Link building is an essential aspect of search engine optimization (SEO) and offers several benefits for eCommerce websites.

The actual process of link mapping and sourcing high-quality backlinks can be tough, however. In this guide, I will shed some light on the importance of building links in SEO and how you as a merchant can start properly link-building today!

The Benefits of Link-Building For SEO

Building links is what many would consider to be “common sense” SEO advice. You just do it.

But why?

The easiest way to answer this is by looking at the foundation of the Google search results.

Links power the Internet, and by proxy, the Google SERPs.

How websites link to one another is what provides us with the context as to what they are for and how well these sites can be trusted.

A blog that links out to a pet supply store, with anchor text that says “I love these dog toys!” provides Google, and the user, with important context. Link juice is passed from one site to another based on how optimized and relevant the site is, and what links are pointed to it.

Links are in a sense the skeleton of any SEO effort. Hence the idea of link mapping: the process of plotting out the different links you use in order to provide maximum clarity to users and the Google crawlers.

Here are some of the specific SEO benefits of link building:

• Improved Search Engine Rankings: Links from authoritative and relevant websites act as “votes of confidence” for your website. When search engines see that your website has quality backlinks, they consider it as a signal of credibility and authority. As a result, your website’s rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) can improve.
• Increased Organic Traffic: Quality backlinks can drive referral traffic to your website. When other websites link to your content, their visitors may click on those links and land on your website, thereby increasing your organic traffic. This influx of relevant visitors can lead to higher conversions and business opportunities.
• Enhanced Crawling and Indexing: Search engines use web crawlers to discover and index web pages. Backlinks help search engine crawlers find your website and its pages more easily. If your site has strong backlinks from authoritative sources, search engines are more likely to crawl and index your pages quickly, ensuring they appear in search results promptly.
• Expanded Online Presence and Brand Exposure: Link building exposes your website to a broader audience. When your content is linked on reputable websites, it increases your online visibility, brand exposure, and recognition. This exposure can lead to increased brand awareness and trust, as well as potential collaborations and partnerships.
• Building Domain Authority: Domain authority is a search engine ranking score that predicts how well a website will perform in SERPs. Backlinks from high-authority websites can positively impact your domain authority, signaling to search engines that your website is reliable, informative, and valuable. As your domain authority increases, it becomes easier to rank for competitive keywords and establish a stronger online presence.
• Increased Social Sharing and Engagement: When your website has quality content and relevant backlinks, it becomes more shareable. Users are more likely to share and engage with content that provides value and is referenced by trusted sources. Social media shares, likes, and comments can indirectly influence your SEO efforts by driving traffic and attracting further backlinks.

How to Build Internal Links

There are two types of links: internal and external, often referred to as backlinks.

Internal links, by and large, are much easier to build. These are the links that are actually on your website that refer users to other pages. You, as the website owner, are in full control of these links, which is what makes them so easy to add.

However, that doesn’t mean building internal links is “easy” from a strategic standpoint.

Arguably, this part of SEO and link building gets ignored more so than backlinks, which I feel more people understand conceptually.

Here is a quick primer on how to build internal links for your eCommerce website:

Understand Your Website Structure: Familiarize yourself with the structure and hierarchy of your website. Identify important pages, cornerstone content, and supporting pages. This understanding will help you determine where internal links can be strategically placed.

Identify Relevant Anchor Text: Anchor text is the clickable text that contains the hyperlink. Choose anchor text that accurately describes the destination page and incorporates relevant keywords. It should provide users and search engines with a clear context about the linked page’s content, and doesn’t always have to use the exact text of a keyword.

Prioritize User Experience: Internal links should be intuitive and provide value to users. Ensure that they enhance the user experience by guiding visitors to related and useful content. Consider the user’s journey and offer logical pathways that make it easier for them to navigate your website and find relevant information.

Link to Relevant and Related Content: When placing internal links, aim to connect pages that are topically related. Linking to relevant content helps search engines understand the context of your website and improves user engagement. It also helps distribute authority and ranking potential across different pages.

Use Descriptive and SEO-Friendly URLs: When creating internal links, use descriptive and SEO-friendly URLs for the target pages. A clean and meaningful URL structure makes it easier for search engines to understand the content and keywords associated with the linked page.

Vary Anchor Text and Link Placement: To avoid repetitive or unnatural linking patterns, use a variety of anchor text and link placement. This diversity not only improves user experience but also provides a more organic and natural link profile.

