Venchito Tampon Jr

9 Types of Links That Matter in SEO And How to Get Them

The types of links that you build matter as much as you execute your link building strategies and tactics.

Just like knowing what kind of salt and pepper to use for your recipe, your cooking becomes more effective when you know what ingredients to use and why you need to use them.

So, to be an effective link builder, you need to understand link types.

Types of Links That Matter in SEO

Here are nine types of links that matter in SEO:

1. Natural editorial links (content)
2. Manual outreach links (content)
3. Self-created non-editorial links
4. Discussion-based links
5. Sponsorship-based links
6. Membership-based links
7. Edu and Gov links
8. Event-based links
9. Natural-editorial links (relationships)

Read below to learn how to get each of them. 

1. Natural Editorial Links (Content)

Natural-editorial links are by-products of link earning.

This type of link is acquired organically - meaning there isn't any form of outreach initiative from the side of the person who gets the link.  The webmaster or publisher initiates linking to a certain piece of content.

Link-wise, it's nearly impossible to get a similar link type unless there's a high-level reason why a particular person would link to your website.

In my experience, there are three primary factors in how you can earn natural-editorial links:

A. Content Ranked For Referential Keywords 

Not all keywords you target can get people to search for it and link to the top-ranking piece (or whatever ranking page they'd find worth referencing).

For example, if you search for what is link building, you'll find that most people would end up typing the exact question, getting the answer, and leaving the page right away. 

But there are keywords people search for and link to as a reference for their own content works. These are called "referential keywords".

Here are some examples of referential keywords:

A.1. Topic Templates 

Any niche template is highly searchable and is worth linking to. The reason is simple - it makes life easier. If you can have a template to create your own resume without having to write the whole thing from scratch, it saves you minutes (if not hours).

Therefore, the template keyword is one content type worth referencing in a blog post because it gives value worth finding.

Popular examples of this niche-type keyword are job search templates and web design templates (CSS and HTML).

 

Other template keywords you may also create content around that can fit your industry are the following:

• Christmas tree template
• meal plan template
• door hanger template
• macaron template
• travel itinerary template
• weekly lesson plan template
• wedding seating chart template
• real estate flyer template
• family budget template

Pro tip: Use Ahrefs or SEMRush to search for a specific type of template you could invest a content piece around in your space.

You can use the tool's search volume to type in a keyword + "template" to find niche template terms.

A.2. Tips, Strategies & Hacks

A writer wants to include more tips in his content, so if you have an extensive guide on co-parenting tips, there's a good chance it could be used as a reference on other blog posts.

Example: photography tips, first date tips, rhetorical strategies, camping hacks

A.3. Data 

Industry/topic data can be a credible source of information for your writing content. It builds trust from your readers; thus, this type of content has a high likelihood of being linked to by publishers as a reference.

Example: real estate data, snapchat data usage

Exception:

There are niche-type keywords one wouldn't ever think of being referenced by potential linkers. Such is the case with question keywords.

Normally, a question keyword, what is a watchdog? for example, can be easily answered and doesn't require you to refer to a post about that specific topic.

 

If you're the writer, you think it's only bit-sized information, and you could either list it down or use your opinion if you can answer the question properly.

However, some cases require expertise to answer a question and, thus, allow content creators to create content that doesn't just serve the need but has data/facts to support the answer.

You'll see this happen in health niches. One should have a scientific/medical background before he/she can answer a question.

For example, the search query, "Is snoring a hereditary?", requires content written by a person with a strong health background (Ph.D. graduate).

 

With these niche questions best served with expertise-based content, there are cases when a question keyword can also be a referential keyword. This means that content ranking for such keywords can also be used as a reference by other publishers in their posts.

B. Word-Of-Mouth Bottom Of The Funnel Pages 

Another factor that could help you earn links is when your community users, brand evangelists, and those people who know your brand link to you naturally from discussion websites.

What makes it worth earning is the number of conversions you can get from those discussion sites - not just links.

 

Forum links that point to your bottom-of-the-funnel pages, i.e., your product pages, are valuable from a business perspective - as they can generate sales over time. 

C. Strong Brand Authority 

Building your brand authority in your space requires consistent messaging and delivery of high-quality offerings.

Whether that's a great product/service, a great brand ambassador, or the length of company existence (with a strong brand presence), the more you could establish any of those factors consistently on your site, the higher the possibility of earning links these way.

For example, Tim Soulo recently published a post on how they grow exponentially at Ahrefs from an MRR/ARR metric perspective.

 

How that possible is their ability to focus on one thing - to improve their product best. The product allows them to earn links from SEO or internet marketing publishers.

(If you've been reading this blog for a long time, you see that I've been linking to them almost all the time when I want to share a tool that can be used for certain link building activities).

This isn't scalable in nature, and the market decides if you have the great/best offering.

But if you're choosing clients to cater to your SEO or link building services, it's something that you have to consider. A brand authority could easily help earn links because it's the community themselves - publishers and products' existing users linking to the organization naturally.

 

2. Manual Outreach Links (Content)

As implied, manual outreach links are executed with manual efforts - from finding relevant link opportunities to identifying an irresistible offer (valuable to end-users) and sending emails to appropriate contact persons.

This is the most common type of links on the web, given that not everyone has the ability and authority to earn links when starting out.

That being said, manual outreach link building can bring a guaranteed range of the number of links per month (e.g. 6 to 10 links per month) if done right and consistently throughout a period of time.

There are a lot of ways how you can build manual outreach links, and here are some resources that can help you get started:

• The Definitive Guide to Blogger Outreach
• Email Outreach Tips

For this post, I'd like to share with you something that's been overlooked when doing manual outreach link building.

First:

Picking Up New Competitors 

If there are only a few inches away from beating up the competition, knowing what your competitors are working on based on their new links being acquired is essential to maneuver your website to better links.

For this reason, you can use Ahrefs to check your competitors' new links.

 

You can even filter indexed links based on a specific period of time (past month, past week, or past day).

 

Picking up new links of your competitors, will you give insights as to which link building tactic they're currently focusing on (either niche scholarships or discount programs, for example) and if they are pursuing blogs/sites from other verticals (but still relevant to their brand).

Given their recency of linking, new links acquired by your competitors have high chances of converting into links when pitched since they are more receptive to link pitches. 

Linkable Markets For Certain Content Types 

A certain type of content serves a particular linkable audience.

For example, an educational guide caters to resource linkers, while bloggers are more receptive to infographics and entertainment-driven articles.

Meanwhile, news editors are looking for more data-studies type of content.

via SiegeMedia

 

In essence, if you're manually reaching out to a certain linkable audience and not giving them a suitable content type, you're less likely to acquire a link from an editorial perspective.

That's not to say there's no chance of linking. But for every content type, it serves a specific linkable audience.

3. Self-Created Non-Editorial Links

Not being editorially given, self-created non-editorial links tend to carry less weight than other link types. They get fewer clicks to their referring pages than links placed within the body of content. Therefore, from a lead generation perspective, putting all your efforts into self-created non-editorial links is not worthwhile.

 

Here are some examples of this link type that I've seen still being built up to this date:

• Not moderated blog comments
• User profile pages
• Forum signatures/profile links
• Not moderated directories

Get this type of links to diversify your link profile, but not too many, given that they don't provide as much link value as compared to editorial links.

The type of self-created non-editorial links you should get is social links.

Here are a few social sites where you can build free backlinks:

• Linkedin Pulse
• Medium
• Crunchbase
• About.Me
• Reddit
• Youtube
• Facebook
• Google My Business & Google Plus

4. Discussion-Based Backlinks

Links coming from discussion websites and online boards are proved to be valuable in terms of driving referral traffic and assisted conversions to a website.

Both benefits prove how powerful that link type is, as you're hitting two birds with one stone: traffic and conversions.

To benefit much from discussion-based links, one must consider the following:

• Identify sub-niche boards from community discussion and niche-specific forum sites.
• Consider more quality than quantity (e.g. if you own an eCommerce guitar website, a brand presence on a guitar forum with 5000-ish users is better than a music forum with almost 50,000 users).
• Participate in discussion boards/threads where you can provide value with your expertise. Take note that your goal is to drive traffic through clicks from links. If your participation doesn't engage the users well, driving traffic to your website is more difficult.
• Don't insert links pointing to your commercial pages without relevance to threads. You may be flagged as spam or be banned from the community site.
• Add hyper-relevant links to discussions. If you think a category page is more suitable than a product page, consider adding more.

Here are a few examples of websites where you can build discussion-based links:

Quora

Quora is a question-and-answer site where people benefit from answers to specific queries.

Search for Quora-sub threads that you can follow and find questions from them. Spend 10 minutes providing genuine and valuable answers or solutions to niche-relevant questions.

 

Last year, I put a daily practice to answer one relevant question every single day. It drove not just traffic but potential clients to our agency.

Country And Local-Specific Forums 

If you're doing local link building, it's important not just to get relevant discussion-based links, but also hyper-local.

For example, if you're targeting Aussies, Whirlpool is a forum site in Australia you’ll love the most as users (mostly from the tech niche) are highly engaged.

Identifying a forum site like this is worth spending minutes, if not hours, of your time. Genuinely provide solutions to recent questions that will lead to more traffic and leads to your website.

Niche-Relevant Forums 

Don Rhoades shared a credible idea on penetrating niche forums for traffic.

He coined the term "forum participating rubric", a method of using criteria to make decisions on participating in forums and online conversations that mention a need for your products.

Here's what it looks like:

 

Here's what each row means:

Timely: I like to try and stay current, as sales opportunities can go from hot to cold very quickly. Online conversations can change focus just as instantly. As an online retail salesman, you must be ubiquitous in “the showroom,” which any good salesman knows is everywhere he is. You can use this method for current press hits as well.

Collaborative: Agree or disagree, supporting another user’s statement helps you build a relationship, and that’s what link building all boils down to. Remember that your first few interactions will most likely not be a good time to drop a link. This situation calls for patience and being genuine in your responses. Remember, this is not about ranking sites and scaling the shit out of a process. This is about adding value to a community.

Education: This is most likely the best facet of this approach. Every product, no matter how much like other products it may be, has unique features, advantages, and benefits. These are the selling points of your product over others. Your on-site content should communicate these FAB’s and offer the G, which stands for Grabber (ask for the sale, without asking).

Clarity: This is one of the most common 4’s on the scale. The opportunity to address a misprint or correct an opinion formed by the reader is a blessing in disguise. This is also where it pays to have assessed all of your press mentions and link profile. I have often found opportunities to place links to other sites with links that generate sales. BOO-YAH! Some press hits from 2 years ago had no inbound links in the body, but after giving a clarifying statement (with an informational page link), they still bring in significant monthly sales.

by Don Rhoades

5. Sponsorship Links

Getting this type of link isn't groundbreaking. You only need to sponsor an event, organization, charity, or any cause, and in return, you'll receive a link from a specific page.

Here are steps on how you can build sponsorship-based links.

First is to identify niche-specific sponsorship link opportunities.

If you're targeting a local city, it is best to filter opportunities based on its locality.

You can use this search query (inurl:sponsor "INDUSTRY") or (inurl:sponsor "INDUSTRY" "CITY") to look for sponsorship pages in your industry.

