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Links and link building tactics – there seems to be a never-ending debate about them: whether they are still effective, how best to use them, and which new-fangled rules to adapt to. The thing is, regardless of which side people choose, everyone agrees that a couple of backlinks from quality sites with high traffic can really turn things around for an e-commerce site.
Still, link building is tough, according to 41% of SEO specialists. Throw in millions of e-commerce sites, content creators, and more, and it is easy to see why e-commerce link building is getting harder year after year. It’s getting more challenging to figure out what works and which tactics to scrap. So, in this post, we will explore the best strategies that have been proven to boost SEO rankings.
More than half of marketers, 69% of them, agree that link building is essential for improving the SEO ranking of e-commerce. That alone makes it worth the investment. You may already know that the more links your business has, the easier it is for your website to rank higher in search engine result pages. But there’s more to it than that. Links are essentially the digital version of a thumbs-up or a nod.
Get enough of them from relevant e-commerce sites in your niche, and you will have convinced both humans and search algorithms that your brand and site are the best places to find answers or solutions. As you result, you are able to drive more referral traffic, generate tons of leads, improve your brand credibility, and much more.
Understandably, many site owners are willing to do anything for those quality backlinks, including buying them. Yet, don’t rush to purchase your links without knowing the best practices. Whether you’re publishing a press release for the launch of a new polishing machine or writing a review about your e-commerce product, you have to first learn the rules Google has to avoid getting any penalties.
Remember we said that many e-commerce site owners are willing to try many different strategies to get good backlinks? Well, it might surprise you to learn that only 5% of all websites have backlinks pointing to them, and it is not due to the lack of trying. Despite their many benefits, backlinks are also notoriously difficult to get. So, to help you make the task easier, here are some effective e-commerce link-building strategies we have tried and can vouch for:
E-commerce sites that use blogging and storytelling for marketing get, on average, 67% more leads every month compared to those that don’t. There are tons of blog posts out there, so you need to ensure that yours offers more value if you want it to stand out. Also, you cannot just write about any old topic that crosses your mind or tickles your fancy.
For blogging to work for you, it needs to be niche-specific, i.e., tailored towards your product or services (and industry in general). A good way to do this is to use specific keywords that people in search of your products might use. Of course, you would have to do keyword research and learn about your target audience as much as possible.
Also, it’s a better idea to publish as many types of content as possible. If you publish original content with search intent keywords in mind, attach quality images, and maybe add a video, people will effortlessly link to it.
Did you know that 69% of consumers trust influencers over brands? You've got to be willing to work with other brands and influencers in your industry from time to time if you want to go far. A couple of sponsored product reviews and some guest posts here and there – jump on any opportunity to build a network and beneficial friendships within your industry.
One of the obvious things here is working with Influencers. It is a pretty old-school (almost) strategy. Still, it works for many. The way that it can be effective today is by creating something similar to user-generated content (UGC), only done by influencers. It goes as follows – you send them a product to test and review. And they don’t try to make a promotion but rather test it and give their honest review.
Anyone who has been around the block long enough knows HARO is a very effective tactic for getting quality backlinks for e-commerce sites. The only issue is that it is also insanely competitive nowadays. Still, it’s always worth a shot since it guarantees quality links and wider publicity (if you know what you are doing). So, how do you get in? Easily. You have to sign up on the site (Help a Reporter Out), indicate that you are signing up as a source, fill in a few details, and just jump in.
Next, you will have to respond to reporters' questions and share your expert knowledge about the inner workings of your niche or business. If they like your pitch, then that means they get to reference, quote you, or link to you as a source. Only then, each time you see those posts, you will likely be racing against many other people to be the person that gets chosen.
Blogs with infographics get 178% more inbound links, plus people love to share visual content. So, one of the SEO e-commerce link building strategies that you should definitely add to your list is building link assets, like fabulous infographics, branded images, cool videos, memes, gifs, and anything that has high shareability.
A good idea is to create them around some cool facts or tips about your niche or products, add some trending keywords, and watch the content go viral. The result is better visibility which increases the likelihood of some blogs or SM channels picking it up and reposting it to a wider audience. So, you get to improve your backlink profile while your audience gets to enjoy some cool content from you – a win-win for everyone.
There are many e-commerce metrics to track, for sure. But what should you pay attention to the most? It might be surprising, but the first step to maximizing the profitability of your online store is getting solid traffic. What do we mean by solid? Stable and high, like really high.
Alright, now, how do you attract more traffic? You see, most people search for everything and anything on Google. What is that telling us? Bingo – we gotta be seen on Google. And SEO backlinks were created for that exact purpose.
We hear you asking – but what do partners have to do with this? Look, you have to take any possible advantage of every network (big or small) you have to gain links. Do you have some suppliers or distributors with a website? Or are you maybe running any affiliate marketing programs? Then, ask your partners to link to your page.
It is both useful for their clients and for you. Of course, you can also mention them on your website. It is a fair game in the end. The goal is to put yourself out there and get as many sites as possible linking back to your site. But those sites have to be at least somehow related to your industry.
If you have never thought about taking a peek at your competitors' backlink profile and snagging a couple of links from there, then you need to start now. All you have to do is take a closer look at the sites that are linking to your competitors' web pages. And then what?
Next, you want to pick the best or most promising of the bunch (good traffic, high DR/DA, etc.) and email them asking for links to your own web pages instead. Of course, a couple of low or mid-DA/DR links here and there won’t hurt, but too many links from low-quality sites can seriously hurt your search rankings.
Keep in mind that you should be offering something better than your competitors; otherwise, what's the point? It doesn't even have to be hard; you could offer more comprehensive updated content. That way, it's easier for them to swap and link to your site. Alternatively, you could comb through sites, find dead links, and offer to replace those with yours instead. This is called broken links and is one of the oldest effective link building tactics out there today. And it still works (if you do it correctly).
A resource page exists solely to direct people to other sites where they can find a service or product within the same niche. Say you're working on designing a new website, and you open a website that lists the 10 most popular site designs from the world's best developers. You'll probably find that there will be links to the webpage of each of the designers listed.
Since resource pages generally rank high in search results, being listed in one can easily translate to a high boost in referral traffic for you. So, how do you use this? Use Google to find out if there are resource pages in your industry and send them an email asking to be included, too. Using phrases “service or product" + "resources” or “best” + "product or service” + “list" will give you the result you want. Remember to keep your email brief yet engaging.
The truth is that unless you are a big brand with your own in-house SEO team (and even then), you will occasionally have a need for someone with more experience and expertise than you. Depending on your budget, you may have to consider hiring or using a backlinks service to continue providing you quality dofollow links that boost search rankings.
And when that time comes, the best thing to do is outsource some or all of your campaigns to a white hat link service, with an emphasis on “white hat.” This way, you will be able to get most of the benefits of backlinks, save money, and avoid any risks.
Having an idea of how SEO link building for e-commerce sites is done is one thing, and then following the best practices is another thing entirely. But with backlinks being so essential for your SEO and having so much influence on your site authority, traffic, and more, it’s better to stick to what is going to give you quality. Here are the guidelines to keep in mind:
People either trust you or not. As easy as it is. And you, as the e-commerce owner or marketer, have to do everything (literally, everything in your power) to increase this ‘level of trust.’ And if you’ve been reading this blog attentively, you know that quality backlinks can do a big part of that heavy lifting. The main thing to remember is probably to not try to fool anyone into trusting you. It works badly in person and even worse online.
