How to increase website authority with links: tips, strategies, and mistakes

How do you make sure that your website is linked to? Is it worth buying them, and is it justified at all? How to get a link from a top media outlet for free? In this article, we will analyze all these questions. We will explain what external promotion is and give you a clear plan of action to build up your link mass.

Guide: what do the main terms mean

In order not to get confused in concepts, let’s quickly run through the key definitions:

• Link, backlink, URL is a hyperlink that leads to a specific site. In the context of link building, it provides a transition from one resource to another.
  
• Donor – a site that hosts a link to your web resource.
  
• Acceptor – your site where this link leads.
• Anchor (anchor text) is the text that can be clicked to follow the link. For example, “Read more” or “Buy sneakers.”
• Spammy links are low-quality links from unreliable sites. In fact, this is an attempt to artificially increase the number of links to the acceptor.
  
• Link profile is a set of all links to your site that affects its reputation in the eyes of search engines.

Link building: what is it and why is it needed

Link building is a set of strategies for promoting a website by building external links. Its main goal is to create a network of links that will increase the authority of your resource and bring more visitors. If your website is linked to by reputable sources, Google will perceive it as reliable and deserving of high rankings. This means more traffic and better conversions.

According to the marketing agency Editorial.Link, almost 48% of SEO specialists consider link building to be the most difficult but extremely important part of promotion. By the way, the previous sentence contains a link to the source of information, and this is a great example of competent link building: the site has created useful content and received a natural link that increases its ranking.

Why is it important? Search engines evaluate the quality of a website, in particular, by the number and quality of links to it. The logic is simple: if your resource has a lot of authoritative links, it looks more reliable and deserves higher search rankings.

But here’s the question: should you rely on natural link growth alone, or can you (and should you) help this process? Let’s take a closer look at it below.

How link building works: in simple words

Search engines evaluate websites using complex algorithms, taking into account their authority and relevance to queries. Links play a crucial role in this process. When one site links to another, it is a kind of recommendation. The more such “recommendations” a site receives, the higher its chances of getting good search rankings. But this is not the only success factor – high-quality internal optimization, useful content, and the right structure are also important. So do not consider link building a magical way of instant promotion.

Which links work better?

Not all links are equally useful. Imagine that your site is a house. There are two roads leading to it: a wide highway and an old path. If the link comes from a reputable website, it’s like a highway that brings a lot of traffic. But a backlink from a little-known or irrelevant resource is a narrow path that is unlikely to bring many people.

To evaluate the effectiveness of backlinks, there are several factors to consider:

• Reputation of the donor site. The more popular it is, the better. For example, thousands of authoritative resources link to Wikipedia, which makes it a reliable source.
  
• Theme of the donor site. A link from a fashion blog will be more useful for an online shoe store than from a fishing site.
  
• Anchor text. The words that accompany the link matter. The phrase “shoe store” is better than “click here,” but too many keyword links can look like spam.
  
• Content of the page to which the link leads. If a user clicks on the “buy shoes” anchor, he expects to go to the store, not to a general article about fashion.

Thus, the quality of links is more important than their quantity. It is better to have a few strong backlinks than many secondary and weak ones.

Inbound and outbound links

To make the site look natural in the eyes of search engines, it is important to have both inbound and outbound links:

• Inbound (backlinks) are those that lead to your site. They have the greatest impact on rankings.
  
• Outbound are links from your site to other resources. They show that your site is integrated into the information space. But it is important to link only to reliable and relevant sources.

Link building is not just link building, but a part of an overall SEO strategy that requires an integrated approach.

Types of links and their features

Links can be different, and if you learn to distinguish them correctly, it will help you better organize your link building strategy. Let’s take a look at the main types.

By anchor type

• Anchor links are those in which the anchor text contains a keyword or search query. For example, “buy coffee in Ternopil” or simply “coffee”. They give a clear idea to both users and search engines of what the link is about. One of the options for anchor links is branded URLs, where the anchor is the name of a company or product.
  
• Anchorless links are when general words are used as anchor text, such as “read more”, “here”, “follow the link”. It is very important that such a link is accompanied by high-quality content that explains where exactly the URL leads. For example: “How to choose the right coffee? Read on this page.”
• Image links are those where the URL is “embedded” in a picture. The user simply clicks on the image and is taken to another site or page.

By location

• In-content – these links are located directly in the text of articles, blogs, or other publications. They are most valuable because they bring relevant traffic – if someone clicked, it means they are really interested in the topic.
  
• In footer or sidebar are those URLs that are located at the bottom of the site (footer) or in the side column (sidebar). They are well indexed by search engines, but bring little traffic.
  
• User-generated content is all the links that appear in comments, reviews, posts on forums and social networks.

By rel attribute

• Dofollow – links that transfer the so-called “weight” to your site, helping it to rise in search results. By default, most URLs are just like this.
  
• Nofollow – do not transmit the “weight” of the acceptor site. They are most often used in comments and forums to prevent spam.

By method of receipt

• Natural are links that you receive without any agreements. For example, a journalist writes an article about the choice of coffee, finds interesting information from you, and links to your website. This method is ideal from the SEO point of view, but it works mostly for big brands.
  
• Published on demand – very similar to natural, but with the difference that they are posted after an agreement. For example, you gave a comment to a journalist and asked them to leave a link to your website. Or you agreed with the portal administrator on a mutual exchange of links.
  
• User-generated links are the same URLs in comments, reviews, or forums. They used to be very effective, but due to massive abuse (spam), search engines began to treat them with suspicion. If a hundred users suddenly start linking to your site in a short time, it may look unnatural.

