Did you know that websites that appear as number 1 on the first page of Google search results have 3.8x more backlinks than the rest?
This is not news to SEO specialists or anyone who has been doing search engine optimization for a long time. Yet, not all links have the same power or effect on your web visibility and search rankings. While all (almost) quality links are great for your site, niche-relevant backlinks can help cement your reputation as a solid brand.
Still, many entrepreneurs spend a lot of resources and time engaged in getting as many links as possible, only to realize that they are not getting the desired results. If this is you, don’t give up – there’s hope, and the situation can still be fixed. In this blog, we will be looking at why you should consider niche-relevant link-building and how to get started.
Let’s dive in.
Why Should You Care About Specific Niche Relevant Backlinks for Your Website?
For many businesses, industry-relevant links can be a major game changer. These links come from pages within your industry, which gives your website and content more legitimacy. Imagine that you want to buy a new laptop. You check two different sites, and one of them has glowing recommendations from a beauty blog, while the other has great reviews from a PC/desktop blog. Who are you likely to trust more? This example might be exaggerated, but essentially, that’s how Google sees the sites.
This is not to say that the first blog is wrong, but you are likely to believe the second simply because of its niche relevancy. The same happens when other websites in your industry link to your web pages. The boost in credibility and authority does not only affect your brand image but also impacts your search rankings, your domain authority, your future link-building effort, and more. Since Google gives more priority to niche-relevant links, your site will appear more on the first page of search results. This increases your ability to reach more people and make more sales.
The improved referral traffic, in turn, leads to more engagement, which creates a positive feedback loop for your site, helping you outrank your competitors. When you also incorporate niche edits to this, as this website explains, you get better SEO outcomes. Your content gets indexed faster and ranked higher.
How to Earn Niche-Related Backlinks
Every SEO expert worth their salt can tell you how powerful backlinks are for search engine rankings, yet over 52% of digital marketers say it is the hardest part of SEO strategy. This is not surprising as nothing good comes easy, right? Well, not if you know these powerful tips for earning niche-related links. Here are a few to get you started right away.
This is the first step for anyone who is on a quest to earn some of those quality niche-relevant backlinks. A link has to lead a reader or viewer somewhere, or as ProjectCubicle aptly describes it – your content can be a powerful link bait. The good news is that most people want to reference something that will add value or provide more context on a topic for their readers.
If you invest in creating unique, well-researched, and engaging content, you become that reference they need. Remember that for this to work, you need to master the secrets of creating captivating content for your niche blog to help align your posts to what your readers want. Here are some ideas to help you get started right away:
- Find trending keywords and topics in your niche and use them for your own content ideas.
- Create more infographics, case studies, visual content, and compilation of industry insights or stats, as these attract more links and shares.
- Craft more how-to content or guides that provide helpful step-by-step approaches or solutions to problems your target audience struggles with.
- Film short reels on social media that have high shareability appeals.
This is a proven strategy for earning backlinks, and many SEO specialists swear by it – up to 53% of them actively recommend it. Still, it takes a lot of time and effort to see results, so you need to be consistent and patient. First, find the quality websites within your niche. These are the ones with high domain authority, low spam scores, and high organic traffic. Then, choose valuable and fresh content topics and do your outreaches. Chances are that some webmasters or editors will turn you down, but try not to be discouraged.
If your pitch is personalized, well-written, and persuasive, you will get a “YES” here and there. When this happens, use that opportunity so well that it opens other doors for you in the future. How? Write your heart out. Give them an article that is so well written that they will be happy to have you next time. Besides, you get to reference this in your future pitches. Ensure that the content aligns with what the audience needs and that they can relate to.
Okay, I know what you are doing. How does Help a Journalist Out (HARO) also help with niche-relevant backlinks? The answer is a lot, especially when you know what you are doing. When you share your industry-specific knowledge, opinions, and insights with reporters, you get a chance to earn inbound links from authoritative sites. Now, do the same for niche news sites that are relevant to your industry and see what difference it makes.
For example, if you own a real estate blog and get a link from the Mortage Reports or HousingWire.com, you can expect to see tangible results from it. Since these two sites are popular in the real estate world, you can expect to have more eyes on your own content, increased organic traffic, better rankings, and all the other benefits. Used this way, HARO is a powerful tool for getting more niche-relevant backlinks.
