Posts in category: Content SEO

In search engine optimization (SEO), link building is crucial for improving your website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). 

Search engines like Google use backlinks as a vote of support, especially if it is from trusted and authoritative sources. Link building is about getting backlinks from these types of websites. Think of it as trusted sites recommending your website to others. 

This blog post will explore the best strategies for successful link building, including helpful tools. By following these strategies and using these tools, you can create a solid and sustainable link building strategy that will improve your website’s visibility and build authority. 

What is link building? 

Link building is the process of increasing the number of links (backlinks) pointing to your website from other sites. 

Link building aims to increase a website’s SEO strength or domain authority. Several studies on SEO have discovered that high domain authority is one of Google’s highest-ranking factors. 

This doesn’t mean you can’t rank for specific keywords if you have a website with low domain authority.

However, Google counts a backlink to a web page as a vote of support, which signals that your page is trustworthy.

The anatomy of a link

A good link has the following attributes:

1. Start of link tag

The beginning of a link tag is denoted by the “a” tag. 

This tag tells the browser that a link is about to begin and should be clickable. The “a” stands for anchor, which is what links are often referred to as.

2. Link referral location

The next part of the link is the referral location. 

This is where the link will take the user when they click on it. The “href” attribute within the start tag denotes the referral location. 

For example, when clicked, <a href=”https://www.example.com”> would take the user to the website at https://www.example.com.

3. Visible/anchor text of link

The visible or anchor text of a link is what the user sees and clicks on. 

This text is usually underlined and has a different color or appearance than regular text to indicate that it’s clickable. 

The anchor text is placed between the start and closure of the link tag. For example, <a href=”https://www.example.com”>Click Here</a> would display “Click Here” as the anchor text.

4. Closure of link tag 

The closure of a link tag is denoted by “</a>”. 

It tells the browser that the link has ended and that any text after it should return to standard formatting. 

It is essential to close your link tag properly; otherwise, it can cause issues with your website’s layout and functionality.

Why is link building important?

Link building is considered one of the most important aspects of any SEO strategy because it can: 

i. Improves website ranking

Link building is crucial for improving your website’s ranking on search engines like Google. 

When other high-quality niche websites link to yours, it signals to search engines that your website is valuable and trustworthy in your niche, which, in turn, can improve your website’s authority and boost its rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).

ii. Boosts your credibility

Link building can help to boost your website’s credibility and reputation. 

When other reputable websites link to your website, it is a vote of confidence that shows you are a trusted source of information in your industry or niche. 

This can build trust and authority with your target audience and increase their confidence in your brand.

iii. Helps Google crawler to find your page 

Link building also helps search engine crawlers find your page more easily. 

When you get backlinks from other websites, it creates a web of links that search engine crawlers can easily follow to find your page, which can help improve your website’s visibility on search engines.

iv. Increases website traffic 

Link building can also help increase website traffic because backlinks, especially those with the ‘follow’ tag, can drive referral traffic and SEO strength from referring websites to yours. 

Link building also helps to increase the number of visitors to your website and improve its overall performance.

How to build links to your websites

There are different ways you can build links to your website; they are:

i. Asking for links

Asking for links means directly contacting website owners and asking them to link back to your site or a particular blog post. Most of the link building strategies I will discuss are under this category. 

Here are a few examples: broken link building, skyscraper technique, outreach approach, etc. 

ii. Earning links

This type of link building is where you get links without asking for them. 

You can earn links when you create high-quality, valuable content that others in your niche need to link to (linkable assets).

People will link to these assets without you asking because they are valuable and relevant to your niche.

iii. Adding links

You can also build links by adding them to sites such as a business directory, social media profile, or niche forum and community. These links have low votes of confidence because it is effortless to set up.

It means they might not make much of a difference, but as I would always say, there is never ‘too much’ regarding SEO.

iv. Buying links

This method involves using money to buy backlinks. I do not recommend this link building method because it is against Google’s policies, and you can get your website penalized for it. 

What makes a good backlink?

Link building is not just about getting any website to link to your site; it involves several other factors.

For instance, if you have 100 different backlinks, Google may only identify about five or fewer from those backlinks.

Here are the attributes that make a good backlink:

i. Authority

The domain authority of the referring website is crucial when it comes to link building. Getting a backlink from a site with high domain authority and being recognized as an expert site is of more excellent value and more beneficial to you than a site with low domain authority.

ii. Relevance

The site linking to you must be relevant to your niche/industry. For example, if you are a health blogger, getting a handful of backlinks from another health website is better than getting hundreds of backlinks from an SEO website.

iii. Anchor text

Anchor text is the clickable text used to link one page to another. According to Google, your anchor text should give context to the link. 

This is another crucial aspect of a link to note because the relevance of your anchor text to the linked page determines the validity of your link.

If you are linking to a page about energy drinks, your anchor text should be ‘energy drinks’ or similar and not something like ‘chip cookies’ or ‘this blog post.’

iv. Placement 

The position of your link on the page is also vital. 

According to Google Patent, the position of your link and the likelihood of it being clicked may affect the authority being passed to the page. 

This means the links in your content’s body or at the beginning of a page will carry more weight than a link at the bottom. 

v. Nofollow vs. follow attribute

“Nofollow” is a link attribute that tells Google you are not passing the SEO authority of your page to the linked page, while the “Follow” link attribute implies you are willing to pass on the SEO strength of your page to the linked page. 

Two other attributes website owners can use:

• rel=“sponsored” should be used when the link is a sponsored post, advertisement, or if there is any form of compensation involved. 
• rel=“ugc” should be used when the link is user-generated content like comments and forum posts.

vi. Destination/landing page

It’s not enough that you have a good link in the best position; you also have to ensure that the destination of your link is optimized for search engines and great user experience.

Your landing page could be your homepage or a specific page you want to rank on Google. Your landing page could also be your linkable asset. A compelling CTA is one thing you must have on your landing page.

Best link building strategies for SEO

Here are some of the best link building strategies you will see:

1. Create quality linkable content.

There is a relationship between quality content and backlinks. Getting people to link to valuable content is much easier than fluffy content with no depth. Good content is always king. 

I know you want to improve your link strategy and get hundreds of backlinks to your website, but first, try creating quality linkable content valuable to your audience and niche professionals like you. 

One of the best hacks for creating quality linkable content is creating content for your fellow professionals.

Suppose you are in the blogging industry. In that case, you should create content for aspiring bloggers and blogging experts because even though you want to share valuable information, they do not have the resources to link to you.

The most they can do for you is share your link on social media. However, blogging experts like you will have their blogs; with this, they can easily link to you.

Here are four types of content that are highly linkable:

i. Visual assets

Visual assets are visual representations of a concept. Examples are infographics, charts, images, and diagrams. Including images in your blog posts has always been an effective SEO strategy. 

When you create infographics or charts, it becomes easy for other bloggers to link to you whenever they discuss that topic because you have tried to simplify it. 

ii. Listicles

Listicles, also known as list posts, are blog posts written in a list format, and they can vary from tips to methods, tools, checklists, trends, etc. 

The main reason listicles work is that they are bite-sized, easy to digest, and highly shareable. 

iii. Original research/data

Original research/data is blog content that shows new data from original industry studies and surveys. This data helps bloggers back up their points so that when someone cites your research in their blog post, they will link back to you. 

iv. In-depth ultimate guides

This content is the go-to format for long-form content. It covers a topic extensively, and it is no surprise that these types of content are highly linkable. 

When creating guides, it is important to ensure all the information is correct and include many internal and external links to enhance your points.

2. Analyze competitor’s sites/links.

This link building strategy is about analyzing the backlink profile of your competitors to check the sites that are linking back to them and develop strategies to replicate them. 

Here are the steps to analyze your competitor’s backlink profile:

i. Identify your competitors:

Who are the websites that are ranking for the same keywords as you? You can use Ahrefs or SEMrush to find your top competitors.

ii. Analyze their backlink profiles:

Use a backlink analysis tool to see which websites link to your competitors. 

When analyzing their backlink profiles, here are some things you need to pay attention to:

• The number of backlinks they have
• The quality of the backlinks (Look for backlinks from high-authority websites. These websites will positively impact your domain authority.)
• The relevance of the backlinks (are they linking to pages similar to yours?)

iii. Find opportunities to replicate their backlinks:

Look for ways to get backlinks from the websites linking to your competitors. It could involve guest posting, creating infographics, or participating in link roundups.

It is important to understand that building backlinks takes time and effort. Don’t expect to see results overnight. Just keep working at it, and you’ll eventually start to see your rankings improve.

3. Become a source.

Journalists, bloggers, and writers are looking for information sources daily. You can become a source by using platforms like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and get quality backlinks for your site. 