The more hyper-relevant your opportunities are, the better link value you can get from them.

 

Next is to create a list of these sponsorship opportunities in a spreadsheet.

This way, you'll be able to check each page later on and prioritize which sponsorship opportunity is more suitable to your website and your budget.

Finally, reach out to each contact person on the website/organization with a value offer that suits them.

6. Membership Backlinks

This type of link is a by-product of being part of an affiliate within an organization.

Acquiring membership-based links is based on the idea that if you have joined an organization, whether you're coming off as a personal or corporate, you can get a link from a specific page of that organization's website.

 

If you're working for a client for link building, it is best to check your company's existing collaborations, partners, or affiliated organizations.

Research if there is an existing membership/affiliate/partnership page in that organization.

See if other companies have links to their respective sites. This is important as you won't be able to get a link from them if, in the first place, they haven't given links to other companies.

When you see one, reach out to the particular organization and ask if you can give you a link from that specific page.

7. Edu & .Gov Links

Search engines highly trust links from .edu and .gov links; therefore, it is a high-quality link type you should aim to get for your website.

These links are difficult to acquire, but certainly, there are many ways how you can score them. Below are some tips on how to get .edu and .gov links.

• Provide a scholarship opportunity for students, and make it more relevant to your brand (e.g. scholarship for disability students if you're selling medical supplies).
• Offer educational content to .edu and .gov sites worth linking to from a relevant resource page.
• Get links from summer housing, internship, and off-housing pages of .edu sites (best fit if you're a real estate site - apartment).
• Acquire links from the "new to an area" page of .edu sites (things to do, local attractions in [CITY], quality schools in [CITY], moving and relocation in [CITY], etc..).

 

 

Here are some more resources you can read on building .edu and .gov links:

• Quicksprout's Guide to .Edu and .Gov Link Building
• 4 Ideas for Safely Getting Mentioned by .Gov Websites
• How to Get .Edu Backlinks Using Scholarships

8. Event Backlinks

As implied, these links are acquired using events - either you create your own or just participate.

Here are some ways to maximize events to build links to your website.

Host your own event (whether local or niche-specific).

This requires you to have a set of brand followers (offline or event, much better if it's both) or have built expertise around a certain niche/industry. This way, it'll be easier for you to sell tickets or get people to book slots for the event.

 

Invite people with linking intent, i.e. publishers of a local media team, bloggers, influencers, or content creators/PR of different companies, to attend your event. Give some free passes or reduce their sponsorship fees if they're a huge win for you (i.e. a big local media site). 

If your event is to provide information/content to your audience, it's also important to invite industry experts to speak. This will give you some links, as some may also promote your event from their blogs.

Get your event listed on local or event listing websites/directories. Here are some search queries you can use to find these low-hanging link opportunities:

• [CITY] inurl:event inurl:submit
• [KEYWORD] inurl:event inurl:submit
• [CITY] [KEYWORD] inurl:event inurl:submit
• [CITY] inurl:event inurl:add
• [KEYWORD] inurl:event inurl:add
• [CITY] [KEYWORD] inurl:event inurl:add
• [KEYWORD] [CITY] "submit event"
• [KEYWORD] [CITY] "submit an event"
• [KEYWORD] [CITY] "submit your event"
• [KEYWORD] [CITY] "add event"
• [KEYWORD] [CITY] "add an event"
• [KEYWORD] [CITY] "add your event"
• [KEYWORD] [CITY] "submit your workshop"
• [KEYWORD] [CITY] "submit your course"
• [KEYWORD] [CITY] "submit your class"
• [KEYWORD] [CITY] "submit your conference"

Pitch to become a speaker at an event

Companies hosting events normally have pages on their sites dedicated to that purpose. By pitching yourself to become a speaker at a local or industry event, you may ask organizers to include a link to your website from their event page.

Look at this contextual link I got from a local events page.

 

To find speaking opportunities within your region, this newly built platform by Bryan Harris is a great help.

 

The platform has a filter function that helps you sort out speaking pitch opportunities that are only relevant to your expertise/industry.

Moreover, here are some websites where you can create events, list your events, participate, or even pitch to be a speaker:

• Meetup
• Events.org
• Connecticut Lifestyles

And down to our last type of link - relationship-driven links.

9. Natural Editorial Links (Relationships)

Another kind of natural-editorial links is a link that is built through relationships.

Relationships, if started and strengthened through authentic and continuous links can really help someone acquire a natural link.

There is one attribute that allows relationships to result in links.

Reciprocity.

The principle is that when you offer value to a person, it's natural for that other person to give back something in return.

The question now is not how to build relationships, because that is natural for every person, but how to know what value to offer to a person.

Here are some tips on how you can identify and bring that value to a targeted audience in your space (which give you a ton of opportunities to earn natural links in return):

• Make a list of people who you can help and who can also help you strengthen your brand.
• Build conversations with them around industry communities (forums/community sites) and social networking sites. Don't come off as spammy by sending out generic Tweet DMs.
• You can start by sharing their latest content (best if you can customize your tweets to make them unique and enticing for clicks from your followers). Promote your best content to them (by giving so, you let them see resources they can use to reference their works).
• Influence other influencers. By doing so, you can capture audiences of other influencers when they start sharing content, and you've built strong connections with them as well.

 

Overall, those are the 9 types of links that you need to remember. Not all of them you will build, but the links you should prioritize can drive traffic and conversions to your website.

 

Types of Links Frequently Asked Questions

What are examples of links?

Examples of links include hyperlinks within website content that direct users to other web pages and URLs that take you to external websites. Links connect web pages and enable website navigation.

 

What is the most common type of link?

The most common type of link is the <a> link. This HTML link is essential for content development on your website, as it creates internal and external links for text and images. It is crawlable by search engines, making it highly valuable for SEO purposes.

 

What is link and type of link?

Links are crucial elements in HTML that allow users to connect to different web resources. They are used to create hyperlinks to various content, including HTML documents, external webpages, multimedia content such as images, videos, audio, animations, or even specific sections within the current document. Understanding the different types of links helps in navigating online content effectively.

 

What are the different types of external links?

The different types of external links are nofollow and dofollow. Nofollow links don't pass authority to the linked website, while dofollow links do. By understanding and strategically using each type of external link, you can better optimize your website's SEO and guide readers to relevant resources.

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by Venchito Tampon Jr

A Detailed Guide to Resource Pages

What is a resource page?

A resource page is a carefully curated collection of links to valuable tools, services, products, or websites that can benefit your target audience. Commonly referred to as a "recommended tools" page, an affiliate links page, or a brand "toolbox," resource pages serve as a go-to destination for relevant and useful resources. They help users easily access and find high-quality information.

For example, a resource page about sleeping has subsections for sleep disorders, for sleep forums and discussion boards, and for sleeping best practices. See the image below.

 

There are many resource pages on different topics in various industries. These pages are curated so people don't have to search for other websites to see these resources. And so it allows people to save time researching the best content on a given subject. All they have to do is to click on each hyperlink on the resource page, and they will land on each resource.

 

Resource Page VS Blog Post

A resource page is different from a typical blog post.

A typical blog post contains multiple texts, videos, and images. While a resource page only has a list of links (internal and external backlinks) pointing to resources. Though you'll sometimes see a resource page with brief descriptions for each resource link.

What is resource page link building? 

Resource page link building is a link building tactic where a person contacts a webmaster and suggests recommended content assets to be added to a resource page.

This link building technique isn't new. It has been around for decades and popularized by link building experts like Jon Cooper and Garrett French. With their new creative ways to improve the process of building links from resource pages, many SEO professionals have started using it for their marketing campaigns.

 

Before we proceed to the "how-to" of resource page link building, let's start with more information about resource pages.

1. Resource pages are being updated from time to time.

Though not all resource pages are getting updated, there are many of these types that owners want to change links. Either they remove any broken links they've found or add links to any new relevant content.

The beauty of doing resource page link building is that you don't have to force the owner of the resource page to link to you. Link curators (as we call it) add a link to your content if they find it relevant and valuable enough for their audience.

 

2. Resource pages can bring traffic (and assisted conversions) to your client's site.

The best types of links are contextual links that drive traffic to your website.

Getting a link from a resource page can help generate additional traffic (referral traffic) to the page it was linked to. This referral traffic is visitors absorbed from another website.

The traffic includes potential customers (assisted conversions) you may convert later in your sales process. If the audience on the linking from the page is part of your target customers, there's a higher chance of a conversion from a visitor into a customer.

Building links from resource pages isn't just for rankings and assisted conversions.

 

3. A link builder can get 1 to 3 links (pointing to different content assets of your client) from the same resource page.

Resource page link building is a scalable link building campaign that allows you to get one link and multiple links to different content pieces of your site - all from the same resource page.

 

Imagine if you can build relationships with owners of many niche-specific resource pages, and you can scale the promotion of every new content asset published on your site.

 

Resource Page Link Building Process

Every successful resource page link building campaign starts with a plan. You don't pursue your link targets without any resources to show them. And even before you start your prospecting process, you initially identify whether they are your target audience.

So in building links from resource pages, I have a 5-step process to guide you in making your execution successful.

 

1. Strategize

If you're an agency, you have a team of link builders. One of which must be a strategist. And if you're doing a solo link building campaign, you don't have a choice but take the role of strategizing the campaign.

 

So what does a link strategist do?

A link strategist loves the research process.

It takes hours, days, and even years to master the link prospecting methodology for resource pages. It's not the same outreach with bloggers and publishers; you're dealing with link curators.

When you strategize a campaign, you must be diligent enough to do some additional research, not only for the target audience but for discovering specific search queries and other niche-specific approaches your team might be using for link discovery.

A link strategist defines the mission of the campaign.

You're not just building resource page backlinks for rankings; you're doing it because you serve a specific linkable audience. They have a need, and you must serve it with your resource.

A mission-driven resource page link building campaign helps your team to set expectations for themselves and the campaign, even before it even gets started.

When your team has a mission, they'll take the campaign seriously. If the prospect for backlink targets, they don't look for generic sites but try to find ones that will fit the campaign's standards. If they reach out to link curators, they craft email pitches that will engage those people and not just send them a resource for link inclusion.

It's different when a mission is included right at the start of the campaign. It sets the team's mood, ensuring you work on the same page.

A link strategist understands “linkable audience."

Garrett French has created a list of 601 linkable audiences. Coming from his experience with hundreds of resource page link building campaigns, he knew which groups of link curators tend to link out to resources most often than not.

 

Linkable audiences are link curators who belong to communities with high academic, medical, or government interest levels.

The visiting resource pages are likely to be publishers and ordinary people who do research for their projects.

Understanding that gives you the idea that linkable audiences need a certain type of content that isn't just a 5000-word-ish page but a page that addresses an academic need of a particular audience group.

One note is that these linkable audiences will differ from your target customer personas.

Truth to tell, there is a tendency to go too far away from your brand's customer audience to make a resource page that suits your preferred audience. So be cautious of picking a linkable audience that no longer aligns with your brand's primary and secondary audiences.

A link strategist suggests linkable content ideas for writers.

Ideation is different from drafting. A person who researches topic ideas differs from the one who crafts the content.

A link strategist helps generate topic ideas that suit a particular audience but are still relevant to a customer audience, to one brand's category, or to the brand's niche.

