Question by Folajomi Ballo
Correction: Pro Blogger didn’t backlink me. Not that I know of lol
Coming to the question…
I am the last person you should be asking about backlinks.
One, I am super lazy about off-page SEO.
Second, I believe in the next decade, backlinks would become less and less relevant. I even wrote a post on this, which got a lot of push-back from industry people.
You can read it here: Backlinks Are Dead (Now Change Your SEO Strategy)
But that said…
What I Did? Under The Hood…
A couple of years back, I did try the cliché tactics of directory submission and commenting on others’ blog posts. It didn’t give me any considerable return. I felt I was wasting my time.
Guest Blogging is something I am very positive about. But, at the same time, I am too lazy to create content for someone else’s blog.
I did write for a couple of websites and made a few pitches – but I wasn’t very passionate about it. And the idea of writing for others didn’t interest me.
Not to say that I don’t plan to guest blog anymore. I want to. But not necessarily for backlink sake – but for branding purpose. It would help my brand.
This is why, whenever I do gather-up the energy for guest blogging, I am going to aim for high-authority sites.
But right now, my focus is entirely on producing content for my blog Spell Out Marketing, grow an email list, and boost session duration.
I am VERY serious about SEO – but I don’t have link building as a big part of that SEO strategy at the moment.
As for what I will suggest you is simple…
Stop Caring (Too Much) About Backlinks
Don’t obsess over backlinks. Really!
Do not over-think on “how do I get backlinks to my website?”
Produce more highly-relevant content. The more the better.
Aim to increase your SERP Click-Through Rate. Focus on reducing the bounce rate. And capture leads/build email list.
These basic practices will get the wheels rolling for your blog’s traffic.
From thereon, the backlinks will come organically to you. Your high-quality content will bait links. You wouldn’t have to put in manual work.
Recommended Read:
3 Tactics On How Do You Get Backlinks to Your Website
But, in case, if you’re really looking for some “tactic”, here are three of them on how you can get backlinks to your website:
1. The Power of Custom Images
Create original, custom images (graph, charts, Infographics, illustrations).
People would use this image and include your URL as the source.
My blog has got several backlinks this way. Plus, it has worked with many of my clients.
Recommended Read: How Many Images to Use In a Blog Post?
2. Network With The Right People
Start networking.
Start talking to more people on social media. Talk to them and build a connection.
And then navigate a way how you can translate your connection with other bloggers into backlinks.
The first part here is, again, creating high-quality content.
For instance, since I know you well, if I see one of your posts that’s relevant and resourceful (and isn’t talking exactly what my post is about), I would be happy to backlink you.
So, once you have that content that you want others to link, get it in front of others.
You can do this via social media feeds, SERP, DMs, or through any other way or channel.
Those people who share a good rapport with you, once they discover your post, they might backlink and share it.
And even if they don’t do that on their own, you can ask them to do that. Since they share a good connection with you, there’s a good chance that they will backlink you.
3. Be Honest and Upfront in Asking
Now, I have never tried this before. But I am thinking about it because I have seen a few people do this (especially on LinkedIn) and it has worked out well for them.
Simply ask people from the front, on social media platforms, to backlink your URL.
Talk about your post in a couple of lines and then focus on convincing them how this backlink will bring value to their audience.
As an incentive, if you have a good following on any social media platform, tell them you will share their post.
You can also do this on emails. But the success rate there would be very, very low or none. When you’re emailing someone for backlinks, you’re interrupting this as opposed to being organic, which is the case with social media.
Moreover, such email outreach efforts are over-saturated; the recipients don’t even give a second glance at such emails. I get tens of backlink requests every week. Barring a couple, I have never linked them.
So, through your social media posts, be honest and upfront. Tell them you want them to backlink your URL. Give them good reasons for this.
If you have a decent engagement rate and you enjoy a good rapport with your followers/connections, this will convert well.
Conclusion
Aside from these three…
How do I get backlinks for my website?
… you can follow the basic link building steps.
Sometimes back I wrote a post A Complete List of Off-Page SEO Techniques. Give it a read.
Hope this answer brought you value.
Happy blogging! 🙂
