Top 10 White Hat SEO Link Building Strategies by Experts
“White Hat SEO Link Building is the strategy of strategically placing your backlinks in high authority sites. The number of high quality links you have, the more Google views you as a high authority site. Results? Increased Domain Authority, Domain Rankings, SERPs, and Traffic.”
Table Of Content
The Meaning of White Hat SEO Link Building
There are ways of doing link building, and then there are ways of doing link building.
The first way is usually the short one, fraught with dangers, but guarantees quick results. The second way is the longer, tougher one, and results come quite late.
However, once you take the longer and more difficult route, you will build a solid foundation. This will hold your site in good health for many years to come.
The first route has the infamous label of ‘Black Hat SEO Link Building’. The second one is ‘White Hat SEO Link Building.’
Everyone in the industry regardless of how big the brand is has engaged with Black Hat SEO Link Building at some point or the other. However, all this changed post-2014.
Google came down hard on individuals and companies engaging in Black Hat SEO Link Building.
“So stick a fork in it: guest blogging is done; it’s just gotten too spammy” (2014)
- Matt Cutts, Google WebSpam Team.
This literally forced many to abandon Black Hat SEO Link Building and move to White Hat SEO Link Building.
White Hat SEO Link Building is a digital marketing strategy. It simply means placing your backlinks in high authority sites (High DA, DR, SERPS, Traffic, etc.). When people click on those links and come to your site, it increases your authority.
Google starts viewing the information on your site as informative, educational, and genuine. White Hat SEO Link Building is a natural, organic, and authentic way of link building. When you pursue this, Google does not stand a chance of reprimanding you at any time.
How Google Interprets Link Building?
To understand this question, it is best that we start with what Google is, and what it strives to be.
Google aims to the best most informative search engine in the world, period. It also wants to be the most authentic, genuine, and organic channel of disseminating information. Given these two aims, it found the spammy practice of black hat link building against its ideals.
For a long time, there was this tussle, between whose interests does Google really represent? Is it the people, or is it the brands?
In its bid to increase revenues, Google overlooked some negative practices that were being done by brands, clients, and companies.
After all, at the end of the day, Google needs revenues and lots of it. However, in the last couple of years, there has been a serious shift towards people-centric policies.
Million-dollar lawsuits that the company faces in different continents might be one reason. Countries have started accusing Google of manipulating consumer interests and influencing decisions.
To return to its roots, Google struck down heavily on Black Hat Link Building Tactics. This, in turn, led to the demise of Private Blog Networks and Link Directories.
In many ways, this was a welcome move, one that was appreciated by many in the digital industry.
Now people had to work to get high-quality links. This meant great original long-format content, proper keyword strategies, and building relationships.
In a nutshell, White Hat SEO Link Building became the order of the day. With White Hat SEO Link Building, you will never incur Google’s wrath of-
- Decreasing metrics
- Lesser SERPs
- De-indexing.
Top 10 White Hat SEO Link Building Strategies
I hope the last two sections have been able to clear some air regarding authentic White Hat SEO Link Building. Without further ado, let us discuss some of the top strategies for link building by experts.
1. Create Quality Content
This point is even more relevant today than it ever was. I always let out a smirk when anyone mentioned ‘Content is King’. After nearly ten years in the industry, I guess the jokes on me.
Great content is the foundation of any White Hat SEO Link Building strategy. You need to have content that is-
- 100% Original
- Free of Grammar mistakes
- SEO Friendly
- Informative
- Fun, Exciting, and Informal
- Novel and Innovative
No one is going to click on your link if the content does not win over him or her first. Stellar content increases your chances monumentally.
Long format content is the key. However, you should not concentrate only on blog topics. Your content strategy should have-
- Infographics
- Skyscraper Content
- Resource Guides
- E-Books
2. Multiple Avenues of Sharing Content
Bloggers and brands, even the best ones, often make the elementary mistake of pushing for just one space. In other words, one great piece of content is placed in one location.
You need to make your content discoverable at all times. Social media is a great way of sharing your article and linking it back.
Suppose you have created one great content piece of 3000+ words. Are you going to sit on it? I do not think you should.
You should look for similar information (like your article) on sites such as-
You will find exact or similar discussion threads already. Rephrase your introduction, and mention it in the thread.
As you are about to end your article, mention the full article link. You will be surprised to see the number of people who click on the same and visit your website.
Do not place all your eggs in one basket!
3. Guest Posting
In my personal opinion, Guest Posting is still the number one White Hat SEO Link Building strategy.
Most reputed blogs will accept guest post entries if
- The content is good. Again, great content is the key.
- You are able to build relationships.
- There is a new idea that the site lacks.
- You do not have more than one or two backlink requests.
Do not make the error of writing only to high authority sites. They are quite difficult to crack.
You should always start guest posting with sites where the DA ranges from 10-20. Do not, stop there; move on to a better performing one in some time.
Guest posting or guest blogging will help build your network in a community. Once you are able to establish that, you will find acceptance on several websites as a guest blogger.
You need to remember that guest posting is a two-way street. You should always allow good guest posts on your site. They help build relationships and networks.
4. Broken Link Building
There is some confusion regarding this as being a White Hat SEO Link Building strategy. However, Google has not come out with any info on broken link building as a strict no.
