Backlinks are a pivotal component of any robust SEO strategy, especially for e-commerce websites. Natural backlinks enhance your site's credibility, drive organic traffic, and improve search engine rankings. But how do you attract these valuable links organically? Here's a comprehensive guide to help you understand and implement strategies for building natural backlinks.
Natural backlinks are links that are earned organically without any manipulative tactics. They're given freely by other websites because they genuinely find your content valuable and relevant. These backlinks are a testament to the quality and authority of your site, making them highly valuable for SEO.
In SEO, it is crucial to distinguish between natural and artificial backlinks, as each impacts your website differently. As mentioned, natural backlinks are earned organically when other sites link to your content because they find it genuinely useful or authoritative. Search engines typically consider these links more valuable due to their authenticity, which enhances your site's credibility and trustworthiness.
On the other hand, artificial backlinks are generated through manipulative practices such as link exchanges, purchasing links, or using automated programs to create links. While these tactics might yield temporary boosts in search engine rankings, they carry substantial risks. Search engines, particularly Google, have become adept at identifying and penalizing sites that employ artificial backlink strategies. Such penalties can significantly harm your site's ranking and reputation.
Understanding the differences between these two types of backlinks is essential. Striving for natural backlinks will ensure sustainable growth and long-term success in your e-commerce SEO efforts, while reliance on artificial external links can lead to detrimental consequences.
In terms of SEO, natural backlinks are considered high-quality and can significantly impact your site's search engine rankings. Here are some reasons why building natural backlinks should be a crucial part of your e-commerce website strategy:
Now that we understand the importance of building natural backlinks, here are nine tips to help you attract them to your e-commerce website:
The best way to kick off your link-building campaign is by contacting companies you already know. These could include stakeholders, business partners, customers, and other organizations you collaborate with. Since nearly all commercial entities have an online presence, you can request them to link back to your eCommerce website or a specific web page.
Collaborating with companies you already work with can be mutually beneficial. When you exchange links to each other's commercial websites, it enhances your Google rankings.
Search engines are sophisticated enough to recognize established online connections between companies within the same industry and place great value on these relationships. Initiating your backlink strategy within your professional network is an excellent first step toward gaining other high-quality backlinks.
Creating high-quality content is foundational to effective link building and attracts natural backlinks organically. When you create content that is informative, engaging, and valuable to your audience, it is called "link-worthy."
Link-worthy content can take many forms, including blog posts, infographics, videos, white papers, and product guides. Each piece of content should be well-researched, thoroughly edited, and highly relevant to your target audience.
Studies have shown that long-form content attracts more natural backlinks than shorter articles, as it provides a comprehensive overview of a topic. Additionally, original research, detailed tutorials, and expert round-ups can act as natural link magnets. Another effective strategy is creating evergreen content that remains relevant over time, continually attracting links.
Moreover, high-quality content helps establish your ecommerce site as an authority in your niche. When other businesses or bloggers recognize your expertise, they are more likely to reference and link to your content in their own posts. Consequently, the natural backlinks you earn from high-quality content creation not only improve your SEO but also enhance your site’s reputation and credibility.
Infographics and visual content are powerful tools for building natural backlinks because they can present information in a highly engaging and easily digestible format.
Infographics, in particular, can distill complex data and insights into visually appealing graphics that are more likely to be shared across various platforms. This shareability increases the chances of other websites linking back to your content.
Visual content, including images, charts, and videos, enhances user experience by breaking up text-heavy content and making information more accessible. When your visual content is informative and aesthetically pleasing, it attracts higher engagement, prompting other content creators to reference your visuals in their work.
Additionally, infographics and visual content can be effectively used in outreach campaigns. By offering valuable, shareable assets, you provide an incentive for other industry websites and blogs to link to your content. These natural backlinks boost your e-commerce SEO efforts and amplify your brand’s visibility and authority in your market.
Guest posting and influencer collaborations are strategic methods for building natural backlinks for your e-commerce site. Guest posting involves writing and publishing articles on other authoritative and reputable websites within your industry.
By contributing high-quality content to reputable sites, you not only demonstrate your expertise but also gain valuable backlinks to your ecommerce site. These natural links are generally embedded within the author's bio or contextually within the content of guest posts. The key to successful guest posting is to target websites that are respected and relevant to your niche.
Collaborating with influencers can also significantly enhance your site's backlink profile. Influencers, whether bloggers, social media personalities, or industry thought leaders, have a strong online presence and a dedicated following. By forming partnerships with these influencers, you can leverage their reach to amplify your content.
