Link building continues to be the second most important SEO strategy behind only keyword research and usage. It is obviously important. But how one goes about building links is just as important as the links themselves. Employ the right strategies and link building can make an enormous difference.
Digital marketing and SEO firms offer all sorts of strategies for link building. But is there one that trumps all others? Absolutely. If you were to employ only one link building strategy, it should be this: creating link-worthy content.
It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? It even sounds too simple to believe. But the truth is that link building can be attacked with strategies designed to force your way in or with strategies that get organic results. Organic is almost always the better way to go.
- Link-Worthy Content Defined
Understanding link-worthy content is not hard. Think of your own situation. You want to link to other sites from yours because you want to provide your visitors valuable information they can actually use. This practice builds brand loyalty. It gives your visitors a reason to trust you.
By the same token, you avoid linking to garbage content at all costs. Why? Because you know that garbage content will reflect poorly on your brand if you link to it.
So combine these two principles and you have the definition of link-worthy content. It is high quality content that your visitors want and that will increase brand loyalty.
- You Don’t Have to Ask
Link-worthy content gets linked to organically. It is good enough that you don’t have to ask people to link to it. You do not have to constantly promote it beyond sharing it on your website and posting it on your social media channels. A link-worthy guest post doesn’t have to be promoted with paid advertising. Its quality does most of the promotional work on its own.
Obviously, all content needs distribution in some form. But good content worthy of being linked to doesn’t have to be pushed. You find a few key distribution channels to let your target audience know, then leave it at that. Being link-worthy, they will share it and link to it organically.
- What Makes Content Link-Worthy?
The next obvious question is what makes content worthy of being linked to. Several things. According to the content marketing experts at Webtek Digital Marketing in Salt Lake City, UT, it all starts with good writing. Link-worthy content does not contain spelling and grammar errors. It isn’t unnecessary long-winded. It is not mostly filler content.
Here are some of the other characteristics of link-worthy content:
- Simple English – Link-worthy content speaks to its intended audience in simple English. It is written for readers rather than writers. That makes a significant difference.
- Topic Relevance – Link-worthy content is actually relevant to the topic at hand. The body of the content matches the headline. The introductory thesis is relevant to the headline and the body.
- Valuable to Consumers – Link-worthy content is valuable to those who consume it. It is not just fluff. It means something. It is actionable.
There are those link building strategies that encourage you to get out there and make it happen. There are strategies designed to make sure you are actively getting your content out to as many channels as possible. None of these things are bad in and of themselves. Most of them work to some degree. But the most important link building strategy of all is creating link-worthy content. If your content is not worth linking to, all the rest of those strategies are meaningless.
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