expensive. At Linkflow, we tailor an SEO backlink strategy that fits your budget and is laser focused on your organic traffic and revenue objectives. We offer multiple levels of contract-free plans that can be adjusted month-by-month to fit your marketing budget.
What is anchor text?
Anchor text is the hyperlinked word or phrase—the backlink—that directs traffic to your website. Search engines use anchor text to gauge the relevance of your website, product, and service to user search terms. Keyword-rich anchor text is an important element of your SEO link building strategy and critical to improving your search rank.
What’s the difference between do-follow and no-follow?
Do-follow links encourage search engines to crawl the target site: your website! When that happens, some of the source page authority is passed along to you. No-follow links are the exact opposite. Search engines ignore the links, making them useless for SEO, but they can generate referral traffic. At Linkflow, we only create do-follow links for our SEO link building campaigns.
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