Needless to say there are a multitude of ranking factors to consider but backlinks represent the most important metric for search engine optimisation (SEO). While quality backlinks are sometimes hard to get, we have gathered together six clever tips to help you earn backlinks.

1.     Build a solid internal linking structure

While internal links won’t necessarily give you a considerable SEO boost, they will increase the overall usability of your website. Building a solid internal linking structure is just like any other technique but don’t abuse it and create an excessive number of internal links/pages. Adding unnecessary links/ pages will only complicate the user and make your website look suspicious.

2.     Replicate your competitors

Replicating competitor’s backlinks is one of the smartest ways to find new link building opportunities and improve SEO. Aim to analyse your primary competitors which are usually ranking in the top five positions for your main keywords. Often when competitors are ranking above you, it means they have a better link profile and higher quality backlinks. Remember you should only replicate the links that have a good authority. Compiling a list of your competitor’s backlinks and then replicating their best ones is one of the easiest ways to get backlinks.

3.     Guest Blogging

Despite what some may believe, guest blogging has been around long before Google started using backlinks as a ranking factor. Ultimately guest blogging provides one of the best ways to make yourself heard online. With guest blogging, you can tap into pre-established audiences and interact with people from your niche. Not only can you build quality backlinks, it’s a great technique for driving traffic and building more followers on social media. However, if you’re going to guest post it needs to be high-quality.

4.     Build backlinks with infographics

Not only are infographics perfect for building backlinks, they also drive traffic from social media as they are highly shareable. Infographics provide popular link building methods which you can submit to popular infographic directories. In order to push your infographics even further, you can use social media such as Twitter, to find people that have shared related infographics in the past. Reaching out to others and asking for their feedback has the added benefit that they may share your infographics on social media while adding links to them.

5.     Promote your best content everywhere

No matter how great your content is, it won’t get backlinks if no one knows it exists. You have to proactively search for people that are interested in linking to your content and sharing it on social media. Influencer research tools are a great way to find people who are willing to share your content. Remember the more bloggers you talk and engage with, there is a higher chance of getting your content shared. As you build more quality backlinks and develop stronger relationships with well-known bloggers, getting others to share and link to your content will become much easier.

6.     Broken link building

A less common approach to building backlinks is the broken link building technique. This involves finding 404 errors on others' websites and letting them know about it. Essentially, you’re doing other websites or bloggers a favour by letting them know and potentially they may return the favour by linking to your website.

While the whole process of getting backlinks might seem time consuming, in the long run it’s well worth it. You can build backlinks to your website by following the tips in our blog and be sure to remember only build quality backlinks.