Key Takeaways
Advanced Link Building: Innovative fusion of traditional techniques for enhanced SEO.
Digital PR Link Building: Create value-driven, newsworthy content for quality backlinks.
Resource for Journalists: Offer expertise on platforms like Connectively for top publication visibility.
Interactive Maps: Engage users with intuitive, story-driven maps for increased sharing and backlinks.
Surveys and Original Research: Provide unique data and visuals to attract journalist attention and backlinks.
Case Studies: Create insightful, promoted case studies for exposure and link-building.
Free Tools and Calculators: Develop simple, valuable tools for ongoing user engagement and backlinks.
Affiliate Programs: Use cautiously for potential backlink gains and brand visibility.
What Makes These Link Building Methods Advanced?
Advanced link building methods are characterized by their creating fusion of traditional techniques.
They require nuanced approach and innovative thinking to execute correctly.
These methods extend beyond the simplicity of direct link requests or basic content creation.
Advanced link building methods often integrate multifaceted strategies that blend aspects of public relations, content marketing, technology, and deep industry insight.
Not all of them are equally as complex but they all require both an understanding of SEO fundamentals as well as a creative flair to craft compelling pieces of content and narratives.
In this complexity lies their true power.
They’re not utilized by everyone, thus, they bring exorbitant rewards to those who do.
Digital PR Link Building
Digital PR Link Building is a strategy that merges Public Relations (PR) tactics with link building techniques to secure high-quality backlinks and boost SEO.
It emphasizes creating newsworthy content and stories that attract links from reputable websites, rather than directly soliciting for links.
This method offers a more holistic and value-driven approach to acquiring high-quality backlinks, benefiting both SEO and brand building.
How Does Digital PR Link Building Work?
Digital PR link building involves creating and pitching content to secure coverage on top-tier media outlets, thereby generating backlinks to the target website.
Here’s how this process looks like from a birds-eye-view.
Stage 1: Define your goals and target audience:
- What industry are you in?
- Who are your ideal customers?
- What are your current SEO metrics?
- What kind of media coverage do you desire?
Stage 2: Build your newsworthy content:
- Research trending topics and industry news.
- Develop insightful reports, data-driven studies, or creative campaigns.
- Craft strong narratives and visuals to enhance engagement.
- Ensure your content offers value and unique perspectives.
Stage 3: Identify relevant journalists and publications:
- Use media databases and tools to find relevant journalists, publications, and influencers.
- Research their interests, recent articles, and preferred formats.
- Build a targeted media list aligned with your content and audience.
Stage 4: Outreach and relationship building:
- Craft personalized pitches highlighting your content’s value and relevance.
- Offer expert commentary, data, or unique insights for their stories.
- Build long-term relationships through consistent communication and follow-up.
Tips for Succeeding with Digital PR Link Building
Digital PR is more akin to art than a science.
To capture the attention of journalists, you have to offer them something valuable, usually data-oriented information they don’t have time or resources to analyze themselves.
It needs to be interesting; surprise them with unexpected angles, counterintuitive findings, or a unique perspective.
This is where the artistry comes in.
Transform the data into a compelling narrative, a beautiful infographic, or an interactive experience that sparks curiosity and begs to be shared.
Moreover, it should be relevant.
Speak directly to their audience and the current news cycle.
Don’t just offer generic insights.
Tailor your story to resonate with their specific readers, their publication’s style, and what’s trending in the news right now in your niche or industry.
Additionally, make it emotional. Tap into their sense of wonder, outrage, or hope.
Facts are important, but emotions drive action.
Use data to tell a story that evokes genuine feelings, whether it’s excitement about a new discovery or concern about a growing trend.
People connect with emotion first, then logic.
Finally, ensure it’s beautiful. Present your information in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand format.
Remember, journalists are bombarded with information.
Make your data sing with clear visuals, engaging storytelling, and a user-friendly experience.
Acting as a Resource for Journalists
This approach involves journalists but differs significantly from Digital PR.
It entails joining platforms like Connectively, Qwoted, BottleSource, offering your expertise to journalists seeking expert opinions.
This is common practice for journalists globally, including top publications like Forbes, Business Insider, and Wall Street Journal.
Links from these domains are highly valuable for SEO, making this a popular method among link builders.
Benefits of Using this Method
Being featured in reputable news publications offers numerous benefits.
As previously mentioned, these domains are powerful and trusted.
Search engines give them substantial weight, meaning backlinks from these sources enhance your domain’s authority.
Another advantage is increased brand awareness.
These platforms link you with journalists from leading publications and national media, expanding your reach.
Mentions in these credible sources act as a megaphone for your brand, significantly boosting awareness among your target audience.
You can leverage these mentions to cement your expertise and thought leadership in your niche.
Tips for Increasing Your Success Rate at Being Picked by Journalists
- Write like a journalist – ensure your points are conveyed free of grammatical and spelling errors.
- Be succinct – answer the question specifically.
- Convey authoritativeness – enhance your profile with a presentable headshot photo, and include links to your website and all your social media.
- Showcase expertise – mention any industry awards you have.
- Share your placements – sharing your successful mentions on social media might entice future placements.
Interactive Maps
Interactivity is key to attracting backlinks with visual content.
Interactive maps have become the new infographics.
Static content is seen as passive and dull, while interactive maps allow users to explore, zoom, filter, and discover information at their leisure.
