Building backlinks is a crucial part of the SEO puzzle for ecommerce brand owners.
Getting high rankings on Google for relevant terms works like a physical shop on a busy street: you'll get tons of sales simply because you're in the right place.
However, getting backlinks for your ecommerce store can be tricky, especially if you're new to it.
Don't worry because we're here to help. This post explains how to get backlinks for ecommerce stores in three easy steps.
How to Build Backlinks for Ecommerce Stores in Three Steps
The strength of your backlink profile influences where your store will appear on search engine results. To rank well for profitable terms, you need to get creative with your white hat link building strategies.
Here’s how to build backlinks for your ecommerce store:
1. Start with low-hanging fruit.
Backlinks are just like fruit― quality over quantity. Give me organically grown grapes over unlimited rotten grapes any day.
One of the best ways to get high-quality backlinks is to look for outdated or broken links.
It's because finding broken or outdated links is easier and faster than building new backlinks altogether.
Start by finding your competitors' broken backlinks. You can use link building tools like Ahrefs to find them.
For instance, your competitors sell skincare products.
First, you must list your top competitors and their websites to make this work.
After this, explore the websites one by one using tools like Ahrefs. Using Ahrefs, head to site explorer and click on Backlinks. Then click Broken.
Next, the tool will display backlinks that point to broken pages on your competitor's website.
Then, check the URL of the broken page from your competitor's website. By doing this, you'll know what the content is all about.
The most beneficial but quite time-consuming path is to recreate the content that no longer exists on your competitor's site. Then, ask the referring websites to update the links and link to your page instead.
Repeat this process for every competitor, and you'll have a solid base of backlinks for your brand.
2. Create linkable assets.
Linkable assets refer to high-quality content that attracts backlinks or social shares. These assets usually include elements worth sharing and linking back to.
Publish statistic roundups.
Statistic roundups contain original research or curated statistics. Because of this, many bloggers and journalists link to them.
To pull this off, you can do two things: conduct a study specific to your industry or compile relevant industry statistics.
Doing these creates an asset that others cite as they write about relevant topics.
Create comprehensive guides.
Comprehensive and complete guides are well-researched and well-written. They also solve the pain points of your target market.
While these guides take time to make, they're a long-term investment that people can link to. Over time, ultimate guides can also pick up natural backlinks for your brand.
Make listicles.
People may have done them to death, but lists never left the spotlight.
Plus, listicles are shareable and linkable pieces of content that your audience will love (when done right, of course).
However, your entire content strategy shouldn't revolve around listicles. You should also throw in a mix of healthy doses of other content forms.
On the brightest side, listicles are so easy to create.
In terms of research, Google has a ton of stuff for you. So, you just need to look for the correct information and build your list.
Create FAQ pages.
FAQ (frequently asked questions) pages refer to resources that aim to solve problems in your industry. While they're linkable assets, they attract links slightly differently.
Instead of aiming to rank for short keywords, FAQs target many long-tail keywords on a single topic. Then, when people look for answers to these questions online, they'll see your post.
Additionally, the high visibility of FAQ pages and their problem-solving nature means people will share them on social media or forums. Writers also tend to use them as references.
3. Look at what your competitors are doing.
Don't feel discouraged if your competitors have been building backlinks longer than you. Instead, turn it into an opportunity.
For one, it proves that people in your industry give backlinks to websites like yours.
It also means that the most challenging part of your job – finding space for new backlinks – has been done!
So how exactly can you turn the competition into an opportunity?
Simple: spy on them and follow their best practices. Knowing where the links come from and how your competitors got them, you can adapt or tweak their methods to fit your business goals.
Begin by monitoring your competitors' backlink profiles using ecommerce SEO tools.
As your monitor their profiles, pay attention to how they get new, high-quality backlinks.
Are these natural or paid links? Can you acquire backlinks from the same referring domains simply by asking the owners? Do you need to create better content so they'll link to you?
Once you answer these questions, think about your competitors' link sources. Do they get their backlinks from niche sites or general publications?
Then, think of ways to score backlinks from these websites. You can reach out to them, ask them to replace broken links with links to your pages, or offer a free guest post. Feel free to check out these effective ecommerce link building techniques as well.
Conclusion
Getting backlinks for your ecommerce store can be a drag. On top of that, learning how to get backlinks the right way can be tricky and time-consuming.
If you want results without the fluff and fuss, we're here to help.
Tribu LinkBuilding is an experienced link building outsourcing agency helping business owners get backlinks through white-hat strategies that Google won't penalize. Plus, you only have to pay after we get live links. Contact us to jumpstart your link building success now!
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