SEO is links, and links are SEO.
– Aaron Wall
If you want more search engine traffic, you need links. You can do keyword research for every post. You can tweak keyword density just right. You can optimize title tags. But if don’t get links, you won’t get search traffic.
Search engine algorithms are weighted heavily towards links. If you get a lot of links, if you get links from trusted sites, you’ll score top 10 Google rankings. It’s that simple.
How To Write Content That Attracts Links
So, how can we get more links? There are many principles to good link building. But today, let’s look at the foundation of blogging: content.
Content is king.
Write good content.
All you have is content.
We’ve heard it all before, but how do do you apply these statements practically? Here are some things you can do so your content will be a link magnet.
Rule #1: You don’t decide what is link worthy. Other webmasters do.
This is probably the most important principle to link building. Just because you think your content is deserving of links doesn’t mean other webmasters will agree with you.
Don’t think too much about what you like. Instead, find out what the linking audience, or the Linkerati, likes. Figure out what kind of content they would link to. Go to their sites and examine at their outbound links. Try to understand why they link to certain pages and sites. Take your time. You want to have a really good idea of what’s considered linkworthy in your niche. Once you have a good idea, write some linkworthy content and then promote it to the Linkerati in a non-spammy way.
Anything to do with popular news can attract links. The Linkerati likes to link to what everyone else is talking about. Keep up with the popular news in your niche and see if you can create something that relates to it. Also, you increase your chances of getting links by having a unique viewpoint.
For example, I write for a blog in the make money online niche. A couple days ago, the big thing in the niche was the launch of BlogRush, a free traffic generating product. Everyone was talking about it. I jumped in the conversation with this post, 5 Ways To Increase BlogRush Traffic, and got a couple links without doing any marketing.
Warning: Sometimes what the Linkerati likes may be different from what your readership likes. This is the balancing act many bloggers will have to face if they want to do serious link building. In many niches, the Linkerati comprise of only a small part of the total niche audience. With this in mind, don’t alienate your audience. Write content that will attract links, but don’t overdo it if it’s not appropriate for your niche.
Let’s look a common example. One of the best ways to get a ton of quality links is to hit the Digg front page. The Digg audience is a big audience. And much of this audience is part of the Linkerati. These online users own blogs and participate in forums. Also, the Digg front page is watched by journalists with websites. So, a front page Digg article can get you a lot of links. But don’t neglect your readership for the sake of links. Continue to write for your readers.
If you’re always writing for Digg, you may lose your audience. My general rule with general social media sites like Digg is to write for them 20%-30% of the time. These numbers depend a lot on the niche you’re in. The more your niche relates to the Digg audience, the more you can write for Digg without alienating your audience.
If you have a wedding blog, you can’t write for Digg very often. If you have a video game blog, you can write for Digg with every post. (Quick note: If you’re in a niche that Digg likes, try not to hit the front page more than twice a month. Anymore than that and you could be labeled a spammer and Diggers will bury your content.)
Consistently take risks. Don’t get into a rut. Create totally unique content that’s not in your niche. Cover important areas of your niche that don’t get enough coverage. Oftentimes, by being unique, the Linkerati will reward you.
Feedback
What other tips do you have for creating content that attracts links?
5 thoughts on “Are You Writing Content That Attract Links?”
I regret not finding this article earlier, thank you so much for writing it! So much useful information and so many precious links at once.. I hope to digest it asap and start promoting my blog in the “wise” way.This article describes very well the way to use titles and meta description tags, a good way to improve the visibility of a website in search engines.
If you want more search engine traffic, you need links. You can do keyword research for every post. You can tweak keyword density just right. You can optimize title tags. But if don’t get links, you won’t get search traffic.
Search engine algorithms are weighted heavily towards links. If you get a lot of links, if you get links from trusted sites, you’ll score top 10 Google rankings. It’s that simple.
I’ve been searching for a blog resource to help me rapidly grow my new golf blog and I just found it right here! Seriously! This site is the BEST I’ve come across for taking me to the next level. And I might add I’m not a newbie. Have been online for 7 years with my golf sites, but this new blog I’m hoping to truly connect with my current and future customers. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated, but I think for now I have my hands full reading all the great content on this site.
shoemoney is the exception, not the rule
The problem is, even if your content is very good it’s not necessarily going to attract links. A lot of my readers are casual internet surfers who don’t have blogs or websites of their own, so even if they absolutely loved a post I wrote, it’s just not going to translate into links. Look at John Chow, much of his content is well thought out, but his blog only became as popular as it did by writing link bait type articles that detracted from his usual theme.
I should also note that good writing doesn’t always equal good content. Look at Shoemoney, who has one of the biggest money making blogs on the Internet, and yet the man writes like crap. BUT, because he provides information that people want, his grammatical missteps are overlooked. 🙂
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