In this episode, you’ll learn how to rank your website higher in Google by building backlinks to it.
(Slides)
Transcript
Welcome to Consulting Website Design 016: Building Backlinks.
In this episode, I’m going to teach you how I plan to rank one of my new in the top spot of Google by building backlinks to it.
I’m going to give you my exact method for building these links and the script I used to build links to my post and increase its ranking from the bottom of the first page to the 2nd spot.
But first, a quick primer on what it means to build links.
Building links is a term related to SEO – search engine optimization, the art and science of ranking your website higher in search engines like Google.
Now Google uses social proof to rank the best content higher.
The number of links from other relevant websites pointing to an article or a web page boosts it’s ranking in Google.
Let me show you a concrete example.
I’m trying to rank one of my posts for the search term (consulting lead generation).
If I type that into Google…
You’ll see my article here in the top 4 spots.
Now I want to get it to the 1st spot, past Hinge and past Entrepreneur. These are great websites, so it’s going to be hard to rank past them. But once you get that first spot, you’ll get ~30% of the clicks to your website, give or take based on the effectiveness of your copy.
But I’m already moving up by building backlinks to my article.
So when I first published the post, I was near the bottom of the first page – and that’s still pretty good. That’s because Google has learned that my website is an authoritative website for terms on digital marketing and websites for consultants.
Since then, I’ve been working to boost my post and move it up higher and higher. I’ve done that by building links.
Over the past 18 months, I’ve been networking with influencers in the consulting business space. I’ve developed relationships with many people and have provided them with a ton of value – featuring them in posts, sharing their work with my list, and asking them to share their expertise with my audience.
Now I know that my expertise can provide their similar audience with a lot of value. And one way I can do that is by asking them to link to my post in a similar article of theirs.
This is how you do effective link-building: develop relationships with influencers, identify their posts that would be made better if it linked to one of their posts, and to make the ask.
This is how I plan to rank my article above Hinge and above Entrepreneur. I know for a fact that my article is more in-depth and offers more value than their articles, and that really motivates me to get it to that number one spot.
Now think about applying this to your own business.
- What are the questions or phrases your prospects are typing into Google to learn about their problems and how to solve those problems?
- Which of your articles provide the answer to those questions?
- How much traffic could you gain to your website if you ranked in that top spot for that question?
- What websites could link to your website that would boost the ranking of your post?
This is how you go about building organic traffic to your website: writing the best content for the question or phrase your prospects are typing into Google, and then ranking that content higher by tapping into your network and building links to it.
Instead of a quote for today’s video, I’m going to give you the exact script template I’m using to build these links.
The script reads:
[SUBJECT: New post]
Hey NAME,
I’ve recently published a new post on POST_SUBJECT, and I’m wondering if you can help me rank it higher on Google.
In your article ARTICLE_NAME in the text ANCHOR_TEXT would you be OK with linking to my article?
A link from your website would be huge in helping me rank my post higher.
Also, I know you’ve been posting a lot of great content lately. Let me know if there are any ways I reciprocate by promoting some of your content (linking to it, sharing it, etc).
Happy to help you out with that!
-YOUR_NAME
Now let’s break down why this works.
First, I’m only sending it to people who I know. I’ve already been helpful to them in the past, so they actually want to reciprocate. Sending this to people who don’t know you won’t be effective.
Second, you’re doing the work for them and telling them which article and which text you’d like them to link to your post. All they have to do is open up the article and insert the link.
Third, you’re telling them why it would help. Anyone who’s read Influence by Cialdini understands how this works.
Finally, you’re offering a chance to reciprocate. You’re complimenting them and telling them “Hey, if you need help with this as well, I can link to you too.”
And obviously, the more authoritative your website, the more compelling your reciprocation can be.
Action Step
Today’s action step is to build a single link to your website.
Use my script and send it to an industry peer that you know.
Find an article of theirs that would be made better if it linked to yours, and make the ask – ask them to link to it using the anchor text that contains the question or phrases your prospects type into Google.
Look to rank one of your articles in that #1 spot by doing this until you hit it, and you’ll see a massive increase in your organic traffic.
SEO isn’t just about on-page optimization anymore – it’s about creating the best content, developing relationships with industry peers, and asking your peers to link to your content.