A link strategist shifts the mindset from sales content to linkable content.

Link curators (linkers from resource pages) are not looking for sales/landing pages or event products/services; they are looking for academic content.

2. Prospect

Once the linkable audience and linkable content topic have been determined, the next phase is to start link discovery.

A link prospecting team can be composed of two or more researchers. Their task is to fill in a given spreadsheet or a given database with relevant resource pages.

 

What does a link prospector do?

A link prospector finds who linked to similar content guides.

You don't have to start from scratch to make your initial list of backlink prospects. You may go to similar content guides and collect links pages pointing to them.

You can use Ahrefs to check a page's existing links.

 

The more similar content assets you could reverse engineer for your topic, the more resource pages you could find and reverse engineer for your resource page link building campaign.

A link prospector bookmarks similar content assets while looking for link opportunities.

You'll often find a resource page that links out to similar content topics you could never find simply through Google research. In that case, bookmark them and reverse engineer them to discover more link opportunities.

A link prospector uses different methods to discover resource page link opportunities.

There are many ways to prospect for resource pages. You can start with Google search using advanced search opportunities; here are some search queries you can use:

• intitle:links “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:sites “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:resources “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“useful links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“useful sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“useful resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“suggested links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“suggested sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“suggested resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“recommended links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“recommended sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“recommended resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“more links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“more sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“more resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“favorite links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“favorite sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“favorite resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“related links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“related sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• intitle:“related resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:links “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:sites “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:resources “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“useful links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“useful sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“useful resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“suggested links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“suggested sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“suggested resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“recommended links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“recommended sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“recommended resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“more links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“more sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“more resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“favorite links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“favorite sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“favorite resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“related links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“related sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• inurl:“related resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• “list of resources” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• “list of sites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• “list of websites” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource
• “list of links” “KEYWORD” ~guide ~resource

 

For agencies, you can use Citation Labs Link Prospector. Here's a video tutorial from the product creator, Garrett French — on how to use CLP for resource page discovery.

 

LEARN MORE:

A link prospector organizes link opportunities in a spreadsheet

A link prospector must know how to organize every detail of a resource page needed for an outreach campaign.

If you're not using Buzzstream, Pitchbox, Ninja Outreach, or other outreach tools like Gmail with Gmail extensions, a Google spreadsheet is enough to organize your resource page link opportunities.

Here are the column inputs you will provide on a spreadsheet:

• URL (of the resource page)
• Domain (where the resource page is hosted)
• Duplicate (an Excel function to check if a URL/domain has a duplicate in another row)
• Broken Links (inputs if there are any broken links found on a resource page)
• Anchor texts (anchor texts used by the link curator on links to broken resources)
• First name (contact person)
• Email address / Contact form
• Pitch and follow-up dates (more on this one later)

 

Given that you'll be collecting hundreds, if not thousands, of resource pages, you have to ensure you have a strict input gathering process for your link prospectors.

A link prospector checks resource pages for any broken links.

Oftentimes, resource pages have broken external links. By pointing these defunct backlinks to the page's owner, you can initiate the email conversation.

You can use LinkMiner to manually check if the resource page has any broken links. For one links page, the tool will take 15 to 30 seconds to check all of the external links for any broken links.

3. Create

The linkable content piece is the bridge between an outreach specialist and a linker.

You can only get a link from a resource page if you have a good content asset to offer. You are not selling your commercial product/service but a content asset that provides value to their audience.

 

A great content asset requires the role of a content developer — from its planning to actual publishing.

When creating the content piece, a content developer thinks of his/her audience.

The content developer begins creating when the link strategist submits the list of linkable topic ideas. From the introduction to the conclusion of the piece, the content developer must have a linkable audience in mind, as it is who he/she is writing for.

A content developer fills key knowledge gaps.

The way to make your content asset more comprehensive than other similar assets is to identify what gaps in terms of information others haven't yet fulfilled in their own content that you can fill in yours.

A good question to ask is this:

Can you add something about the topic that hasn’t been written or mentioned from their content, or better – elsewhere?

To solidify and emphasize certain information, look for content gaps like defining terms or relevant industry data/statistics. By giving your consumers a new blend of tastes they won't find anywhere else, you increase the comprehensiveness of your content and its potential to acquire links your competitors won't copy easily.

A content developer suggests a new format for the overall content asset.

Different people have different styles of learning. Adding elements like videos, images, audio, and other content formats to your content asset would make your content easy to consume for different people and increase its value to people looking for references for their content works.

Always remember to aim at the highest level of utility and not just word count. You can create a 10,000-word page, but you may have wasted resources on additional unnecessary text if it doesn't satisfy its target audience's needs.

A content developer should be open to revision requests.

Big agencies normally have support systems for quality control of the content. They have a team of other content writers who check and balance information if it's updated and suited to particular industry standards.

The content developer must be patient to go back and forth with the content for any upgrades and revisions the team may have identified as they check the page.

Best Resource Pages Examples

Here are some websites to inspire you to create linkable content assets, specifically ones that are constantly producing pieces that get links. I also included below links to their best resource page examples:

DrugRehab.com

 

Resource page examples from DrugRehab:

• A Substance Abuse Guide for Parents (~500 referring domains)
• Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse (~340 referring domains)
• Domestic Abuse, Sexual Violence, and Substance Use (~358 referring domains)

Accredited Online Schools

 

Resource page examples from Accredited Online Schools:

• Bullying Awareness and Prevention (~249 referring domains)
• College Resources for Veterans and Their Families (~262 referring domains)
• Understanding & Preventing Plagiarism (~276 referring domains)

4. Engage

Content creation is only half of the battle. The other 50% is promoting your brand asset.

 

Here comes the role of outreach specialists.

What does an outreach specialist do?

An outreach specialist crafts email copies.

When crafting email copies, consider these three Cs:

1. Clarity

Your email copy must be clear enough to understand your link curators. It should contain why you're reaching out to them and the description of your resource content.

A good tip for you is to send it to at least three team members to check if your email copy has clarity.

 

2. Captivity 

Does your subject line capture the interest of your link curators? If it's too generic just like other email templates scattered on the different SEO articles — and does not personalize specifically to your target link curators, your email copy may lose one component - captivity.

 

3. Continuity

Here is a good email crafting tip from Dave Gerhardt, VP Of Marketing of Drift.

subject line & the first 2 lines of a sales (or marketing) email are everything.

Things to skip:

- “as [job title] you know that [pain]”
- “I know you’re busy, but.”

Use the 1st line to get someone to read the 2nd.

2nd like to get them to the 3rd, etc.

— Dave Gerhardt (@davegerhardt) May 6, 2019

Your target link curator must be able to start opening your email and continue reading it until the end. It requires some copywriting skills, but as you constantly improve your email copies, you get a sense of what works and what does not.

An outreach specialist sends follow-up emails to non-respondents.

Follow-ups are needed for link curators who don't respond to your initial pitches. Write a short, non-aggressive follow-up email copy to inform them of your previous message, or include it in your follow-up email template.

An outreach specialist converses with respondents until he gets links.

There's no sure-fire way to create email templates when you're already talking to your target prospect.

Dynamics come to play in email conversations. An outreach specialist must be trained to answer different email copies in different contexts and linkable audiences being talked with.

You can check out this post on six email outreach tips.

Here are some tools you can use for doing outreach campaigns

• Voila Norbert
• Hunter
• Mailtrack
• Email Verification Tools
• Outreach platforms

5. Win

The last step on how to build links from resource pages is to win the link.

 

Often, there will be link curators who will not respond to your initial pitch, even your follow-up email, but will link to your content from their resource page.

Silence in response doesn't mean "no."

The link strategist or outreach specialist must learn to monitor any new links to the content asset you're promoting.

You can use Ahrefs to discover any new links to the page quickly.

 

So, that's how you build links from resource pages. Follow the 5-step process: Strategize, Prospect, Create, Engage, and Win.

Resource Pages Link Building Resources:

The No Non-Sense Guide to Broken Link Building: A super-detailed guide to broken link building with many real-life examples and techniques.

Four Reasons Why You Don't Get Resource Links: Failures are part of a resource page link building campaign. Learn why link builders don't get resource links in this article.

4 Advanced Link Prospecting Techniques for Increased Efficiency: Speed up your link-gathering process to collect more link opportunities for your campaign.

Getting Dofollow Backlinks from Primary Schools. Most links come from primary and secondary school websites, learn how to acquire do follow backlinks from this article quickly.

 

Resource Pages Frequently Asked Questions

How do you write a resource page?

To create a successful resource page, consider these 5 key tips:

1. Organize your resources by category.
2. Provide brief descriptions for each resource.
3. Include high-quality and relevant resources.
4. Regularly update your resource page.
5. Make your resource page easily navigable.

By following these tips, you can create an effective and user-friendly resource page on your website.

 

What should a resource page look like?

A well-structured resource page should have valuable content, including links and keywords related to the topic. It provides a comprehensive overview of the subject, making it a go-to source for information. When optimizing a resource page, ensure it offers a macro view of the topic and covers relevant subtopics to enhance its value. Remember to include clear headings, descriptive titles, and properly formatted URLs for better SEO performance.

 

What is the importance of resource page?

Resource pages are crucial for SEO due to two main reasons. Firstly, they benefit publishers by generating social shares and backlinks from those featured on the page. Secondly, external resource pages can serve as valuable assets for link building efforts, boosting website authority and visibility.

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by Venchito Tampon Jr

9 Powerful Image Link Building Strategies (That Actually Work)

What is image link building?

Image link building refers to acquiring high-quality backlinks by creating and sharing relevant visual content. By strategically creating and distributing appealing images, you can generate organic links that drive traffic to your website. This approach helps increase online visibility and establish your site as an authority in your industry.

If there's one under-utilized content asset of any website today for link building, I'm sure it's images.

Most of you think it has lesser link acquisition value than other content types - probably for two reasons: One. It doesn't catch longevity.  Unlike a typical 3500-word ultimate guide, normal images don't inform a lot of messages.

Two, it's plain, simple, and most of the time, it's commercial context. If a visual asset originates from your company, for example (i.e. branded team photos), you would think it's not usual for a blogger to link to such a particular piece. And your next problem is, how can I remove the commercial intent in these images?".

These examples of link builders' dilemmas cause you not to believe much in the power of image link building.

I hope that at the end of this post, you will have plenty of ideas on using images to build links for your site.

Below is a list of 9 image link building strategies that we had the most success with. They can be used in conjunction with others to increase the value of the proposition for outreach.

 

9 Image Link Building Strategies

1. Skyscrape Old Infographics

If the word "infographics" is for sale in the SEO market, I think it's sold out already (and perhaps a best seller).

Just kidding.

Infographics are abused in almost all industries. Try searching for your "industry" + "INFOGRAPHIC" as your keyword phrase in Google, and you'll start seeing tons of infographics published.

Not all of them give much value to users, of course.

One way to break the noise is to observe your industry's visual market and see which visuals previously gained success and which didn't work out well.

By doing that, you can start digging into old and most-linked images. When you see one, you start to strategize how to update it and give a revamp.

Skyscape is an old visual asset.

How can you do that at scale?

