What Are Some of The Most Common Mistakes While Working on Link Building?

Making mistakes is a normal part of link building. Your efforts can hurt your SEO rankings. Below are some of the most common mistakes made while working on link building. Avoid them at all costs.

Not Creating Linkable Content

Links are useful in terms of audience development. Securing a link on another website provides the audience with direct access to your website. Good content is the foundation for link building. If your link building campaign is falling, the explanation is that you’re not creating content that earns backlinks. Think about the people you’re reaching out to and create valuable content. If your content doesn’t strike a chord, you waste valuable resources.

Broad topics are covered the most, so if you want to make your content uniquely likeable, cover more specific topics. Limiting your topic begins with answering certain questions, such as:

What interests you as a writer?
What do you think your target customers are interested in?
What information can you find about the subject?

To create content that readers and sources will like and appreciate, you should:

Cite credible sources
Share research that benefits your industry and audience
Create an easily digestible format (e.g., use bullet lists for easy scanning)
Use videos, images, and so on

Examples of linkable assets include but aren’t limited to eBooks, podcasts, detailed infographics, tutorials, white papers, and case studies.

Using City Names in Anchor Texts

Looking for something close by – a restaurant, a gas station, or a bookstore – is one of the most common searches people do online, according to the experts at Seeders. It’s estimated that 46% of all Google searches consist of users searching local information. So, it’s not a good idea to ignore local SEO. While it pays to incorporate geo-targeting into your link building strategy, it’s not a good idea to use city names in anchor texts.

Google will use your IP address or the physical address on your site to know what area your business is targeting. The point is that you can rank for some keywords without mentioning the city. Google’s algorithm will figure out that you’re in that city and include you in the localised search results. Try to optimise without using the city name, if possible. If your content looks unnatural, it’ll turn off visitors.

Getting Links from Pages with Weak Social Shares

You can have backlinks from many sources, and it’s only right to analyse them. The quality of the links is more important than the number of backlinks. A quality backlink is relevant to the topic, and the web resource has lots of social shares. Since the creation of social media, Google has embraced social signals as ranking factors. Links from websites with no social shares don’t add any SEO value.

Good backlinks show Google that your website has authority. Content that gets shared widely generates numerous links owing to its quality. Shares on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and so forth matter. If you’re writing guest posts, try to get as many social shares as possible. There are several tools out there you can use, such as Ahrefs or Moz, but you can check the backlink quality yourself.

Writing 500-Word Guest Posts

500-word guest posts have their rightful place in digital marketing, yet their importance is diminished. Don’t look at this length as a guideline. Long posts (1000 words or more) rank more easily. Anything less will drag your website down. You should write articles with depth or meaning to them. Writing a few 1000-word blog posts a week requires great effort, but it’s how it works today.

Articles with more words acquire more backlinks and social media shares because they deliver exceptional value. Try to aim for over 1200 words. If you’re used to writing short guest posts, the idea of writing a 1000-word article seems daunting. It can take 3 to 4 hours or more. Keep in mind the following tips if you want to become a faster writer:

Conduct research before you start writing
List the main points of your article
Remove distractions by turning off phone notifications
Draft your writing

It’s not all about hitting the word count. If the content and quality are very bad, the guest post doesn’t deserve to rank.

There’s no right or wrong way to write. Each person approaches the creative process differently. Nonetheless, there are ways to create content that’s digestible and valuable to readers. Here are some suggestions to consider:

Write well-structured, coherent paragraphs
Create an easy, conversational tone in your writing
Add visual content to break up long sections of text

Most importantly, be approachable. People like articles that don’t feel like they’ve been written by gurus. Use contractions, speak directly to the reader and avoid inflated words. You should also eliminate passive writing, which tends to leave readers confused.

Since you’re investing time and money in crafting and publishing content pieces, be certain they’re distributed smartly. It’s recommended to outsource link building. By hiring link building services, you can get faster results. Link building is a full-time job. To achieve the desired results, you’ll need a digital agency with the right experience and expertise.

Targeting Key Phrases on The Homepage

Users create key phrases for their search queries. Use key phrases in your anchor texts for links to your inner pages, not the homepage. For the homepage, you should use your brand name or a naked URL. Your message becomes more refined, so there’s more potential for conversion. When someone searches your company, they’re directed to the homepage upon clicking. As you build brand authority with search engines, your homepage will rank relatively easy.

Optimising your website isn’t complicated at all when you’re targeting relevant keywords and creating keyword-focused content. In your link building efforts, use mainly branded anchor texts for the homepage.