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While paid advertisements and email blasts will still be effective in 2021, Google rankings are growing increasingly important for inbound success.
Compared to Google PPC advertisements, organic search results attract ~10X as many clicks. Organic rankings also have an evergreen impact on your business, generating cost-effective leads long into the future.
However, according to a study by Ahrefs, 91% of published webpages don’t rank high enough to attract a single visitor from Google. How can you ensure that you’re part of the other 9%?
You can publish valuable content and hope for the best, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you will rank. To generate more organic traffic through Google, you must expand your authority through link building.
The landscape of link building is constantly evolving, but there are a few core principles that remain the same in 2021. In this guide, we’ll share everything you need to know about link building in 2021.
What is Link Building?
Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to your own. Link building has many benefits, including brand awareness and referral traffic, but it’s most commonly cited as a method to increase organic traffic.
As a search engine optimization (SEO) tactic, link building is founded on Google’s PageRank algorithm. In a nutshell, each link counts as an endorsement of your webpage, lending credibility to the content within. The more credible your content is, the higher it will rank.
Do Links Still Matter for SEO in 2021?
While links are far from the only signal that matters, it’s safe to say that they will continue to impact Google rankings in 2021.
How much of an effect will links have on your rankings? That part is up for debate. However, mounting evidence suggests that links play a critical role in Google’s ranking system.
Recent Findings from 2020 Search Traffic Studies
- Ahrefs: “The more backlinks a page has, the more organic traffic it gets from Google.”
- SEMrush: “The more backlinks a domain has, the higher is its position on the SERP.”
- Perficient: “Links and ranking positions are highly correlated.”
- Backlinko: “Pages with the highest number of total backlinks tended to rank best in Google.”
Despite a slew of Google algorithm updates in recent years, it appears that links will remain an essential ranking factor in 2021.
Avoiding Google Link Penalties in 2021
While links play a huge role in Google’s system, that doesn’t mean every link will have a positive effect on your rankings.
Google uses machine learning algorithms to detect unnatural link building patterns. While two or three low-quality links won’t kill your rankings, Google has taken a clear stance on large-scale link schemes and their willingness to penalize sites that use them.
To avoid a Google penalty in 2021, you must build links that add real value to the web—not for search engines, but for users.
Ultimately, links are meant to act as a “portal” between two related pages, thus enhancing the user’s journey. If you want long-term results, you must commit to a link building strategy that is centered on the user first.
Link Building for SEO: What Works in 2021?
There is no shortage of link building tactics available on the web. To avoid wasted time and energy, it’s important to choose the right tactics that will have a positive impact on your rankings.
Below, we’ll list the link building tactics you should know about in 2021, organized into four categories.
Category 1: Low Effort, Low Reward
These link building tactics do not require as many resources as others, making them easy targets. However, your competitors are likely to pursue these links too, so you’ll need to pivot to bigger opportunities once you’ve earned the easier links for yourself.
Implement these tactics at the start of your campaign to form a foundational link profile on which you can build.
1. Unlinked brand mentions
For larger companies, brand mentions can be a huge opportunity for valuable links. This tactic involves searching for pages that mention your brand (or anything directly related to it) but do not include a link to your website.
To learn more about this tactic, read this guide from Ahrefs.
2. Directory submissions
About ten years ago, SEOs began setting up directory websites with the sole purpose of building links. These websites clearly go against Google’s guidelines, and you should avoid them.
Here’s an example of a low-quality web directory you should avoid and an example of a high-quality directory from which you might benefit:
While business directories won’t provide a huge ranking boost, they have the added advantage of attracting inbound visitors to your website.
To learn more about this tactic, read this guide from Search Engine Journal.
3. Link reclamation
As the internet continues to grow, links to your website occasionally break or go missing. This tactic focuses on webpages that used to link to you, but no longer do so.
To learn more about this tactic, read this article in Search Engine Journal.
Category 2: Low Effort, High Reward
There is only one link building tactic that carries virtually no risk but could have a huge impact on your Google rankings. Anyone with the time to learn can get started with this tactic today, and that’s why we encourage this tactic for everyone.
1. Internal linking
Internal links point from one page to another page on the same domain. Instead of prospecting and outreach, internal linking involves adding strategic links throughout your own site to distribute link “equity” between them.
To learn more about this tactic, read this guide from SEMrush.
