White hat backlinking is difficult, time consuming, and your technique could change drastically depending on the search engines updates. I am going to give a few tips on how we backlink at Orange SEO which could help you on your backlinking project or experience.

I always tell perspective clients that backlinking is something that takes time but is essential in SEM (Search Engine Marketing). Most of my clients think that backlinking is as easy as dropping links in random websites to get traffic but to do it effectively and correct is a much deeper and different story. Below are some white hat techniques that are effective as of 2015.

Media Websites with High DA and SE Price

If you find media websites with high DA (Doman Authority) and SE Price (SEMRush metric) they are typically good signs for a quality media outlet. With those websites you can expect better results on your content being see and the backlink being used for potential customers or people interested in your field.

I have noticed that websites that have high DA and SE Price will rank their pages on the search engines higher and faster then others. They also have a good chance to get natural links over time as they are already established their authority in their niches or areas they serve. I have also found that your article can easily get ranked for long tailed keywords and they would passively obtain high quality backlinks from relevant web places.

When adding content to these media outlets make sure the articles or posts are visual appealing images/screenshots or videos. This will make people more likely to click on your link or read your information if there is pictures or video involved.

Spy on Your Competitors Backlinks

If you have a competitor that is ranking high they most likely have good backlinks they are using and their is nothing illegal about see which ones they are using to become successful. You don't want to use all of them though because they could also harm your rankings because they can also be using bad backlinks as well.

The most effective tool to use for reverse engineering your competitors backlinks is SEO PowerSuite SpyGlass. This tool can give you very detailed information about your competition and the backlinks they are using. Some features of this software are:

• Find all backlinks that point to a website

• Run Anti-Penguin link audit to remove any harmful links

• Reverse-engineer your competitors' link-building

• Analyze any backlink over 50+ link quality factors

The quality backlinks you want to take note of is the ones that have Domain Authority, Number of referring domains, and link velocity. In case you have never heard of link velocity, it is the rate at which you add incoming links to your website. So the better the link velocity of your website mean better are the chances in gaining top rankings in search engines. This does not mean that in trying to achieve better and high link velocity rate you keep on adding spammy and low quality network links. This will penalize your site in search engines.

Use the Right Tools in Link Prospecting

Link prospecting is one of the most time-consuming activities in link building. From finding several link targets to filtering out the high quality links, link prospecting consumes almost half of the time spent in the link building process.

That is the main reason why productivity tools are necessary in improving one’s efficiency. We use the Mozbar tool. It is free and give the most accurate results.

Create an Eye Catching Story for your Content

You don’t need to be a big brand with a thousand dollar budget to produce a linkable asset on your website. What you need is a catchy story of your brand or a trending topic in your industry that is tailored to a specific group of audience.

Using that particular topic, you can create any of the following content pieces:

• Case study. If your brand is serving your customers right, then you may have positive experiences with them. A blog post that details the exact steps you took to help your customer improve their lives is a solid case study that you can publish on your blog.

• Crowdsourced content. Interview an industry influencer with the aim of educating your audience about a specific topic in your niche. You can check out this post on how to get links and shares using crowdsourced content.

• Curated content/List post. Make each of your points in a list post actionable. Answer the “how” question of your topic to make it more actionable for your readers.   

Get Insight From your Analytics

If your backlinks are truly working you will see an uptick in traffic on your website they same day that you post your backlinks. If you are not consistent with posting backlinks eventually you will see your traffic go back down because they content that you posted with the backlinks don't stay relevant for a long period of time. At the very least your backlinks will create traffic for a day. If it is a very trending topic it might create traffic to your website for a week but it is highly unlikely.

Make sure your are using a good tool to track your traffic such as Google Analytics. Also take a look at what they are doing on your website. See where they are coming from and how long they are staying on your website. Those are the to most important things you should be taking note of to see were you have errors and were you can improve.

In Conclusion

To build white hat backlinks is to be natural in link building. Focusing more on your customers and influences and building a small group of brand followers can help you get natural highly valued links. In you need help link building give Orange SEO a call or email and we will assist you or your business.