This active participation results in longer visit times, enhanced recall, and increased engagement.
Interactive elements prompt users to share their discoveries on social media, naturally spreading your content and brand message.
This virality is essential for link-building as other sites embed or reference your map.
Tips for Building Powerful Interactive Maps
Ensure your maps are intuitive and easy to use, with clear navigation and a minimal learning curve.
They should be accessible across all platforms and screen sizes.
Viral maps often contain a compelling narrative.
Don’t just present data; tell a story to engage your audience.
Highlight trends, reveal hidden patterns, or offer surprising insights to captivate your viewers.
Remember, your map won’t get discovered without promotion.
Share your map on social media, forums, and online communities like Reddit and Quora.
Consider reaching out to publications and websites in relevant niches or industries.
Make it easy for others to embed and share your map, boosting backlinks and visibility.
Pro tip: Many online communities and websites may resist linking to content that boosts commercial results.
Hosting the map on a standalone domain during the link-building phase can be a workaround.
After achieving your campaign goals, redirect the standalone domain to your main site, transferring all the link equity back to your website.
Surveys and Original Research
Surveys and original research offer ‘info gain’, increasingly vital in the AI era.
They provide fresh data and insights, catching the eye of journalists and bloggers looking for novel content ideas.
This content demonstrates your brand’s expertise and credibility, marking you as a trusted information source.
Tips for Successful Surveys and Research
Set clear goals before embarking on surveys and original research.
Without them, your approach will lack focus, leading to diluted efforts and mediocre results.
Use rigorous research methods and clearly present your methodology to ensure data accuracy and credibility.
Enhance your data with visuals like infographics, charts, and interactive elements for extra impact.
Be aware, these efforts demand significant effort and resources; aim to maximize their value.
Distribute your research through press releases, social media, industry forums, and direct outreach to relevant journalists and bloggers.
Facilitate easy sharing of your research to widen its reach and attract backlinks.
Offer data sets, embeddable content, or exclusive access to make your work more appealing for citation.
If your survey or research goes viral, use the opportunity to network with peers and journalists for future projects.
Case Studies
Case studies are an incredibly effective marketing tool at various levels.
You can create a case study around anything, ensuring clear insights are presented in the end.
They can focus on high-level business strategies or very specific, targeted actions and insights.
Overthinking the subjects of your case studies is unnecessary.
Every insightful and actionable case study will attract its audience.
Making Case Studies Easier to Create
Producing case studies can be challenging, but certain tips can simplify the process.
Developing a reusable case study template helps streamline the writing process and ensures consistency.
Gathering data for your case study can seem daunting.
To expedite and ease this process, extract data and insights from existing client reports or presentations.
Collaborating with clients to collect testimonials, data points, and their views on the project’s success enriches your case study.
Lastly, utilize dedicated case study creation platforms or design tools to ease formatting and visual aspects.
How to Maximize the Link Building Impact of Case Studies
Beyond just publishing, actively spread the word about your case studies across various channels.
Aim to get maximum exposure for them to enhance their link-building potential.
For instance, share your case studies in relevant LinkedIn Groups, organize AMAs in industry subreddits, and reach out to industry journalists and bloggers.
Highlight every mention of your case study on your social media and engage with comments to motivate future mentions.
Free Tools and Calculators
Free tools and calculators can be incredibly effective for link building.
They serve as a valuable resource to your audience while attracting natural backlinks in the process.
Building tools and calculators might sound daunting, but there are ways to simplify this process, making it feasible even for those not savvy in coding.
Why Do Tools and Calculators Work for Getting Backlinks?
Unlike some other forms of content, tools and calculators provide ongoing value.
They are considered evergreen content, meaning they continue to attract links over an extended period.
This inherent value is attractive to users, motivating them to link back to your tool as a trusted source.
Unlike static content, tools and calculators actively engage users, encouraging exploration, discovery, and personalized results.
This translates to longer dwell time, increased brand association, and a higher likelihood of sharing and linking.
By developing helpful tools, you position yourself as a thought leader in your industry, demonstrating expertise and attracting attention from potential clients and partners.
Tips for Creating Tools and Calculators for Non-Developers
Start with a simple, single-function tool addressing a specific problem your target audience faces.
Complexity can be added later based on success and user feedback. Single-function tools and calculators can even be created with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT.
Brainstorm tool and calculator concepts by prompting ChatGPT with questions like “What are common pain points in my industry?” or “What calculations do people struggle with in my niche?”
Test the output and further refine the code if it doesn’t work at first by simply talking to ChatGPT like you would with a human developer.
Create an Affiliate Program
Creating an affiliate program around your products often leads to backlinks, but it’s best suited for companies where an affiliate product makes sense.
For example, the time and effort to manage an affiliate program may not be feasible for businesses with limited resources.
However, brands with a solid reputation and established product lines can attract reputable affiliates who build quality backlinks.
Even though affiliate links are supposed to be tagged as Nofollow links that don’t pass on link equity, according to Google’s guidelines, not everyone complies, resulting in many Dofollow links from affiliates.
Additionally, your affiliate programs will likely be featured in industry affiliate program round-up posts, and those links will predominantly be Dofollow links.
At the end of the day, you can always shut down your affiliate program if you’re not satisfied with the results, as many companies do.
To be clear, I’m not advocating starting affiliate programs just to acquire backlinks with the intent of shutting them down soon after.