There are millions of sites and billions of pages on the internet. Every day, thousands of pages are lost and links break.
If you invest time, energy, and email effort into finding broken links, you have hit a goldmine. The key is to find broken links and email the site owner.
You will offer-
- To add content to his site
- Improve the health of the site
- Pointing out the broken links on the website (broken links = bad website health)
- Build a long relationship
- Help him gain traffic
What you will want-
- Your backlinks to be placed in-content
- Steady and long relationship
- Social Sharing facilities
- Internal link building
In my experience, I have not seen opposition to these terms from a majority of site owners. If you are offering to help them out, they will readily accept your proposition.
5. Internal Link Building
People forget that internal link building is as important as external link building. Internal link building is a White Hat SEO Link Building strategy.
If there is any confusion on what internal links are, now is a good time to clear the air.
Internal links are those links that go to different pages inside your website. Most commonly, internal links are used to link similar blogs or topics over a period. In other words, a newer blog uses the link of an older one on a similar subject.
Internal link building can also help you link your service page to the blog section of your website.
Google and other search engines view internal links as just links. The more clicks on them, the better is Google’s confidence in your site.
Internal links serve a lot of purposes like-
- Give a visibility boost to older content on your site
- Strive to build your credibility
- Funnel specific targeted traffic on particular pages
6. Affiliation Links or Link Exchanges
There may be some outcry regarding this being a White Hat SEO Link Building strategy. However, in my experience, this is a perfect White Hat strategy.
This does not expose you to any dangers of the Black Hat Link Building at all. People on the internet might scare you. I have never seen anyone suffering because of high authority affiliation links.
This is not an easy strategy and requires a lot of time, energy, and effort on your part. It is a long drawn process.
Link exchanges involve-
- Finding sites with similar metrics as yours.
- Building a relationship over a period
- Guest Posting on each other’s sites
- Building and networking to create a community
- Social Media Sharing
I have seen 20 bloggers build a strong inter-linked community in less than a year. They were able to use group resources to grow their websites and revenues simultaneously.
7. Commenting on Authority Blogs
Make no mistake; if you want to be seen and heard, you need to start commenting on industry leaders.
Many people think of this as a lowly practice, and beneath their station. First off, we need to shed all inhibition if we want to succeed. Do not post one-sentence comments. That is not going to help you.
You need to write something that is engaging, authoritative, and novel. If your comment is great, blog owners would want to share them.
For them, it is beneficial as it means that visitors can see that there is engagement on their site. For you, it is great because-
- You can place links in the comments section
- Your credibility as a subject expert grows
- You strike a conversation with the blog owner
- You can sow the seeds of a great relationship
Please do not spam the blog site owner. You only get one shot at this; you need to do it in a smart way.
8. Use Business Listings Strategically
This is something that no blog article on White Hat SEO Link Building strategy is going to tell you.
Insider Tip: Google My Business has completely reinvented itself. Google is actively promoting its business listings organically. All you need is to maintain a proper profile and add posts to it regularly. Yes, Posts!
Like Google My Business, you can find B2B Marketplaces that list local businesses. You can place your website links.
The more clicks you get, the better is your visibility and credibility in the eyes of Google.
You can post Business Listings on-
- Google My Business
- Yelp
- Trip Advisor
- Bing
- Yellow Pages
- Country-specific sites
Listing your website on business listings is free, guarantees exposure, and helps get clicks. Ever since Google Plus has shut down, Google is looking for avenues to use it in newer ways.
9. Video Content is the Future
Video is the future of content unless it is going to be replaced by virtual or augmented reality. For now, video is the best form of consuming content, according to thousands of studies.
As more and more people are moving towards consuming video content, creating the White Hat SEO Link Building strategy through YouTube is becoming popular.
If you are a blog site owner or brand, you need to invest in a YouTube channel.
You can place your backlinks in the comments section of a particular video (yes you can do that!). You can also put in a link in the description section.
This will lead audiences interested in the video to follow the links and lead to the desired webpage.
Giving social links to the blog’s website, for example, is becoming a sure way to get people to follow you on social media.
10. The Final Magic Strategy
Unfortunately, there is no secret sauce to the White Hat SEO Link Building strategy.
If there is anything closely related to magic, it is patience. Unless you are patient, the White Hat SEO Link Building strategy is not for you.
Even after you religiously follow the above nine points, you will have to be patient for the results to show.
What I can promise is that the White Hat SEO Link Building strategy will guarantee results. If you ask me about the time, it depends on which approach point you are talking about.
Some of the results will start showing in a month, but the others might take six months.
You need to do all of them simultaneously for at least six months in full swing.
White Hat SEO Link Building Strategy: The Final Word
White Hat SEO Link Building strategy needs time, effort, and investment. However, once you start believing that this is the only way, you will not feel the strain.
Many of your friends might still be using black hat strategies and experiencing great gains. Trust me that is not going to last for very long.
As Google strives to make the web more and more organic, it will weed out these infestations. You will be the one laughing all the way to the bank then.
I am constantly trying to learn more about White Hat SEO Link Building strategies. If you think you can add some value, please drop some words of wisdom in the comments section.
Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] for information on link building.
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