Five Ways To Create Link Worthy Content
Most link building conversations revolve around how many links will be acquired and from what sites. But in 2020 I believe that the better question to ask is
For years, link building companies were never concerned about the quality of the page they were trying to get a link to. Instead of quality go link acquired, it was about quantity of backlinks, mainly acquired through an automated process.
Types of link building tactics that no longer work include generic directories and SEO directories. Article links, especially article blasts where you can push an article in and there’s no editorial review. Guest content, depending on the editorial practices. Press releases, Google you saw penalized links coming from press release websites.
Comment links, for obvious reasons, reciprocal link pages, those got penalized many years ago. Article spinners. Private link networks. You see private and network, or you see network, you should just generally run away. Private blog networks. Paid link networks. Fiverr or forum link buys.
In a recent Whiteboard Friday Rand Fishkin identifies three targeted link building tactics that he believes still work. They are:
- One-to-one outreach
- One-to-one outreach
- Paid Amplification
For two of the three tactics the quality of the content plays a critical role in the success of the link building program.
The only channel where you can get away with a website that has generic product descriptions, photos, and low quality writing is paid amplification. Or in other words. Paid advertising.
So before hiring a link builder take a look at your existing content and ask yourself “is this content link worthy?” If the answer is no, then your first step should be to hire someone to develop that sort of content.
5 Ways To Create Link-Worthy Content
1. Create Evergreen Content
News content has a short shelf life. You might be better of focusing on topics that are more evergreen.
Think of evergreen content as a resource that remains useful and relevant long after it’s published. It rarely changes and is always in-demand from your audience (and searchers).
This could be:
- Guides
- Ebooks
- How-to-posts
- Lists
- Explainers
- Checklists
2. Start a Podcast
There has been a resurgence in Podcasting over the last 18 months. While it seems that everyone has a podcast, there are only 500,000 podcasts on Spotify globally, meaning that is still time for you to build a brand via podcasting
A podcast will naturally attract links because every time you interview a guest, they will likely link to your page. Plus, you’ll attract links from other industry sites and blogs if your podcast earns a great reputation.
3. Create a Resource Center
In addition to publishing and promoting your content, you have to organize it in a way that will make sense for your audience as well as new visitors. A content resource center might be the perfect solution for you.
Creating guides, case studies, webinars, whitepapers, and checklists is a lot of work. Some people would rather just link to your resource center rather than invest the time and budget creating their own.
4. Expert Roundup
Similar to podcasts, expert roundups are a great way to get links from well-known people in your industry. For example, the Content Marketing Institute’s 50 Best Social Media Tools From 50 Most Influential Marketers Online is a great example of a link-worthy (851 backlinks!) article.
The post features a squad of well-known marketers, using quotes from the marketers.
Why?
Instead of the author having to gather all the content himself, he used quotes from these thought-leaders to generate buzz with their name. Naturally, these marketers will share and link back to this article.
5. Add Visual Content
Research has shown that presentations that are accompanied by visual aids have been proven 43 percent more effective. And that of the information that is processed by the brain, 90 percent of it is visual! </p>
Therefore, it not only makes sense, but it’s vital for you to use content that generates a form of intuitive mental and emotional resonance with your target audience.
Six types of visual content that you can add that will make it more link-worthy are:
- Compelling Images
- Screenshots
- Memes
- Infographics
- Slides & Presentations
- Video Content
When properly executed, visual content also gets you more links and your readers will share it more among their peers, which is basically free advertisement for you!
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