What is an organic link?
A linking activity where some other website, blog, or a social media adds a link from your site to his/her work without being asked to do so. The particular link from your site would be called as an organic link.
Why would someone add a link from your site voluntarily?
An organic linking is never done with an intention to influence the search ranking, rather it aims to share the valuable information loaded on that link.
So, if someone adds an organic link from your site to his own, it is purely a motivation from your great content that inspired the user to share your content with his/her readers or followers.
Quite interesting! how would you get such links for your own website?
This article aims at providing a list of 7 such ideas that you can adopt to build organic links for your site. So, keep reading to find out.
1. Write contents that motivate
Content is always an important entry in any kind of list prepared for Search engine optimization or digital marketing. Why not, when companies that blog generate 67% more leads as compared to who do not, content is always going to stay on the list.
If you want websites, bloggers, content writers to include your link in their work, the only motivation you can give them is a great piece of content. Don't ever write with a primary aim to get links or influence the search ranking; write for people. Don't commit the mistakes that block users from linking to your site.
For writing a great piece of content, you must understand your audience and deliver a perfect piece that solves their problems. Then only your content would be valuable, informative, and something people would like to share with others.
I read an awesome line in one of Neil Patel’s blog that beautifully correlates between being an artist and being a blogger. It quotes a line said by Michaelangelo Buonarroti once (Michaelangelo renowned for his breathtaking artistry):
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”
Your knowledge and research work is the Marble, you just need to chisel the extra material out and your content becomes full of life and valuable for your audience.
Steps are very simple
- Know what your audience need and what are their problems
- Research and find the solution
- Always mention if any of your products can solve their problem
- Don't forget to answer the "How" part.
- Do not promote; rather persuade.
- A self-descriptive Content headline,
- Complementary sub-headlines,
- Proper links to the information sources,
- Several relevant images,
- A clear and to the point opening,
- Loads of valuable and relevant information and
- A closing with a call to action
2. News is always a great way
The most beneficial aspect of blogging about latest news is, they are always fresh and people look for them on the internet. The best part, when you are one of the early breakers of the news, others automatically start to follow you.
When people talk about the news, they directly refer to the place where they found it.
“I read on the Webmasters blog that Google is going to test it’s new mobile-first index algorithm” That’s a news and that’s where Webmasters blog is a reference point for people to talk about it.
So, if you want to gain some easy organic links, breaking some interesting news in your domain would a great approach. Sometimes, it becomes an awesome approach, when you occasionally get a success in breaking the news first.
It would be your site where people would first find the information and when they would talk about it on their blogs, they would surely include your link to give their work an authority.
Tips are very simple:
- Keep a track on latest happenings in your domain.
- Follow the latest research publications to get raw information that can be processed into a news.
- Stay updated with your competitors’ blog in the niche.
- Follow relevant personalities in your niche on Twitter. Twitter could be a great source of news.
- Read online and offline journals published in your niche.
- Always publish news when you are certain about its integrity and truth. A single false news can drag your reputation to the ground.
- Provide links and mention the sources to get an authority and vote of confidence in your news.
3. Sometimes giving without an expectation works well
Organic link building is not just about getting links but also about building relationships that work in the long run. We too understood the benefits of being the Santa of one of our niches (Plugins development). So we experimented some giveaways.
Through free plugins giveaway, promotion-less forum participation, free support services, we tried to build a relationship with our customers and readers community. It worked well for us. In fact, we got much of the attentions on our paid plugins too.
So, why can't it work for your link building? It works and works very well.
Giveaways in link building can include writing a valuable content and giving for guest posting without asking for any back-link on the same. Sharing others’ good contents with your readers, retweets, or adding their relevant link in your work would certainly motivate them to do the same for you eventually.
Moreover, it won't remain a giveaway, rather it would convert into a "give and take" relation in the long run. When people will know you through your posts, they will come to your site, read your other posts. Furthermore, some of them may like some of your contents and may consider sharing it with their readers.