Leverage Your Content: Take advantage of your existing content to create internal linking opportunities. Look for opportunities to link to relevant supporting articles, blog posts, or product pages within your content. Additionally, update older content to include links to newer relevant articles, and vice versa.

Use Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs are a navigational aid that shows users the hierarchical structure of a website and their current location within it. Implement breadcrumbs on your website to enhance user experience and provide internal linking opportunities.

Optimize Your Navigation: Ensure that your website’s navigation is intuitive and well-organized. Use drop-down menus, sidebars, and footer menus to facilitate easy access to different sections and pages of your website. This not only helps users but also provides more internal linking opportunities.

Once you internalize the strategy you want to go with and are ready to optimize your website for internal linking, the only real hurdle is the actual process! It can take a lot of time to actually manually sift through your website in order to uncover and then implement internal linking opportunities.

This is one task that is often left up to expert eCommerce SEO agencies because not only is it a strategic process, it’s a time intensive one.

How to Get High-Quality Backlinks

Backlinking is more of a straightforward and easy to understand process, but it requires a lot more work to do it right.

When you get down to it, there really are only two viable kinds of backlinks: the ones you perform outreach for and the ones that appear organically because your content is just that good.

Within these two categories of backlinks there are a wide variety of different possibilities. What you don’t want to do is buy one of those scammy link building packages on sites like Fiverr that promise hundreds of backlinks for a hundred dollars. Good-quality backlinks take time and commitment to build – Google can see if you acquire a bunch of low quality links all at once and you can get severely penalized for it.

Let’s take a look at some of the specific ways you can backlink for better eCommerce SEO:

Create High-Quality Content: Start by creating valuable and compelling content that others will naturally want to link to. Produce content that offers unique insights, solves problems, provides valuable information, or offers entertaining and engaging experiences. This includes resources such as ebooks, case studies, and infographics as well as blogs and high-quality product FAQs. Quality content is more likely to attract backlinks from other websites.

Perform Competitor Analysis: Identify your competitors and analyze their backlink profiles. Look for websites that are linking to your competitors but not to your site. This analysis can provide insights into potential opportunities for acquiring similar backlinks. Tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush can assist in analyzing competitor backlinks.

Develop a Link Building Strategy: Create a structured plan for acquiring backlinks. Determine your target audience, identify relevant websites within your niche, and establish goals for acquiring backlinks. Define the types of backlinks you want to target, such as guest posts, resource page links, or mentions from influencers.

Outreach and Relationship Building: Reach out to website owners, bloggers, influencers, and industry experts to establish relationships and pitch your content for backlink opportunities. Personalize your outreach emails, highlighting why your content is valuable to their audience and how it can complement their existing content.

Guest Blogging: Guest blogging involves writing and publishing articles on other websites within your industry. Find authoritative websites that accept guest posts and offer to contribute high-quality content. In your guest posts, include relevant links back to your own website. This helps build credibility and generates backlinks.

Broken Link Building: Identify websites within your niche that have broken or outdated links. Reach out to the website owner or webmaster and notify them about the broken link. Offer your own relevant content as a replacement, and suggest they consider linking to your resource instead. Tools like Check My Links or Ahrefs can assist in finding broken links.

Participate in Industry Communities: Engage with online communities and forums relevant to your industry. Contribute valuable insights, answer questions, and provide helpful resources. As you establish yourself as an authoritative and knowledgeable contributor, you may attract backlinks from other community members.

Social Media Promotion: Share your content on social media platforms to increase its visibility and reach. If your content is valuable and engaging, it may get shared by others, leading to natural backlinks. Actively engage with your social media audience and build relationships with influencers who can help amplify your content.

The most natural way of building backlinks is to simply write outstanding and useful content and prioritize offering high-quality products that people will naturally want to link to on social media and in their own blogs.

Easier said than done however. This strategy would be very slow going, which is why eCommerce SEO agencies often rely on their content network and the relationships they have established for years, in order to provide high-quality backlinks to clients.

Take Your Link-Building to the Next Level

In order to rank well, you need to take your link-building seriously.

However, it’s clear based on everything above that building links is a heavy lift.

The benefits of the boost in organic traffic you can get from a quality link-building strategy is well worth it however.

eCommerce SEO agencies like ours specialize in these specific link-building efforts in our SEO campaigns. If you want to really amplify your organic reach and traffic, this approach can be incredibly helpful. Contact us today or take our free SEO audit to get started!

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