Building a Diverse Link Portfolio
Digital content marketing is an ever-evolving field, and keeping up with the latest trends and strategies can oftentimes seem overwhelming. Techniques that worked well in the not-so-distant past are constantly being revised in response to new policies and search algorithms. In recent years, Google has placed a much stronger emphasis on user experience (UX) in determining organic search rankings, and the industry approach to both SEO and the creation and placement of high-quality links has undergone significant changes as a result. Gone are the days of the spammy link farm; instead, the health and visibility of your website now depends on a robust, up-to-date SEO strategy and the cultivation of a diverse, high-quality linking portfolio.
In a previous blog entry, the digital marketing specialists at Rosemont Media provided a list of link building tips you need to know to optimize your search engine rankings and ensure that your website is not being penalized for spammy, low-quality linking. Once you or your webmaster have audited and updated your existing linking profile, the next step is to cultivate high-quality backlinks that drive traffic to your website and patients to your practice.
What Is Link Diversity and Why Is It Important?
A backlink is obtained when another website includes a link back to a page on your website. Link diversity refers to the range of different web sources from which high-quality backlinks can be obtained. Backlinks can be an excellent way to boost your off-page SEO and drive traffic to your website. However, where these links are coming from can determine just how much impact they have on your Google search rankings. While quality backlinks from any source will rarely harm your website, frequent links from the same few sources have significantly less impact than the occasional backlink from a new source. The algorithmic rationale seems to be that the broader of a reach your content has, the more relevant your website is likely to be to a broader range of people. If other websites find your content worth linking to, then Google can consider it as a sort of peer-review, increasing your domain authority and improving your search rankings.
How Do I Obtain More Backlinks, and What Sources Should I Be Targeting?
It is important to keep in mind that the quantity of backlinks you earn is not the end-all be-all of SEO or visibility. Relevance and quality will always trump quantity when it comes to linking.
So where should you focus your efforts? The following tips represent some simple ways to build your linking profile:
- Use business directories to your advantage. Creating profiles on reputable directory websites can help increase your practice’s visibility while also increasing your backlinking opportunities. Google My Business can also be an important directory for making your contact information more accessible.
- Capitalize on your professional memberships and industry organizations. We recommend making profiles on relevant industry websites, such as those run by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons or the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Not only do these sources have high domain authority on Google, they also provide an additional directory resource for prospective patients!
- Press releases can expand the reach of your practice. Not only do press release distribution sites provide backlinks of their own, but they can also expand the reach of your practice and earn you additional linking opportunities if the story gets picked up.
- Don’t forget about social media! In addition to having profiles on sites like Facebook and Instagram, establishing a presence on industry-specific websites can help you manage your online reputation and boost traffic to your practice.
What Makes Something “Link-Worthy”?
An important and oft-neglected part of a good linking strategy is ensuring that the content you have on your website is worthwhile to any potential visitors. It is great to have good search rankings and a robust network of backlinks driving traffic to your website, but conversions will rely on you presenting meaningful, relevant information. Think of linking as the big, showy banner that you hang outside in order to attract visitors, whereas your website is the actual sales pitch. This is the essential failure of link-farms and other spammy linking strategies: they may have once been able to temporarily boost your visibility or drive traffic, but if the people clicking are not prospective clients and the link sources have low domain authority, then the actual value of those links is minimal from both an SEO and conversion standpoint. Instead, it is important to attract attention and earn backlinks from relevant sources that are attuned to your target audience.
So how do you make your content link-worthy?
- Write or invest in high-quality, custom website content. This ensures that visitors are accessing information that is not only hyper-relevant, but also authoritative and stylistically appealing.
- Write blogs and consider providing more “niche” content. It can also be beneficial to invest in content that isn’t as widely searched. Having unique content is a good way to improve rankings for more specific searches, and it can sometimes even earn you additional backlinks or a zero-click search as a sought-after “featured snippet” on Google.
- Videos, before-and-after content, and infographics are immensely shareable. Engaging, informative visual content is easily shareable across a wide range of platforms, and it can help boost your web authority, spread brand awareness, and earn you backlinks.
Let Rosemont Media Help
The experts at Rosemont Media are here to help you tackle the oftentimes intimidating realm of modern digital marketing. Whether you are interested in responsive website design, SEO strategy implementation, custom content, social media marketing, and/or other services, our specialists can help you take your online presence to the next level. While you focus on running your busy elective healthcare practice and taking excellent care of your patients, we can keep your website looking great and ranking well. We also offer website link building, monitoring, and removal services for a comprehensive approach to keeping your site healthy and up-to-date! Contact Rosemont Media today to learn more about what we can do for you!