Use Buzzsumo and its "infographic filter" and search for a topic relevant to your industry.

 

You enter industry keywords and look for previous infographics that got shares and links, some just earned shares, and it's okay. A neat probability share could result in a few links in visual marketing.

To promote infographics to get links, you can check out this blog post about guestographics.

2. Utilize Event Experiences Using Freelance Photography

Events become memorable because of great experiences. No one will deny that he wants to return to certain events where he had a great time on the same date and in the same place, if possible.

It's classic. And what would make someone remember those events?

Photos.

A huge link opportunity awaits you if you can utilize event experiences with freelance photos. Get someone to cover an event with freelance photography.

Instead of sponsoring bucks or free pizzas for after-event parties, hire a freelance photographer to cover that event.

Get those high-quality captures, upload them on a specific page on your website, and dedicate that page just for that event.

 

Reach out to event organizers and let them know that you have captured great experiences on your website, and these are publicly available for republishing/resourcing. Politely ask those who have used your photos to credit you as the original source.

Depending on vertical markets, if there are niche bloggers/marketers/PR professionals who may have attended the event, there are more link opportunities that you'd see coming from participants' own websites.

3. Create Content for "Quotes" Keyword

People love inspiration. And getting quotes from anywhere is one way to hype up one's day.

 

Knowing that, if you take industry quotes (e.g. parenting quotes) to a keyword research tool, you'll see an immense opportunity to cover content specific to that.

 

Though most industry quotes you'll see are just a compilation of all sayings/wordings from different sources or people, there are surefire ways to help your content get more visibility and help it rank on search.

Ross Hudgens shared that in a post on ranking for "quotes" keyword:

1. Aim for the Most Quotes on the SERP - if you see 80 quotes, try to aim for 120 or 150, for example.
2. Make Shareable Images for Some Quotes - shareability is important to get more visibility to the content.
3. Use Longtail KWs as H2s or Filters - to rank for related keywords, like "parenting a child with disabilities" quotes". You can categorize quotes based on different audience intent.
4. Add Share CTAs on Individual Quotes - add customized tweet-to-share buttons to individual quotes to increase social shares.

In addition, here are some more actionable tips to maximize quotes content for link building.

The first is to include sayings or statements of your industry influencers.

Having them in your blog spotlight gives them a reason to share your "quotes" page as you give them exposure upfront.

One way to find their best statements is to check their top-performing/best articles. Get one or two statements they said powerfully (and probably would be found valuable to other people in your industry).

Create an individual graphic just for that. Then, reach out to those influencers and share your content.

The second is to make it part of a big post.

If you're creating content you think one quote from your "quotes" page fits best, make it part of that content. By doing so and including a link to your "quotes" page, you increase its visibility - that more people will visit and check the page.

4. Repoint Slideshare Links To Your Website

Whether it's a personal brand or corporate profile, if your organization's brand ambassador, marketer, and industry practitioner gets invited to speak to different events, chances are you'll have a library of slide decks.

You may haven't uploaded them yet on your own website or public platforms like SlideShare.

But if you do, congrats! Otherwise, there's a missed opportunity there to get links. In fact, in industries where there is a huge demand for expert information, slides are strong assets for links.

If you have uploaded your slides in Slideshare, track how many links it organically receives. You can semi-automate this process by creating alerts to give you email notifications when a link to a specific page has been found.

Ahrefs can help you with this.

 

You can go deeper by tracking mentions of a popular slide you have uploaded (which you probably have the confidence that it'll get shared massively and earn links based on its initial visibility).

Say, if it has been viewed a thousand times without much promotion, you may expect it to be seen more organically, and if you boost it with manual promotion, there's a high chance it can receive some links.

Your next action is to email publishers who have embedded your slide/s in their content and ask if they could link to your website.

Nudge bloggers with specific anchor text that they may use, i.e., you can state lines like this in your email, "You may link to [domain.com] with texts like, via "Brand/Persona".

By doing so, you increase your conversion rate, as you remove the commerciality intent of your pitch.

This link building tactic is simple yet underutilized by link builders for clients with strong speaking portfolios.

Further Reading: The Definitive Guide to Link Reclamation

My fifth image link building tip is connected to the method above.

5. Curate Conference Slides

One clever way I've seen in company blogs to get more site visibility is publishing a curated list of slide presentations of all the speakers when they have organized an event.

 

Some SEOs may just look at it as a simple marketing strategy, but it's a crafty newsjacking idea to list visuals that often have high demands for consumption.

How many people have asked speakers this question, "will you upload your slide presentation online?".

There are many of them - attendees who are always looking for speakers' decks.

And if they've found the organizer's blog that puts up a page for those resources, would they not be willing to share or link to it?

The essential here is that you have to be the organizer yourself and be able to publish slides first among every other else (because speakers tend to publish theirs on their own blogs as well).

Besides creating a page dedicated to those slides, uploading those pieces to your Slideshare account to get more organic visibility (as they have chances to rank for long-tail industry keywords) is also important.

 

Imagine if there are 3 to 5 slides (just you curating it) that have earned links from blogs in your industry. It's 5 or 10 links acquired with just a simple method!

Just reaching out to them and reclaiming those links, asking if they can credit you as the source of those visual assets.

6. Track Mentions of Flickr Account

Flickr may be an old platform for people uploading photos online. But it can still be a gateway for links in respective industries where images are heavy-indexed, like travel, lifestyle, and home improvement.

 

Flickr profiles with customized photos get links from time to time - and if you've got one, find out who used your images.

You email the contact person and ask if it is possible not to link to your Flickr profile but to your direct website.

There are strong signs of linking, such as links that have via [Name] or Photo captured by [Name] below the embedded slide deck.

 

You can insert lines in your email that say, You may provide a source of link in your caption text (via domain.com).

If you got it right, that's a few homepage links you'll never easily get from other link building strategies. 

7. Ranking Opportunities with Visual Content Using Pinterest

When ranking your website in Google, it's imperative to find low-hanging keywords you can easily rank without much due diligence in promotion, especially if you're a relatively new website.

Those keywords are goldmine opportunities that may only require you to put content that is only 2x better than other pages in search results.

And be mindful that you don't have to create 10x content just to rank. With an average DA of your domain, it's possible to steal that easy organic traffic.

One brilliant tip to find those visual ranking opportunities (h/t to @dan_shure) is using Pinterest.

Pinterest pages rank for keywords you may haven't thought are relevant to your industry. Some keyphrases even have high link intent, which gives you enough confidence for manual outreach.

How to start this content creation approach?

Put Pinterest into semrush.com. (I prefer SEMRush over Ahrefs when filtering millions of organic keywords straight on the platform without exporting CSV files).

 

Your next step is to filter keywords by your topic + "ideas" or "images".

 

Then filter again with keyword difficulty.

Do this method every month to find newly suggested or searched keywords, and you'll have endless visual keyword opportunities you can rank content with.

For example, the "backyard fence ideas" keyword has Pinterest pages with good link intent (20+ average linking root domains).

 

That keyword opportunity alike, given in your respective industry, is something you can grab and create 2x content with it, which passively helps you earn links when you rank.

8. Reverse Engineer Image Site Backlinks

For some of you who don't know, image links point to your site not with an anchor text but with an image.

Image links are acquired from different approaches. Here are some common examples:

Image directories 

Example link

 

Loyalty cards

Example link

 

Partnerships or Sponsors

Example link -

 

Professional Organization Links

Example link

 

As you can see, these are legitimate links mostly executed from a traditional partnership perspective, i.e. the case with a professional organization. You join a partner group, and they give you a link from their partners/association page.

Usually, these links are hard to get by just doing outreach and requesting a link.

You don't do that. for sure. These are gold mines. You think and plan how to acquire the link properly.

But with a good approach, and if your brand permits you to sponsor/partner/join or even create a loyalty card for customers, it's not only a branding opportunity. But along the way, you can create image links.

How did it start?

Put up a competitor's domain to a link prospecting tool.

 

Go to its Backlinks profile and export a backlink report (CSV).

 

Filter the list with words containing "Image" only to find image links, either do-follow or un-follow.

 

Search through potential link opportunities. Understand how your competitor acquired links. Some may take manual outreach. Others may take weeks to partner for a program. But there are a few that only require creating a profile and uploading images, just like this one.

9. Image Share With Other Websites

Honestly, not all image link building tactics can best fit your website.

But if there's one tip that is very simple to do to build links through images, you approach publishers and give them permission to use any of your visuals.

By giving them permission, you provide value upfront that sets you apart from other link pitches that say, "give me a link".

Jason Acidre established a solid image link building strategy of creating a private gallery/library of images and cinema graphs and offering it to bloggers in exchange for links.

 

With more bloggers caring more about the design of their content, they'll likely perceive your pitch as highly valuable, especially if it's given to them intentionally and for free.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to do them, you should probably find someone who can. Learn more about our link building services.

 

Image Link Building Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make an image a link somewhere?

To make an image clickable and turn it into a link, you can add the <img> tag within an <a> tag. This HTML code works on WordPress too, just use the text view option in the page editor. Give your image a link by nesting the <img> tag inside the <a> tag.

 

What are image backlinks?

Image backlinks are links to websites, pages, or profiles embedded in images. These backlinks help improve a website's visibility and authority, as search engines consider them signals of relevance and trust. Including image backlinks in your SEO strategy can enhance your website's ranking and attract more organic traffic. Ensure your images are properly optimized and relevant to the linked content to maximize their SEO value.

 

Does link building still work?

Yes, link building is still effective for improving SEO rankings today. However, it is important to focus on quality links rather than quantity. Building high-quality, relevant backlinks from authoritative websites can greatly enhance your website's visibility and organic traffic.

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by Venchito Tampon Jr

How to Get Backlinks in 2024 [21 New Strategies]

Looking for new ways on how to get backlinks and boost your site's Google ranking?

Great! 

This post contains 21 new link building tips and strategies that are working in 2024. 

Let's dive in.

 

How to Get Backlinks in 2024

1. Create An Image Library 

When people use your images, you can ask them to credit you with links.

The more images you produce, the more links you can reclaim for your website. 

How can you start with this?

First, analyze what images are linkable. 

Start with any of these sources to know what images get the most links: 

• Unsplash
• Shutterstock
• Getty Images
• Alamy

You want to look for images likely to be used by publications and blogs.

The reasons why bloggers would use it are very simple:

They want to show how a person behaves the way they mentioned in their articles or how things are used. 

And if you can give them images that portray that, then you're hitting their needs.

It must be any of these themes: 

Places:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Objects:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Events:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emotions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go look for them on a photo source website by typing your niche keywords. 

For example, "work from home":

 

 

Or go to the Popular section to see what photos individuals and businesses are paying for.

Grab any image and plug it into Tineye to see how many sites have used it.

Once you analyze what images are often used by bloggers and publishers, go to your blog and publish an image library.

Create an image library that you can license under "creative commons distribute". 

Get these images uploaded on Flickr and other websites mentioned above. 

What you input in Flickr as a title and description will be your page title and meta description box.

Make sure you add your attribution request in your description. 

Start with 30 images. 

Then as you get results, add 5 to 10 more each month. 

Monitor who uses your images using Tineye Reverse Image Search.

 

Or using Copytrack.

Or Picmatch.

