8 White Hat SEO Link Building Tactics to Grow Your Business

Intro

To grow a business, it's important to have a strong online presence. One of the best ways to achieve this is through white hat SEO link-building tactics.

In this blog post, we discuss 8 white hat SEO link-building tactics that you can use to improve your search engine ranking, boost traffic to your website, and grow your business. These tactics are safe and effective, so you can rest assured that they will not get your website penalized by Google.

Let's get started!

What is White Hat SEO?

Before we get into the link-building tactics, we first need to understand what white hat SEO is. White hat SEO consists of practices designed to grow organic traffic. They aim to improve the overall experience and the value users get from your website. These tactics are in line with the guidelines set by search engines like Google and don't try to game the system to get a higher ranking.

In contrast, black hat SEO tactics are those that are used to artificially inflate a website's ranking. This can be done through things like keyword stuffing, cloaking, and building links from private link networks. While these tactics may work in the short term, they eventually get your website penalized by Google and result in loss of traffic.

When done correctly, link building is a white hat SEO tactic that expedites your business growth, thanks to the following outcomes:

• Increased website rankings on SERPs
• Higher organic traffic
• Enhanced user experience
• A more comprehensive user experience
• Higher-quality content
• More robust business relationships and networks
• Discovering new or better revenue opportunities

However, link building takes a lot of effort. It requires research, strategic plans, a great writer, optimized web design, and a lot of time and patience. In fact, 65% of digital marketers think that link building is the hardest part of SEO.

To make your overall SEO strategy easier to implement, we combined 8 white hat link tactics designed to grow your business.

8 White Hat SEO Link Building Tactics to Implement

Before you go ahead and implement the following tactics, start by auditing what’s working for your competitors and where you currently stand.

Ranktracker's Backlink Checker is a great tool that helps you compile a list of backlinks your competitors have as well as the backlink numbers and their effect on ranking. This helps you target your efforts and focus on the links that will be most beneficial for your website.

Once you have this initial analysis, apply any of the following white hat SEO link-building tactics to help grow your page authority.

#1 Site Mentions

Anytime a credible website mentions your site, it's an opportunity for link building—even if there is no link included. These are called site mentions. You can use Google Alerts to track whenever your brand name or website URL is mentioned online so you don't miss any opportunities.

To find out which of these mentions are not already backlinks, do a Google search using the following search query:

site:yourdomain.com ‘your brand name’

or

site:yourdomain.com ‘your name’

Google returns all of the current sites that mention you or your brand. Click through them manually to check if the mentions link back to your website. If they don't, reach out to the website owner and ask for a link.

This is great because it’s simple to do and usually yields great results. As you're already mentioned by the site owner, you're more likely to get backlinks and build your business network. At the same time, it’s free and provides long-lasting results.

#2 Guest Posts

Guest posting is one of the most reliable ways to get high-quality backlinks. By contributing an article to another website in your industry, you show that you're an expert on the subject and help build trust with potential customers. It helps establish your brand as a subject matter expert and motivates you to grow and expand your network. This not only improves your rankings, but it also strengthens your brand and your business.

Here's a quick strategy for link-building through guest posting:

1. Find networks or publications in your field that welcome high-quality guest posts. Look for sites in similar niches or industries and monitor your social channels for opportunities to guest post or contribute to expert roundup articles.
2. Reach out and pitch guest post topic ideas. Make sure the ideas you are pitching reflect your expertise and the content needs of the website's audience.
3. Highlight how they can benefit from your guest post. These include free, value-packed, and high-quality content for their audience, insights from a professional in the field, and access to your audience when you share the published guest post with your network.

Make sure to deliver on your promises! Guest posting is a great way to get your name and your work out there in front of a new audience. You can also work with a marketing agency to efficiently find high-authority websites and develop a strong content and link-building strategy.

#3 Reviews for Links

Another link-building tactic that's great for business growth is requesting links from websites that review your products and services. Apart from building up your backlink portfolio, this is a great way to drive referral traffic and sales.

While it sounds fairly simple and straightforward, it can be time-consuming to find and coordinate with potential link partners. In some instances, people may ask for a commission if you receive sales from their backlink, which is how affiliate marketing works.

However, if you take the time to research your audience's top influencers and develop an outreach strategy, this is a great way to get exposure and build trust for your business and increase brand recognition and sales.