All of these types of links have their own characteristics and affect SEO in different ways. An effective link building strategy is a balance between natural links, high-quality dofollow-URLs, and contextual mentions of your website.

Read also: How to work effectively with UBT traffic.

Link building methods: what works and what doesn’t

Natural backlinking is, of course, an ideal, but in reality, without active actions, few people get high-quality backlinks. Link building has remained almost unchanged from year to year, so the methods that worked before are still relevant today. In general, they can be divided into three categories: white, gray, and black, each of which has its own risks and effectiveness.

White link building methods: an honest way to the top

This approach is the most reliable, as it builds a long-term strategy without the risk of sanctions from search engines. The main idea is to create high-quality content that will attract attention and get links organically. Here’s how to do it:

• Guest posts. Write useful articles for thematic websites in exchange for a link. This is beneficial for both parties: the site receives content, you get a backlink.
  
• Link exchange with partners. For example, you can create a section called “Our Partners” and add URLs of the businesses you cooperate with.
  
• Self-distributed content. If you publish useful research, infographics, guides, or videos, people will share them themselves, and the media will use your materials as a source.
  
• Participation in events. Speeches at conferences, publications in specialized media, or even just being active in professional communities will help you get natural links.
  
• Outreach and Crowd Marketing. Get in touch with website owners and negotiate link placement. Also, participate in thematic discussions where you can leave your URL unobtrusively.

White hat methods take time, but their results are stable and safe.

But there is a nuance: Even “white” links are often bought. Many media outlets and popular websites openly sell space for publications, and the market of intermediaries in this area is quite active. But buying links should not be the only strategy.

Gray link building methods: the balance on the edge

Gray methods are a cross between honest link building and manipulation. They can have a quick effect, but also carry the risk of sanctions.

• Buying links through exchanges. You set a budget, the system selects websites, and they post your URL. But the algorithms of Google and other search engines are getting better at recognizing such schemes and can apply filters.
  
• Posting links in comments and forums. This can work if done well, as part of crowd marketing. For example, leave links in relevant threads on Quora or Reddit.

Gray methods can work, but it’s important not to overdo it, otherwise search engines will start penalizing them.

Black hat link building methods: the way to nowhere

Black hat methods are attempts to deceive search engines. Such schemes can still bring temporary results, but the risk of being banned is very high.

Here’s what you should do categorically not:

• Link farms are networks of sites that are created only for artificial link building. Search algorithms easily recognize these schemes and penalize all participants.
  
• Mass spam – automatic link generation using bots. This is a quick way to lose trust from search engines.
  
• Hidden links and cloaking – when users do not see the link, but search engines take it into account. This is one of the most risky methods, which is almost guaranteed to lead to a penalty.

If a website is sanctioned due to black hat methods, it can take months or even years to recover.

How to check the link profile of a website

To avoid problems and identify weaknesses in your link building strategy in time, you need to regularly review your link profile. You can do this with the help of special services such as Ahrefs or Google Search Console. But how do you know if your profile is okay?

Here are the key points:

• The bulk of links come from reputable and high-quality sites.
• The more unique donors (different domains), the better.
• Different types of anchors are used in an even ratio.
• The number of dofollow links prevails over nofollow links.
• Low Spam Score
• There are no sharp spikes in link growth – everything happens gradually.
• Most of the links come from sites of similar topics.
• Links have different formats and are placed in different parts of the pages.

Why is it important to track your link profile?

The main reason is to control the effectiveness of promotion. But there is another important point: if you monitor the situation closely, you can identify problems even before search engines start applying sanctions.

How link building is related to content marketing

Link building and content marketing are two parts of a single mechanism. They are closely interconnected and complement each other.

Content marketing is focused on creating useful, interesting, and valuable material. Link building helps this content attract more attention and expand its reach.

The task of the site owner is to create materials that:

• Solve the problems of the audience.
• Answer popular user requests.
• Contain unique and useful information.

If the content is really useful, other sites will start sharing it. For example, if you have conducted a study, collected unique data, and published it on your blog, specialized media or other bloggers can use this data in their articles and link to your source.

This is an example of “white” link building, when high-quality content itself becomes the reason for the emergence of natural links.

What content works best?

There is no single formula for successful content – it all depends on your topic and target audience. But there are proven options that often bring great results.

Usable articles

People love materials that help them solve problems: guides, checklists, real cases, life hacks. For example, if you write a detailed SEO guide for beginners, it will be eagerly shared on social media and blogs. This means additional links to your website and new visitors.

Research and analytics

If you have access to unique data, use it! This automatically increases your expertise and makes your content more valuable. For example, a report on the real estate market can be picked up by specialized media, bloggers, and analytical resources, which will bring a lot of mentions and links.

Infographics

Visual content is always in demand, especially when it makes complex information understandable. Good infographics often go viral on social media and are used in articles and presentations. To get the most out of it, add a link to your website in the image or its caption.

For example, Demand Metric created an infographic about content marketing that was shared by almost 10 thousand people. This is a great way to promote yourself for free.

Good content not only helps to get natural backlinks, but also simplifies active link building. It makes it easier to negotiate guest posts, collaborations with bloggers, and placement on authoritative websites.

Conclusions

Link building is the basis of successful SEO. It has a direct impact on your website’s search engine rankings and organic traffic. To make it work, act correctly:

• analyze the niche and competitors,
• look for quality platforms for placement,
• experiment with content formats,
• monitor analytics and adjust your strategy.

Avoid “black” and “gray” promotion schemes – they can harm more than help. Yes, link building takes time and patience, but the right approach gives long-term results.