If you are trying to build links for your startup, you are at the right place.
Links can strongly affect the search rankings of any website.
That is why it is always wise to put a good amount of focus on building links.
In this post, you are going to learn exactly what building links for your startup means, why it is important, and how to do it.
So why wait any further? Let’s go.
What is startup link building
A backlink is when one website links to another website.
Link building refers to all the strategies and steps taken to acquire those backlinks to your website.
Therefore, startup link building is all about the processes and strategies that you apply to get backlinks from external websites to your startup website.
Google considers these backlinks as a vote of confidence.
This means if website A gives a backlink to your website, Google will consider that backlink as a vote from website A towards the credibility and authority of your website.
This improves your rankings.
Why is link building important for startups
Do startups need link building?
Well, before answering this, let us ask another question:
Do startups need an audience from search engines?
We are sure the answer is yes. And if the answer to this question is a yes, the answer to the former question also becomes a yes.
Building links gives you higher search rankings and higher search rankings give you a new audience from search engines.
Here are some reasons why your startup needs to build links:
1. Higher search rankings
Backlinks are one of the top ranking factors when it comes to Google’s ranking algorithm.
As we said before, Google considers backlinks as a vote of confidence.
So when you build links from websites that are considered top-tier websites by Google (strong votes), it starts noticing your website.
What does it mean? Well, it simply means when you build more links, the algorithm automatically improves your search position.
2. Improved credibility
A startup needs to earn the trust of its audience to convert them into loyal customers.
Links help you do that.
When high authority, popular websites add a link to your website, it positions your startup as a trustworthy source since a strong brand is adding a link to it.
Moreover, it also tells the search engines that your website is an authoritative source that deserves high search positions.
3. Increased traffic
When you rank higher, you automatically get an audience. Therefore, building links helps you attract web traffic.
But that’s not it. It helps you in one more way.
When popular websites with higher daily traffic add a link to your website, people visiting that website may click it and land on your website.
This way, the links added on external websites also give you a high amount of referral traffic.
4. More sales opportunities
All the three points mentioned above lead you to this point.
When you rank higher, your chances of getting traffic from search results increase.
When trustworthy websites add a link to your website, people start trusting your website.
Lastly, when popular websites add a link to your website, you get the opportunity to attract their audience.
All of this gives you more opportunities to generate higher sales from the traffic received.
5. Competitive advantage
When the game gets more difficult, competition also gets smarter. That’s why you must always try to stay ahead of your competitors.
Startup link building can help you do that.
Link building is all about making quicker and smarter moves.
Your competitors are already out there trying to get links from popular websites. In such situations, you cannot avoid link building.
You must right way start performing startup link building and acquire links from popular websites.
If your are running a SaaS startup you can outreach the entire process to SaaS link building agencies.
Startup link building techniques
Now let us talk about the techniques and strategies that you can use to build links for your startup.
1. Offer free guest posts
Guest posting is one of the most used link building techniques. You can use it too.
Guest posting is when you write articles on other websites for free and you get a backlink in return.
Here’s how it works:
First, start by creating a list of websites you would like to write guest posts on and get backlinks from.
You can either contact your business network and ask your friends if they would like a guest post or you can use Google to find guest posting opportunities. Just search “[Your term] + guest posting”.
Next, choose your targets.
As a startup, it is important for you to never settle for low-quality websites.
Yes, it is true that getting featured on low-quality websites is a lot easier. But if you want to maintain a good link profile, you must only target average and high-authority websites.
Then, write a pitch and let them know about your offer.
On acceptance, write a high-quality guest post and acquire your backlink.
2. Get links with HARO
This strategy can get your startup links from popular publications.
What is HARO?
Well, HARO is a website that connects journalists with sources.
You know what? Journalists are always looking for sources and insights on topics to add to their news.
That’s when this website comes in.
HARO helps journalists connect with industry experts who can provide valuable information to their queries.
Here’s how it works:
Visit the HARO website.
List your name as a source.
Sign up to receive their daily newsletter.
Every newsletter contains requests from journalists.
Once you feel “okay, I can respond to this request as it falls under my area of expertise”, respond to that request and provide valuable insight.
When journalists see your content and if they find it valuable, they will link to your website.
The best thing about this method is that it allows you to get links from big websites like Forbes and Business Insider.
The only downside is that there is no guarantee that the media will pick your thoughts.
Just remember to try to be the first to answer any question and also be concise.
3. Unlinked brand mention
This is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to build links.
Unlinked brand mentions are when a website mentions your brand in its articles without linking to your website.
This process is all about finding a website that mentions your brand without a link and asking them to add a link.
Here’s how to do it:
There are various tools like Google Alerts and Mention that notify you whenever someone mentions your brand.
Just set up alerts for your brand name, product name, and any other related questions.
Once you receive an alert, go and check if that mention also includes your link. If not, ask them to add your link to it.
The best thing about this strategy is that it is really easy to execute. All you have to do is set up your alerts and wait for unlinked brand mentions.
The only drawback is that it only works if people are already talking about your startup.
4. Give them a reason to link
Unlike the other link building strategies where you reach out to your targets and ask them to give you a backlink, this technique is all about creating content that automatically attracts links.
We are sure even you might have added a link to an external page on your website. That’s a backlink to them.
Ask yourself, what made you link to that page? What’s the one thing that inspired you to add a link to that page?
In this strategy, you create content that automatically attracts people and leads them to add a backlink to your website.