HARO is a platform that connects journalists and bloggers with sources that can provide valuable insights on various topics. 

Big media companies like The New York Times, TIME, REFINERY29, Chicago Tribune, Mashable, and others use this service, so getting featured in one of them is possible. 

How to sign up on HARO:

a. Sign up for HARO as a source:

You will need to provide some basic information about yourself and your expertise. You will get a confirmation email after signing into your account.

b. Sign in on the platform:

Sign in and click on “My Account.” And choose the type of email you want to receive under “HARO PREFERENCES.” You will be automatically subscribed to Master HARO, which includes every industry, but you can select a specific industry instead. 

c. Be on the lookout for requests that match your expertise:

You will receive daily emails with requests from journalists and bloggers looking for sources on various topics. If you find one that interests you, you can click to learn more about the request, the media outlet, and the deadline. 

d. When you find a request that matches your expertise:

Respond to it with valuable insights and information. Look for the request that allows you to include your name, your website link, and any relevant credentials or experience.

The game plan is to respond to as many as possible to increase the chances of getting featured. Ensure you give answers that are valuable and let you stand out.

Here are other platforms you can use to become a source aside from HARO:

• Help a B2B Writer
• SourceBottle
• Qwoted 

4. Skyscraper technique.

The skyscraper technique is a powerful link building strategy developed by Brian Dean that can help you build high-quality backlinks to your website. 

This technique involves creating high-quality content that is better than any other content on the web on a particular topic and then reaching out to site owners or authors who have linked to similar content in the past and asking them to link to yours instead. 

The main focus of this strategy is to create content that outperforms other content in your space.

Here’s a breakdown of the Skyscraper Technique:

i. Find proven linkable content.

The foundation of this technique is high-quality linkable content that would get you backlinks. The first step is to find linkable content.

Your content will range from listicles to comparison posts, industry surveys, roundup posts, and guides.

These types of content do well because they are extensive and relevant and allow room for constant updating. 

Once you have identified the content you can improve on, the next step is to create your outline.

You can use tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush to find popular content in your niche that has received a lot of backlinks.

ii. Create better content.

The next step is to create your skyscraper content. 

This content has to be better than what already exists on the web. This means creating longer, more detailed, and more valuable content for the reader. You can also add visual elements like infographics, images, or videos to make your content more engaging.

Here are tips for improving the content so you can outshine your competitors:

• Make the content more detailed and longer:

Exhaustively cover the topic, add more than was in the original content, and add unique insights. If they had listed 20 items, make it like 50 or more. You want your content to stand out.

• Include optimized, original images:

You can design some text quotes and images. You can also create infographics to simplify concepts. 

• Structure the post in a way that is easy to digest and navigate. Make the user experience pleasant. 
• Make it up to date.

READ MORE: HOW TO DO IMAGE SEO OPTIMIZATION | THE COMPLETE GUIDE

iii. Promote your content.

Reach out to websites that have linked to similar content in the past and ask them to link to yours instead. 

Export the list of links you got from researching your competitors, remove the ones that are not relevant, and email the remaining prospect. 

Email Sample Template for the Skyscraper Technique

Subject: OUTDATED CONTENT ON YOUR WEBSITE

Hello [name],

I was searching for blog posts on [topic] and came across one of your posts: [insert URL]. 

Your post was intriguing, and I loved how you [talk about something amazing in the blog post]. However, I noticed you linked to this post [insert URL], and on going through it, I discovered that some parts of the content in the post are outdated.

Coincidentally, I just wrote a similar article covering the recent industry updates. How about linking to it instead? Here is a link to the post [INSERT LINK].

Please read through it and let me know what you think.

I am hoping to hear from you soon.

Best Regards.

Name,

Brand,

Position.

5. Resource page building.

A resource page is a page that curates ​​helpful resources, tools, apps, products, services, media, or websites that your audience may find helpful. 

It is a one-stop shop for finding information on a particular topic. 

Resource link building is where you get backlinks from a resource page. 

Since they are already linking to other sites, if you have an excellent resource useful to their target audience, you can reach out to them to include it. 

Some resource sites have a section asking for suggestions for resources so you can easily reach out to them.

How to build links from resource pages

i. Use existing resource pages in your niche.

The easiest method is to use Google Search to discover resource pages in your niche. 

Here are the best search queries you can use to find resource pages via Google:

• [your niche] + “resources”
• inurl: [niche] + resources
• [niche] + “resources”

Open a spreadsheet and include the results of your research. Then, you can filter through the results and contact the best websites.

ii. Create original resource pages.

This technique involves creating a valuable resource on your website that other websites in your niche will want to link to. 

Here are the steps to create original resource pages for your niche:

• Identify a resource topic.

The first step in the resource link building strategy is to identify a topic relevant to your niche and that people are searching for. 

You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs to find popular topics in your niche.

• Create a valuable resource.

The next step is to create a valuable resource for your audience. 

This could be a comprehensive guide, a list of tools, or a tutorial that solves a problem for your audience. Your resource should be well-researched, informative, and engaging.

• Promote your resource.

Once you have created your resource, it’s time to promote it. You can contact websites in your niche and ask them to link to your resource. You can also share your resource on social media platforms and other online communities to increase its visibility.

6. Create roundup posts.

Roundup posts are posts that collate experts’ insights on a topic. The decided topic could be a controversial concept or commonly asked questions in your niche. 

In this link building strategy, you will bring experts together to contribute to your post. The whole idea of this strategy is to create an epic roundup of opinions, views, and reviews from industry experts.

Trust me; you don’t need to be told that these experts will also share the link with their audience because they want to promote their opinions even more than you do. 

How to create an epic roundup post

Here is a breakdown of how you can create your roundup posts:

i. Choose a topic.

Choose an interesting topic relevant to your niche and conduct proper keyword and topic research. 

You want to pick a topic that allows your post to stand out. The most common types of roundups are new year trends and predictions, so you want to do better than that. 

ii. Research the questions.

Research the questions you will ask the experts. You can check Google to see questions people ask about your chosen topic. You can also check places like Quora, Reddit, and other forums. 

Also, if you have an active social media platform, you can take a poll on the questions your audience would want answered. 

Make a list of burning questions in your niche and choose from it.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing the questions:

• Choose an area of question that is yet to be answered. If you want your roundups to stand out, you want to do something different and unique. 
• You want to ask questions that will allow people to give different answers. The beauty of a roundup post is that you can get different opinions from experts.
• Avoid asking too many questions. Focus on one or two primary questions and only ask supplementary questions directly connected to your primary question.

Ensure the questions are at most 3-4 to avoid lengthy posts. 

iii. Choose the right experts to include in your roundup.

This step can make or break your roundup post. You need the right experts to make it epic. Take some time to research people who can be a good fit.

You can start by reaching out to people within your network. You can post about it on social media and have people recommend experts. You can also check out podcasts or interview sites in your niche to find experts.

Here are a few things to consider when choosing the experts:

• Can they give sound and valuable insight on the topic? You want people who will contribute valuable insight to the post to make it epic.

• Are they popular? You want to have experts who are known in your niche on your roundup. This will make the post more credible and trustworthy. 

• How long have they been in the industry? You want advice from experts who have significant experience in the industry.

• Will they be willing to contribute to the post? Research the experts to see if they have contributed to a roundup post before, have been a speaker at a summit, or have collaborated on social media. This will help you decide if they will be willing to be part of something like this. 

• Will they be willing to share the post? You want to have a handful of people willing to share the post when it is published. So, look for experts who create content and share their ideas on social media.

• What is the size of their audience? You want to choose experts with different audience sizes to tap into a vast audience pool when the post is published.

When you finish your research, create a list of experts you will contact. The rule of thumb is to double the amount of people you want on your roundup because you might get some rejection. 

For example, if you want 30 experts, you should reach out to 60 people to reach your original target, even if some reject you.

If you get a lot of acceptance, you can split the posts and create two roundup posts instead of one.

iv. Build rapport and contact the experts. 

Now that you have created a list of experts you want on your roundup, it is time to build relationships and rapport with them before reaching out. This will increase the chances of them saying yes to your request. 

Here are some things you can do to build a rapport with them:

• Follow them on social media.
• Like and leave insightful comments on their posts.
• Watch and respond to their stories.
• Share their posts and tag them.
• Subscribe to their newsletters.
• Listen to their podcasts if they have one. 

Be genuine in building the relationship. Start building rapport with the experts beforehand (2-3 months prior) before sending the email.

Here is an email template you can use. Ensure to edit and personalize it. 

Email Sample Template One for Roundup Post Collaboration

SUBJECT: INVITATION TO COLLABORATE IN AN EPIC ROUNDUP POST ON [NICHE/KEYWORD]

Hello [First name]

My name is [insert name], and I am a [niche expert].

