If any of the more reliable search marketing blogs are to be believed, 2016 is already turning out to be the year of the link, with new link building techniques and a focus on the online marketing practice dominating advice columns across the internet. That’s great and all, but where do you start with something like link building, with so many avenues to explore? Read on to find out!
Make the Most of Your Niche
If you’re being smart, you’re already focusing your business on a particular niche in order to cater to a specific type of client. Doing so puts you at a competitive advantage and can make you an expert in a particular field (but that’s something to address another time!). When it comes to link building, creating content based around your niche is a chance to really show off your flare for that particular corner of the industry, and means you’re guaranteed to talk about something your clients are interested in. Now is the perfect time to answer certain questions your niche clients have, or addressing issues specific to them – your readers will appreciate it, the value of your links will greatly increase, and you’ll soon find yourself considered as somewhat of an authority on the subject.
Don’t Be Afraid to Go Local
A major trend for 2016 is the dominance of building relationships locally, within your city or region. By creating content linked with your local community, you can generate traffic and genuine link interest from businesses and customers nearby. Although relating your content to your particular industry or clients’ industry is an added bonus, for this initiative it’s OK to remain local-focused.
Join a Journo
Journalists are a creative bunch, but they can’t just pluck quotes and information out of the air (some of you might disagree there...), so why not give them a helping hand? Not only does this put you one step ahead of your competitors by giving you a reputation for being a reliable source of information, but Google will also be able to recognise the reliability of your content and the links back to your website that come about as a result of being featured in a journalist’s article. Often, a journalist will only make a request for something small, like a quote,rather than a large amount of copy –this is still the perfect opportunity to get a relevant, long-chain keyword or two into a piece of content with your name and link included.
Shine a Light on Your Customers
Although it may come across as somewhat sycophantic, writing a piece of content based on a particular client that you enjoy working with isn’t a bad idea. This content can take many forms, including announcements of new projects or a very straightforward article about the client in question. With the latter, pick a client who is either prominent locally or has a weighted reputation in your niche industry and leverage that to your advantage. A simple interview – with some questions thrown in about your business and its relationship to the client – will suffice, and see your link building taken up a notch.
Enthusiastic about link building, but in need of help to get the ball rolling? For digital marketing advice and services, get in touch and let’s talk about how the Christian Michaels Agency can help you.