Why is link building so important?

What is link building?

Link building is a digital marketing strategy focused on acquiring hyperlinks (or links) from other websites to your own. The primary purpose of link building is to improve a website's search engine optimization (SEO) by enhancing its authority, credibility, and visibility in the eyes of search engines. Search engines like Google view quality links as a vote of confidence, so these pages rank higher and bring more search traffic.

Why is link building so important?

First Page Sage began conducting a continuous study of Google’s algorithm 14 years ago, giving it a sizable data set on which to base its understanding of the factors that comprise Google’s search algorithm. According to First Page Sage, links are one of five major ranking factors in Google, so if you want your website’s pages to rank high in search, you will almost certainly need links.

Let's dive into the key reasons behind its significance:

1. Enhanced search engine rankings

Link building is often hailed as the secret sauce behind search engine optimization (SEO) success. Search engines like Google consider backlinks (links from other websites to yours) as a vote of confidence in your content's credibility and relevance. Websites with high-quality backlinks tend to rank higher in search results. This means that the more authoritative and reputable websites linking to your content, the better your chances of appearing on the coveted first page of search results.

2. Increased website traffic

Effective link building doesn't just boost your SEO rankings; it also drives targeted organic traffic to your website. When reputable websites link to your content, their audience may follow those links to discover more about your offerings. This not only increases your website's visibility but also exposes it to a relevant and potentially interested audience.

3. Authority and credibility

Building a network of high-quality backlinks establishes your website as an authority in your industry or niche. When industry leaders and reputable websites link to your content, it signifies that your website is a trusted source of information. This association enhances your credibility and builds trust with your target audience.

4. Enhanced user experience

Link building isn't just about search engines; it's also about improving the user experience. When you include relevant and authoritative outbound links in your content, you provide valuable resources to your readers. This enhances the user experience and keeps visitors engaged, potentially increasing the time they spend on your website.

5. Long-term growth

Link building is an investment in the long-term growth of your online presence. As you accumulate high-quality backlinks over time, your website's authority and credibility continue to grow. This can lead to sustained organic traffic and improved SEO rankings, ensuring your digital marketing efforts yield lasting results.

How to build links

Most link building tactics and strategies fall into one of the following four categories:

1. Adding links

If you can go to a website that doesn’t belong to you and manually place your link there, that’s called “adding” a link.The most common tactics that fit into this category are:

• Business directory submissions
• Social profile creation
• Blog commenting
• Posting to forums, communities, and Q&A sites
• Creating job search listings

These kinds of links won’t give you any competitive advantage, but can be beneficial for your business for reasons other than SEO. For example, if you’re doing SEO for a restaurant website, you should definitely list it in three to five major directory sites like Yelp, Tripadvisor, Allmenus, Grubhub, etc.

2. Asking for links

This is when you reach out to the owner of a website you want a link from and give them a compelling reason to link to you. This can be an arduous task, afterall, other companies have zero incentive to promote you or your work. So before you ask them to link to you, ask yourself: “What’s in it for THEM?”

How about offering something in return for a link? Such as:

• A shoutout on social media
• An email newsletter blast
• Free access to a premium product or service
• A link in exchange

3. Buying links

We don’t recommend you do this, as you’re likely to waste lots of money on useless links that will have zero impact on your rankings. Or even get your website penalized. That’s not to say many people in the SEO industry don’t do it!

4. Earning links

You “earn” links when other people link to the pages on your website without you having to ask them to do so. For this to happen, you’ll need to be churning out some truly amazing content that other website owners want to mention on their websites. 

Of course, there’s a high probability other website owners aren’t reading your website! So you’ll need to invest in promoting it and getting it seen. 

Conclusion

Link building is a critical component of successful digital marketing, and when executed effectively, link building can be a game-changer in your digital marketing efforts. However, links aren’t the answer to everything—and they certainly aren’t the only factor Google uses to rank pages.

Should you find yourself in a situation where you have lots of links to your page but it still ranks poorly, it may be time to talk to one of our SEO experts—who can look into other ranking factors that might be preventing you from ranking well.