Spot use of your images without links. 

Reach out to them and ask for attribution. 

Another effective strategy is this: 

If you have a big library of images, maximize it to the fullest. 

How?

Besides uploading these photos on photo-sourcing sites:

You can offer it exclusively to publishers. 

Here is an email outreach template that you can use:

 

Subject Line: Save [Website]'s time and money on images you use

Hi [Name],

For [Website]'s editorial team, a crucial part of work is to find images, relevant to the content. 

What do you think of an alternative source of images in the form of a free subscription to more than [number of] images: [link to your page]?

We can give you [number of] images per month for a [X]-month period (with a possibility of extension). In return, we would like you to credit our images with clickable links.

Please let me know what do you think of our offer.

Thanks,

[Your Name] 

 

2. Apply 'Linkedin Reclamation' Technique 

One of the easiest types of backlinks you can get is:

From people who mentioned you on their sites but without attribution of links.

Well, you can simply reach out to them and ask to get credited with links. 

And you're probably familiar with this technique: 

Link reclamation.

The good thing is you can do it with any type of page you own.

Including your Linkedin page.

If you have someone in your organization who is getting attention from the press, either they are an authority on a technical topic. 

Sharing tips, quotes, or any value-added advice to the community.

Or because they have a remarkable story worth sharing.

Do a quick backlink check on their Linkedin profile page.

Find some potential link opportunities in there.

Reach out to blogs and ask them to link to their profile page on your website. 

If you don't have a dedicated page for that person, create one for this strategy.

Then, get links. 

 

3. Initiate Reciprocal Linking 

You're probably familiar with link exchange.

That's the activity of two websites linking to each other web pages. 

The SEO community has a heavy discussion about whether link exchange is good or bad. 

But think about it:

Two websites can link to each other reciprocally without even the intention of manipulating search result rankings.

For example:

If I'm a product manufacturer and you're a reseller, would it be logical to link to your page because I want my potential customers to know where they can purchase the product?

Or vice versa. 

Another example:

Two niche bloggers were attending a conference. They grabbed some coffee and talked.

 

They are in different niches. But happen to find each other's new articles useful for their readers. 

One linked to his friend’s blog post. And vice versa.

You see:

These two examples are natural reciprocal linking.

Link exchange is okay.

As long as it is done in a manageable manner.

Not scalable. But if initiated for targeted people you've built relationships with, then it becomes more effective. 

 

4. Use "Bank For Buck" Guest Posting Strategy 

Not all guest posting campaigns are effective.

Why?

When people send guest posting ideas, they come from the lines of:

"Here are my guest posting ideas. Choose one that fits your blog."

 

Or:

"topics I'm thinking about and hoping to include a link in your article pointing to my website" 

It is a one-sided benefit on the part of the guest blogger.

Sad truth: 

But this is why a guest posting campaign doesn't work for many businesses. 

So how can you stand out among them? 

Instead of thinking about just “links”, why not ask these questions: 

What do they want?

What do they care about?

Some answers you can arrive at may be: 

They want to rank for their target keywords to get new blog readers.

They want to monetize their blogs. 

And so, if all these benefit your target publication, you want a new level of guest posting strategy. 

Insert: 

"Bank For Buck" strategy. 

It's a guest posting strategy that is simple to apply. 

The idea is: 

You submit guest posting topics that your target guest publication/blog would benefit from:

Either because they can monetize from it.

Or they can potentially gain new search visitors by ranking your content for target keywords. 

Now:

Here's how you can do it. 

The first is to find affiliate programs in your industry. 

And the reason is:

These affiliate programs may help your target niche bloggers earn a commission whenever someone clicks on their affiliate links and buy the products they're selling.

It’s a win for them! 

How can you find these affiliate programs? 

You can do a Google search for "[INDUSTRY] affiliate programme" OR "[INDUSTRY] affiliate program".

 

Here you'll see different brands looking for affiliate partners. 

 

Make a list of these affiliate programs. 

Next step:

Look for bloggers who are likely to participate in the program.

And the easy way is to find people who've done it before.

These are bloggers who've written product reviews. 

And because they're into affiliate marketing, they will be more receptive to email pitches that would give them more affiliate commissions.

How to find them?

Use Ahrefs to check blogs linking to the affiliate programs you listed earlier.

 

Another way:

Look for authoritative blogs you can reach out to for guest posting.

In other words, these are your prospective guest blogs. 

Then the next step:

Research for their best-performing content.

And find what topics you can write for them to help them rank for some industry keywords.

You can use Ahrefs for this:

Either use Top Pages to get a good sense of their top-performing content. 

 

Or Content Gap Analysis to discover keywords they don't rank for yet (but their competitors are currently ranking). 

 

Now, as you assess, these are the topics you can suggest to write for the blog.

Two things:

You write the content and link to one of the affiliate programs you found related to their niche.

And you write the content that gets to rank for some keywords they haven't targeted yet. 

So, in summary, here's how to apply the "Bank for Buck" strategy: 

1. Find affiliate programs in your industry.
2. Look for niche bloggers who are linked to affiliate programs.
3. Find authoritative blogs in your list. 
4. Send a list of guest posting ideas (with target keywords to rank and related affiliate programs to target).
5. Write the content for them and get links to your site. 

 

5. Get Infographics Inspiration From Visual Capitalist 

It's challenging to make infographics stand out in your industry.

Not only:

Thousands (if not hundreds) of businesses publish various visual content assets daily. 

But there is nothing new with most infographics.

So how can you make your infographics stand out in your industry?

The key is to model what already works.

That is to get inspiration from proven and tested infographics that have gotten links from authoritative blogs and publications.

One website producing solid visual content assets is:

Visual Capitalist. 

 

If you experience creative block when thinking of what infographics to create for your brand, check out what Visual Capitalist do. 

Some examples are:

 

Now, you don't have to worry about where to start with infographics. 

Check out our other link building strategies.

 

6. Use Thought Leadership For Content Collaboration 

It's not that easy to create content.

But if you're working with other industry practitioners, you can produce more and higher quality content assets. 

That's co-marketing. 

How can you apply this?

Simple.

Find any thought leaders in your company. 

 

And get them to be involved in your content distribution strategy. 

The idea is that the more authoritative a person is in an industry, the easier it is for you to secure opportunities with online publications.

Now:

Do you have any subject matter experts in your company?

How about professors who've done any solid research at school? 

The great thing here is:

You can partner with other institutions and entities where each guest posts on each other's website. 

 

7. Apply Advanced Stats Round-up Strategy 

You're probably familiar with round-up posts.

A round-up post is an article containing insider tips from industry experts on a specific topic.

Most content marketers abused this technique.

And it affects how the marketing industry perceives the value of a round-up post. 

The thing is:

Round-up posts still work.

But instead of just asking thought leaders to share their "most actionable tip", you can go deep with data. 

For example: 

You can survey at least 30 people.

Or try to get statistics about the topic.

Let's say you're targeting business owners. 

You can research on:

"Percentage of business owners who would create the same business (industry) VS other business owners who prefer to venture into a different niche"

"The average number of employees, team size, or revenue VS the years in business" 

These are just some examples.

The thing is:

Statistics are referential topics.

Publishers, bloggers, and content creators often link to statistics to validate their points and make their content more comprehensive than others.

 

This means you have a high chance of getting links when you rank for target keywords (e.g. "small business owners statistics"). 

So do not just publish a 'best tips' round-up article. Go beyond that. 

 

8. Do "Reduce, Re-use & Recycle" For Links 

You can do wonders out of garbage.

if you know how to recycle properly…

What if recycling is also applicable for link building on your site? 

How? 

With old, seemingly useless content, you can create an entire content distribution program without even creating new content.

What are the steps? 

First, find old content that you can prune.

These are pages that bring heaviness to your website (in terms of wordcount), but don't gain or contain any of the following:

Not generating backlinks (0 referring domains).

 

Receiving <100 organic visits per month (lower relative to your site's overall search traffic). 

 

Not related to your blog's overall topic theme. 

The next thing you'll do is:

Offer the content as guest posts to third-party industry publications.

Or you can rewrite the content first to fit the blog's content guidelines.

Then submit it once you see "green signals" from blog editors. 

While doing this strategy, you'll find that not all your pruned content is worth submitting as guest posts…

And that's okay.

If there's a huge volume of well-written content, those are good articles still relevant for other sites. 

The last step is to serve 410 response codes on the old URLs.

Or no-index via Search Console for those articles to no longer be indexed. 

So if you have a hard time creating content for link building, recycle what you already have by turning old content into guest posts. 

 

9. Reverse Engineer Author Footprints Of Competitors 

You know, competitor research.

Finding patterns, behaviors, and people connected to your competitors.

In link building, it understands who is linked to your competitors.

Why did they link to their sites...

And what specific patterns you can model for your own site. 

If you know competitors, who are heavily involved in link building with authors or bio names. 

One link building technique you can do is:

Crawl their domain in a link building analysis tool like Ahrefs.

Outgoing links - Anchors

Scan through anchors and check names. Some of which are contributors to the publications.

 

Locate the websites and social media profiles of those authors. 

Collaborate.

Either:

Offer content partnerships (pay-per-content partnership).

Where they'll create the content and submit it to an industry publication.

And because they are already contributors to these industry blogs, it would be easy for them to publish the content.

 

10. Approach eCommerce or Shopping Editors 

Ecommerce link building isn't that easy. 

Webmasters must have a good reason to link to your product pages. 

Many reasons, but one is:

Niche bloggers write "The best gifts for X" articles. 

And if your product is relevant to their topics, you can get direct links to your product/category pages. 

Besides bloggers:

You can also reach out to Shopping editors.

These are news writers, content creators, and editors from top eCommerce publications.

Let me give you a few names.

Lara Tumer

 

Leah Stodart

 

Then go from here. Prospect for more opportunities by discovering other publications that they're writing for.

Through Google search.

Through Ahrefs. 

 

 

11. Use Non-Competing Websites As A Source Of Link Opps

What if you have exhausted the link opportunities of your competitors?

The next best option is to find non-competing websites to reverse engineer with.

These are brands that don't offer the same product as yours.

But they're in the same industry.

For example:

If you are a veterinarian, your first option is to find pages linking to other veterinarians in your market. 

If you've prospected enough link targets from other vets’ sites, your next best is to use non-competing websites as your source of link opportunities.

Now, some resources pages link out to different needs of an audience. 

Take a look at this page:

 

If you're a pet lover, you'd love this page as it covers pet resources in San Diego.

So you can think of pet stores.

Pet groomers.

Animal hospitals.

How can you apply this to your niche?

First, find niche resources pages (just like what I shared above) that cover different resources (not just for one niche offering - e.g. vets). 

Then, look for pages linked to each of the non-competing sites in every niche category you can find.

Then be amazed by the number of link opportunities available to you. 

 

12. Get Links From Eco-Friendly Product Listings

Green environment is a big chunk market of links.

Resource pages.

Guest posts.

Sponsorships.

Niche publications.

If you're selling physical products, one type of links you can take advantage of is:

Eco-friendly product listings.

There are tons of this type online.

For example:

An eco-friendly product listings page. 

 

If you're a pet store selling eco-friendly products, then this one would open opportunities for you.

How?