Influencers can write reviews, share your content, or create custom pieces highlighting your products or services, which often include natural backlinks to your site. These endorsements drive direct referral traffic and signal to search engines that your site is a reputable source of information.
In addition to building backlinks and valuable content, participating in community forums and Q&A sites provides valuable insights into the needs and pain points of your target audience.
Community forums and Q&A platforms like Reddit, Quora, and niche-specific forums attract users seeking solutions, advice, and expert opinions. By actively participating in these discussions, you can establish yourself as a knowledgeable and helpful resource within your industry.
To leverage these platforms for backlink building, focus on providing valuable, well-thought-out responses to questions. Ensure that your contributions are relevant and genuinely helpful. When appropriate, include a link to your site that offers additional information or solutions.
For example, if someone asks about the best practices for using a particular product, you can provide a brief answer and link to a detailed guide or product page on your e-commerce site.
Consistent engagement in these communities not only drives direct traffic to your website but also builds your reputation and authority. As other users recognize your contributions, they are more likely to view your site as a credible source and link to your content from their own blogs or websites.
Furthermore, search engines often index these forums and Q&A sites, meaning that your answers—and the links within them—can appear in search results, increasing visibility.
Social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest offer unique opportunities to reach a broad audience and promote your content effectively. Here are several ways in which social media can enhance your natural backlink-building efforts:
As you implement your backlink-building strategy, it is crucial to regularly monitor your backlink profile and analyze your competitors' strategies. By tracking the quantity and quality of backlinks to your site, you can identify successful tactics and adjust your approach accordingly.
Additionally, keeping an eye on your competitors' backlink profiles allows you to identify potential opportunities for collaboration or content creation. You can also learn from their mistakes and avoid using practices that may lead to penalties or harm your site's reputation.
Contributing to round-up posts and providing expert opinions on industry-related topics is an effective way to acquire natural backlinks to your ecommerce site. Round-up posts are articles that feature insights from multiple experts within a specific niche or industry. As a knowledgeable and established player in your field, reaching out to the authors of these posts can lead to inclusion in their future articles, along with a backlink to your site.
Similarly, providing expert opinions and insights for publications or websites within your industry can also result in backlinks. By showcasing your expertise and thought leadership on relevant websites, you are promoting your brand and increasing the likelihood of other sites referencing and linking to your content.
While online natural link-building strategies are essential, offline efforts can also be fruitful in earning natural backlinks for your e-commerce site. Participating in local events and sponsorships provides opportunities to network with other businesses and organizations within your community, potentially leading to collaborations and mentions on their websites.
For example, sponsoring a local charity event or sports team could result in brand exposure and potential backlinks from the event's website or social media pages. Participating in trade shows and conferences also provides opportunities for networking and showcasing your products or services, potentially leading to collaborations and mentions on industry websites.
Additionally, engaging with local communities can increase your brand awareness and reputation, ultimately leading to more natural backlinks as others recognize your expertise and credibility within your niche.
Building natural links is essential, but it's equally important to monitor them to ensure their quality and relevance. Here are some valuable SEO tools to help you manage your backlink profile effectively:
This tool is specifically dedicated to analyzing the existing and newly added backlinks. The Semrush backlink analytics will inform you when new backlinks are added and when existing backlinks are deleted, with the specific date and time indicated.
The backlink analytics tool will also allow you to analyze the domains of the backlinks and help you decide how their authority would influence your domain. Moreover, you will also obtain the possibility to monitor your competitors’ backlink strategies with this tool.
Much like the Semrush solution, the Ahrefs backlink checker offers extensive functionality for analyzing your e-commerce website's backlink profile. It provides detailed information on each backlink, including the page rating, link type, and other essential characteristics.
This tool is a part of a complex SEO solution provided by Mangools. LinkMiner allows you to find the most powerful backlinks based on the link strength parameter. Therefore, you can select the best backlinks to boost your e-commerce website ranking.
This tool helps you find backlinks and allows you to analyze the shareability of your content on social media platforms. By identifying popular and engaging content, you can reach out to websites with similar content and request a link to your own.
Natural backlinks play a crucial role in the success of your e-commerce SEO efforts. By implementing a targeted and strategic backlink-building strategy, you can increase your brand's visibility, credibility, and, ultimately, your search engine rankings.
Remember to monitor and analyze your backlink profile consistently to ensure its quality and relevance. With time and effort, natural backlinks will continue to benefit your e-commerce sites overall online presence.
Need further advice or personalized strategies for your business? Searching for an e-commerce marketing agency? Connect with our team of SEO experts at BlueTuskr to discuss an e-commerce SEO service that's right for you.