The Importance of Quality Content & Backlinks

Now this may seem perfectly obvious, but if your content isn’t of high enough quality to warrant being shared, then you can’t possibly expect other sites to link back to your website. So produce great unique content and others will want to link to it

Your content needs to be useful, valuable, hard to find elsewhere, and, most importantly, engaging.

The reason this is important is, because if you want your content to stand out from other websites, ChatGPT and Wikipedia, you need to make it engaging.

Engagement comes in a variety ways. Your content could be engaging because its factually useful without waffle, because you’re fun and charismatic, or because your content layout design is unique.

Ideas for creating engaging content

• Making the content engaging – the content has to trigger a measurable response and be impactful in a meaningful way.
• Create with intent – what are you wanting to accomplish
• Make your content uber valuable
• Stay creative – its possible to write great content about boring manufacturing products, but dynamic story telling is required
• Focus on your strengths and passions – that way you will be excited about what your writing and able to make the content personal
• Make the content action oriented – so if your creating content that is well-written, valuable, and clearly informed by a unique perspective it needs. You then need to give your audience something to do, you can’t be surprised when they don’t do anything

Guest posts or guest posting is publishing an article on someone else’s website.

Times have changed dramatically over the last fifteen years and guest blogging is now difficult (though not impossible). Part of the reason why it’s much harder than ever to get featured somewhere as a guest author is because of bad practice by poor SEO practitioners. Many people have dragged the reputation of guest-posting all over the floor just to get a backlink to their site. If you have no authority or you’re not a well known name in your industry. In fact, it’s probably harder than ever to get somebody to take you on as a guest blogger.

Some tips on identifying guest post opportunities.

• Think of a keyword (or a string of them) that you’d like to write about, followed by “guest post.” Your search query should look something like this: <web design Peterborough + “guest post”
• You don’t actually need to create an alert for this particular scenario. What you can do is be aware for which sites are allowing other users to guest post on them
  • Tools such as Ahrefs or Semrush are available but aren’t essential to curate a list of websites that are guest-post friendly.
  • Use hunter.io. if you need to contact the website owner
    • Remember that the key here is always going to be to write great content, whether it’s on your site or someone else’s. Try to approach blog owners with this mindset, and you’re more likely to get a positive response from them.
• Use Google Alerts. We’re going to be using this tool later on again, so make sure you keep it open in a tab.

Interviews are probably the easiest type of backlinks you can get.

You see, when you’re interviewing someone, you’re feeding their ego, and we humans just love this, don’t we?

It should be relatively straightforward to encourage your interviewee to direct some traffic towards your published interview on your site.

Micro influencers are individuals who have a relatively small but engaged and loyal following on social media platforms. Unlike macro influencers who typically have a larger following ( think of the Kardashian’s), micro influencers have a more niche audience and often specialise in a particular topic or industry. For SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) manufacturers, collaborating with micro influencers can be an effective way to reach a targeted audience and build authentic connections.

Here’s how you can find relevant micro influencers for your business:

1. Identify Your Target Audience:
   • Understand your target audience and the platforms they frequent. This will help you determine which social media channels are most relevant for your influencer marketing campaign.
2. Use Social Media Listening Tools:
   • Utilise social media listening tools to monitor conversations and identify individuals who are actively engaging with topics related to your industry or products. Tools like Brandwatch, Mention, or Hootsuite can be helpful.
3. Search Relevant Hashtags:
   • Search for industry-specific hashtags on platforms like Instagram and Twitter. Look for posts that align with your brand and product, and check out the profiles of users who are using those hashtags.
4. Engage in Industry Communities:
   • Join forums, groups, or communities related to your industry. Platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook often have groups where people discuss specific niches. Engage with community members and identify individuals who could be potential micro influencers.
5. Explore Influencer Marketing Platforms:
   • There are platforms designed to connect businesses with influencers. Examples include Traackr, AspireIQ, and Influence.co. These platforms often allow you to search for influencers based on criteria such as industry, location, and follower count.
6. Check Influencer Directories:
   • Some directories list influencers based on their niche or expertise. Examples include GrapeVine, HypeAuditor, and Upfluence.
7. Analyse Engagement Metrics:
   • Look for micro influencers with high engagement rates rather than just focusing on follower count. High engagement suggests that their audience is actively interested and involved in their content.
8. Review Influencer’s Content:
   • Assess the quality and relevance of an influencer’s content. Ensure their style aligns with your brand, and that they have a genuine connection with their audience.
9. Build Relationships:
   • Once you’ve identified potential micro influencers, engage with them organically. Like, comment, and share their content before reaching out for collaboration. Building a relationship helps establish authenticity.
10. Negotiate Collaborations:
    • Reach out to selected influencers and propose collaboration opportunities. Clearly outline your expectations, and discuss compensation or incentives for their involvement.

Remember to choose influencers whose values align with your brand, as authenticity is crucial for a successful influencer marketing campaign.

Understanding Back Link Key Terms

In internet marketing, backlinks play a crucial role in search engine optimisation (SEO). Understanding key terms related to backlinks is important for developing effective SEO strategies. Here are some key terms:

• Backlink (Inbound Link): A backlink is a link from one website to another. When a website A links to a website B, it is considered a backlink for B. Backlinks are essential for SEO, as search engines often use them to assess the authority and relevance of a site.
• Anchor Text: Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. It is important for SEO because search engines use it to understand the context and content of the linked page. Effective anchor text is relevant to the content it’s linking to and provides context for both users and search engines.
• Link Juice: Link juice refers to the value or equity passed from one page or site to another through hyperlinks. When a page with high authority links to another page, it passes some of its “juice” to the linked page, which can positively impact its SEO performance.
• NoFollow Link: A nofollow link is a hyperlink that has a rel=”nofollow” attribute added to it. This tag tells search engines not to pass authority or influence from one page to the linked page. Nofollow links are often used in situations where the site owner doesn’t want to endorse or vouch for the linked content.
• DoFollow Link: A dofollow link is a standard hyperlink without a nofollow attribute. Dofollow links pass authority and contribute to the linked page’s SEO. Most links are dofollow by default unless specifically marked as nofollow.
• Link Building: Link building is the process of acquiring backlinks from other websites to improve a site’s search engine ranking. It involves various strategies, such as outreach, content creation, and relationship building, to attract quality links.
• Internal Link: An internal link is a hyperlink that points to another page on the same website. Internal linking is important for SEO as it helps search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of a site, and it distributes page authority throughout the website.
• External Link: An external link, also known as an outbound link, is a hyperlink that points from one website to another. External links are important for providing additional information, citing sources, and building relationships with other websites.

Understanding these key terms is essential for anyone involved in internet marketing, as they form the foundation of a successful SEO strategy.