When you saw the topic “SEO without link building,” what crossed your mind? Impossible! Isn’t it?
Now, here’s the question. Can you rank a website without link building? Yes, you can!
Link building is essential. Don’t get me wrong! But it is not a must-do SEO strategy to take your website to the top of the search engine result page.
So, how can you do SEO without paying attention to link building? Won’t you be missing out on a great ranking factor by taking this route?
If you do your optimization right, you won’t be needing backlinks, and you won’t regret your decision.
Here, I will share tips on how you can rank a website with a no-link building strategy. Again, please, back links are a vital ranking factor. So, if you can do it, pay attention to it
Are you ready? If yes, let’s dive in and get this topic sorted.
What Does Link Building Means?
The first question I would like to address is the meaning of link building.
Link building refers to inbound links. It means getting other people to link to your content.
How is link building done? There are several ways to build backlinks.
One of the popular ways to build links is by conducting an extensive search for outdated or dead links. Note that quality matters a great deal in link building.
So, when searching for outdated or dead links, set your sight on high-authority websites only.
When you find the link, the next step would be to create quality content or use the one you already have.
When the content is ready, you have to contact the website owner and ask the person to place your link where they have the outdated or dead link.
Anyway, this isn’t the only way to build backlinks. Check out the others below.
- Run an influencer marketing campaign (paid)
- Find resource pages in the same niche that best fit your content and pitch to them.
- Search for places your brand has been mentioned using BuzzSumo or any related tool. When you find them using this tool, you can suggest more of your content to them.
Is Link Building Relevant To SEO?
I know this is the number one question most people may want to ask. So, I am going to address it right away.
Yes! Link building is vital in SEO. But if you can’t keep hunting for links like your competitors, there’s no cause for alarm. You can rank your website via other means. That is, without backlinks.
So, why is link-building important for SEO? Another top question I feel every digital marketer and website owner needs to understand clearly.
Now, here is what you should know.
Google uses over 200 algorithms to rank a website. In plain terms, the search engine titan uses as many as 200 factors to judge and decide what website fits the number one position on SERPs for a specific keyword.
Now, when you have plenty of backlinks, your website will win more popularity votes in Google’s eyes.
Having more backlinks indicates that the content on that specific web page is high quality. You already know that Google places more priority on user experience. Thus, they’ll want to promote blogs or websites with quality or valuable content.
Google understands that users surfing the internet search for information to solve problems or have fun. And they deserve to find the resource page or website with the highest quality content.
So, if you have tons of backlinks pointing to a specific web page, Google will think that your website is high quality and award you for your hard work.
Are all backlinks significant for SEO? No, that’s the straightforward answer to this question.
Most backlinks are useless. When I say useless, I mean they are a waste of time. You won’t get any link juice from them because of their quality.
I am putting this out there for websites and marketers still using link-building strategies. Please, note that 10 links acquired from high to medium-authority websites are better than 25 links obtained from low-domain authority websites.
So, if you are serious about incorporating back linking in your SEO campaign, ensure you get quality backlinks from high-domain authority websites.
Now, think about this scenario between website A and website B.
- Website A acquired a backlink from CNN.com. The content was about an interview website “A” owner did.
- Website B, on the other hand, acquired a backlink from annnbsghjsxeuxi.com.
Now, look at CNN’s DA (Domain Authority). You can see it is incredibly high. Imagine getting a backlink from them. Your competitors will bow at your feet when you have plenty of such links to your website. You can see CNN’s DA is 95.
Let’s assume annnbsghjsxeuxi.com (A website whose name I coined anyway) DA is 19. Compare this to CNN’s. You can see that a single link from CNN is far better than 20 links from a similar website as annnbsghjsxeuxi.com.
Alright, I have explained what link building means and ways you can acquire backlinks. Let’s move to another critical question.
How To Do SEO Without Link Building: Must-know Tips
How can one optimize a website to rank or increase organic traffic without link building? Here are the things you need to do.
1: Be the first to write/blog about latest news:
Can you quickly write about an event, discovery, or software/technique in your niche? If yes, go ahead and produce them.
Be the first to write about a specific topic in your industry or niche. That way, Google may consider ranking you on the first page.
There is something Google calls short and long clicks. The search titan’s engineers use this technique to rank websites too.
What is long and short clicks?
Long clicks: Long clicks indicate success and satisfaction. They occur when an internet user searches, clicks on a result (website) and remains on the web page for an extended period.
The visitor or user does not return to the search result to click on another website’s link on the same subject. Why? He’s satisfied with the information they got from your website.
Google engineers use long and short clicks as ranking factors. So, you may likely rank high for a keyword or topic if your web page enjoys the long click.
A Pro Tip: As I said before, an easy way to get long clicks is to write about the latest news or happenings in your niche or industry.
Be the first to share information on the issue. With this, users will have no excuse but to spend time on your website because they won’t find better information on the topic elsewhere.
