Welcome to 2023! Within the first Whiteboard Friday of the brand new yr, Paddy walks by means of three strategies to evolve your hyperlink constructing efforts — not reinventing the wheel, however by enhancing what you at the moment do.

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Video Transcription

Hello, Moz followers. Welcome to a different version of Whiteboard Friday. I am Paddy Moogan. I am the CEO of Aira. Immediately, we will discuss hyperlink constructing and the best way to evolve your hyperlink constructing to its subsequent section and to enhance what you do in the meanwhile.

So we will speak by means of three strategies to enhance your hyperlink constructing and evolve it and enhance the outcomes you get for purchasers. 

1. Use the client journey to generate concepts

So firstly, primary, there’s a little bit of a difficulty typically with hyperlink constructing and the relevance of the content material that we produce for hyperlink constructing. So a technique we are able to truly enhance that and make our content material as related as attainable is to make use of the client journey to generate hyperlink constructing concepts.

Now, there’s plenty of other ways of occupied with the client journey, totally different funnels, totally different methodologies. One factor we use at Aira for that is the attention, consideration, and determination phases, the place the client goes from being conscious of the issue, the ache factors, one thing they wish to repair, then taking a look at their choices and making an attempt to determine, “Okay, who ought to I select to unravel that downside?”

After which, lastly, perhaps getting their bank card out, selecting up the telephone, emailing, that form of stuff to really resolve who they will go together with. Now, we are able to use this mannequin to really provide you with hyperlink constructing concepts. I will share how we do that at Aira. So there’s 4 pillars we are able to use to try to determine content material concepts which can be related to our clients. Firstly, we begin with the viewers themselves.

So who’re our viewers? Who’re we making an attempt to talk to? Who’re our ultimate consumers for the services and products that we promote? In order that’s the place we begin. We then transfer on to the ache factors of our viewers. So what sorts of issues do they wrestle with? What sort of triggers can truly make them begin to search for a product akin to yours or a service akin to yours?

After which thirdly, what options do you supply as a model or a web site to try to repair these ache factors for these clients and making an attempt to attach these issues collectively? Fourthly, what key phrases are you making an attempt to rank for? What are you making an attempt to rank for in Google? How does that join again to your service and your product? And what that means that you can do is to tie collectively these levels into precise rankings, precise key phrases that you just’re making an attempt to enhance together with your hyperlink constructing and your content material.

The good factor about utilizing these 4 areas to try to provide you with content material concepts for hyperlink constructing is that it forces relevance. It is actually exhausting to really do that. If you happen to stray too far-off from it, you provide you with concepts that are not very related. So should you stick actually nearer to it, it’s kind of tougher. That is form of the purpose. What you are making an attempt to do right here is strike that stability between concepts that may get hyperlinks, but in addition content material concepts which can be very related to your viewers and who you are making an attempt to promote your merchandise or your companies to.

So try to use these 4 factors right here to provide you with your concepts, and ensure the concepts you provide you with are really related to your buyer and never simply being carried out purely for hyperlink constructing. 

2. Transfer past campaigns

Second level, second factor we are able to do to evolve our hyperlink constructing is to maneuver past large, shiny, interactive hyperlink constructing campaigns. Now, we have constructed tons of of those over time at Aira. We are going to proceed to construct them.

I like a great, shiny, interactive hero marketing campaign. However I consider there’s extra we are able to do relating to content-led hyperlink constructing. So there’s 4 issues we are able to do right here. So firstly, try to make any campaigns, any content material that you just provide you with evergreen. What I imply by that’s it should not be a begin and a cease marketing campaign, the place you launch a marketing campaign, do your outreach, after which overlook about it and transfer on to the subsequent one.

Try to create concepts and campaigns that you would be able to outreach and promote over and over and over. If you are able to do that, it continues to be related all year long, throughout a number of years. It is not only a one-off marketing campaign that you just’re hoping will get hyperlinks earlier than you progress on to the subsequent one. The second factor you are able to do is definitely to not cease the outreach. So most SEOs truly will outreach a marketing campaign after which cease as soon as that marketing campaign is completed and transfer on to the subsequent one.

What you have to be making an attempt to do as an alternative is create campaigns that you would be able to at all times outreach and at all times promote. So strive to not cease your outreach, and what occurs over time is you construct up a number of campaigns, a number of content material items, and you find yourself with a pleasant, large financial institution of content material that you would be able to frequently outreach and get hyperlinks to. It isn’t relying upon one marketing campaign after one other to get hyperlinks. 