Some examples of content that could attract such links are:
- Statistics and data-related studies and articles
- Ultimate guides on important topics
- Visually appealing infographics
- News and trends content
These kinds of content have the ability to attract natural backlinks.
Just ask yourself – What kind of content they would like to link and why? And create your piece accordingly.
5. Broken link building
This is one of the most effective link building strategies.
What are broken links?
Let’s say, website A adds a link to a page on website B. And for some reason that page on website B gets deleted or moved to a new link address.
In such situations, the link added on website A now leads people to a “404 error page” (a page that does not exist). These kinds of links are called broken links.
What is broken link building?
Broken link building is all about finding websites that are linking to pages that no longer exist and asking them to link to your similar content instead.
Let us explain this step-by-step.
First, create a list of websites you want to examine.
What’s next? Now it’s time to use tools like Ahrefs Broken Link Checker. Add each website’s domain address and find out if they are linking to a broken link. Nice.
Once you get a list of broken links, then all you have to do is, create a piece of content similar to the content the website was linking to.
Finally, reach out to the website owner and let them know that they are linking to a page that no longer exists and ask them to link to your content instead.
6. Competitor backlink analysis
Now this strategy is all about building links with the help of your competitors.
What is competitor backlink analysis?
So competitor backlink analysis is all about getting a list of websites that are linking to your competitors and their pages.
By doing this you can get an already created list of targets who would link to your website and give you a relevant backlink.
Why? This is because websites that are linking to your competitors are most likely businesses related to your niche.
Here’s how it works:
First, make a list of all your competitors.
Then, use tools like Ahrefs backlink checker tool and Semrush online backlink checker to check your competitors’ backlinks profiles.
Go to that tool and enter the competitor’s URL.
The tool will generate a list of websites that have linked to your competitors.
Finally, visit those sites and ask them if they want to link to your site.
7. Other techniques
Finally, let’s talk about all the other link building techniques that your startup can use.
Get on the “best of” lists
You see, oftentimes bloggers and other popular websites create articles that include the “best of” list. For example, “10 best email list builders”.
Find such relevant articles and ask the blogger to add your website as well.
Build free tools
There are many free, basic, and simple tools available online. For example, calculators, grammar checkers, word count tools, template generators, and more.
You can create such free tools and generate hundreds of high-quality backlinks.
Reciprocal links
Reciprocal links are when your website A links to site B and in return site B links back to your website A.
You can perform such strategies with your network.
Submit to high-quality relevant directories
Directories are websites that contain lists of other businesses and websites.
You can get your business listed on high-quality directories that are relevant to your business.
Make use of Q&A sites
Lastly, you can also use Q&A sites to earn backlinks.
Find questions relevant to your business.
Provide valuable answers to those questions and smartly add your link.
Link building best practices
Now let us talk about the best practices to use in link building.
Content quality is everything
The quality of your content decides what your link building results are going to be.
High-quality content is often linked the most.
That’s why your startup must focus on working on its content marketing strategy.
Get dofollow links
Dofollow links are everything when it comes to earning backlinks.
There are two types of links:
- Dofollow link
- Nofollow link
A Do-follow link passes the authority of the origin site to the web page linked. Whereas, a No-follow link does not pass any authority and is just a normal backlink.
This means Google does not count a nofollow link as a vote from the website linking to you.
That is why your startup must always try to get high-quality links that include the “dofollow” tag.
Website linking to you must be relevant to your niche
Google also checks whether the site that is linking to your website is relevant to your niche or not.
This means that a link from a relevant website will have more impact than a link from a website of some other industry.
That’s why you must always try to get relevant backlinks.
Links must be from high-authority websites
Google checks the domain authority of the website linking to you to determine the quality of your backlink.
That’s why you must always try to get authority backlinks from websites with higher domain authority.
Benefits of outsourcing link building for startups
Now let us discuss why you should outsource your link building process.
1. You can save a lot of money
Yes, you heard it right.
See, link building is a kind of process that costs a lot of money.
If you decide to perform this process yourself, you’ll need to hire an in-house SEO professional, purchase premium subscriptions for SEO tools, and set up your entire process flow.
This can actually cost you a lot of money.
On the other hand, when you outsource your link building to an agency like SERP Forge, you get all these in one place that too in a lower cost and also saves tax money.
2. You can save a lot of time
Yes, link building is an important part of your business but it is not the only part.
You have a lot of other things to do. And since link building is a time-consuming process it can take all your time.
When you hire an agency you save a lot of time by outsourcing your link building process and focusing on other things.
3. Better and faster results
Not everyone can be an expert in link building. That’s why if you decide to perform link building yourself, you might not always get the best results.
On the other hand, an agency includes a team of people who are experts in link building which can provide you better and faster results.
Conclusion
Well, so this was your complete guide on startup link building.
Just remember, since link building is one of the most important ranking factors, it is always wise to outsource the process if you don’t want to risk your opportunities.
FAQs
Does link building still work for startups?
The answer is a simple yes. If you want your startup to rank higher on search results, you must perform link building. It is still one of the top rankings factors.
How long does it take to see results from link building?
Well, the amount of time it takes to see your link building results depends upon many factors. It all depends on your competitors, the quality of your backlinks, and the strategies you use. However, usually, it takes a few weeks to a few months to get results.
What is a good link building strategy?
A good link building strategy is any strategy that has the potential to attract hundreds of links to your website. All the strategies discussed above have such potential to attract hundreds of high-quality backlinks.