I have been following your space for a while and have learned valuable insights into this industry.

I am writing an expert roundup post on [insert topic] for my website [insert site]. Knowing your knowledge of this field, I would love to include your insight with a “dofollow” link to your site. 

My website currently has [number of monthly site visits], and I have a Facebook community and a [X number] Instagram following. It would be an honor to share your expert opinion with my audience.

Here are some questions I need your insight on:

[insert the questions]

Please let me know if you would be interested in this collaboration before the end of the month. My audience and I would love to hear from you.

Best regards.

[Your first name]

Company,

Position.

Email Sample Template Two for Roundup Post Collaboration

SUBJECT: INVITATION TO WRITE AN EXPERT ROUNDUP POST ON [NICHE/KEYWORD]

Hello [First name]

I have been a big fan of your SEO and content marketing work. Your content was beneficial when I started my journey, and I am so grateful for that. [build rapport]

I am writing an expert roundup post on [insert the topic] for [insert the site]. I would love to include your expert insight on this post. 

I got a positive response from [mention some big names in your list who are likely or have agreed to collaborate with you], and they have contributed immensely. However, having you on board will be an icing on the cake.

Here are some questions I need your insight on:

[insert questions]

Thank you for considering it. I look forward to your positive response before the end of the month.

Best regards.

[Your first name],

Company,

Position.

Here are some points to note when writing the invites:

• Personalize the email. 
• Build rapport by telling them something you appreciate about their content/brand. 
• Tell them the purpose of the email. 
• Tell them why you want them on the roundup post, and name a few experts who have said yes. This part is the social proof. 
• Ask the question. 
• Include a deadline. 
• Appreciate them in advance. 

If you don’t get a reply, you can send a follow-up mail after 2-3 days. People are busy and sometimes forget, so it is important to follow up before you give up on that person. 

v. Create your epic roundup. 

After collating these experts’ responses, it is time to combine them. 

Here are some tips to make your roundup impressive: 

• Choose a captivating headline:

Use a headline that will make the blog post enticing for readers.

• Write a good hook:

Use the right hook to reel them in so they can read the roundup. 

• Include your insight:

Adding your insight to the post is non-negotiable.

• Include engaging images:

You can design some text quotes and also include pictures of each expert. Images make it easier to consume and share content.

• Include tweetable quotes:

Create snippets of each expert’s opinion that can be shared on Twitter. Do not forget to include the author’s username so they will be notified when people share it. 

• Create a short bio for the experts:

Include headshots of the experts and their website links to make it easier for readers to check them out.

vi. Publish the roundup post. 

Publish and share the roundup post on social media, tagging the experts. You should also send an email to let them know that the post is live. Ensure to thank them for their participation.

Include the link to the post in the email so it will be easier for them to share with their audience. 

vii. Promote your roundup post.

Now that your post is live, it is time to promote it heavily so you can gain traction and backlinks. Send a newsletter to your email list letting them know about the post.

Create some captivating social media posts to promote your roundup. Share the images and snippets you created on your social media platforms.

7. Broken link building.

Broken link building is a strategy that involves manually or automatically looking for broken links on other websites in your niche, reaching out, and suggesting that the broken link be replaced with yours. 

The goal is to provide value to website owners in your niche while also getting backlinks to your website.

Even if they have a better alternative to reply to the broken link because they are already ‘indebted’ to you, you can get links from them in the future.

Here is a breakdown of the broken link building strategy:

i. Find broken links.

You can use various tools to look for broken links on websites, including Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz. With these tools, you can easily find broken links by inputting the website’s URL or page. 

Once you’ve identified a broken link, take note of the page’s URL and the anchor text used because you will have to reference them in your email.

ii. Create relevant content.

The next step is to create relevant content that can replace the broken link. You can email the link if you have existing content that can be a replacement.

However, ensure the content is top-quality and updated. You also want the content relevant to the website where the broken link was found.

iii. Reach out to website owners.

Once your content is ready, it’s time to contact website owners. You can do this by sending an email. Explain the process for discovering the broken link in your email and offer a replacement.

Email Sample Template for Broken Link Replacement

SUBJECT: Broken link on your website

Dear [First Name],

My name is [your name], and I own [your website]. I’m writing to you because I noticed a broken link on your website. The link is located at [URL of the broken link] with the anchor text [insert text].

My blog post on [topic], [URL of the page], would be a suitable replacement for the broken link. This post was written [date published] and is up-to-date with the newest trends on [this topic].

This arrangement would be mutually beneficial because it would improve your website’s user experience and help promote my website.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

iv. Repeat the process.

Repeat this process often to get a concise list of other websites in your niche that can link to you.

8. Find unlinked brand mentions.

Sometimes, people might mention your brand without linking to you. It happens, and what you do with this link building strategy is to look for these brand mentions and request the writer to add your link to it.

You can use a tool like Prowly’s Brand Monitoring to find unlinked brand mentions. It allows you to keep track of your brand across different platforms.

When you find these unlinked brand mentions, you only need to contact the writer and request that the mention be linked with the appropriate link.

Here is an email template to reach out to a website owner about a mention of your brand that wasn’t linked and request that it be linked with an appropriate link:

Email Sample Template for Unlinked Brand Mention

Subject: Unlinked mention of [your brand]

Dear [website owner name],

My name is [your name], and I own [your brand]. I’m writing to you because I noticed your website mentioned [your brand] at [URL of the unlinked mention].

I’m glad you know my brand, but I would appreciate it if you could add a link to my website at [URL of the page you want linked] to the mention. This would help your users to access the site if they’re going to, and it would also help to promote my brand.

Linking to my website would be a mutually beneficial arrangement. It would help your users to learn more about my brand, and it would also help to improve the search engine ranking of your website.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

9. Direct outreach. 

This powerful link building strategy involves contacting other website owners and asking them to link back to your website. You can do this via email, social media DMs, and other communication channels.

When reaching out, it is crucial to research and find websites that are relevant to your niche and have a good reputation. You can also find out how frequently the site does collaborations and guest posts to know if they will be willing to engage with your site.

Also, personalize your outreach emails and offer something of value in return for the link.

Here is a breakdown of the direct outreach strategy:

• Find websites that are relevant to your niche.

You need to know the potential websites that will likely give you a ‘follow’ link and a ‘nofollow link.’ 

You can use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to run competitive or backlink analyses to find websites linking to your competitors. You can also use Google Search operators to find websites relevant to your niche.

• Create a list of websites.

Once you have found websites relevant to your niche, create a concise list of the ones you want to contact. You can create a spreadsheet to keep track of the websites, including the website’s URL, contact information, and any other relevant notes.

• Craft a compelling outreach email.

The next step is to craft a compelling outreach email. Your email should be personalized and explain why you are contacting the website owner. You should also explain the mutual benefit that the collaboration will bring.

Here is an example of a direct outreach email that we received when we uploaded our blog post on ChatgGPT:

It can also be used as a template for the broken link building strategy.

Email Sample Template Direct Outreach

Subject: Link building opportunity

Dear [website owner name],

My name is [your name], and I own [your website]. I’m writing to you because I’m interested in building a link between our websites.

I’ve been a fan of your website for a long time, and it would be a great fit for a link from my website. My website is [URL of your website] and covers similar topics to yours.

I’m willing to offer you a free product or service for a link to my website. I’m also open to other forms of collaboration, such as guest blogging or social media promotion.

I hope you’ll consider my request. You can contact me via this email address with any other specific requests or questions.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

10. Reclaim lost backlink.

Reclaiming your lost links is another way to build links. It is typical for you to lose some links due to factors such as:

• Link removal by the website owner
• Expired website
• Changed URL
• Penalized website

To reclaim your list links, you need to identify your lost backlinks using SEO tools like SEMrush. These tools will show you which websites were linking to your website but have since removed the link.

The next thing you need to do is to know why these backlinks were lost. Understanding why the backlink was lost will help you determine the best approach to reclaiming the link.

Afterward, reach out to the website owner and ask them to reinstate the link, depending on the reason for the link’s removal in the first place.

If the domain name of the website referred to you is expired, you might not be able to do something grand like buying the website or domain. So, instead of contacting the website owner, you can find broken links on another website similar to the one you lost and ask to replace the links with yours. 

If the website owner was the one who removed the link in the first place, you could send a mail to ask why the link was removed and try to offer something in return for them reinstating your link back on their website.

For example, you could offer to write a guest post for their website. This strategy can help sweeten the deal and make it more likely that they will add your link back.

11. Guest posting.

Some people say guest blogging is dead, but that is untrue. What is dead is the usual old way of guest blogging to trick the algorithm. Guest blogging still works, but you have to be strategic. 

Write for sites relevant to your niche, have good domain authority, and have a similar target audience. 