3. Goal for hyperlinks you did not ask for

Third level we are able to do is to take a look at current content material.

So once more, if you’re occupied with creating hyperlink constructing campaigns, the pure tendency is to think about one thing new, to consider, “Okay, what can we create that is model new, hasn’t been carried out earlier than, utterly new marketing campaign for a web site or a shopper?” Properly, truly, that is completely high-quality, however there could also be some current content material on that web site that’s link-worthy. So be certain that, if you begin working with a web site or a brand new model, have a look at what they have already, see which content material they have that is perhaps link-worthy, could have gotten hyperlinks up to now, and try to outreach and promote that content material while you are constructing new campaigns.

This works very well significantly for companies, as a result of if you’re launching a marketing campaign, it takes a little bit of time to provide you with concepts, do the manufacturing, do the design. While you are doing all of that, if you’ll find current content material on that web site that’s link-worthy, you may promote that and get hyperlinks to that while you are constructing the large marketing campaign. And also you’re offsetting the chance there as effectively and getting hyperlinks within the quick time period in addition to the long run.

Fourthly, simplify your execution. Not each content material piece must be large, shiny, interactive, full-page takeovers. It may be so simple as a weblog submit. It may very well be a small, mini infographic. Attempt to not fear an excessive amount of about large, fancy executions. Let the concept lead the execution. And if that signifies that you write only a very, quite simple weblog submit with a few pictures, perhaps plenty of copy and bullet factors, that is completely high-quality.

If that is one of the best ways to execute your thought, then that is what it’s best to go together with and never fear an excessive amount of about making one thing interactive or large only for the sake of it. So thirdly, the third factor we are able to do to raise our hyperlink constructing is to goal for hyperlinks that you just did not ask for. So numerous the time with hyperlink constructing strategies they rely on outreach, and outreach means sending emails, making an attempt to get in contact with site owners and hyperlink prospects and get hyperlinks from them.

That is completely high-quality. We should always proceed doing that. However one place you wish to try to get to is to create content material the place it naturally will get hyperlinks by itself. So you might effectively do outreach and get hyperlinks for that content material. However in addition to that, you are additionally getting individuals who hyperlink to that content material naturally, so you are not relying an excessive amount of simply on the outreach. Now there’s three examples right here of content material you may create that really will do that. Now the very first thing to recollect is definitely content material that ranks tends to get hyperlinks, as a result of when individuals are doing analysis into totally different areas and making an attempt to write down about sure industries, they might search for content material they will additionally hyperlink to.

So, for instance, if in case you have a web page that is about statistics and tendencies in your trade, and somebody is writing an article about your trade and tendencies in 2022, in the event that they discover your content material, there is a good probability that they’ll hyperlink to it as effectively within the content material they’re producing. But when it ranks, they have extra probability of discovering it. The second space is long-form guides, actually in-depth, actually detailed content material. If you’ll find some good subject concepts to write down about within the long-form means, long-form guides are inclined to rank for lots of long-tail and mid-tail key phrases.

Once more, if it ranks very well, it’s extremely detailed, very techy, this works very well for very technical merchandise and really technical companies. If you happen to can create content material about your services or products that is fairly technical, it is bought a great probability of rating effectively and in addition being referenced and linked to by different web sites. And thirdly, trade studies. So truly, we do that ourselves at Aira.

We produced a State of Hyperlink Constructing Report a couple of months in the past. It is a report that will get referenced lots by our trade as a result of it is a regular within the trade for hyperlink constructing and folks consider it once they’re writing their very own content material. So in your trade, should you can create trade benchmark studies, state of trade studies, surveys, that form of stuff, that really shares information and shares info with the trade, it is easy for individuals to reference that in their very own content material that they produce as effectively.

However once more, it must rank effectively for individuals to search out it within the first place. So there’s 3 ways to really evolve your hyperlink constructing and attempt to elevate it to the subsequent degree past campaigns, past outreach, and truly making an attempt to get hyperlinks that you just did not ask for. In order that’s Whiteboard Friday for me. I am Paddy Moogan. If you happen to’ve bought any questions, drop them into the feedback under. I will be blissful to get again to you.

Video transcription by Speechpad.com