#4 Public Relations Strategy

Working with a public relations firm helps you optimize external communication and expand your connections outside of your immediate network, which is good for encouraging natural backlinks and developing a holistic long-term marketing strategy.

PR firms typically have a network of contacts in different industries that they can reach out to on your behalf. They help you get featured in publications, grow your social media following, and get backlinks from high-authority websites. This allows you to tap into new markets and generate exposure and revenue for your business.

Working with a PR firm is an investment, but it's one that can pay off in the long run. If you're serious about growing your business, then a PR firm can help you achieve your goals.

#5 Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

If you want quicker results than what a PR agency can deliver, check out Help a Reporter Out (HARO).

HARO is a free service that connects journalists with sources for their stories. You can sign up to receive regular emails with queries from reporters. When you see a query that's relevant to your business or personal expertise, you can respond with a pitch and provide a quote or expert insights. If the journalist decides to use your quote, they will include a backlink to your website.

This is a great way to get quick exposure for your business and build up your backlink portfolio. It's also a good way to establish yourself as an expert in your field.

While HARO is a great tool for link building, it's important to remember that you're not guaranteed a backlink. Make sure that your pitch is relevant and interesting to the journalist. If it is, then you have a good chance of getting featured in their article.

#6 Social Media

If you're not already active on social media, it's time to start.

Social media is a great way to connect and engage with your target audience and build meaningful relationships. This helps you build trust and credibility, which leads to natural backlinks over time.

To get the most out of social media, make sure that you're active on the platforms where your ideal audience is most likely to be. Engage with other users, share your content, and follow people in your industry. These activities not only help you with link building, but they also increase brand awareness and sales.

#7 Infographics and the Creation of ‘Linkable’ Assets

If you want to increase your chances of having your content shared across different sites, create infographics and other ‘linkable’ assets.

Everyone loves infographics! It presents complex data in an easily digestible format that is visually appealing, engaging, and memorable. This helps you get exposure and build relationships with other websites.

Another great way to get exposure and links is by creating other ‘linkable’ assets such as eBooks, cheat sheets, and templates. These assets are often shared by other websites and can help you build links naturally.

Creating infographics and linkable assets adds significantly to your content creation workflow, but it's worth it because they are so effective. To get great results, make sure to:

• Work with a designer to create high-quality visuals
• Allow for more time when creating these assets
• Make sure the content is valuable and relevant to your target audience

Creating infographics and other linkable assets is a great way to build links and increase brand awareness. By following the tips above, you can create assets that help you achieve your marketing goals.

#8 Directories and Business Listings

Submitting your website to relevant directories and business listings helps you build links, increase brand awareness, and get traffic from people who are looking for businesses like yours.

Picking the right directories and business listings is essential to ensure you're using this tactic as a white hat SEO link-building strategy. Don't choose any directories that give links to anyone who asks. This does not result in high-authority links.

Instead, find directories that are relevant, industry-specific, used by your target audience, or competitive. Examples of good directory and business listings include:

• Clutch.co, Yelp
• Local chambers of commerce
• Local accreditation bodies
• Other local organizations with active members

Remember to use this tactic in addition to the other backlink strategies we discussed. Using this one as a stand-alone tactic won't have a substantial impact on your overall ranking.

Final Thoughts

Follow the tips we shared and start building links that help you achieve your marketing and business goals. Implementing a white hat SEO link-building strategy may require more time and effort than other tactics, but it's worth it because you'll see long-term results.

Remember to use Ranktracker’s backlink checker in your initial analysis, then use a couple of white hat SEO link-building tactics that are most relevant and applicable to your business.

To further streamline your link-building efforts and ensure that your strategy is future-proof, book a discovery call with our link-building and holistic content marketing experts.

What are your thoughts on white hat SEO link building? Let us know in the comments below!

About the author

Adriana Stein is the Founder and CEO of AS Marketing, an agency that specializes in creating holistic online marketing strategies for B2B and B2C companies worldwide. Adriana and her multilingual and multicultural team specialize in developing strategies that incorporate various techniques like native-speaker level SEO, LinkedIn content marketing, and marketing automation. She has also shared SEO content marketing guides on Moz and Hubspot. Follow her on LinkedIn for more tips on how to take your online presence to the next level.