Guest posting tips to maximize your link building strategy:

• Select the right websites.
• Write high-quality content.
• Conduct a thorough topic research.
• Understand the brand tone of the website you want to write for.
• Have a good author bio ready for use.
• Promote your guest post.
• Engage in the comments.

12. Backlink gap analysis.

A backlink gap analysis shows the number of backlinks on your competitor’s site.

The purpose of a backlink analysis is for you to discover potential websites that are currently linking to websites in your niche.

When you discover these websites, you can reach out to them directly, find broken links on their website, or any other link building strategy that is more convenient and you feel will be more effective.

When you do a backlink gap analysis, curate an extensive list of potential websites because there is no guarantee that all of them will agree to your requests.

13. Reverse image search.

If you create visual assets like infographics and charts that people are already linking to, this strategy will help you find sites that use your visual assets without linking to you. 

With reverse image search, you can see these websites and reach out to them to link the image back to you. It’s similar to unlinked brand mentions, but this is done only for images.

It’s important to know that reverse image search doesn’t always work because some websites do not index their images, and it can also be possible that your data center is not in sync.

You can use tools such as Google Images, TinEye, Yandex Images, and Bing Image Search to do a reverse image search.

However, if you want to do a reverse image search, ensure your images are high-quality, used on several other websites, and original.

14. Relationship-based link building technique. 

This link building technique is based on creating business relationships with website owners in your niche, where you collaborate on content and link to each other.

Here’s how it works:

• Identify potential partners.

The first step in relationship-based link building is identifying potential partners in your niche. Look for websites and blogs relevant to your industry and with a similar target audience. 

• Reach out to potential partners.

Once you’ve identified potential partners, it’s time to reach out to them. Send an email or message through social media introducing yourself and your website. Explain your interest in building a relationship and working together to create valuable content.

• Collaborate on content.

You can collaborate on content once you’ve established relationships with other website owners. It could involve guest blogging on each other’s sites, creating joint webinars or podcasts, or collaborating on an ebook or white paper.

• Link to each other’s sites.

As you create content together, include links to each other’s sites. These links should be natural and relevant to the content. This will help to improve your search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your site.

• Nurture the relationship.

Relationship-based link building is not a one-time event, so nurturing the relationship is beneficial and important. 

Continue to collaborate on content, share each other’s posts on social media, and offer support when needed.

15. Podcast interviews. 

This link building strategy is similar to guest posting; it uses a podcast instead. 

When you show up as a guest on a podcast, your website link is usually included in the episode description.

When you appear on several podcasts relevant to your niche, you get access to the audience of the podcast host, and the host can also link to your website or social media profiles.

Also, other podcasters in that niche may refer to the podcast interview you had and link to your website.

Here are some tips to help you build links from podcast interviews:

• Select podcasts with a significant following.
• Ask the podcast host to link to your website in the description.
• Guest blog on the podcast’s website.
• Promote the podcast appearance on your social media.
• Select podcasts in your niche.

Link Building Tools

You can use several link building tools to perform your backlink analysis, competitor analysis, find broken links, etc.

However, here are the ones I think are best for helping with link building:

a. SEMrush Backlink Checker

SEMrush has got to be the best tool for backlink analysis. I love how it is so easy to get detailed data on how healthy your backlinks are and the sites that link to you.

SEMrush shows you details such as:

• Toxicity score
• Referring domains
• Authority scores of referring domains
• Anchor words
• Anchor word category
• Link types
• Link attributes

SEMrush also has a link building tool that allows you to see detailed information about your competitor’s website and the websites linking to it. It also includes contact information, social web info, links to your website, and much more.

With this link building tool, you can use an outreach module to send personalized, relationship-based messages quickly.

You can also track all your outreach attempts to know which were successful and which were not.

Using the bulk backlink analysis tool, you can analyze up to 200 domains at once. SEMush also allows you to connect your Google Search Console and Google Analytics accounts while permitting you to export your results as a PDF or CSV file. 

SEMrush Pricing

• Pro

$129.95 monthly

$108 if you pay yearly

This plan is best for newbies and small teams.

You can do competitor analysis, keyword research, website audit, backlink analysis, advertising tools, and more.

• Guru

$249.95 monthly

$208 if you pay yearly

This plan is best for agencies and mid-size businesses:

You will get access to the content marketing toolkit, historical data, multi-location and device tracking, Looker Studio integration, and more.

• Business

$499.95 monthly

$416 if you pay yearly

With this plan, you can also try a custom plan where you get customized features that suit the needs of your business. It is perfect for large agencies and enterprises:

This plan gets you access to all Guru features, including share of voice, extended limits, API access, PLA analytics, free migration from third-party tools, and more.

b. Ahrefs

Ahref is a popular tool for analyzing backlinks and finding link building opportunities. The Ahref Backlink Checker is a free tool that instantly checks for your website’s backlink strength, the referring domains, the anchor words, phrases, and the exact URL used.

Using Ahref’s Site Explorer, you can analyze your backlink profile, see which websites link to your competitor’s sites, and gauge the quality of their backlinks. You can also use the tool to check for broken links on your competitor’s website, which is great if you want to build links through that strategy.

You can use the Site Explorer tool to check for referring domains, link attributes, and anchor words and even browse the outgoing links of your competitor’s websites.

You can get limited access to Ahref’s Site Explorer, but you will need to upgrade to a paid version to conduct an in-depth backlink analysis.

Ahref Pricing

• Lite

Starts at $99/month

This plan is perfect for small businesses and hobby projects.

• Standard

Starts at $199/month

This plan is perfect for freelance SEO and marketing consultants.

• Advanced

Starts at $399/month

This plan gives access to more tools and data for lean in-house marketing teams.

• Enterprise

Starts at $999/month

This plan is ideal for agencies and enterprises. However, you can have a customized plan developed for the unique needs of your business.

c. Moz Link Explorer

This great tool allows you to track your backlinks and analyze your link profile.

Here are some ways Moz helps with your link building strategies:

• Monitoring inbound links

Moz Link Explorer allows you to review and monitor your inbound links. This will help you understand the reason for your low website ranking.

• Researching competitor backlinks

You can compare the backlink profile of your competitor with yours. This allows you to know which sites link to them and the type of content they link to.

• Finding broken links

You can use this tool to discover broken sites on your website or your competitor’s website. With this, you can easily find and fix broken links on your site and reach out to other sites to help replace their broken links with your content.

• Checking the spam score of backlinks

Reduce the number of spammy links on your website by checking the number of spammy links and removing them.

• Discovering link building opportunities

Find out who’s linking to your competitors (but not to you) with Link Intersect.

• Seeing new and lost links

Monitor when your content is gaining or losing links.

The free version of Moz allows you to access ten link queries and fifty rows of data every month.

Moz Link Explorer Pricing

• STANDARD 

$99/month

$79 /month when you pay yearly

This plan is best if you are new to SEO or need the basics, and it is the most popular Moz Pro Plan.

• MEDIUM

$179/month

$143 /month when you pay yearly

This plan gives you full access to Moz’s keyword research tools.

• LARGE

$299/month

$239 /month when you pay yearly

This is an ideal plan for businesses and agencies serious about searches, offering the best deal.

• PREMIUM

$599/month

$479 /month when you pay yearly

This plan is famous for large SEO agencies and in-house marketing teams.

d. Ubersuggest Backlink Checker

The Ubersuggest Backlink Checker lets you see the number of links pointing to any domain or URL (yours or your competitor’s). You can see data ranging from your total link count to .edu and .gov links to even the exact number of unique referring domains.

You can also conduct a backlink analysis on your competitor’s website to see everyone who is linking to your competition and who isn’t linking to you. You can easily find new sites you can approach for link building opportunities.

This tool provides a feature called Advanced Link Filtering that makes it easy to identify the best link opportunities for you. You can filter links by region, anchor text, domain score, page score, and URL.

You can also choose if you only want to see nofollow links or dofollow links, and you can limit the results to reflect one backlink per domain. 

You can export all your results to CSV.

Ubersuggest Pricing

Ubersuggest offers two broad options: paying monthly or once and getting full-time access.

MONTHLY PLANS

• Individual

$12/month

This is a good option if you manage one website.

• Business

$20/month

This is a good plan if you manage about 2-7 websites.

• Enterprise

$40/month

This is a good plan if you manage about 8-15 websites.

LIFETIME ACCESS

• Individual

$120 for LIFETIME access with no monthly fees

1 website

• Business

$200 for LIFETIME access with no monthly fees

2-7 websites

• Enterprise

$400 for LIFETIME access with no monthly fees

8-15 websites

FAQs for Link Building

What is link building?

Link building is the process of increasing the number of links (backlinks) pointing to your website from other sites. 

