If you're a new website developer or are a blogger that wants to help improve your rankings on Google, there's no better way to do so than with the help of link building and link prospecting. However, not many people understand the importance of building a new website using link prospecting. This article will tell you all about how to begin link prospecting and why you need it to improve your search rankings on Google. Read on below to find out more!
What is Link Building Prospecting?
Link prospecting is the act of seeking out websites or pages where you can input links to your blog. Another industry term for this is blogger outreach. Link prospecting involves scoping out the best websites to put your links, as well as developing pitches to help convince these websites that sharing your blog post on their website is beneficial for them.
Link Prospecting for Beginners
To understand link prospecting and how to do link prospecting, you first have to understand the concept of link building and why it matters.
When you search for something online, such as "Best Coffee Alternatives," you might receive a number of different options at the top of the SERP, or results page. Chances are, these pages have been linked by other pages, allowing them to be viewed as authoritative by the Google algorithm.
Think of it like a research paper. If you have a research paper published, and other scientists use that information to help them in their research, then your research is seen as more reliable. The same can be said of blog posts that other websites link to through hyperlinks.
Link Prospecting Tips
It isn't enough to ask a website to link back to your webpage. For instance, if you get a guest post a webpage with little traffic or one that is not seen as trustworthy links back to your account, this can harm your results ranking instead of helping it. To avoid this, consider the following link prospecting tips below when searching for a new website.
- Check their traffic. It's best to choose a website that has a good following before reaching out to them for link prospecting. The more traffic a website has, the more likely it is that followers are going to click on your webpage and give you your own site traffic.
- Relevance. If a website isn't relevant to what you're posting, chances are there will be no natural way to incorporate your links into their webpage. For instance, if you're selling products such as stationery equipment, this might not fit well with a winery website. Find a webpage that is relevant to your own, but not a direct competitor!
- Check the backlinks of competitors. Are there any links coming from that website that are doing well in keyword rankings? What is the difference between your web page and the pages of your competitors that get links from these pages? By understanding your competitors, it's easier to mold yourself into becoming a page deemed worthy of being linked to on this authoritative site.
- Build a list. While you might have your heart set on a specific web page, the entire process of link prospecting relies on having different options. It's best to build a list of webpages you want to market yourself, instead of having a single web page that will link to you. For instance, if you're selling music equipment and have your heart set on being linked out of Fender guitar's website, check out other music sites as well.
- Tailor a specific outreach message. Once you identify the pages you want to target, write them an email and ask them to feature your story or blog post. You can mention the benefits, such as authoritative research done on your behalf, or agree on a continued partnership. Always make sure to tailor your message for the specific web page, since a template of a message can lose meaning and will be regarded as spam.
Benefits of a Link Prospecting Tool
It can be tough to find the best link prospecting tools considering the process of link prospecting is usually done manually. You'll need to do keyword research for relevant keywords to your niche on your own, and examine any competitors that might be linked to those high-ranking results. For instance, if you have a page dedicated to treatment for PTSD, you might research key words such as "Anxiety treatment" or "Rehab" and then see which backlinks are connected to high-ranking pages.
There aren’t many free link prospecting tools available. Fortunately, there are many paid link prospecting tools out there to help you complete your research. AHREFS is one of the most well-used and trusted tools. They make the hard work easy and provide you with link prospecting techniques that help you get information on your competitors, new backlinks on the webpage you're aiming to be sponsored on, and keyword rankings too. Working with a link building company is another way to bypass the need for a link prospecting tool.
By using a link prospecting tool, it's easier to get link prospecting results, and also build a list to get your blog up and running.
Written by Vazoola