In the world of marketing, it’s all about return on investment (ROI) and getting the most out of your marketing efforts. This is no different in the world of online marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). This idea can be applied specifically to the SEO practice known as link building in which the aim is to get the most SEO value out of every link you build. Here is a list of three aspects to consider when building links in order to create a useful link for your website or blog.
The Website Linking to You
First, you should consider what types of websites you are trying to obtain links from with your guest blogging. Obviously you want to publish guest posts (and subsequently acquire links) on quality sites, but what constitutes a quality site?
There are a few factors that will determine whether a website is a valuable location for your link or not. Two of the main factors are relevancy and audience engagement. It is always important to keep relevancy in mind when guest posting as you will want to be publishing content on sites related to your niche or industry.
Also, it is a good idea to gauge the level of interaction by the audience on the site. Audience engagement is important, as it will lead to an increased value for your link through blog comments and social sharing.
The Anchor Text and Location
Along with the quality of the website you are guest blogging on, you should also consider the anchor text and location for your link.
Anchor text is one of the most crucial aspects of a link as it can determine the difference between a useful link and a potentially detrimental link. It is now widely accepted in the SEO world that exact match anchor text (anchor text that matches the keyword you are trying to rank for exactly) is no longer a viable strategy. Instead, you should aim to include a more natural branded anchor text or variations of partial-match anchor text that will better round out your backlink portfolio.
The location of your link on the page will also play a role in how much value it produces. Links that are placed higher on the page within the content will provide more value, whereas links in author bios at the bottom will provide less.
How It Drives Organic Traffic
Perhaps the most important aspect of a guest blogging link is that it should drive organic traffic to your site. This means that people are actually clicking on the link to see where it points. This is where the idea of relevancy comes into play once again, as you should be guest blogging on sites that you believe your target market is reading. Driving organic traffic to your site is incredibly valuable as this is can lead directly to conversions.
These are a few of the major aspects you should be considering when guest blogging for links. Guest blogging for links can be a very effective SEO strategy, but it must be done the right way. Following the practices listed here will help ensure you are building useful links that both provide SEO value and drive targeted traffic to your site.