For search engine optimization (SEO), link building aims to increase the quantity of high-quality inbound links to a webpage to increase ranking.

What are the benefits of link building?

There are many benefits to link building, including:

• Increased site ranking
• Increased traffic
• Increased brand awareness
• Improved credibility

What are the different types of link building?

There are many different types of link building, including:

• Guest blogging
• Creating linkable assets
• Broken link building
• Image link building
• Social media sharing
• Press releases
• Skyscraper technique
• Roundup posts
• Direct outreach 
• Finding unlinked brand mentions

What are the best practices for link building?

The best practices for link building include:

• Focus on quality over quantity.
• Guest blog on relevant websites.
• Run link building campaigns.
• Monitor your backlinks.
• Be patient.
• Use good link building tools.

• What are the common mistakes to avoid in link building?

The common mistakes to avoid in link building include:

• Buying links
• Spamming
• Over-optimizing anchor text
• Neglecting your existing links

FINAL THOUGHTS

Link building is essential to any successful SEO strategy, and you must do it correctly.

Google values a website with a substantial amount of referring links. It can be the primary trigger to increase your website’s rankings on search engines.

However, it is important to remember that link building is just one of many factors Google uses to rank websites. So, ensure you also optimize your website for other factors, such as content quality, keyword research, and technical SEO.

Lastly, remember that link building is not a one-time thing but an ongoing process that requires patience, effort, and dedication. With these strategies, you can take your link building efforts to the next level and achieve long-term success online.

CTA: Which of these link building strategies will you try out? 

READ ALSO: A SIMPLE LOCAL SEO GUIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES (2024) – SARMLife

Many search marketers and bloggers are already on the voice search optimization train; if you are not, it means you are behind on SEO trends and giving your competitors more edge over you, but you can still fix that.

Voice search is rapidly growing in popularity among searchers, and according to statistics from Search Engine Land, 20% of mobile search queries are with voice.

You are about to read a comprehensive guide showing you what voice search is, how to optimize your site for voice search, and actionable steps to consistently publish content optimized for voice search.

This guide is arranged in chapters to walk you through what voice search optimization is and how you can leverage this trend on your website.

Chapter One: Voice Search

In this chapter, you will learn about voice search, how it works, and how searchers use it when surfing the net.

What Is Voice Search?

Voice search is a method of surfing the internet and navigating apps and websites using voice commands. 

This method uses artificial intelligence to recognize the query’s voice and semantics.

So, instead of typing keyword-based queries, you ‘talk’ into the search engines.

History of Voice Search

As unbelievable as it may sound, voice search has been around for many years but was propelled into public relevance by the advent of speech recognition technology and the use of personal virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri.

In 1952, Bell Laboratories developed the first voice search technology, the Automatic Digit Recognition machine named Audrey.

Audrey could recognize digits (0-9) with more than 90% accuracy spoken by a single voice (the developer’s – HK Davis), but it wasn’t commercially viable until the late 1990s. 

However, it paved the way and revealed the possibility of using voice search for more advanced processes.

On June 14, 2011, Google (Is this the correct link?) announced that it would introduce voice search features in its search engine.

The same year, Apple released Siri, a personal virtual assistant, and marked another history in voice searches. Siri allows its users to use voice commands to perform tasks on their Apple phones, including sending texts, making calls, and searching the internet.

A year later, on October 30, 2012, Google released its search app for iOS. This app had an advanced voice search function developed by Google that was able to compete with Siri.

These events became the landmark for the voice search revolution that four years later, 20% of searches on the Google App were voice searches. Fast forward to 2018, 27% of mobile searches worldwide are now made with voice search.

How Is Voice Search Different from Normal Search?

Voice search and typed queries are distinct, so voice search optimization is needed.

Here are some main differences:

Keywords.

Voice search keywords are mostly long-tail conversational keywords that are very specific to a need, so it is clear what the user wants. If you use a voice assistant on a search engine, you’ll mostly see the answer without having to scroll.

Longer search queries.

If you want to type in a query on your browser, you’ll most likely opt for shorter words that best describe your intent. These queries are usually just keyword based. For example, ‘best SEO tips,’ ‘chicken soup recipe,’ ‘migraine treatment,’ and so on.

Because users always did searches this way, SEO experts focused on short-tail and medium-tail keywords, so their content will be relevant to searches like this.

Enter voice search.

With voice search, users will go, ‘Alexa, tell me how I can get rid of a migraine’ rather than ‘migraine treatment’ or ‘how can I prepare a delicious chicken soup in 30 mins’ instead of ‘chicken soup recipe.’ 

It’s specific to a need.

Since it takes less stress to say something than typing it, users prefer to go into details of what they want using voice search than if they were typing it.

You can easily say, ‘Siri, can you tell me the best SEO tips that experts use nowadays?’ when looking for expert tips rather than common tips.

However, you would instead type ‘best SEO tips’ while using search engines and look through the result page.

Conversational.

With voice searches, queries can be conversational, especially when using a smart voice-enabled device. This is called voice chat.

These devices can create a connection between your previous and current query. For example, if I asked for information on a restaurant near me that sells chicken, I can ask a connecting question in this way:

“When does it close?”

The device knows the subject ‘it’ refers to the restaurant in my previous query.

This cannot be done with browsers yet, but with AI and chatbots, this feature might be introduced into browsers soon.

READ MORE: THE IMPACT OF AI IN SEO | THE FUTURE OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

How Does Voice Search Work?

Voice search uses ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) to convert your words into text to surf the internet or perform a task. 

When you voice search, the ASR for your voice assistant converts what it hears into a wave pattern using an algorithm, which is then analyzed and turned into words until the entire query is understood and the result is shown to you.

Every voice assistant (Google, Siri, Ella, Alexa, Cortana, Bixby, etc.) has its ASR technology.

The process is explained in detail below:

Sound filtering

This process ensures that the search assistant focuses on your voice and separates the searcher’s voice from background sounds.

Digitizing

The algorithm ‘hears’ sound waves and not your exact words. So, what this process accomplishes is to convert the sound waves into digital data for processing.

Processing

The algorithm uses natural language processing (NLP) to analyze the texts and identify your keywords and semantics. So, with NLP, the algorithm can understand your intent and the meaning of your query.

External source connection

Depending on the search engine used by the voice assistant, the algorithm uses the search engine to find relevant answers to your query. It also uses information like your search history, location, and interests to deliver the most relevant result.

Delivery

Voice queries are delivered verbally; the results are delivered to the smart device, and the voice assistant reads them to you.

How Searchers Can Use Voice Search

You can now use voice searches on your mobile devices and desktops differently. 

Initially, you could only use voice searches on search engines. Still, its integration into virtual personal assistant devices has made it much more helpful than searching for things on search engines.

Here are some other ways you can use your voice to search:

• Entertainment: Playing music, checking for recent movies.
• Directions: For example, Google map has a voice-enabled navigation system.
• Communication: You can use your voice assistant on your mobile devices to make calls and send messages.
• Quick answers: You can get quick answers to questions without going on your browser. ‘What’s the nearest bus station? What’s the nearest chicken bbq restaurant with delivery? Who won the last world cup?’ etc.
• Alarms & Reminders: You can also set alarms on your device and reminders on your calendar through voice commands.
• App integration: Several apps have integrated voice recognition technology to aid their users in navigating app features.

Although it still extracts information from the web, the point here is, it does the search for you, and all you need to do is ask or command.

READ MORE: All you need to know about On-Page SEO (Coming soon)

Voice Search Devices and Their Search Engines

The advent of voice-activated devices has made voice recognition technology more useful in everyday life. By 2024, it is predicted that the number of digital voice assistants will reach 8.4 billion units, which is higher than the current world population.

Here are some popular and not-so-popular voice search devices today:

• Google Home: Google
• Amazon Alexa: Bing
• Microsoft’s Cortana: Bing
• Apple’s Siri: Safari
• Tecno’s Ella: Google
• Google Assistant: Google
• Other Android phones and Devices: Google

Some voice assistants like Google and Siri are exclusive to Google, but Siri also combines results from other search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and even third-party apps. 

Alexa, on the other hand, is exclusive to the Bing search engine. 

This means you must know the relevant search engines your audience uses and optimize your content to its ranking factors.

Voice Search Statistics

These are voice search statistics that show:

• Percentage of people using voice search
• Percentage of people using smart devices

Here are some interesting voice search statistics I’ve seen:

• About 40% of internet users in the United States use voice search.
• The number of voice searches increased by ×35 between 2008 and 2016.
• Voice search is the second option for phone-based search behind browsers.
• 61% of users say voice search is convenient when they’re busy.
• 24% of Americans own a smart voice-activated device.
• 51% of users say they will use voice search to find a local business near them.
• By 2024, the number of digital voice assistants will reach 8.4 billion units.

