Link building for beginners

A good question. You've probably Googled it at some point, only to be bombarded with information and strange terms such as backlink structure, anchor texts, and off-page optimization. Don't worry, after reading this blog, we'll make sure you understand what link building is and how it can help you improve your Google rankings.

Link building, if we take this literally, is nothing more than building (back)links. But what are these backlinks and what should I do with them? A backlink is actually nothing more than a recommendation. One website recommending another. Sounds simple, right? The more recommendations you collect, the more important you are in the eyes of Google. By collecting these recommendations, you build authority, which we call domain authority. We will come back to this later. Start by calling around to ask your competitors if they would like to place a recommendation on their website. Or is there an easier way? Definitely! Read on to learn more about backlinks first.

Backlinks come in many shapes, sizes, and values. You can imagine that if you sell vacuum cleaners, a recommendation from CoolBlue is worth more than a recommendation from the local baker. We call this relevance: the more relevant (credible) the recommendation, the more the backlink is worth. As strange as it may sound, Google is becoming increasingly human. So it is becoming increasingly important to stay true to ourselves and continue to think logically, even when it comes to link building. If you ask a local baker to place a link to your webshop where you sell vacuum cleaners, you can confuse Google. It is difficult for search engines to make a connection between bread and vacuum cleaners... not only for Google, but for you too, right? So keep thinking logically!

This is where the challenge begins. Pick up the phone and start calling every company that has anything to do with vacuum cleaners and ask for a link to their website. Hanging on the phone day in, day out, only to get a "no" 99% of the time. Why? Would you recommend a competitor? No, right? Exactly! It's much more efficient to sit down with our specialist. They have already spoken to all the relevant companies that are willing to place a link! We call this a link-building network. Over the years, this network has continued to expand and become increasingly valuable. While you spend three days on the phone for just one backlink, we have already placed dozens.

Several factors are important. As mentioned earlier, relevance plays a major role. In addition, the diversity of link types is very important. Do you write a piece of text on another website that links to your website, or do you just place a word that refers to the desired page? When a link comes from a blog that you post externally about your company, it gives more authority than just a simple mention. A good balance must be found here.

Continuity and proper distribution are also important factors to consider. Placing 100 links in a single day is unnatural. This can appear spammy to Google. As a result, you will lose positions instead of gaining them. Here too, logical thinking, good planning, continuous attention, and monitoring are of great importance. In addition, you must of course also take into account the basic principles of SEO.

I almost forgot, I promised to come back to this. Actually, the word kind of gives it away: the authority of your domain (website). If you sell vacuum cleaners on www.stofzuigerskopen.nl, then this is your domain. The more recommendations you get from other websites that are relevant to selling vacuum cleaners, the higher your domain authority becomes.

There is a very clear correlation between the number of backlinks, domain authority, and organic visitors to a website. This can be clearly seen in the image, where you can see the authority score on the left, the number of organic visitors next to it, and the corresponding backlinks on the right. You can read this data using various tools; the data below comes from SemRush.

Why is domain authority important?

If your website has a high domain authority because you have a lot to say, you have a healthy backlink profile, or your website has been around for many years, Google will give you "priority." Google will push your website forward in the search results rather than a website that has no authority. A good backlink profile is the most important factor in determining domain authority and is therefore indispensable if you want to be visible in Google.

Unfortunately, I wish I could tell you that it was that easy. On the other hand, this challenge fascinates us every day. We have already told you a lot about the value of backlinks, the different types and their values. A good backlink profile is extremely important and indispensable if you want your website to be visible. However, link building is closely related to the right content. By combining good texts with a well-thought-out backlink profile, we attack the top 10 of Google. Our network is endless, allowing us to serve every customer in any industry appropriately. A good strategy that seamlessly matches your wishes is an integral part of the success story we have in mind for you.

What makes us special? Communication, commitment, transparency, customization, and above all, a helping hand so that you too can understand what is going on with your website. We take you through the process step by step, maintain close contact with each other as a close-knit team and with you as our client to ensure that we get the most out of it together. Can link building help with that? Yes! We have proven this many times over, so come on in!

P.S.

Before you get started with link building, we recommend that you take a look at our SEO checklist.