Links and SEO: How Do They Work?

February 9, 2017
Global Network

At Beyond Private Label, we work hard to make sure that your clients’ websites are written and designed with SEO in mind. We want their websites to appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) so that they can generate clicks and revenue. There is an area of SEO that our copywriters and developers do not fully control, but that can be quite helpful to SEO: links.

There are two types of links on websites. Internal links, or links that connect the pages of a website to each other. This allows the “Home” page to connect to the “About Us” page and back again. It’s all hosted on the same domain. These serve as the framework of the website. External links, on the other hand, are any links that connect to websites that don’t belong to you. For instance, if we were to link to a Moz blog about link building, that would be an external link because it takes you from the BPL website to Moz’s website.

The number of trusted external links your clients can acquire for their website – links to their website pages from legitimate sources – the higher they can rank in SERPs. These external links are a place where BPL can’t directly influence clients. However, we’ve done all the prep work for the site and their website is probably already ranking pretty well. This means that a nudge in the right direction can take their site from ranking third on Google result to number one.

Talking to your clients about getting a few quality external links (also known as backlinks) can really establish your credibility when it comes to SEO. There are some simple steps that they can take to gain some backlinks for their new website. Here’s a short guide to familiarize yourself with some of these methods:

  1. Network with friends, families, and employees

This can be as simple as a Facebook post, email, or text message. Simply ask that anyone who might have their own website link to the client’s site in a way that is natural (forcing a link can cause their site to be penalized by Google).

  1. Talk to vendors, partners, and directories

Having a supplier, or partner, link to your client’s website can be beneficial for a variety of reasons. It can increase clicks, establish credibility, and give a meaningful, trusted link for SEO purposes. For directories, find ones that actually relate to the business. This may mean searching a competitor’s phone number to see what directories they are in. This is a great first step for a small business owner to take once their website is live!

  1. Unclaimed links

Often the business has mentions on the web in news articles and other places. A cursory search can find some of these mentions. There are other tools for finding these mentions that can be used for more advanced results (See Here and Here). A simple email that says “Thanks for the mention, could you please link to our site?” can have big results for linking.

  1. Create great content

If your client has a blog on their website, updating it regularly with quality content can help SEO organically. However, if it catches the eye of someone and they link to it, that can double the effectiveness of the content!

A word of warning on links: make sure they are natural. If someone has to hide a link on their page, or pay for a link, it can lead to an SEO penalty more often than not. Remember that your client is looking for trusted backlinks. Mention a step or two on your next sales call and help them get the most out of their BPL custom website.

Have questions about links or SEO? Give our SEO experts a call at 1 (800) 900-0413.

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