Running a link building strategy for a B2B company can sound like hard work. Without the ‘glamour factor’ of B2C products, it is easy to imagine that it will be impossible develop fruitful outreach opportunities. But while it is true that fewer bloggers will get excited about innovations in organic waste disposal than the latest smart watch, those that do are very valuable. Coupled with the fact that competition for coverage is typically lower in B2B outlets, success rates for good content are frequently higher.
With that in mind, here’s some simple B2B link building strategies to get you started.
Research the competition
As with almost every corporate strategy, understanding what your competitors are doing is essential. If a rival has better performance on the result pages, but doesn’t appear to be doing anything different with on-page SEO, there is a good chance that they have invested in developing a stronger backlink profile.
To explore this, free tools such as Open Site Explorer [http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/] are an excellent starting point. Enter a competitor’s website URL and set the filter for ‘external links’. This will allow you to see all the inbound links going to the site, highlighting potential opportunities for your own outreach efforts. Viewing a competitor’s backlink profile in this way can often spark inspiration, leading you to consider new targets and ideas.
Think of your verticals
Notice some surprising sites linking to your competitors that fall outside of their regular remit? Considering your vertical markets for link building opens up a whole array of targets to approach. Insulation specialists can look to expand into the green-living sector; concrete manufacturers can approach engineering companies and so on. Thinking beyond the realms of your trade, into the broader industry, can present countless new link building opportunities.
Use your network
Chances are that as a B2B company, you will have a strong network around you. Take time to explore your contacts and those of your colleagues. If you spot any relationships where endorsements may be mutually beneficial, it should be easy enough to get in touch the other party and politely ask for a link on their page.
Also, be on the look out for sites that mention your company. Searching for your company name and products can reveal reviews, recommendations, comparisons and more. If a link hasn’t been included in the article, drop the webmaster a line and ask if they’d mind.
Extra tip, Google image search is a great place to find mentions of your products.
Keep a note of the trends
All companies should be keeping on top of the latest news and trends. This opens up the opportunity for ‘newsjacking’ – an old PR trick of adding new information or ideas into a breaking news story in order to attract attention to your company.
From a link-building point of view, this practice can be very lucrative (assuming you have something worthwhile to add). If the ideas you introduce contribute and better inform the story and your businesses opinion is relevant to the news, the potential for acquiring a natural link from high-authority publication greatly increases.
Having a solid, natural backlink profile that stems from multiples sources is key to improving your position on the search engine result pages (SERPs). Implementing these strategies should provide a strong starting point as you out-manoeuvre your competitors in the quest for the coveted top spot.
By David MacRae, Search Analyst at QueryClick.
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