One of the good things about the internet is that there is a community for everyone, and that includes your niche. You just have to find and leverage them to get inbound links to your web pages. Some people do this by making helpful posts or guides and comments in online communities and forums where they are surrounded by people who share similar interests. Still, there is a certain finesse to this. You can’t just go around writing stuff all willy-nilly, no matter how well-intentioned your motive is.
Spamming a forum or comment section is a quick way to get yourself banned from there and your site blacklisted by the community altogether. So, following the rules and guidelines while engaging or starting a conversation online is best. The idea is to share insights, give answers to questions, and then refer them to a more relevant piece of content on your web page that has a more detailed explanation or context.
Technology is great for simplifying complex tasks, and the same is true when you are working on earning niche-relevant backlinks from authoritative sites. The best part is that some of these features won’t cost you an arm and a leg or any other body part, really. With Google Search Console, Semrush, Ahrefz, etc., you can easily scale up your link-building efforts and optimize your strategy for even better results.
Besides, some of these advanced SEO tools are AI-driven and give you the ability to automate the more repetitive aspects of your link-building efforts. Tasks like finding the right sites, prospecting, link profile analysis, maintaining a database of prospects, etc. This frees up your time so you can focus more on running your daily business tasks.
Why Finding Relevant Backlinks Can Get Challenging
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Alright, here is a little reality check – quality links are a sweet deal for any website, but finding them can be complicated. One reason for this is that there are tons of confusing advice out there about which links work and what to look for, all of which can be overwhelming for a beginner. So, here are some reasons why you might have trouble finding relevant backlinks and what you can do about it.
- So many sites and so many spammy links. This is often the first issue you notice when trying to get relevant backlinks. One would think that the abundance of web pages in any niche is a good thing; at least you get more chances for collaboration, right? Turns out that there are just as many sites that do not meet Google standards or follow Google-friendly link policies. A link from these kinds of sources won’t be of much help at best. In worst-case scenarios, they can ruin your SEO efforts and get your site penalized. The best solution is to avoid them entirely.
- No one wants to link to your web page. Okay, this one hurts a little, more than a little, if I’m being honest. Very few people enjoy getting a rejection mail, especially when it takes so much time and effort to track the right sites and then craft that nice, impressive pitch. But this is also a good time for reflection. Maybe your content needs some improvement, or perhaps it’s not the content but your pitch that fails to capture the attention of your prospects and highlight the value of your post. Whatever the reason is, go back to the drawing board and find the areas that need improvement.
- The rules keep changing. Link building is definitely one of those constantly evolving SEO practices that requires you to keep learning and unlearning as you go. Throw in the constant changes and updates to the search engine algorithm and ranking factors, and it’s easy to see why anyone might struggle with finding relevant backlinks. So what do you do now? Keep reading, networking, and following experts for news and relevant tips. The more you learn about how these changes affect SEO in general and link building in particular, the easier it will be for you to restrategize your efforts.
- You don’t know how or where to look. This is another common challenge with finding relevant backlinks. It’s already tough to do link-building in general. Throw in niche-specific links, and it gets even harder. If you’re not an SEO expert, you’ll end up looking in all the wrong places. A good way around this would be to consult a professional or hire a white-hat link-building agency. But be careful if you decide to purchase links for better rankings, as it’s easy to fall into another kind of trouble unless you know what you’re doing.
- You did everything right and still don’t have any luck in getting relevant backlinks. Occasionally, the trouble is not what you are doing but just the timing. Blog managers and editors are very busy people, so they ignore lots of pitches, especially from unknown strangers. It can happen to anyone. This is one of those cases where who you know can make a whole lot more difference than just what you know. If your budget allows and you have a deadline, it might be best to work with an SEO agency or any type of professional services. Often, they have years of experience and a strong mutual network of friends that can ease your link-building.
Conclusion
Niche-relevant link building is a lot of work and sweat, but the dividends are well worth all the efforts. You can start by creating unique quality articles, trying more strategic guest posting, or even helping a niche-only HARO approach and participating more in forums and online communities. The bottom line is that the more value you have to offer, the easier it will be to attract quality links to your site. In time, you will be able to see your efforts pay off.