Chapter 2: Voice Search and SEO

In this chapter, I’ll show you what voice search optimization is, how it impacts search results, and why it is an important SEO strategy for the next couple of years.

What Is Voice Search Optimization?

Voice search optimization is the process of using certain SEO techniques to optimize your website and content for voice search queries.

This is so your content can appear in the top results for a voice search query, and users can easily find you and your business. With voice search optimization, you make your content easily discoverable by search engines and voice assistants.

How Voice Search Affects SEO

We can’t talk about SEO and not mention voice search. 

The primary purpose of search engines is to provide information to their users, but what happens when users use another way to search for information?

Search engines will need to adjust their system to give relevant answers regardless of how their users search for information.

Due to the system change by search engines to satisfy their users, how websites are ranked in search results has also been affected.

Here are other ways voice search has impacted SEO:

Reduced organic click-through rates

The answers to voice queries are usually given straight away, so the user doesn’t need to scroll down to see other results. 

Usually, when a smart device is involved, the searcher doesn’t even see the result page, but the voice assistant delivers the answer verbally.

This has resulted in reduced CTR, even for the most optimized posts.

Use of more specific keywords

Traditional, text-based searches are often done with specific keywords that are barely up to five words, but with voice search, queries are conversational. The keywords used for voice searches are questioned, conversational, or natural language, which mimics how you would ask your friend a question.

These types of keywords are usually more specific and completely streamlined.

Do you see the need to optimize your website and content for search results?

Google Algorithm Updates That Affect Voice Searches

Google keeps updating its algorithm to keep up with technology and filter search results to rank the most relevant and valuable posts that best answer a search query.

With voice search gaining popularity and advancing for almost a decade, there has been some algorithm update by Google that directly affects search results for voice queries.

1. BERT

With BERT, the algorithm focused on understanding the intent and context of a query, especially regarding voice searches. It is an update to Hummingbird.

BERT stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, and it uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand what a searcher wants to see in the search results.

This algorithm update rolled out in 2019, allowed Google to present the most accurate result to voice search users because it could understand what they said and why.

2. Hummingbird

Hummingbird was released in 2013, two years after Google announced the addition of voice search features to its search engines. Hummingbird also used Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand the intent and context of a query with voice search. 

3. Mobilegeddon

This algorithm update, released in 2016, was made to prioritize mobile-friendly sites over desktop-friendly sites, and this was because searches were done via mobile devices rather than on desktops.

57% of users use voice search on their mobile devices compared to 29% of voice searchers on other devices, including tablets, laptops, and desktops, according to a survey by PWC.

With this algorithm update, voice search results brought up sites already optimized for mobile devices.

4. RankBrain

RankBrain was released in 2015. It uses AI technology to understand the intent behind a query. This algorithm is essential for voice search optimization because Google can understand and interpret a voice query to produce the most useful result.

5. Local search algorithm update

The local search algorithm was made to help increase the accuracy of local search results. Most voice searches are made to get local information like the weather, local news, restaurants, businesses, and even the nearest gas stations. 

This algorithm update was released in 2014 and aids local search results for voice queries on search engines or via virtual personal assistants like Siri or Alexa.

READ MORE: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GOOGLE ALGORITHM – SARMLife

Why You Need to Optimize Your Website for Voice Searches

Will voice search have that much of an impact on SEO? It already has!

As of 2020, there are 4.2 billion digital voice assistants, expected to double by next year. 

Why is this a necessary statistic?

The number of voice assistant devices is almost the equivalent of the number of people using voice search. When you ask Siri, Alexa, Cortana, or any of your digital voice assistants to find the closest restaurant to you or how to cook a mean lasagna, it will give you an answer drawn from the internet—in other words, a web page.

However, the problem is that your current SEO strategy is based on keywords, and while this is a good thing, you need to learn how to optimize your website for voice searches because voice search queries and typed queries are different.

Here are some reasons why you need to do voice search optimization:

Voice search is the future.

The popularity of voice search is spreading like wildfire, and it’s expected to explode more than it is currently, both in technology and in use.

Voice search technology makes novel improvements encouraging non-users to embrace this search type—with the introduction of voice chat, app integration, and a seamless delivery system.

The search pattern is changing.

From search queries to follow-up questions, how people use search engines is changing drastically. Google is trying to adjust its system to satisfy its users better and filtering search results to suit its users; search behavior.

When this is done, your content that is not optimized for voice search will get lost and drop in rank.

Competition.

Not optimizing your content and website for voice search removes you completely from the SEO game! Like you aren’t even in the game!

You need to catch up on the 51% of local voice searchers that use voice search to find businesses near them, giving an advantage to your competitors.

Like it or not, SEO experts are already competing for voice search traffic in their niche, and to stay ahead of this competition, you need to learn how to optimize your website and your content for voice search.

User experience.

Voice search optimization also works on your on-page optimization. When you optimize your content for voice search, it also affects users’ experience on your page. This is because most voice optimization best practices are made to promote user experience and help users get answers to their questions faster and more simpler.

Chapter 3: Voice Search Optimization

In this chapter, you will learn how to optimize your site and content for voice search.

How Do You Optimize Your Content for Voice Search?

1. Keyword research for voice search

The primary aspect of voice search optimization is the keywords you target. This is because the search intent might be the same regarding voice search, but the keywords will be different.

Voice searches are 76.1% longer than text-based searches. In keyword research, you should target more conversational, question, and long-tail keywords. 

For example, whenever I write content I want to optimize for voice search, I can’t use a long-tail keyword as my target keyword, but I use it for my sub-headings.

Like this post I wrote on ChatGPT for SEO, my sub-headings consisted of question keywords that I knew the audience looked for.

How to find keywords for voice search optimization?

Google autocomplete

When you type in a keyword on the Google search engine, Google brings a list of options to predict your search query. From this list, you can see other options that are closely related to what you are typing.

The problem with this is that it might be based on your search history, preferences, or location.

Answerthepublic

Since its takeover by Neil Patel, answerthepublic has gotten even better. Insert the keyword you are targeting (a maximum of two words for the best results), and you will see many questions people are asking about that keyword.

You can even filter the result based on location.

“People Also Ask”

This section is a part of Google’s search result page where you see related questions people ask about your current search.

This is a goldmine of long-tail question keywords your audience seeks.

Keyword research tools

Your keyword research tools will also have a list of long-tail keywords for your audience.

I use the paid version of Ubersuggest for my keyword research, and while my focus is usually medium-tail keywords, you will also see many long-tail keywords. These keywords generally have a low search volume, but that’s because they are streamlined to a specific audience.

SEMrush’s keyword magic tool can give you questions about a specific keyword and its topic research tool. This tool also gives you a list of questions related to your topic.

You can find the appropriate keyword for voice search optimization depending on your choice of keyword research tool.

After getting these keywords, you might not be able to input them as your keywords for the post, but you can find a way to input them in your content as subheadings or in the FAQ section of your page.

This way, your entire post becomes an answer page for your audience’s questions about that topic.

2. Content optimization for voice search

These are tips for creating content Google can rank for voice search results.

Create FAQ pages.

Adding FAQs to my posts has become my next favorite thing to do after keyword research.

Backlinko analyzed about 10,000 Google page results to see what Google prefers regarding voice search. 

One of the interesting findings was that most pages that rank for voice search queries are short, concise answers that are at most 29 words.

This can be difficult to achieve in your content, although possible. 

This is why FAQ pages are valuable to rank for voice search queries. It also makes it easy for Google’s web crawlers to pull an answer from your FAQ section and display it as a featured snippet.

In your FAQ section for a post, you can include question keywords you got from your keyword research and answer them in a way optimized for voice search.

How to optimize your FAQ for voice search

• Use researched question keywords.
• Make your answers short and straightforward.
• Write answers that are at most 30 words.
• Make the question a part of your answer.
• Use Schema markup for your FAQ.

Optimize for featured snippets.

What are featured snippets?

A featured snippet is part of a search result page placed before other organic results and showcases the specific part of a web page that best answers the search query.

Featured snippets can be in the form of paragraphs, lists, or tables, and ranking for featured snippets has become the goal for most website owners as it is the number one organic position.

The Backlinko voice search study discovered that 40.7% of voice search results come from featured snippets. If you optimize your content for featured snippets, you can rank for a voice search query.

Featured snippets are the go-to for voice search queries because featured snippets are like the best from the best results summarized to fit a query. 

If you are already ranking on the first page of Google, you will likely rank for a featured snippet.

So, when a user is using voice search to check for specific information, it makes sense that the result being read out by the voice assistant would be from a featured snippet.

