3 Link Building Strategies to Get Backlinks - 3.2. SEO Course by Ahrefs

Hey, it's Sam Oh, and welcome to the second lesson in our link building module. In this lesson, we'll talk about three link building strategies to get backlinks. Now, before we get started, it's important to set the expectations right for this lesson and talk about the difference between a strategy and a tactic. To me, strategies are higher level in the sense that it outlines the scope of the plans, whereas tactics are more micro and often focused around smaller steps. So the strategy sets you in the right direction, and the tactics kind of define how you get there. And we'll get into a few link building tactics later on in this module. Alright, so when it comes to link building, there are three main strategies to get backlinks. You can create them, buy them, or earn them. Let's talk about what each method looks like, their level of difficulty, and effectiveness. The first method is to create backlinks. Creating backlinks means to manually add links on one domain back to yours. This can be done by adding your website to directories, leaving comments on blog posts, or adding your website's URL to your social media profile. Anyone can do this with minimal effort, so like almost all easy things in life, they're generally not that effective from an SEO and ranking perspective. Now, buying backlinks is exactly as it sounds. You pay webmasters or authors a fee, and in return, they'll link back to a page on your site. Now, this is against Google's webmaster guidelines and can potentially result in a penalty. That might be anything from losing ranking positions, or even worse, getting your pages removed from Google's search index. Also, buying links isn't exactly cheap. We contacted 250 websites to ask if they sell links, and we found that the average cost of buying one was nearly $353. And of course, we didn't buy any. In terms of level of ease, if you have the money, it's super easy to do because it's just a transaction. Now, in terms of the effectiveness, I would think that they're highly effective unless or until you get caught. And in my opinion, the risk isn't worth the reward, especially if you want to build a business that'll stand the test of time. The final way to get backlinks is to earn them. And there are three common ways you can do this. The first and most common are links that are earned through email outreach. This is when you email other website owners and editors and ask them to link to you. Another way to earn backlinks is by becoming a source for an online publication or media outlet. For example, if a journalist references you in an article, they'll often link to you and or your social media profiles. And the final way is to earn backlinks organically. For example, if someone visits your page from a link on social media, organic search, word of mouth, or wherever and decides to link to you, then that's an earned link. Now, even though 100% organic links may sound like the best way to get them, I don't want you to bank on that. These kinds of links are typically less consistent unless you're an extremely well-known brand with extremely well-crafted content, and you're already getting significant exposure. It takes time to build a reputation that's well-trusted and for those organic links to come in on a regular basis. And if you're just hoping and waiting, you'll likely fall behind because your competitors will actually be busy building links by reaching out to other website owners. Generally speaking, the harder it is to obtain a link, the more valuable it'll be. And for that reason, we'll be focusing on streamlined tactics so that you can build a steady stream of backlinks to your page and get more traffic from SEO. Now, not all links are created equal. Some will propel your pages to the top of Google, while others can actually hurt your site. So what makes a link actually good? That's what we'll be talking about in the next lesson, which we'll publish tomorrow. So if you haven't already subscribed, then be sure to do that. And if you're watching this lesson at a later time, then check the description to see all links to the course. I'll see you in the next lesson.