How to Build High Authority Backlinks That Actually Increase Your Domain Authority

Introduction

There's a common adage in the SEO community: "content is king." While often expressed with a business-oriented focus, the underlying message is accurate: quality, relevant content is a powerful way to position a brand on the web.

In today's competitive SEO market, backlinks are the most valuable commodity in any SEO or content marketing strategy. The focus on high-level, high authority backlinks has been a cornerstone of successful SEO in the past. 

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But in a world where Google rewards relevance and freshness above all else, there has been a major shift in the importance of backlink building. In the last two years, building relevant content has become the most effective way to generate backlinks. This new strategy requires a mindset shift on the part of the content marketer.

What is a backlink?

Backlinks are a powerful SEO technique. A backlink is a way for a website to communicate to search engines that a web page is a good source of information for a specific keyword. 

If a web page has many links pointing to it from other web pages, search engines will assume that the webpage must be a good resource for that keyword. 

Are backlinks really important? 

Yes, backlinks are important, particularly for new websites. A high authority link can boost your search engine rankings and make it easier for people to find your site online. It is one of the most influential factors of search engine optimization.

There is no shortcut for earning high authority backlinks. It isn't as simple as using a tool and using the "link building" option. You can't buy backlinks or feel as though you can purchase high-authority backlinks. It starts by understanding how the algorithm works and how to build those backlinks organically. 

Top Strategies to build your authority

If you want backlinks that will attract buyers and potential customers, the only way is to understand how to build them yourself. To do so, follow these strategies,

1. Write shareable content

Content creation is the best strategy for creating backlinks. The problem is that 90% of blogs do not get any traffic. When your content gets no traffic, it simply means nobody is backlinking to it.

That is why 75% of content marketers say they generate content that is specifically designed to get backlinks. 

According to HubSpot's Irina Nica, the three best types of content to attract backlinks are,

1. Stories that are backed by original data
2. Ultimate guides to niche topics
3. Expert interviews and thought-leadership pieces

2. Build broken links

This is quite a sneaky strategy. This trick undercuts your competition, filling their outdated shoes. It is a relatively old-fashioned backlink strategy, but is still used by 53% of content marketers.

The idea is to find links within your industry that no longer work and create excellent replacement content to fill these broken resources. 

Ideally, you would target competitor websites to find broken links on their sites. To do this, use a broken backlinks checker tool like Brand24 or Ahrefs.

Once you find a broken link, run that URL through Ahrefs' backlink checker. The backlink checker will then show all the websites that backlink to the broken resource. Now, write an article that replaces the original link's content and contact all those backlinking websites via an automated SEO backlink outreach tool to offer your replacement.

For instance, assume that Milkshake's blog on cold email templates was a broken link, and you want to replace it with your own link.

You would run this URL through Ahrefs' Backlink Checker to get a list of backlinks. Then you would write a personalized email to each of these sites to warn them of the broken link and also suggest they replace it with your cold email templates blog link on how to write cold emails templates.

3. Write guest posts

Another popular backlink strategy is Guest posting. In fact, 75% of SEO experts build backlinks with guest posts. The guest posts not just help create backlinks, but also helps build your persona as a trusted authority on a niche subject.

Further, you get the chance to connect with a new audience and show them the value of your brand. And not just that, since content creation could be very time-consuming, it's often much easier to convince a website to add your backlink if you are offering content for free.

4. Listen for brand mentions.

If you listen over the internet for mentions of your brand or products, you may find any unlinked brand mentions and reach them to gain a backlink. It is a common strategy used by half of the marketers to chase brand mentions for backlinks. Also, it is pretty simple to do if you use the right tools. 

With tools like Buzzsumo and Ahrefs Content Explorer, you can search for your brand name and identify the mentions that come from third-party sources. 

If you are looking for a free tool, try Google Alerts. This will help track content published each day and alert you of any content that mentions particular key phrases like your brand name or products. Contact these sites directly to ask if they will link back to your site. 

5. Influencer outreach

By embracing influencers, you can build backlinks and market to a new target audience. Not just that, influencers also serve as social proof by endorsing your brand to followers. That is why 40% of marketers use influencer outreach as a strategy.

But do not think like you need celebrity-level influencers to help boost your backlinking strategy. In fact, influencers with a smaller following tend to get the highest engagement rates.

Just reach out to the relevant influencer in your niche and offer them gifts or commission in return for a backlink to their site or social media pages. 

6. Link exchanges

28% of SEO experts exchange links to bolster their backlink strategy. It is an excellent tit-for-tat tactic. You offer to scratch someone's back, and they will scratch yours in return.

This tactic is quite straightforward. Find a list of complementary sites that have a similar target audience to you but are not in direct competition.

For instance, say you are a software company that offers maturity assessments to consultants. You might find websites that cater to your niche of consultants that do not directly compete with you by offering complimentary services. Alternatively, you could exchange links with other SaaS or software companies different from yours. 

Connect with them directly and offer to backlink to their content in your blogs in return for backlinks to your site in theirs.

7. Gain an expert reputation through interviews.

Getting the name of your site out there is an excellent way to attract backlinks. As said, people want to connect to a website that satisfies Google's EAT algorithm. 

And interviews are the easiest way to gain such a reputation. So the more your name shows up on other websites and podcasts, the more people are likely to backlink to your web presence.

8. Use charts and infographics.

Infographics are the most popular way to convey information in the modern era. This is because the human brain processes visual data faster than text, making charts and graphs highly sharable. 

When you have an eye-catching and informational infographic, unleash it into the wild. Directories can be precious here. Just take some time to pitch your infographics to sources that do not have similar data on their website. 

9. Link internally.

Internal links are backlinks, too. So cross-promote and link your content throughout your site. This will have a good impact on UX and keep users on your website. But ensure the anchor texts and microcopy are relevant to user intent.

Tips - Skyrocket your backlink outreach process.

SmartWriter helps you create blog-specific backlink request messages. This tool lets you create personalized emails for your backlink outreach. The automated SEO backlink outreach helps grow your organic traffic, and you can rank #1 for your niche across Google.

Conclusion

In this guide, you have learned the importance of building high authority backlinks for blogging. SEO has evolved from an informal practice to a highly technical strategy. Backlinks from high authority sites are the #1 ranking factor for Google. Backlink API can be used to check whether a website collects only quality backlinks that pass page rank and social signals, as they are essential for a blog to grow in a competitive space. 

The idea of winning a link-building competition is a thing of the past. Instead, a blog owner must focus on building great backlinks in a smart, competitive way. If a business owner has a plan for this, they can win in the blogosphere.