Simple tips include these:
- Don’t consider guest post solely for link building.
- Guest post for building your identity among the community.
- Use your valuable contents to present yourself as an authority in your niche.
- Later this authority will become a way to drive the visitors back to your site.
- Utilize the author-bio to direct the readers to your site; do not depend on content to do that.
4. Blog commenting with care
Blog commenting is a link building strategy that is always taken wrongly by the marketer and bloggers. They always intent to comment on a blog post with a sole intention to promote their links. This is a totally wrong approach and may list you among the spam commentators.
Whenever you are into blog commenting, make sure that you comment only when you really want to say something important. Not just important, but relevant to the blog too rather saying something irrelevant just for the sake of leaving a link to it.
If you comment genuinely, your comment will make an impression which will lead other readers curious to know about you. And that’s it, curiosity= a click on your link.
Blog commenting is an easy link building approach. However, the difficult part is getting clicks on the link that is next to impossible if you are commenting irresponsibly.
Tips you can follow:
- Comment only when you want to say something important.
- Comment only when you want to say something relevant.
- Comment manually; never use auto commenting bots.
- Reply to the comments on your comment.
- If possible use your profile to link-back; not the comment.
- Use your real photo in the profile Image;
- Or get a Gravatar and use it on all the blogs that you comment on.
- Always use the real name of you or your company.
- Try to find the relevant blogs that use third party comment networking hosts like Disqus.
- Sign up for a Disqus account and update your profile with your Image, website link etc. Because you will be able to use the same profile on every blog that uses Disqus for comment management.
5. Forum commenting: Tricky but helpful in the long run
Unlike blog commenting forum commenting can be a bit tricky in terms of link building. There are communities that welcome link sharing, while you will find some are strictly against link promotion on the forum. So, whenever you are up for forum commenting, always read their guidelines carefully. Especially the restrictions and conditions on putting links.
Furthermore, unless you become a known name in the community I would not suggest you put your link in the signature. Member getting even a small hint of your link building intention would develop an image of spammer about you.
With every possible way try to first build your identity and authority by helping them with your answers and active participation. Once you would achieve an image as a valuable community member with your participation, go for updating your signature link.
A link from an active and valuable community member would never become a spam, instead, they would be curious to know about you. And again, curiosity= a click on your link.
6. Develop a social media follower base
Well, the links from social media are not treated by the search engines as organic. However, having a strong social media follower base would work somewhat indirectly to build the links.
Through direct engagement, or public posts on social media you can leverage the platform to funnel the traffic to your website. There they will read your contents, and if find them useful and valuable, they will not back from sharing it on their work.
Please note that it's not a surefire way of organic link building, as not all the traffic funneled here would constitute the bloggers community. Most of the followers of the social media are your potential customers and readers. Only a few of them would consist the writers and bloggers who can give a link to your site.
However, it's not a bad idea too. If you combine the social traffic funneling and all the tips mentioned in the article, you will definitely have a well-covered area where every inch will be utilized to build your links.
7. Watch your back
After a while in the link building activity and excelling your business, you may shift your priorities. You may also get some more advanced and effective ways of link building. During this phase, your old links may vanish or go bad due to SEO mistakes or wrong practices.
This is where you need to keep a track on your old links. Otherwise, you may move ahead with your new links and link-building ideas, while the old links would keep extinguishing or going rogue. Ultimately, killing your efforts and website SEO on the whole.
Let’s understand that there are things that are priorities for once but become useless or even harmful as the time goes on. In this situation, it’s important to keep a track on the old links and sources and get rid of all the useless and rogue ones for good.
To conclude
Organic links are important. From SEO to building an authoritative image, links are everywhere. What do you think? Do you consider content, social media, forums, etc as better ways to earn the organic links? What other organic link building strategies can you suggest?
Author Bio: Ethan Roy, a technical content writer by Profession. With years of experience on various eCommerce platforms (Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart, Shopify), he has a lot to share with the readers. Currently working as Technical Content Writer at velsof.