Find other similar types of pages.

Using Google search:

Then reach out to them and pitch to be featured in their following articles. 

 

13. Reach Out To Freelance Journalists To Cover Your Story 

Digital PR is huge.

And publication editors receive hundreds of email pitches from brands and marketers looking to cover their stories.

The thing is:

It is saturated.

Instead of going directly into publications.

Try reaching out to freelance journalists.

They get paid by pitching stories and news into publications.

And that itself is an advantage, as they work with different publications.

One freelance journalist can open up many relationships. 

And if you're an agency working with different content campaigns, this one is for you.

So, how can you discover these freelance journalists? 

Use Twitter.

With their advanced searches, you can find Twitter profiles with "keywords" on their bio. 

 

If you're into local SEO, you can focus your search on a specific location.

Find local freelance journalists you can engage with during a coffee chat or simply hop on a call.

Another way is incentivizing these freelance journalists to write content for you or your client.

As you build relationships with them, you expose your brand to several external publications you'd otherwise prospect or think of when you reach out to a cold list of "any kind" of journalists. 

 

14. Use "3-Step Podcast Outreach Strategy" 

It's undoubtedly that podcasts can offer you great links to your site.

But how?

Here are the 3 step process to maximize podcasts for link building in your industry.

First, use podcast search websites to discover active podcasts in your industry.

Either through:

Podsearch

 

Or Wondery

 

Or Blog Talk Radio:

 

The next step is:

Pitch to these podcast hosts and offer great value in return for brand exposure. 

If you're pitching for your client, here is a good email template that you can use for outreach:

 

Subject Line: Guest suggestion for [Podcast]

Hi [Name],

[Briefly introduce yourself/your client]

Here are some key discussion points that your listeners would find interesting to hear:

• [Topic 1]
• [Topic 2]
• [Topic 3]

I'm not sure if you're open for new guests but in any case, [me/my client - state you/your clients' credentials as to why you/your client would fit their podcast, what's in it for them]. 

Do you think my client could be a potential guest on [Podcast]? 

Let me know so I can connect you to [You/client's name]. I'll send any info you may need. 

I'll offer to transcribe the podcast episode for you - free of charge. :) 

Thanks,

[Your Name] 

 

The last step is getting in touch with the podcast hosts.

Other hosts would give you sponsorship requirements. 

So you need to invest money in that.

Others would let you come in for free.

Either way, you get brand exposure.

Plus, links from their transcript podcast articles. 

Or even from their "press" pages on their personal websites. 

 

15. Write Like A Normal Person 

Why does outreach fail?

One reason.

Generic non-personalized email templates. 

Public email templates are overrated.

Those email copies included in SEO articles don't always work effectively.

And the reason is that:

Different markets have different needs of an audience.

Different styles. And different levels of personalization your email must adjust to. 

Do not say words to over-impress people with lines like: 

"I'm a long-time reader/big fan of your blog."

"I liked what you shared in this article…" (without you even reading the article) 

 

One best practice in email outreach:

Write like you're writing to a friend.

The key is to check your inbox and see the latest emails from your friends.

What does it look like?

In what tone or style of conversation?

The next time you craft email outreach templates think of your recent 1-on-1 conversation with your friend. 

Like you're writing to an average person. 

 

16. Find Websites Getting Natural Links 

The best link building strategy is going for a mix of natural/organic links and manually-built links.

You get Natural links without pursuing bloggers/publishers to link to your content.

You get backlinks because of your authority. 

Because of the information in your content.

One actionable link building tip is to spot competitors getting natural links.

That means they don't get it manually. They earned it organically.

But how can you know if what they picked up are natural links?

This is where you need the skill to separate manual and natural links.

When you crawl a domain in Ahrefs, you'll see a list of backlinks.

And by the type of links, you get to know if a link is earned or built manually by the kind of links.

You only need to know here that if a link is potentially built through manual outreach, you can collect it as part of your list of link opportunities you can reach out to for links.

Some types of links to be seen as manually built:

Local sponsorship links:

 

Resource page links:

 

Round-up posts:

 

The logic is simple here.

Monitor your competitors getting natural links using Ahrefs' New Links feature.

 

This could open up low-hanging fruits for your site. 

17. Create A "Link Prospecting and Outreach Cheatsheet" 

If you want to scale link building, you need processes. 

Processes help your team achieve predictable results.

If you invest heavily in link building, you're probably not working alone.

You work with teams of SEOs or link builders.

Or have a small team of virtual assistants helping you with small tasks like finding email addresses. 

Creating a 'link prospecting and outreach cheatsheet' is one thing to add to your process. 

An easy-to-follow document that your team can follow every time you launch a new link building campaign.

Or have a new website to start doing link building with.

Create your documents, such as:

Broken link finding for broken link building strategy:

 

Outreach for broken link building strategy:

 

The more you scale links, the more you should be creating documentation for your link building processes. 

18. Use Phone For Reaching Out To Resource Page Curators

The default way of connecting to potential linkers is email.

No doubt.

Write a personalized email. Hit send. 

But not every email is read by the recipients. 

Sometimes, they missed reading it. 

That’s a loss-link opportunity. 

One way that you'll find to be effective in outreach is:

Using the phone to request links.

This is especially true for resource page curators.

For example:

Links pages from .edu websites.

Typically, webmasters working in colleges and universities receive calls from people searching for the website.

So a potential error about one of their pages is something they care about. 

And they don't ignore it.

So do some A/B tests calling with resource page curators on the phone?

 

Or if you're writing outreach emails, you put something along the lines of:

"If I don't hear back from you, I'll just give you a quick call regarding this."

With this additional simple sentence, you can increase your responses from people who don't want to talk on the phone. 

19. Get Backlinks From Expired Domains 

Here is one reality in online marketing: 

Domains expire.

And when this happens, you can either:

Buy them.

Rebuild them.

Or redirect them to your site. 

Many SEOs get easy backlinks by buying expired domains relevant to their site.

But you instead of buying them. 

You can review their backlink profile to see if websites are linking to them, which might be your potential links.

Use Ahrefs to download their links.

 

And filter out bad links.

Like scraper sites.

The next thing you’ll do is to find their email addresses. 

And reach out to these websites. 

You simply tell them that the site is down and you have an up-to-date resource they can link to in replacement. 

Here is an email template that you can model: 

 

Subject line: error on your site 

Hi [Name], 

[Your Name] here from [Your Site}. Just wanted to let you know that you have some broken sites featured on [Page where an expired link is placed].

Your mentioned [Expired domain] on that page, which has been broken for a while.

We offer very similar content on [Your Site]. [Provide details of your content]. 

Let me know if you can add us to the page. Here is our site. [Your link to your page]. 

Look forward to hearing from you! 

Thanks,

Venchito 

 

If you're reaching out to the right people and have a targeted message.

You can gain quick wins in your outreach. 

~10% in conversion rate 

 

20. Speak To What They Care About In Email Outreach 

One best tip in outreach:

Do not focus on links. 

Links don't motivate people in outreach. 

That's the hard truth.

Because SEOs care more about links than helping people — the latter helps you get the former. 

Care about what your prospects care about. 

Care about their organizations' goals. 

What do their websites want to achieve? 

Write emails to communicate people's issues, problems, or solutions.

Then you get links as the by-product of helping people. 

A quick nudge on emails like:

"Where do you refer parents to finding the right dentist for their child? Is there any resource page on your site? I didn't know if the info was in the right place."

 

It is not a direct ask for a link.

But a subtle opening of a conversation. 

As you start your conversation, and if it goes a long way. 

You respond with something like:

"Well, we just finished this guide on [topic] [insert the URL of your content]. In any case, parent calls, it would be the best help to have it included somewhere on your site — may be an additional item on your resource page". 

 

You see how this works:

It's not pushing them to add your link to their resource page.

It is basically:

Moving them.

Sparking their emotions.

And getting links in return for giving help. 

21. Build Linhpin-Level Links 

Linchpin.

Vital to an organization. Vital to a certain process. 

Some links will move the needle in rankings.

They are relevant and may point to the top-ranking pages for your target keywords. 

Now:

How you can find them?

Create a list of your priority keywords.

You're targeting these keywords (and you want to target) for your content.

Find the top 10 ranking pages for your keywords. 

Do this with the help of Simple Scraper by URL Profiler.

Then, with Ahrefs API's help, crawl the links pointing to these ranking pages.

Your API credits will depend on the number of pages you crawl.

Remove duplicates.

And any irrelevant bad links.

Then you now have a solid list of prospect linchpin links. 

 

Final Thoughts

Now I’d like to hear from you:

Which tactic from today's guide are you going to try out first?

Will you apply "Bank For Buck" guest posting strategy? Or do the "Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle" for links?

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

 

How to Get Backlinks Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest way to get backlinks?

The easiest way to get backlinks is by creating valuable content that other websites want to link to. You can also contact relevant websites and ask for backlinks or participate in guest blogging opportunities. Additionally, promoting your content on social media platforms can help attract more backlinks. Remember, quality backlinks are important for SEO and can improve your website's visibility in search engine results.

 

How to get free backlinks?

To get free backlinks, focus on requesting in-content blog links from websites in the same or similar niche as yours. Avoid asking for links on landing pages, product pages, CTAs, sidebars, or footers. This strategy adheres to best SEO practices and increases the chances of acquiring valuable backlinks for your site.

 

How do I find backlinks for SEO?

To find backlinks for SEO, follow this comprehensive guide:

1. Use backlink analysis tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush.
2. Identify your competitor's backlinks.
3. Check for broken or lost links.
4. Reach out to websites with similar content for link-building opportunities.
5. Monitor your backlink profile regularly to maintain high-quality links.

This step-by-step approach will help you boost your website's SEO performance.

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by Venchito Tampon Jr

How to Build Edu Backlinks Using Scholarships (Without Spending a Penny)

If you've been in the SEO industry for years, you know how important it is to scale link building to help multiple clients rank in search for their respective keywords.

Given that almost every year, there are new link building strategies being created, the best way to be on top of the game is not to think of new strategies (since mostly they're just revised versions of old ones) but to create scalable processes for your link building campaigns.

What is an edu backlink?

An EDU backlink refers to a link from a .edu domain, representing educational institutions like schools and universities. These backlinks carry authority and can improve a website's credibility and search engine rankings. Creating quality content and building relationships with educational websites can help obtain valuable EDU backlinks.

In this post, I will walk you through one scalable strategy we've tested internally that can give significant results to your website: building .edu links using scholarships.

It's amazing because we hadn't spent a single penny when we built 14 .edu links in two months.

Want to learn how?

Keep reading:

 

How to Build Edu Backlinks Using Scholarships

Step 1: Target Relevant Niches

Audience targeting is not only necessary when executing common link building strategies like broken link building and guest blogging.

Even when you build .edu backlinks, you must know your target audience that is highly relevant to your website or client.

Here's how to make it simple.

Identify an audience of students who'd be interested in your scholarship program.

With our link building services, for example, we focus our scholarship efforts on students majoring in marketing, business, and advertising courses because we've found them to be more relevant to our website.

 

 

This is critical because if you got backlinks from .edu pages that are too far from your industry, they would be less valuable to your website. I'm not saying that generic .edu links aren't good enough, they are, of course, but if you can get a high-quality link from a much more relevant page, that would be better.