Category 3: Some Effort, Some Reward
These tactics require a moderate level of effort, but they’re unlikely to give your domain a significant competitive advantage on their own. That being said, these are great short-term tactics to employ as you develop your larger strategy.
You should know that these tactics could get you in trouble if you perform them incorrectly. To get the most benefit out of these tactics, take the time to understand before you implement it.
1. Guest blogging
Guest blogging (also known as guest posting) involves reaching out to authoritative blogs and pitching an idea for an article. If the pitch is accepted, you write the article with links to resources on your own website.
Guest posts are also a great way to share something valuable with a relevant audience. Many businesses use these opportunities to build brand awareness and drive referral traffic.
To learn more about this tactic, read this article from the Content Marketing Institute.
2. Resource link building
In virtually every industry, there are pages on the web designed for the sole purpose of linking to helpful resources. Resource link building is centered around these pages.
For example, the University of Rochester website links out to resources for students:
Does your business help students find employment or internships? If so, this page is a great opportunity for a backlink.
3. Reciprocal links
Reciprocal links (also known as link swaps) are usually negotiated between two domains with similar authority: “If you link to me, I’ll link to you.”
Google warns about excessive link swaps in their guidelines, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that reciprocal links are toxic. If you have existing relationships with other websites in your industry or niche, performing a link swap (with an emphasis on relevance) will not harm you.
To learn more about this tactic, read this study by Ahrefs.
Category 4: Low Effort, High Reward
Tactics in this category use unique, relevant content as leverage to earn editorial links from prestigious publications. While these tactics are usually time-intensive, they produce the “natural” links that will leave a huge, lasting impact on your Google rankings.
These tactics are advanced, meaning they’re most effective for marketers with the experience and expertise necessary to see them through. However, you should not neglect these tactics. If you want to outrank your toughest competitors, these links are a necessity.
1. Digital PR
Digital PR involves creating unique, relevant content that is likely to earn editorial links from relevant publications. While the specifics depend on your goals, the overall approach is simple: tell a compelling story.
First, you must find a unique, interesting topic that resonates with your target audience and establishes you as an authority.
Next, you must present your story by creating a content resource. Here are some common content formats, with links to successful examples:
- Text formats: surveys, statistics, studies, indexes, etc.
- Visual formats: maps, infographics, charts, videos, etc.
- Interactive formats: calculators, tools, games, etc.
Finally, you must promote your resource to journalists. If you choose a compelling story and an apt format, the links will come.
To learn more about this tactic, watch this video from Moz.
2. Press mentions
This tactic involves responding to journalist queries to get interviews on news sites, blogs, and podcasts. In addition to generating brand exposure, mentions in the press are also an opportunity for high-quality links.
Journalists commonly use platforms such as HARO and Journorequest (#journorequest) to find sources for their articles. By responding to these queries with expert insights and opinions, you could potentially get featured with a link to your homepage.
Of course, not all of your responses will get featured in articles. That’s why it’s important to only comment on topics where you have a significant amount of expertise. When you find the right query, spend some time crafting the perfect response to increase your chances of a link.
To learn more about this tactic, read this guide from Ahrefs.
3. Skyscraper content
The Skyscraper Technique is a link building tactic coined by Brian Dean of Backlinko. Although it’s a few years old now, this tactic is still viable because it’s centered around valuable content.
Skyscraper content involves three steps:
- Find a piece of content in your niche that has performed well,
- Produce an improved version of that content,
- Contact the people who linked to the original content and pitch your improved version.
As a variation of this tactic, you might find a piece of content that should have performed well but didn’t due to poor execution. Hijacking the story, improving it, and performing outreach are still time-intensive, but it’s a great opportunity to build backlinks.
To learn more about this tactic, read the original guide from Backlinko.
There is no shortage of link building tactics available on the web. To avoid wasted time and energy, it’s important to choose the right tactics that will have a positive impact on your rankings.
Below, we’ll list three link building tactics you should know about in 2021.
Final Thoughts
The importance of link building cannot be stressed enough. To increase your organic traffic and your business during 2021, you must integrate link building into your digital marketing strategy.
We’ll be honest: earning high-quality links is hard work. It requires an airtight strategy, and it takes time to see the fruits of your labor. However, if you’re committed to building links the right way, Google will reward your efforts long into the future.