We all know that if you want to rank higher on search engines, you need to have a strong backlink profile. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your site, and they signal to search engines that your site is relevant, trustworthy, and authoritative.
But how do you get more backlinks? There are two main ways: link building and link earning. Link building is the process of actively acquiring links from other websites with the aim of improving your own site’s link popularity and authority. Link earning, on the other hand, is a more passive approach where you focus on creating great content that will encourage other websites to link to you naturally. Confused? Don’t worry, I’ll make it clear for you as you follow the article.
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Link Building: Pros and Cons
Link building is the traditional way of getting more backlinks. It involves reaching out to other website owners, bloggers, influencers, or journalists and asking them to link to your site. You can also use various methods, such as guest posting, article submission, directory submission, social bookmarking, blog commenting, forum posting, citation building, or reciprocal linking, to create links for your site. However, some of these methods can be time-consuming and tedious, and that’s where a guest post service can come in handy.
Pros
Guest posting is one of the most popular and effective methods of link-building. It means writing and publishing an article on another website in your niche with a link back to your site. Guest posting can help you build relationships with other bloggers, showcase your expertise, and drive targeted traffic to your site. However, guest posting also requires a lot of research, outreach, and follow-up. You need to find relevant and high-quality sites that accept guest posts, pitch them your topic ideas, write a well-written and original article, and ensure that your link is placed correctly.
The main advantage of “link building” is that it gives you more control over the quantity and quality of your backlinks. You can choose which sites to target, which pages to link to, which anchor texts to use, and how many links to create. You can also monitor the results of your link-building efforts and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Cons
However, link building also has some drawbacks. First of all, it can be time-consuming and tedious. You need to find relevant and authoritative sites to contact, craft personalized and persuasive outreach emails, follow up with them, negotiate the terms of the link exchange, and verify the links.
Secondly, it can be risky. Google has strict guidelines on what constitutes a natural or unnatural link, and if you violate them, you can face penalties that can harm your rankings and traffic. For example, Google does not like paid links, spammy links, low-quality links, or excessive links from the same domain.
Link Earning: Pros and Cons
Link earning is the modern way of getting more backlinks. It involves creating valuable content that will attract the attention of other website owners, bloggers, influencers, or journalists and make them want to link to your site without you asking them. You can also use various techniques, such as infographics, videos, podcasts, case studies, surveys, quizzes, or interactive tools, to create content that will earn links for your site.
Pros
The main advantage of link earning is that it gives you more credibility and trustworthiness. When other websites link to your site voluntarily, it shows that they appreciate your content and find it useful or interesting for their audience. This can boost your reputation and authority in your niche, as well as increase your organic traffic and conversions.
Cons
First of all, it can be difficult and competitive. You need to create content that is original, engaging, informative, and relevant for your target audience. You also need to promote your content effectively so that it reaches the right people who can link to it. Secondly, it can be unpredictable. You cannot guarantee how many links you will get from your content or when you will get them. You also cannot control the quality or relevance of the sites that link to you or the anchor texts they use.
Tips and Best Practices for Link Building and Link Earning
Whether you choose link building, link earning, or a combination of both, you need to follow some tips and best practices to get the most out of your efforts. Here are some of them:
Create a linkable asset:
A linkable asset is a piece of content that is so valuable, informative, or entertaining that other websites will want to link to it. It can be an infographic, a video, a podcast, a case study, a survey, a quiz, or an interactive tool. The key is to make it relevant to your niche, original, and engaging.
Keyword research:
In keyword research, we find and analyze the queries or phrases that your target audience uses to search for information online. It can help you identify the topics and questions that your audience is interested in and create content that matches their intent. It can also help you optimize your content for SEO and rank higher on Google.
Competitor analysis:
Competitor analysis is the process of studying and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. It can help you find out what kind of content they are creating, what kind of links they are getting, and what kind of gaps they are leaving. You can use tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush to analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles and find opportunities for link building or link earning.
Outreach:
Link-building outreach refers to contacting other website owners, bloggers, influencers, or journalists and asking them to link to your site or share your content. It can be done via email, social media, phone, or in person. The key is to be polite, personalized, and persuasive. You need to show them why your content is valuable for their audience and how it can benefit them.
Build relationships:
Building relationships is the process of establishing and maintaining trust and rapport with other website owners, bloggers, influencers, or journalists in your niche. It can help you get more exposure, referrals, and links for your site. You can build relationships by commenting on their blogs, sharing their content, mentioning them in your posts, or collaborating with them on projects.
Conclusion
In conclusion, link building and link earning are two different ways of getting more backlinks for your site. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and both can work well if done correctly.
Link building gives you more control over your backlink profile, but it can be time-consuming, tedious, and risky. Link earning gives you more credibility and trustworthiness, but it can be difficult and competitive.
The best approach is to use a combination of both strategies, depending on your goals, resources, and niche. You should always focus on creating high-quality content that provides value to your audience and follows Google’s guidelines.