Here are a few examples of audiences you can target for scholarships:

 

Step 2: Create a Scholarship Page

It's very simple to create this type of content.

However, you've got to have the important details.

Here are a few pieces of information you must include on your scholarship page.

1. COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Provide a short description of your company. This is actually where your whole domain will mostly get value from.

Internally link to your homepage or other important pages to pass link juice to these pages.

Here's a quick example of what I did for our link building company site.

[internal-links-scholarship]

2. ELIGIBILITY

The more specific you are when stating who will be your target applicants, the better you'll get responses from university and college staff members.

These are the necessary details you need to include in the eligibility section:

• Full-time or part-time students?
• Specific and relevant courses for students
• Upcoming college students (high school), undergraduate or graduate?
• Target country (if it is within a city or local, make sure it is stated).

See this example:

3. AMOUNT VALUE

The scholarship amount depends on your client's budget or your website. But I'd prefer the minimum to be $1000. Any amount lower than that won't be attractive to educational institutions. I've seen a $300 scholarship program, not sure how it went.

4. APPLICATION DETAILS

This section should include how your applicants can get the scholarship. This could be a submission of a written or video-based answer to a question related to the industry.

For example, we've asked our applicants to submit a short essay or a 4 to 5-minute video answering any of these questions:

What would be your main strategy to market your business online?

What is your number one tip to manage a team of millennials?

Alongside the application process, you should also state the deadline and award dates.

To make the application much easier, provide a contact form at the end of your page so they can attach and send their requirements immediately.

 

Step 3: Prospect for EDU Backlink Opportunities

Not all educational websites have relevant scholarship listing opportunities you could get links from.

When finding those link targets, I use two methods to find opportunities that best fit my scholarship page.

METHOD 1: USING SEARCH ENGINE OPERATORS TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES

Search engine operators are useful to help you seek possible link sources straight from search engines – Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Combining appropriate search operators with proper keywords can filter the right prospects, enabling you to do link research much faster.

I use different search phrases I've collected and listed in a spreadsheet to find .edu link sources with scholarship pages.

This is pretty handy as you can hand over this task to a virtual assistant, freelancer, or your in-house SEO specialist (thanks to Jayson Bagio!).

What you are looking for in a scholarship page are two things:

• Solely list down relevant scholarship links or has a specific section that caters to your audience (i.e. a generic scholarship listing page with marketing external scholarship links).
• Has linked mentions of your scholarships (you want to get the most value from your effort, of course – so make sure they provide external links).

With this strategy, you don't have to worry about domain authority, Ahrefs rank, or other metrics you are using to qualify link opportunities since most .edu websites are within the range of DA40 to DA90.

You should also ensure that external links point to individual scholarship pages, not just to scholarship search engines or websites solely for scholarships.

 

METHOD 2: REVERSE ENGINEER A SIMILAR SCHOLARSHIP PAGE

If you run out of .edu scholarship listing opportunities, another way to expand your link list is to reverse engineer scholarship pages with edu referring pages.

You can use Ahrefs to plug in a similar scholarship page (which you can simply search in Google for the "keyword" "scholarship").

Scan through the list of backlinks and .edu websites with scholarship listing pages.

Once you've exhausted all possible link opportunities from one scholarship page, find another similar page and repeat the process.

Rinse and repeat.

MAKE SURE YOU ORGANIZE EVERYTHING

The key to properly scaling this .edu link building strategy is to organize everything.

I use a Google Docs spreadsheet for all tasks in a link building campaign.

Once you find a qualified link opportunity, include it in a Google Spreadsheet with all these required fields:

• Scholarship Listing Page
• Domains
• Relationship Status
• Name
• Email Address
• Remarks

 

FINDING CONTACT PERSON

Universities and colleges have several staff members, and the only way to build Edu backlinks is to reach out to the right person.

There are two types of emails we consider for scholarship link building technique:

scholarship@domain.edu – you can get this email straight from the scholarship listing page

financialaid@domain.edu – if you can't find the first email above, look for this one by checking out the admissions and/or finance aid department/section of the website.

contact@domain.edu  or contact form – if you can't see any of those emails above, you can simply send a simple message (email template later) to a generic email or through a contact form, asking for the right person to contact to about your request.

Step 4: Reach out to EDU Websites

When all details have been filled up, you are now ready to do outreach.

This is the exact email template that I used to reach out to .edu contact persons.

Scholarship for [ UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE ] students

Hello [ NAME ],

I noticed that you provide a list of private scholarship for students.

I'm sending you a message to let you know that my company offers one (1) [ AMOUNT] scholarship to [ UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE ]  students that major in [ INDUSTRY ] courses.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have so that I can send more information about our scholarship.

If it's not you who directly manages scholarships, can you forward me to the right person, please? I'd greatly appreciate that.

Regards,

[ YOUR NAME ]

When you send pitches to these people, you'll most receive three types of responses.

RESPONSE #1

 

If you receive this positive response, you just have to send all the details of your scholarship to them either via email or via a form that they will provide.

Once your scholarship is posted, they will give you a heads-up. If you don't receive a reply, make sure you monitor new backlinks to your site to see if you've got a backlink from one scholarship page. Pro tip: use Monitor Backlinks to ease this process.

Anchor texts on Edu backlinks are diversified: some are naked URLs, and others are exact scholarship titles.

RESPONSE #2

If you can only offer less than $1000 or $500, some Edu sites won't include yours in their scholarship listings since they have a certain threshold they consider.

RESPONSE #3

Another case is when financial/admission departments restrict scholarship listings to only one or two districts or local-based scholarships. See the response below.

A few more things:

• Some Edu sites don't list individual scholarship pages, but they get to add new scholarships from scholarship search engines. You can try submitting your site to scholarship search engines to increase the chance of getting an Edu backlink.
• Be specific with audience targeting because some EDU financial departments do not add any scholarships not thematically related to their students' courses (e.g. if it's a marketing-centric scholarship, don't dare to reach out to a psychology-based scholarship page).

WITHOUT SPENDING A PENNY

The title of this post says, "Without Spending A Penny."

That's true because I'll only spend some money ($500 in my case) on the scholarship award date.  I would have received the returns on the efforts before the money was spent. A $500 budget for 14 links already amounts to $35 per 1 Edu backlink.

If you liked this post, subscribe to our newsletter and follow me on @venchito14.

Need help with your link building campaigns? Check out our link building services here.

 

EDU Backlinks Frequently Asked Questions

What are edu links?

Edu links are a valuable component of SEO strategy. An edu domain represents educational institutions like colleges and universities. The power of edu backlinks lies in their high domain authority and trustworthiness. By obtaining these links, websites can enhance rankings and visibility in search engines.

 

How do I get a backlink from a .edu site?

To get a backlink from a .edu site, try these effective strategies:

1. Create valuable and relevant content that appeals to educational institutions.
2. Guest post on .edu blogs or contribute to their resource pages.
3. Reach out to professors or students for collaboration opportunities.
4. Offer scholarships or sponsorships to universities.
5. Join relevant forums or communities where .edu members are active.
6. Conduct research and share findings with educational institutions.
7. Build relationships with influential figures in the education field.
8. Use social media platforms to engage with .edu communities and promote your content.

These strategies will help you establish quality backlinks from .edu sites.

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by Venchito Tampon Jr

Anchor Text: The Definitive Guide

What is an anchor text?

An anchor text is a clickable text that appears as a hyperlink and links to a web page. It tells search engines what the linked page is about, and its usage is an important factor in SEO. Anchor texts should be descriptive and relevant to the linked page's content to help users and search engines understand the page better.

 

This is an anchor text guide for beginners and advanced SEO and link-building practitioners.

What are the types of anchor texts?

The types of anchor texts are exact-match, partial-match, branded, naked link, generic, and images.

SEO-friendly anchor text is that which clearly describes the linked-to page's content and context, and the surrounding content should provide additional context. It is recommended to use various anchor text types to appear natural to both users and search engines. Remember that excessively using exact-match or other manipulative types can lead to penalties by search engines.

 

To simplify things, let’s say I want to rank for the term, “link building” and I’m publishing a post for another link building blog with a link to my web page.

If I’d use these types of anchor text, here’s what the link with each type of anchor text looks like.

---

Exact match anchors – the anchor text is the target keyword you’re trying to rank for.

I’ve shared at SharpRocket a post about link building that includes all actionable tips you need to get quality backlinks for your website.

---

Partial match anchors – the anchor text contains the target keyword or keyphrase you’re trying to rank for.

I’ve shared at SharpRocket a post about actionable link building tips you need to get quality backlinks for your website.

---

Branded anchor text – the anchor text is the name of the brand.

I’ve shared at SharpRocket a post about link building that includes all actionable tips you need to get quality backlinks for your website.

---

Naked URLs anchors – the anchor text is not a word or phrase but the URL of the page or domain itself.

I’ve shared at SharpRocket a post about actionable link building tips. See it here: URL 

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Descriptive anchors – the anchor text is a description of what the page or URL is all about, it may or may not include the target keyword.

This post at SharpRocket explains what link building is all about and 101 link building tips that includes the exact step by step processes to apply each of those tips.

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Generic anchors – the anchor text is a generic phrase that does not include the target keyword.

I’ve shared at SharpRocket a post about link building that includes all actionable tips you need to get quality backlinks for your website. If you want to check it out, click here.

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LSI anchors - the anchor text is a synonym or related word or phrase of the target keyword you’re trying to rank for.

I’ve shared at SharpRocket a post about off-page SEO that includes all actionable tips you need to get quality backlinks for your website.

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Image anchors – the anchor text is the alt text of the image.

Google Penguin in 2012 and 2023 Forward

Before the Google Penguin update, websites could build massive article directories and guest post links with ~100% exact match anchor texts. This was not a problem for SEOs as they can automate everything, from prospecting link opportunities to putting these links into their desired pages, not considering the relevance between linking pages.

Private blog networks weren’t a big option for link builders then, too, since the usual massive spammy link building tactics were already enough to get website ranking results.

But then Google Penguin came in 2012, which affected websites in different industries. As you can see in the image below, it shows a few statistics of niche websites that were hit back then.

Anchor Text Usage

Anchor text usage on all inbound links is one factor Google considers in determining if a page should be penalized and demoted in its organic rankings.

Aggressive anchor text or too much exact match anchor text on all inbound links for a certain page isn’t a normal activity to think about. Websites with all backlinks with more than 50% exact match anchor texts, “payday loans” for example, are questionable to be natural in their backlinking method.

Source Website

Google’s Gary Ilyes has been tweeted/asked questions on Penguin 4.0 since its launch last September 23, 2016. One point he made is how Google Penguin targets a specific page. He clarified that it’s not just about the link, but rather the “source site” where the link comes from is what they also consider.

Questionable or penalized websites have much more risks to give to you when acquiring links.

To ensure you’re only building high-quality sites, check out the site’s organic traffic data if the linking site has a history of organic drop. This organic drop is a possible sign of Google penalties.

SEMRush can aid you with this task, so have someone check the site’s estimated organic data.