How to optimize your content for featured snippets

• Research competitor’s featured snippets.
• Optimize your content using long-tail keywords as subheadings.
• Have a FAQ section on your page.
• Do your keyword research.
• Answer related questions in your content.
• Itemize the main points in your content.
• Have structured content using H-tags.
• Give short, concise answers.
• Match the featured snippet formats of your competitors.
• Use standard on-page optimization techniques.
• Don’t use first-person language.
• Include how-to subheadings.

Use a conversational tone.

When writing content that needs to be optimized for voice search, you need to use a conversational tone that is easy to understand and relatable.

To simplify, I always say, “write as if you are talking to someone across the table.”

You should not stuff your content with unnaturally occurring keywords but focus on giving value. 

The technology Google uses to lift content and recognize texts from web pages is more advanced and will not be fooled by clustered keywords or long-form content without context.

This is also one of the reasons why AI-generated content won’t help you rank on search results. You have to use natural language that is relatable to the reader.

Also, when people use voice search to surf the internet, they use a more natural and conversational tone. You want your content to match this energy by conversationally giving answers.

Your content should be rank-worthy and offer the best user experience to rank for voice searches.

Use lots of long-tail keywords in your content.

Keywords are crucial to voice search rankings.

Voice search queries are usually natural language queries compared to keyword-based queries for traditional searches. 

These natural language queries are long-tailed keywords that sound more like the way you would ask a friend for information.

For voice search optimization, you must include many of these long-tail keywords in your content but make it meaningful to a search query.

From experience, I’ve learned to leverage using these long-tail keywords as subheadings with the appropriate H-tag.

For example, if I want to write a blog post on featured snippets, I would go to the ‘people also ask’ section of the search result page for featured snippets, and I will see related questions. I can also use keyword research tools, Google autocomplete, Quora, Reddit, etc.

When writing my blog post on featured snippets, I will input these long-tail keywords as part of my sub-heading or compile them in an FAQ section for that post.

Write at an 8-9th Grade reading level.

The voice search study by Backlinko found that content that is easy to read may significantly impact voice search optimization.

This study discovered that the average voice search result on Google was written at a 9th-grade reading level.

No matter what type of content you write, it should be clear and easily understandable, even by a 9th grader. 

Remember that with voice search results, a voice assistant reads them to the user, and the user needs to understand them first without any visual reference.

It is logical to assume that Google will prioritize contents that are easy to pick up and understand at once.

Use filler words.

Include some filler words in your question keywords for FAQs or subheadings and have them as part of your answers.

What are filler words?

A filler word is a word that is used to fill space in a conversation. 

Usually, the idea of using filler words in your content might be unappealing as they can be said to indicate uncertainty. Still, they are used to make a conversation more casual and can be helpful when you need to be relatable.

However, you should limit filler words in your general content to the question keywords and answers.

Why? 

Filler words are mainly used when someone is talking. The higher your words match what a searcher is saying, the more possibility of you ranking for that query.

Examples of filler words

Here are some examples of filler words:

Just, like, literally, well, so, very, really, highly, at the end of the day, etc.

Write longer content.

Long-form content is a goldmine for voice search results. The average word count for a Google voice search result page is 2,312. 

It does not imply that you need to have lengthy content to be able to rank because there are voice search results that are pulled from FAQ pages as well.

However, it implies that lengthy content can increase your chance of ranking for voice searches.

Imagine there are two blog posts on hiking tips (a lengthy and a short one), and a searcher uses voice search to look for ‘mountain hiking tips for newbies.’ Google will mostly predict that the lengthy post will have more relevant tips to the query and crawl that page for results.

However, if the shorter page has structured data and its content is organized to show mountain hiking tips for newbies or has an FAQ section that shows these tips, Google can prioritize the short post for the voice search result.

Long-form content ranking for voice searches are chance results, but having long-form content and other voice search optimization tips increases your chances exponentially.

Optimize your video content.

Do I need to upload videos to rank for voice searches?

One of the less talked about voice search optimization strategies is video content.

Google also uses video content as part of a voice search result page, especially when videos can explain the query better. It pulls off a section from the entire video that explains the query.

For example, When I ask ‘how do I style a wig?’ on my mobile phone, the first result is a video on how to style a wig in five different ways.

With a desktop, the result is quite different. I got a featured snippet from wikiHow, a blog post from Cosmopolitan, and a video section.

For these two results, videos were shown, which means they are also used to rank for voice queries.

Sometimes, Google highlights the video description instead of the video itself, like this example from thehoth.com. 

Google tends to show videos for more natural language queries, and these queries can include how-tos, reviews, and tutorials.

However, videos rank for voice queries on search engines rather than for voice assistants. You should focus on other voice search optimization techniques to rank for voice assistants.

How to rank videos for search results

• Include a video transcript.
• Embed the video in a blog post.
• Optimize video title and description.
• Do keyword research for your videos.
• Use a clickable thumbnail.
• Add timestamps to your videos.
• Upload subtitles to your videos.
• Create an engaging thumbnail.
• Build links to your videos.
• Use YouTube tags.
• Optimize your channel description.

Incorporate local SEO.

According to a voice search study by Chitika, people who use voice searches are 3× more likely to seek a local result. This might partly be because 52% of people use voice search while driving.

This means someone in your vicinity might be using voice search to look for a product or service you offer.

Local searches also make up about 46% of general searches on Google, while 97% of users claim to use search engines to look for a local business.

People driving while looking for information on a local business or walking around that location are more likely to pop in or make an order online. This means more than half of this percentage is ready to buy.

If your business needs to be optimized for local searches, now is the time.

How to do local SEO optimization

• Create relevant content locally.
• Use local-based keywords.
• Use the phrase ‘near me’ in your title, meta description, links, and anchor texts.
• Update your Google Business Profile listing.
• List your business in online directories.
• Optimize your Google Business Profile.
• Create a contact page for your business.
• Include pictures in your Google Business Profile.
• Add a Google map feature to your website.
• Include customer reviews on your site.
• Insert clickable phone numbers.
• Optimize your site for mobile devices.
• Insert your social profiles and include links to them.
• Use schema markup for your pages.

3. Technical optimization for voice search

These are tips you can use to optimize your website for voice search:

Increase your site speed.

The time it takes for your site to load is essential to how high you will rank in a voice search result and even for general searches.

The average voice search result page loads completely within 4.6 seconds; this is 52% faster than average pages on the web. The average Time to First Byte (TTFB) for voice search result pages was 0.54 seconds, significantly faster than the 2.1 seconds of an average web page.

The fact remains that most internet users are impatient and want answers to what they are looking for as soon as possible. Imagine using voice search on your smart voice devices; you don’t want to wait and count seconds before getting an answer to your queries.

To increase your chances of ranking in voice searches, ensure your site loads faster than your competitors.

How to improve your page loading speed

• Compress all your images.
• Reduce JavaScript parsing using “async” and “defer” loading.
• Use responsive designs to load faster.
• Lessen HTTP requests.
• Cache your web pages.
• Minify CSS, Javascript, and HTML.
• Reduce the number of plugins on a page.
• Reduce the number of redirects.
• Use a Content Delivery Network.
• Enable browser caching.
• Reduce ads on your page.
• Check your page’s loading speed using Google’s PageSpeed Insights.

Increase your domain authority.

This Backlinko study discovered the average domain authority of voice search results to be 76.8%, which is a high authority, while the average page authority was 21.1%.

This might seem unfair to new websites putting out high-quality content, but Google wants to ensure the results they show for voice searches are from credible sources.

Remember, voice search results differ from traditional searches, where you get several posts you can select from, unlike voice searches, where the result is not an entire post but part of a post, especially with smart voice devices like Alexa or Google Home.

Google has to ensure these results conform with their E-E-A-T guideline, and what better way to do this than to select websites that have built their domain authority with years of experience?

So, it doesn’t matter if your page has many backlinks; if your domain authority is low, you may not rank for voice searches.

However, backlinks are an essential part of your SEO strategy. It is better to continuously work on link-building strategies because that is one of the fastest but most tedious ways to increase your domain authority.

How to increase your domain authority

• Improve your internal links.
• Get quality backlinks from authority websites.
• Create link-worthy content.
• Remove bad links from your website.
• Optimize your website for user experience.
• Increase your social signals.
• Optimize your images.
• Use high-quality original images that people can link to.

Improve site security.

Sites secured with HTTPS have been found to dominate voice search results. 70.4% of voice search result pages are HTTPS secured compared to the average percentage (50%) of pages on desktop searches.

HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure and is used to give security on the internet. It helps to prevent data interceptions by eavesdroppers.

Search engines like Google are sensitive about the security of a site because they want to optimize user experience, including a user feeling safe when they provide personal, sensitive information over the internet.

