Let’s set one thing straight before we start.
This article is and is not an article that provides SEO advice.
Now, you are probably confused by that statement – so let me try to make it a little more clear.
This article is really going to cover how to create quality content by focusing on one small aspect of digital writing – embedded backlinks.
Yes – backlinks are a critical part of off-page SEO.
But I’m not going to teach you how to sneak spammy SEO backlinks on to websites across the world wide web.
I am going to teach you how to create killer content that can host backlinks in an appropriate manner that will make editors, readers, and your business happy 🙂
In short —> It’s all about leading with value.
Yes – We All Want Backlinks 😉
Ok – let’s be honest here.
Every business owner who knows anything about SEO wants to get their hands on those ever-loving backlinks.
There are tons of different strategies that SEO people and businesses use to get them. Some are good – but lots are bad.
If you are reading an SEO playbook from 5 years ago, then I strongly recommend stopping all of those practices.
It’s 2018 and blackhat SEO backlinking tricks are not going to fool the super-powered Google algorithm anymore.
In fact – it’s going to hurt your ranking and you will be penalized for crappy SEO practices.
Today – SEO is synonymous with quality.
When it comes to backlinks – it’s all about quality over quantity.
High-quality, contextual backlinks is exactly what you want to help boost your SEO ranking.
So How Do We Get Those Juicy Backlinks?
There are many ways to go about building backlinks, but for the purpose of this article we will be focusing on guest posting.
Guest posting is when you contribute content to another website.
There are a lot of tangible benefits to guest posting beyond just backlinks:
- Build Authority and Trust
- Engage with New Audiences
- Educate Potential Customers
And yes – you can use your guest posts to help you build out backlinks.
It is essentially an exchange of services; you give a publication some free content and they give you the advantages of guest blogging.
However, if building backlinks is a primary goal – there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.
Don’t Do This When Backlinking In A Guest Post
First, let’s run through a few of the most common mistakes people make when trying to embed a backlink in their guest post.
Never Write An Article Just To Host A Backlink
Don’t do a guest post just for the sake of hosting a backlink.
If you approach your guest post with this in mind – chances are that you will create a piece of low-quality content that seems spammy to everyone who sees it.
Thinking like this will also limit your content ideas. You need to expand your mindset beyond what you can talk about in order to link back to your website.
Never Be Self-Promotional In Your Guest Post
It’s almost never appropriate to have a CTA in your guest post that links back to your services.
Unless you are paying for that privilege (and even if you are) – it’s going to seem desperate and unappealing to almost every reader and editor out there.
Allow your self-promotion to come through the value that you are sharing. If people trust and appreciate what you are writing – they will be more excited to work with you.
Never Go Overboard With Your Backlinks
Never stuff your guest post full of backlinks. 1 or 2 is fine – but don’t try to slip 15 backlinks into your guest post.
First off, it’s totally unnecessary. You only need one backlink to start getting SEO benefits.
Secondly, you are going to overwhelm your readers with too many options to click. If you want them to actually click-through on one of the backlinks – choose one backlink and make a compelling reason to follow it.
The Right Way To Backlink In A Guest Post
There is really only one right way to backlink in a guest post.
Your backlinks should only ever lead to other resources or sources that expand on the value of what you are writing about in your piece of content.
This means if you are including a backlink to your website – make sure that it leads to something that provides the reader with even more value on your subject topic.
You should be backlinking to online resources like:
- Related blog posts
- White papers
- Research or data
- Free tools
These types of online resources are actually useful to the reader and doing this creates a WIN-WIN-WIN situation:
WIN for the Readers – Your backlinks will lead to more information and help the reader get a better understanding on whatever you are talking about.
WIN for the Editors – Your content is going to be value-driven and of high-quality, which helps their website become a reliable and trusted source for information.
WIN for your Business – You are building out backlinks to important resources that work better as a value-driven sales funnel.
Let’s look at some examples:
A Bad Example Of A Backlink
“… and this is why you should always consider a reliable PR outreach service like Powerful Outreach…”
Why is this bad?
- It’s clearly self-promotional
- It doesn’t actually add any value to the article for the reader
- It seems super spammy
A Good Example Of A Backlink
“…there are many awesome resources to help you learn how to guest post, but this article will discuss…
Why is this good?
- It leads to more information that can help the reader
- It’s related to the content of the article
- It still leads to a company website, but without the taste of spam
What’s The Big Lesson Here?
If you are going to take anything away from this article…
Always create content that is value-driven and of high-quality.
You should write your guest posts to be an awesome article and all of the benefits of guest posting will be inherently there.
And if you support your guest posts with amazing content on your own website – you will have a winning recipe for building backlinks.
