Sure, your website has great content. But is it getting found by your target audience? With so many content being created and published by other companies, your content can be easily buried under higher-ranking pages. This is why it’s important for brands to pay attention to link building. Link building is the process of getting links from websites of high quality, credibility, and authority. Previously, submission of links to create backlinks was automated, but with Google’s recent algorithm change (Penguin), link building has become more stringent. The algorithm now penalizes those who go for paid links and link farming, pushing brands to opt for quality links that lead to quality, credible content. While challenging, there are still practical benefits to link building that can give your business the leverage it needs and can influence how your brand is perceived online. Here are some of the benefits your business can reap. Improve domain authority Domain authority refers to the measure of the quality and quantity of backlinks for your website as a whole. When you link websites to your articles or to your homepage, you pass on link juice that helps the ranking of your article and also improves your domain authority. The higher your domain authority, the more likely you are to appear under relevant searches, thereby improving your organic ranking as well. Just make sure that your links are do-follow links instead of no-follow links, and that you use the do-follow link when posting on relevant websites. Get indexed quicker Backlinks help get your website crawled, which is crucial if you want your website to be indexed. When Google crawls your website, it follows a path through your links which then leads to the search engine looking into your website. This is why it’s recommended you create a sitemap for your website as it contains all the links present in your site which Google can use to scan your website thoroughly. Along with good content, having more backlinks helps search engines recognize you as a trustworthy and reputable source and can get your website indexed and added to search results quicker. Increase referral traffic Referral traffic is the traffic you gain from visitors who click on your links other than through direct traffic or via search results. By posting your links to other websites, such as social bookmarking sites, you can expose your website to more people that could lead into conversions. Do remember to link build contextually to ensure that your links are relevant to where you post them and to attract customers whose interests align with what you offer. Allow brand exposure and visibility Posting links to your content on other websites allows your website to be seen by more people who may be interested in what you have to offer. More than website traffic, you also get to introduce your brand and what you do or offer. Associating your brand with quality content can help position your brand as an expert and authority in your industry. Long-lasting investment Many people overlook link building in favor of search engine marketing (SEM). But while SEM does provide temporary paid exposure in the web, link building is more lasting. These links exist forever, unless you take them down or your social bookmarking sites shut down. You can get referral traffic through these links for as long as they last, which is better for long-term should you not have the budget for constant paid placement on search engine results. Link building may seem tedious due to the restrictions of the Google Penguin algorithm, but it will definitely benefit your brand in the long run. See this instead as an opportunity to create quality content and to link build strategically. Through proper link building practices, you will see a significant impact to your brand’s online presence. Need help with your link building strategy? LeapOut Digital offers digital marketing services such as social media marketing, website development, SEM, and SEO with link building. If you’re looking to outsource for SEO services, get in touch with us now!

Digital marketing has become a business strategy that can no longer be ignored. Technology has rapidly grown and has become a necessity in everyday life. In fact, even traditional businesses have started to adapt digital strategies in order to not get left behind. Therefore, it’s only logical to make it a part of your business game plan. One online marketing strategy you can practice is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is an online marketing strategy that helps your site rank at the top of search engine results. Contrary to what others think, ranking doesn’t happen overnight. SEO takes time and effort. But if done properly, you can expect good and long term results. Now if you’re wondering if ranking is really that important, then yes it is! There are certainly several benefits a site earns for getting on a search engine’s first page. One is that you get visibility, which then increases the number of your new potential stakeholders. This also means that traffic and the engagement rate goes up. Here are the things beginners must keep in mind to get a hold of SEO: Keyword research Using precise keywords can attract traffic, making a site rank higher on search engines. Given the right tools, identifying popular search terms can be easy. The real challenge, however, is determining the type of keywords to use as there are plenty to choose from. Picking one should be dependent on whether it is relevant to your business, doesn’t have too many competition, and has a good amount of searches and existing search volume. Careful use of H1 title tags H1 or Heading One title tags are very tricky to use. Use too few and your site may get unnoticed by a search engine’s crawlers. Use too many and it may be treated as irrelevant content. How is it so powerful? An H1 is one of the first things search engines crawl after the title of a page. This makes it a vital element of a site.  So make sure you effectively use the right amount of H1 title tags in every page of your website. Credible backlinks Backlinks are incoming hyperlinks from another website. It’s one of the most important factors that affects a site’s ranking. A backlink can be likened to a vote—the more you have, the higher you rank. However, this should not be taken lightly as search engines also determine the quality and relevance of the backlinks to your site. Always remember to use only credible sources as your backlinks to ensure your site isn’t deemed untrustworthy by crawlers. Unique and interesting content While backlinks, H1 title tags, and keywords are all important, the most critical part of any SEO campaign is your site’s content. Search engine crawlers have a common goal and that is to provide the most relevant result to queries entered by users. Besides, one of the reasons why your site is visited is because of your online content. Delivering the right information to your target reader makes your site more credible. Being consistent in your published content and its quality attracts more organic traffic, boosts your ideas to users, and can also contribute to a better search engine ranking. Quality content also has a longer shelf life, guaranteeing people will definitely return to your website again . Like social media, if viewers like what they see, they share it more and more, making it noticeable to search engines, which will eventually increase site ranking. Maintaining a website’s content alone demands effort and time, more so when your goal is to be on top of on search engines. Need help with your website? LeapOut Digital offers digital marketing services such as social media marketing, website development, SEM, and SEO. If you’re looking to outsource for SEO services, get in touch with us now!