To use HTTPS in your URL, you must get an SSL certificate and install it on your website. Your website host might provide an SSL certificate, or you might need to request it from a Certificate Authority and install it manually.

How to improve the security of your site

• Install an SSL certificate on your site.
• Keep your plugins up-to-date.
• Encrypt your login pages.
• Use a secured host.
• Use a secure password.
• You should back up your website’s data.
• Do a security audit on your site.
• Use an anti-malware system.
• Limit login attempts to your site.
• Install a web application firewall (WAF).
• Update site software regularly.
• Use two-factor authentication.
• Protect your site from spam.

Mobile optimization.

Most voice search users use their mobile devices.

You need your websites optimized for mobile devices to rank for voice search results.

Not just for voice searches alone, but to rank on Google, you need your site to be as mobile-friendly as possible because this is one of Google’s primary ranking factors.

Modern SEO strategies focus more on the experience of users on your site, and since most searches are from mobile devices, it is most appropriate to optimize it for mobiles.

However, this doesn’t mean you should not optimize your website for other devices, including laptops, tablets, and desktops.

How to optimize your website for mobile devices

• Use AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) markups.
• Use responsive website designs.
• Use schema markups for your pages.
• Optimize your images for mobile devices.
• Make your website easy to navigate.
• Avoid intrusive pop-ups.
• Limit ads.
• Increase page speed.
• Increase page responsiveness.
• Compress media on your web pages.
• Test your site’s mobile-friendliness.
• Condense your menu options.
• Make your content smartphone readable.
• Use simple site designs.

Structured data.

According to Baclinko, Schema might not make much of an impact when it comes to ranking for voice search based on its study that found that 36.4% of voice search results were from pages that used Schema, which is just slightly different from the average web page on the internet with 31.3%.

Structured data will not directly affect your rankings but will give you an edge over your competition. Google uses over 200 ranking factors to rank pages on search results. 

There are some major ranking signals your page and site need to have, but minor signals like structured data will give you an added advantage over your competition, especially for voice search results.

Use Schema markup to show your page’s structure to search engines.

2.68% of voice search results came from FAQ pages. If you have an FAQ page in your post that is not structured correctly, you might miss out on a chance to rank for a voice search query.

When users search for information on the web, search assistants usually pull off a part of an entire web page as its answer. 

For example, when you search for ‘who built the pyramids of Egypt,’ you will get a featured snippet that explains who built the largest and most famous pyramid. 

This answer was pulled from a blog post about the Egyptian pyramids.

How do search engines know what to pull from your post?

This is what structured data, also known as Schema markup, does with your post.

Structured data is an HTML add-on that is not visible to your audience, but search engines can see it, and it helps them to organize your content into categories and provide context.

This helps search engines display your content intelligently when it is needed. 

How to generate Schema markup for your posts

• Use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper.
• Select the type of data/listing that you want.
• Paste the post URL you want to markup.
• Select elements of the post you want to mark up.
• Click the HTML button to create the HTML code. 
• Copy or download the HTML code to your CMS.
• Use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to test your markup.

Alternatively, you can use WordPress Schema plugins like Schema, Schema Pro, WP SEO Structured Data Schema, or All in One Schema.org Rich Snippets.

According to Backlinko, here are the top 10 types of Schema found in voice search:

• Organization
• Person
• ImageObject
• WebPage
• Article
• Breadcrumb
• BreadcrumbList
• ListItem
• NewsArticle
• SiteNavigationElement

Google’s Progressive Web App (PWA).

What is a Progressive Web App?

A progressive web app is an application software that lets you build a website that can perform like an app. 

You get all the functions of a website and an app in a single place!

Google’s PWA is said to help increase the chances of a page being cited by a voice assistant, although no studies support this claim. 

However, Progressive Web Apps are valuable, and it is logical to assume that they might be able to rank for voice searches because it feels and looks like a native app without the hassle of downloading or installing.

PWAs help to index your website faster, provide a great user experience, and are even accessible offline. 

With a PWA, you do not need to wait for a site to load; users can engage with your website as soon as they click. This is made possible by deferring the loading of some page resources; instead, it loads the most important page resource before others.

Undoubtedly, Google and most search engines prioritize pages that offer the best user experience, so it won’t be surprising if PWA is important for voice search ranking.

Progressive Web Apps best practices:

• Ensure the content of your PWA is crawlable.
• Avoid having fragmented URLs.
• Use canonical URLs.
• Clearly specify your canonical URLs.
• Use a responsive design to increase device compatibility.
• Place your CTA in a clear place.
• Keep website design simple.
• Ensure accessibility to Java and CSS files.
• Ensure you have good navigation.

Multilingual SEO

A multilingual website is a site that gives out its content in other languages. An English site can have a French, Spanish, and Latin version.

So, when a user searches for something you offer in French, Google can rank the French version of your website as one of the search results.

What is the relevance to voice searches?

Google’s speech recognition supports 119 languages, including ancient languages like Georgian, Gujarati, Azerbaijani, Khmer, Sinhala, Swahili, Urdu, etc., because Google understands the importance of voice searches.

Even if users can type in English, they prefer to use their native languages in voice search queries. Their voice devices are also probably configured to their native languages.

If your website is in English, you need to optimize it for other languages and in the best quality it can offer. You do not want Alexa reading out Korean that doesn’t sound half as authentic as the native language.

It is best to employ the services of a native speaker to make the contents flow and be easily understandable to the native user if you want to create content for other versions of your website. It is better than using Google Translate or other language translating software.

Every native language has its puns, slang, and even casual variations. Simply translating the texts from your language to the target language will make it sound like AI-generated content. 

Multilingual SEO best practices

• Use different URLs for each language version of your site.
• Use language-specific URLs.
• Use hreflang annotations for your content.
• Create content in native style.
• Include a detailed sitemap. 
• Add hyperlinks to other versions of your site.
• Avoid automatic redirections.
• Do not use code-level language information.
• Avoid side-by-side translations.
• Do keyword research for each language.
• Use robots.txt to prevent search engines from crawling automatically translated pages.

Chapter 4: Voice Search Optimization FAQ

What is voice search?

Voice search is the process of using voice commands to look for information on the internet or navigate apps.

How does voice search work?

Voice search uses automatic speech recognition technology that can filter sounds, convert words into texts, process the search intent, and deliver results verbally from the internet.

What percentage is voice search?

27% of online users use voice search on their mobile devices, while 40% of US internet users use voice search.

How does voice search affect SEO?

Voice search has affected SEO by reducing organic click-through rates, changing how websites are ranked, changing users’ interaction with search engines, and the choice of keywords for search queries.

What is voice search optimization?

Voice search optimization is optimizing your website and content to rank high for voice search queries on search engines and voice search devices.

Benefits of voice search optimization.

The benefits of voice search optimization include the following:

• High rank for voice searches
• More visibility for your local business
• High rank for traditional search
• Content sustainability
• Increased competitive value in your niche
• Improved user experience on your site

How to optimize a website for voice search?

To optimize your content for voice search, you should:

• Target conversational keywords
• Include a FAQ Page for your contents
• Use structured data for your posts
• Optimize your content for featured snippets
• Write at an 8th-grade-reading level
• Be more conversational than professional
• Write longer, quality content
• Incorporate local SEO
• Optimize your website for mobile-friendliness
• Increase your site speed
• Increase your domain authority
• Improve your site security
• Use multilingual SEO strategies.

• How do you find voice search keywords?

You can get voice search keywords from answerthepublic, Ubersuggest, the ‘people also ask’ section on Google, SEMrush, and other keyword research tools.

How to get your business listed for voice search.

To get your business listed for voice search results, you should optimize your site for local searches, including having an updated GMB profile, listing in local directories, and writing locally relevant content.

What are the ranking factors for voice search?

These are the major ranking factors for voice search:

• Fast page speed
• Secured websites
• Authoritative domains
• Shareable contents
• Low-grade reading level
• Long-form, quality content
• High rank on normal search
• Appearing on a featured snippet
• FAQ pages/sections
• Short, straightforward answers.

Difference between voice search and text search.

The main difference between voice search and text search is that one uses voice commands while the other uses typed words. Other differences include long, conversational keywords and specific queries.

Final Thoughts

Voice search optimization is no longer an option if your goal is to take your website or your client’s website to the next level. Voice search isn’t just the future anymore; it’s the present. It’s already widely used, and this percentage will keep rising because humans tend toward more convenient things.

The question is, can you use voice search to your advantage?

Voice search optimization is as easy as three steps:

• Know what your audience is searching
• Know how they are searching
• Know what they want to see

The worst industry mistake you can make is to ignore or dismiss a rising trend. The repercussion is that you get left behind. When others are already masters, you are stuck being a student.

Which voice search optimization strategies will you start with?

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