Link building is a crucial component of SEO, but it can be challenging and time-consuming to scale for enterprise-level sites with hundreds or thousands of pages. How can you create and execute a link building strategy that delivers results without exhausting your resources? Here are some tips to help you scale link building for enterprise-level sites.
Before you start building new links, you need to understand your existing link profile and identify any gaps or opportunities. You can use tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush to analyze your backlinks and see how they compare to your competitors. Look for metrics like domain authority, anchor text, relevance, diversity, and quality. You also want to check for any toxic or spammy links that might harm your rankings and disavow them.
Don't build backlinks. Build UX & Brand. The only valuable links are like applause, it comes after the performance. Focusing on backlinks means you are not focusing on what Google is. The User.
Having worked inside enterprise sites in Australia for most of my 20+ years in SEO, I have found several to have had questionable backlinks obtained by past SEO agencies. For example, one with a UK head office had done a lot of UK-based backlinks. The bulk of the links will be natural, reflecting the business practices of the company. Some companies sponsor sports teams and stadiums, so they will get a lot of links and citations from that sector. If they are a listed companies, some links would be from the finance sector. The gaps are often deep links to individual products, so you can tackle this as a starting point.
You should shift your strategy from merely building backlinks to crafting exceptional User Experience (UX) and elevating your brand. Valuable links are akin to applause – earned after delivering a remarkable performance. Prioritizing backlinks over user-centric practices signals a misalignment with Google's core focus – the User. Direct your efforts towards enhancing user satisfaction and reinforcing your brand presence, and the applause, in the form of valuable links, will naturally follow.
Carefully verify the citations to the site, even just by using the site, inurl, and intitle operators. The best opportunities are hidden behind repeated behaviors by websites that cite information instead of linking. With the right negotiations, mutual benefits can be obtained.
Enterprise-level sites have big budgets this means they must have enough budget to get creative with link building. E.g building tools and valuable resources that attract links and attention, having budget to do digital pr that brings attention and links to said resources. Having budget to use tools that help to scale outreach and automation of outreach emails and follow up emails. Enterprise level companies must support the people responsible for their SEO and not expect them to produce magic out of nothing,
When it comes to link building, it's essential to set clear and realistic goals and KPIs. What do you hope to achieve with your links? How will you measure your success? Common link building goals and KPIs include increasing organic traffic and conversions, improving keyword rankings and visibility, building brand awareness, and establishing relationships and partnerships. It's important to align your goals and KPIs with your overall business objectives and SEO strategy. To ensure that your goals are achievable, use the SMART criteria (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) when defining them.
To scale link building for enterprise-level sites, establish clear goals, KPIs, and a dedicated team. Conduct a comprehensive link audit to understand your current profile. Employ a diversified link-building strategy, focusing on quality over quantity. Utilize link-building tools and continuously monitor and measure progress. Adapt and refine strategies based on data and industry trends.
Clearly defining goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) is fundamental. It allows you to measure the success of your link-building efforts. Goals could include improving organic search rankings, increasing website traffic, or enhancing brand visibility.
A good, modern link building goal would be to use digital PR. This will naturally build links by showcasing newsworthy content in a manner that is accepted and widely adopted by enterprise level companies. A good piece of well thought out PR for original content can do more with limited budget than buying links will ever could.
Managing a large number of pages and finding the most relevant and valuable link opportunities can be a daunting task for enterprise-level sites. To simplify the process, it is best to segment your pages into categories based on content type and topic, keyword difficulty and search volume, conversion rate and revenue potential, as well as linkability and shareability. This way, you can prioritize the pages that have the highest impact on your goals and KPIs, and focus your link building efforts on them. Additionally, tools such as Screaming Frog or Sitebulb can be used to crawl your site and identify any technical issues or missing elements that may hinder your link building performance.
When starting to use digital PR for SEO, it is good to frame the story around the group of pages you are targeting. The purpose of the PR is to drive interest in the newsworthy offering. So, making a large change to a group of pages that a user may find useful can be enough to showcase and grow some backlinks. It is more about having a valuable enough opportunity to build from. Link building historically is high output, minimal reward. If you create good input then the output is extra links from a story getting traction in digital PR. Less spray and pray and more strategic investment.
Segmenting pages and prioritizing targets aligns with a focused approach. Not all pages on a website may require the same level of attention in terms of link building. Prioritizing based on business objectives and the competitiveness of each page can optimize resource allocation.
Content is the foundation of link building, so it’s essential to create and promote high-quality content that attracts and engages your audience and provides value to potential link partners. To do this, you should conduct keyword and competitor research to identify relevant and popular topics, as well as any gaps in the market. You can then use the skyscraper technique to create content that is better, longer, and more comprehensive than your competitors. Additionally, optimize your content for SEO, readability, and user intent. Include visual elements, data, quotes, and case studies to make your content more appealing and credible. Utilize outreach tools such as Pitchbox, BuzzStream, or Mailshake to find and contact relevant and authoritative sites in your niche. Finally, use social media, email marketing, and paid ads to amplify your reach and exposure.
Content creation remains a cornerstone of successful link building. Developing high-quality, relevant, and shareable content attracts natural backlinks. Integrating visual elements, data-driven insights, and engaging storytelling can enhance content appeal.
Instead of solely focusing on creating quality content for link building strategies, I've found it more effective to prioritise creating content that genuinely benefits users, whether they are direct consumers, journalists, editors, or bloggers. This content should be innovative and engaging enough to attract media coverage and should be strategically published and distributed across channels that can maximise its visibility and impact.
Finally, you can scale link building for enterprise-level sites by automating and delegating some of the tasks that are repetitive, tedious, or require specialized skills. You can use tools like Zapier, IFTTT, or Integromat to automate workflows and integrations between different platforms and tools. You can also use tools like Linkody, Linkio, or Link Assistant to automate link tracking, analysis, and reporting. Moreover, you can delegate tasks like content creation, outreach, and link building to your team members or outsource them to freelancers or agencies. By automating and delegating tasks, you can save time, money, and resources and focus on the strategic aspects of link building.
Automation can streamline repetitive tasks, but it's important to use it judiciously. Certain aspects of link building, such as outreach or monitoring, can benefit from automation. However, the personal touch in relationship-building and content creation often requires a human touch.
Never automate link building as it tends to cast a stain on the SEO industry. Here is an example. If you are running a site, would you want to receive hundreds of emails to add links to your site? Probably not and many would ignore it. So, adding more consistency to an already outdated practice isn't a great plan. Don't use automation for this. Hire a professional before you blindly trust a tool or platform to "automatically build links". That doesn't happen. Choose digital PR or a more up to date approach if you want to not nuke your site.
User Experience (UX) and Brand Building: I agree with Jim Stewart's perspective on prioritizing UX and brand building. User satisfaction and brand reputation contribute to long-term success. Competitor Analysis: Stephanie L. rightly suggests leveraging tools to analyze competitor link profiles. This can unveil potential opportunities and gaps in your strategy. Diversification of Link Sources: Apart from guest posting and podcast appearances, diversify your link sources. Building links from a variety of platforms, including industry-specific forums, social media, and niche communities, adds depth to your link profile.