 

More Granular

The granular attack of Penguin on pages that need to be demoted in its rankings isn’t any newer to the search engine optimization community (in Penguin 2.0, it seemed to be on page-level and keyword-level concerns already). The only thing that becomes clearer here is the word “more”, which we should all consider as we work on the website’s link acquisition campaigns.

It’s just that Google considers page-to-page or a few website parts as its consideration for penalties. In that sense, you shouldn’t be confident enough to think that the spammy link building tactics you are doing right now won’t hurt your website’s health in the future.

More Google Penguin 4.0 Resources:

• Google Penguin 4.0 Recoveries
• Google Penguin 4.0 Declines

9 Anchor Text Optimization Best Practices

1. Avoid Acquiring Backlinks With Too Many Exact Match Anchors

I’ve worked with a lot of SEO agencies and digital marketing agencies all over the world, catering to 100+ clients throughout my SEO corporate experience, and there’s one thing people are still confused about:

Are exact match anchors good for my rankings?

When you answer them “YES” right away, they’ll defend you with their “NO”s and just tell you to use generic anchor texts, like click here and go to this site, because they think this is the best anchor text strategy.

Wrong.

Exact match anchor texts aren’t bad at all.

Ryan Stewart had an interesting short case study of how he could rank for Miami SEO after he published a guest post on Ahrefs with the exact match anchor text: “Miami SEO”.

 

You don’t have to consider the anchor text distribution percentage in your backlink profile - say 3 or 5 percent.

You can test for yourself building one or two backlinks to your page with an exact match anchor text.

Don’t be afraid. Your site won’t get penalized with 1 or 2 backlinks. After all, if you have hundreds or thousands of backlinks, those 2 exact match anchor text links account for less than 1%.

Check how the site will react to those two backlinks and see what movements your page will take you (e.g. from position 40 to position 12). You’ll then also see how tight the competition is for the target keyword you’re trying to rank for.

2. Focus on Various Link Types

It’s so easy to be stuck with the idea of anchor text ratios. While running other SEO activities like technical audit, content creation, and outreach, you still have to think about establishing a natural backlink profile.

Instead of getting a headache with that issue, focus on the link type. After all, why must you create a list of anchor texts with exact/estimated percentages if you’re aiming for a natural link profile?

That itself is unnatural.

A natural link profile is composed of backlinks with different link types.

Here are some examples of different link types.

1. Community-based link

 

2. Referential link

 

3. Blog comment link

 

Don’t focus too much on anchor text variations, but ensure that you get various backlink types for your website.

Note: There’s one exception here, I’ve seen websites that focus only on contextual (both earned and built) and resource types of links, and they didn’t acquire directory or citation links but are still dominating SERPs. But if you’re into local SEO, combining those contextual and resource links with local-centric profiles/association/directory links is a must.

But if your site gets directory and citation links with a few to zero contextual backlinks, that looks unnatural.

3. Optimize Clicks Using Descriptive Anchor Texts

If you are still thinking about what anchor text strategy to use for your link building campaign, let me give you one simple tip.

If you are reaching out to bloggers in your industry (assuming it is a linker outreach approach), let them choose anchor texts.

They wouldn’t tell you what anchor texts they chose. They’d only give you a heads-up if they have linked to your page, and you’ll see the anchor texts yourself.

Most of the time, backlinks built using the linker outreach method are in descriptive anchor texts. The advantage of that anchor text is that it encourages user clicks.

While links can help increase rankings, their other purpose is to drive referral traffic.

Letting bloggers choose how and in what section of the linking pages they’ll add anchor texts with backlinks to your webpage affects the number of visitors those referring sites will drive back to your site. Backlinks placed on a higher position of the content have a high chance of more clicks.

 

One good example is the number of conversions (email subs) from my guest post on GotchSEO. That post itself drove 100+ impressions with 60+ converted email subscribers. That backlink is aimed to be clicked, given that it was placed under the bonuses section.

 

 

In cases where you have control over anchor text usage, i.e. content distribution on other blogs, it’s imperative to understand LSI and Co-occurrence as part of your overall anchor text strategy.

4. Understand and Use Co-Occurences

Co-occurrence s the frequency and proximity of similar keywords across one context in content. These are topically relevant keywords but not exactly the same as your ranking keyword.

Instead of frequently using your ranking keyword as your anchor text to be an exact match, what you can do is place your target keyword near descriptive anchor texts.

One good example of this is co-occurrences within links to Kaiserthesage. Here are a few examples:

 

 

 

 

 

Google understands the relevance of a link without having to use exact match anchor texts all the time. Adding co-occurrences to linking pages can help search engines fully identify the context theme of your website with its linking web pages.

5.  Find New Organic Ranking Keywords

When a linkable asset has been ranking for several long-tail keywords, finding untapped match keywords your content isn’t primarily catering to would be strategic.

You tend to rank these keywords (or had some impressions on SERPs) because search engines have highly perceived your content as worthy to rank for pages 3 or so.. (may not be visible on the first two SERPs pages).

The advantage when monitoring new keywords is that you can upgrade your content to cater to new audiences or be more desirable to rank for newly found organic ranking keywords by adding some topical sections to your piece.

What’s the implication of this to your anchor text link strategy?

If you’ve added a new section in your content piece to service those new organic keywords, it’d be additional anchor texts to use for internal and external manual link building. This will add more trust and authority to your content and help it dominate searches for those newly found organic keywords.

6. Search For Related Phrases and Instagram Trends

There is no such activity of finding new ranking keywords to add to your current list of target anchor texts, as you don’t want to use them all for exact match link strategy.

However, when trying to manually add descriptive anchor texts to internal linking pages and build linking pages (i.e. guest posts), you have to know what keyphrases are thematically relevant to your target keyword. Thus, it’d be easy for you to write robust content with LSI keywords and strategically do co-occurrences on links.

Two simple ways to find related search phrases of your target keywords.

First, do a straight Google search for the exact keyword or key phrase you’re trying to rank for. You can try two different searches. One is with quotes. The second is without. See at the bottom of search pages related search phrases Google provides based on the keyword you entered.

Second, just type in your keyword and wait for Google to suggest more specific/relevant search phrases. You’ll find out that some of them aren’t included in your keyword list from Google Keyword Planner or other common keyword research tools you use. They don’t need always to have a high search volume to decide whether or not they are good to target for content pieces.

If you ask me, where is this going? The answer is adding more keyphrases for your anchor text link strategy to be used for LSI keywords for internal and external content assets and to be better at co-occurrences on backlinks.

7. Optimize Content Using Content Gap Monitoring

I’ve been discussing how to find new organic keywords ranking in your content because these are useful for upgrading your content to its next version (or to 10x content if it hasn’t been achieved yet).

While you can simply focus on your content’s search results performance alone, you’d want to try seeing new organic keywords of similar content pieces your competitors normally produce.

The only difference between this process, which I’d like to label as “Content Gap Monitoring” with the typical “content gap analysis,” is that you’re doing it regularly – as part of your monthly SEO or content marketing activity.

SEO agencies that want to test this process out don’t have to worry about the time it’ll consume to run the entire process, as it is scalable through the use of Ahrefs as our primary content gap monitoring tool.

The first step is to find similar competing content. Only choose content assets that are specifically ranked for your target keyword. If you’ve done a robust competitor keyword research analysis as your first SEO initiative, you can skip this part already.

The second step is to monitor new organic keywords competing for similar content assets. Go to Ahrefs, then click on Alerts - New Keywords.

 

 

Click add alert button in the right section.

 

Choose URL as its mode, so you’ll only receive a list of new organic keywords that a specific page has been acquiring, not the whole domain. For volume, the default, “All” is good, so you can also see low-volume keywords.

For email frequency, it’s your decision whether to receive those organic keyword-centric emails weekly or monthly, but I highly recommend you go with weekly to upgrade your existing content for potential ranking keywords as sooner as possible.

8. Backlink Audit on Exact Match Anchor Texts Links

With the recent Google Penguin update (most SEOs believe that it is indeed real-time), our activity to continuously monitor our site’s incoming links and make sure there aren’t any negative SEO isn’t any more a tedious task for us (SEOs/link builders).

If you have read posts on Google Penguin’s specific effects on SEO activities, there’s no need to make serious efforts to remove existing bad/toxic links to your website, as Google tends to devalue them anyway. So if a site has been receiving new low-quality links from a Negative SEO attack, for example, the efforts now shouldn’t be focused on removing those types of links but on continuously acquiring new high-quality backlinks for your site (this posts of mine on how to get backlinks and actionable link building strategies will help you a lot).

 

What’s the implication of this to my anchor text diversification?

In cases where those incoming toxic links are on exact match anchor texts, you don’t have to focus on removing them from your backlink profile but on driving new high-quality backlinks to your site. Since websites are dealt with granularly, those bad links won’t affect your site as a whole, only on parts that should be affected.

Nonetheless, a link audit is still a must. Google states that bad links are simply being devalued. The possibility of needing to disavow more links is unlikely. However, if you have a lot of unnatural links and never disavowed them, you need to disavow them. It may be why you’re still not recovering from the penalty.

You still have to do some groundwork for disavowing bad links. But keep in mind that while doing it, the focus shouldn’t just be there but more on helping your site continuously acquire good links to boost your site’s health over time.

If it’s real-time, your site can easily recover (some have proven this to happen to some fully/partially-recovered sites), and there’s much more work now to be put into higher-level link acquisition.

9. Convert High-Quality Exact Match Anchor Texss To Branded Links

Other posts on link audit (which I highly suggest need to be updated) discuss managing exact anchor text links by converting them into branded links.

In my experience, filtering your exact match anchor texts based on their quality should be everyone’s link builders/SEOs’ first initiative.

Don’t spend time converting low-quality exact match anchor texts to branded links, as these will be devalued (if it’s a negative SEO attack) or if they’ve been built by your past SEOs (do a link audit and link removal/link disavow).

What you have to focus on now is checking on only existing high-quality exact-match anchor text links. These links shouldn’t just be any type, i.e. directory or any massive link type, but only editorial links that are manually built, i.e. guest blog posts.

Whether or not these high-quality exact-match links are affecting parts of your website, you should still be converting them into branded links (as possible as you can), by manually reaching out to web admins to whom you’ve contributed guest posts in the past. Ask them if they are capable of changing those exact matches to branded types of links. This should help some parts of your site not to be negatively affected by real-time Penguin.

Now It’s Your Turn…

How do you diversify your backlinks' anchor texts?

Or maybe you have a question about implementing any of the insights in our above list?

Either way, leave a comment quickly below.

I'll be more than happy to reply to comments and answer questions.

So if you have a question, insight, or new tactic, leave a comment right now.

 

Anchor Texts Frequently Asked Questions

What is anchor text vs keywords?

Anchor text and keywords are two important elements in SEO. Keywords refer to the words or phrases you want to rank for on your webpage, while anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink that leads to another page.

In other words, the anchor text provides context to the link and helps search engines understand what the linked page is about. Using descriptive and relevant keywords in your anchor text is crucial to optimize your webpage's ranking.

 

What is the content of anchor text?

The content of anchor text refers to the words that make up the clickable link. It gives users and search engines context about where the link will take them. Using relevant and descriptive anchor text is important to improve the user experience and help search engines understand the page content. Keep it brief, clear, and concise for maximum impact.

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by Venchito Tampon Jr