Using Content Marketing to Enhance Link Building

By Katrina Manning

When it comes to profitable inbound marketing, inbound links help to boost SEO, traffic and public relations. What is an inbound link? This is a link from another website to yours. Now, why do you need inbound links? For starters, you get referral traffic from another website. It’s even better if it is a well-known website. Another reason is that inbound links are amazing for SEO. The more of them you have, the better you rank in the search engines.

Of course, you want high-quality inbound links from respected sites. It might be tempting to take shortcuts, but you should go through the “real marketing” route. This is through content marketing that resonates with readers. When great content gets shared, in a world of instant gratification and consumption, that only helps to reinforce your brand. So, how can you use content marketing to enhance link building? We show you how here.

Build links the right way

There are certain things that will get you in trouble with the search engines. Some of them include:

• Guest blogging networks.
• Article distribution sites.
• Massive link swapping.
• Private blog networks.
• Link wheels.

Instead, you want to build links the right way. How can you attract more links? Here are some suggestions:

• Reviews
• Infographics
• Comparisons
• Daily blog posts
• eBooks
• White papers

Think of established brands in your industry. What does their content look like? You might find guides, tips, consistent blog posts and even contributed stories. The last thing you want to do is link to a press release or product page. These types of pages don’t usually receive inbound links naturally.

Create high-value topics

This can be easier said than done. Yet, you want valuable content. If you want to attract as many valuable links to your content as possible, then you must create high-quality content. Think viral. There are companies that specialize in this such as BuildNicheLinks.com whose main objective is to attain authoritative links for their clients with high-value content. Your content also needs to be relevant to your industry.

If you have a wine blog, it would not make sense to write something about cyber security and vice versa. So, think of something that needs to be written in your niche. Another thing to consider is it has to be targeted to your audience. Who are your readers? What would interest them? What types of topics would they share?

Write shareable content

Again, it must be viral-worthy. How do you do that? You can make it more shareable with visual content. That means you include pictures, infographics and more. It is critical to include insightful statistics and visual examples. You want to teach something relevant to your audience. After that, turn up its shareability by transferring some of the statistics into an infographic or video.

These are both easier to digest than written content–especially when it comes to statistics. To add more authority, you want more statistics and tips. People will consider you an industry leader when you do. Then, write the topic from a different point of view. People want to look at all sides of a subject matter. Now, look at your content months or a year later; Are the statistics still up to date? If not, you need to keep your article current. As a result, you will get more inbound links.

Offer a content hub

The last thing you want to do is anything remotely related to keyword stuffing. When you have specific keywords all over your site, the search engines see it as spam. This means that your site needs to instead have relevant and high-quality content. So, what is a content hub? This is where you have multiple pieces of content that are related to each other.

To illustrate, if you own a Greek restaurant then you might write posts on Greek desserts, Greek dining customs, Greek dinner menus and more. You might even create recipes for gyros, moussaka, and baklava. You would then link these pages together based on how well they correspond with each other. This creates a content hub to help attract more inbound links naturally.

Build relationships with publishers

This is another method for getting high-quality links that returns results. During your outreach process, ask them what types of content their audience wants to read. When you receive their feedback, be the first person to write that piece. If you can provide valuable pieces, you then get publicity from their brand while building your own.

Form bonds with your audience

Your audience enjoys your content and wants you to succeed. That is why it is important not to take them for granted. Never forget those who followed you from the very beginning. Show them your appreciation. When you convey your love, you can ask for it back. Give them tools and ideas around how they can spread the word about your brand.

Content marketing still has its crown. Great content is essential to natural and authoritative inbound links. Using the above tips will not only help to improve your company’s reputation, but it will improve your brand.

Katrina Manning is a professional web writer/editor with years of experience penning content for a wide variety of sites and publications. Follow her on Twitter @kcinnaroll!