Link Building Strategies for SEO and Outreach Tips

Link building, or getting new backlinks, is an essential part of improving your SEO. I’ve made it a goal to be more intentional about earning new backlinks for my business. Do you want to join me? Start with these link-building strategies for SEO!

I talked to Julie about this topic on the Being Better Everyday podcast! Listen to our episode here:

What are Backlinks?

Backlinks are links from other websites back to yours. For example, when you reference and link to an article from Forbes in one of your blog posts, you’re giving Forbes a backlink.

Backlinks are important for SEO because a backlink is like a gold star referral in the eyes of Google. Someone else is referencing the information you provide, giving it more value. You know how word of mouth is typically regarded more highly? Backlinks are like the online version of that! The more backlinks you have from high-quality websites, the more Google sees you as a reputable source to send traffic to.

I look at backlinks as the next step in your SEO strategy. Step 1 is to help Google understand who you are and what you do. This is done by adding metadata to your website and optimizing it for mobile and desktop search. Step 2 is to start earning credibility, which is where backlinks come in. Other people are referring you to their audience, which Google recognizes as you giving a lot of value. It can still help your website because it’s a referral, but backlinks won’t be as effective if you don’t have the foundations set up.

3 Link Building Strategies for SEO

I know there are a lot of link building strategies for SEO out there. As an introvert, it’s hard to put myself out there. However, these three strategies have been comfortable for me and have worked well for my business.

1. Guest Posting

I’m sure you’ve heard of guest blogging and guest podcasting! It’s one of the most talked-about link-building strategies. When you’re pitching yourself to other websites, keep these few tips in mind so it makes them want to feature your content:

1. Have unique topic ideas ready to pitch. Don’t make the business owner do the work for you. It’s not the time to collaborate. Have 2-3 ideas for them to choose from, and make sure those ideas align with what they already talk about on their blog.
2. Share how it aligns with their audience’s interests. It’s in their best interest to share content that may be outside their specific area of expertise but aligns with what their audience wants.

I’ve spent a lot of time pitching podcasts to be a featured guest, and it’s paid off! I’ve been featured on seven podcasts so far! I enjoy this type of collaboration and link-building strategy.

2. Guest Features

Guest features are similar to guest posting, but instead of being the topic of the entire blog post or podcast episode, you simply offer a perspective on a topic and get featured. 

I use the site Featured (go figure, right?) to find these opportunities. Publishers will ask a question about their blog post topic and pick a few experts (that’s you!) to collaborate on the post. Look through the list of questions, submit your answer, and wait to see if you’ve been chosen as a featured guest. 

You get three free submissions a month or you can upgrade for more. I stick to the free plan and always make sure to submit my three. I’ve been featured in five articles so far, which you can find on my SEO resources page!

3. Partnerships

Partnerships are another way to build high-quality backlinks. There are a few ways these partnerships could look like.

• Guest podcasting or blogging
• Working together on a client project
• Doing a newsletter, blog, or Instagram swap for a day
• Hosting a webinar together
• Mutual referral programs/understanding/agreement

… so much!

Outreach Strategies

So, how do you get these partnerships? Business owners are always being pitched, so how do you start and get noticed?

Start talking to people!

I’ve met a lot of my partnerships through group coaching programs and Instagram. They can see that we’re part of the same groups and/or follow each other so it doesn’t feel as random. Form genuine relationships with people and talk about how you can work together.

It’s great to talk to complementary businesses. As a blog writer, I might make a list of web designers or Pinterest managers because their services align well with mine, but we aren’t competing with each other. These are great people to reach out to for partnership opportunities. 

Be authentic with your ask.

Be authentic and straightforward about what you want from them, and share what they’ll get out of the collaboration, too. It should be mutually beneficial.

In my pitch emails for being a podcast guest, I say something like, “Hey, I love your podcast (maybe mention a specific episode). I was wondering if you’re accepting podcast guests. I have a few episodes in mind that I think your audience would love.” Then, I list a few episode ideas for them to choose from. 

This pitch has been well received! It’s straight to the point (because no one wants to read a huge email). You do the work for them by thinking of a topic idea, and you share why you think their audience would enjoy it so they get something out of the partnership, too.

Have a working list.

In the episode with Julie, I also mentioned having a list of business owners you want to reach out to and working off that list. I do this for my guest podcasting pitches! I found podcasts that I’m interested in being a guest on and started working my way through them. I pitch about three a week.

I don’t always hear back, and that’s okay. But I’ve also booked multiple guest podcast opportunities and even two summit speaker gigs!

Most Common Link Building Mistake

The biggest link-building mistake I see is trying to get as many links as you can, no matter where they come from. You want them to be high-quality and relevant to your industry. I wouldn’t request to be a guest on a podcast for consumers about building personal wealth because I’m not in the financial industry, and that’s not my target audience. It would be a waste of my time. Make sure your outreach efforts are strategic.

You also never want to buy backlinks. Just like you never want to buy Instagram followers because they’re typically spammy and hurt your account overall, buying backlinks does the same thing. Instead of earning trust from Google, you’ll break its trust.

Measuring Link Building Success

I use Ubersuggest to look at backlinks. It’ll tell you how many you have, the domains they come from, and how spammy the links are. Since backlinks aren’t always something you can control, you might see backlinks you didn’t know about. A few spammy links won’t hurt your SEO, but if you have too many (which goes back to buying backlinks), your rankings will start to be slightly affected.

Backlinks tend to fluctuate a lot. Again, it’s not something you can directly control, like if you were to add a link to your own website. Don’t get too hung up on the metrics. As long as you’re putting in a genuine effort to earn high-quality backlinks from reputable websites, you’ll start to see increases in your SEO rankings and credibility.

Prioritizing Link Building

For creatives with smaller teams (or no team), it can be hard to prioritize another thing for your business. Set a goal to pitch a few businesses a week. Be consistent with your efforts and build it into your schedule.

You can also use a VA to help with your pitches. Put together the list of businesses that align with your audience, pitch ideas, and your guest profile, and have your VA pitch a few a week. 

I would also encourage you to try different link-building strategies. Our brains often go straight to guest blogging, but that’s not always the right strategy for you as a business owner, your skillset, or the audience you’re trying to reach. Test a few to see what you like and where you get the highest ROI.

And just do the work! I know reaching out can feel scary (as an introvert, I understand!), but networking, connections, and who you know is how you earn more visibility and business in entrepreneurship. Start genuine conversations with people and see where it goes.

Have questions about link-building strategies for SEO? Send me a message on Instagram, and let’s connect! 😉