Short clicks: These clicks, in Google’s view, indicate failure and dissatisfaction. They suggest to Google that the content isn’t valuable to users.
What are short clicks? These clicks occur when an internet user opens a search result, clicks on a web page, and quickly later returns to the search result to click on another website that wrote on the same thing.
In this case, the visitor doesn’t stay long on the website before moving to another website that wrote about the same thing.
When it comes to SEO-related topics, you’ll agree with me that Moz is one of the go-to websites for many people.
Moz is the CNN of search engine optimization.
When there’s a new SEO update from Google, Moz is among the first platforms to write about it in detail.
So, write on that subject no one has written about, and you’ll see the outcome in your ranking and traffic. You don’t need link building to rank if you do this.
A Pro Tip: Being the first to write about news or an event in your industry may even attract backlink opportunities. Many high-authority websites may want to link to your website.
2: Keep creating valuable content:
Building a blog or website isn’t such a difficult thing. You can create the best-looking website in your niche.
But let me be honest with you. Visitors aren’t coming to your website to see how incredible it looks. They’re there because they have a problem or a need, and Google brought your website in their search query results.
Google did that because it feels your content will offer the best solution to the user’s problem.
So whenever you create your content, don’t only write to satisfy search engines. Put your visitors at the forefront of your strategy. Don’t forget they are the ones that will read your content.
Your visitor’s behavior can help Google decide whether to rank you higher or lower. If visitors spend more time on your website, it tells Google that your content is valuable.
Word count isn’t and shouldn’t be the focus. The primary focus should be the quality of your content.
Always remember your content should solve a problem. It should be the solution to the visitors’ problems.
People should feel satisfied when they leave your website or finish reading your content. In other words, they shouldn’t show any desire to visit other websites in the search result for that specific keyword.
A Pro Tip: Use videos and infographics in your content. Why? These can help capture visitors’ attention and motivate them to make buying decisions.
According to a HubSpot report, 94% of people claim they prefer watching explainer videos to understand a product better, but 84% purchase the product after watching the video.
You can introduce the following in your content marketing strategy.
- e-Book
- Infographics
- A long-form content
- Story-driven videos
If you use these content writing strategies effectively, you could dominate your industry for many years.
Just answer the questions in the content and deploy graphics (videos, pictures, and infographics) to help visitors understand the concept better.
You don’t need backlinks to rank or generate organic traffic if you can produce valuable content. It will happen naturally.
3: Use Viral Infographics:
Do you know the power infographics have? Do you know you can generate massive organic traffic with well-designed, inspiring, and exciting infographics? Yes, you can!
My team and I have been using infographics to drive massive targeted traffic for clients for many years. So, I understand the power infographics possess in SEO.
Using quality infographics can also increase social shares and social traffic. People will even link to your infographics if the quality is excellent and they find them helpful.
Incorporating images in your social media posts can significantly boost traffic. You’ll likely receive more traffic, likes, shares, and probably, comments from a single social media post.
Buffer did a study and discovered that tweets with images boast a 150% chance of being retweeted.
A Pro Tip: Do you want to stay ahead of the competition? If yes, start introducing visual information in your content marketing strategy.
I want you to understand this. All text-based content and articles are more competitive on search engines than any image-based content.
But please, ensure your content is always packed with the correct visual information. You’ll see the massive impact your infographics would generate over time.
Source: Buffer
Are you looking for more reasons to start incorporating visual content in your content marketing strategies? The image above is an excellent reason to start doing so.
The human brain processes visuals 60,000 times quicker than texts.
So, to boost your traffic without link building, start creating viral infographics.
When I say viral infographics, I mean visual content that will appeal to anyone that comes across them. Your visual content should showcase your creative side and inspire your visitors to like, share, retweet, comment, or take other actions on the social media platform.
Other content besides infographics can help you generate massive traffic without backlink building.
- Memes
- videos
- Guides
- How-to
- E-Books
- Podcasts
- Interviews
- Book Review
- Case studies
- Product reviews
- Opinion post “Rant.”
4: Get your hands on low-volume Longtail keywords:
Whether you’re doing link building and SEO or just relying on SEO strategy to rank and get organic traffic, keyword research is an activity you cannot run away from.
I know someone may be eager to ask, “Are keywords still relevant?” The quick answer is YES!
Keywords ensure your web page gets indexed easily and increase their visibility.
So, keywords are relevant. The only thing that died years ago and can get Google to penalize you is “Keyword stuffing.” Stuffing is an old SEO practice that flourished then.
But today, this SEO technique can attract punishment. Google wants you to work hard and provide value to internet users.
So, what SEO/keyword strategy should you adopt to rank a website fast, even without backlink building? Hunt for keywords with low search volumes.
Using the right SEO tool, you can see various keywords’ search volume and know the right keyword to target. Additionally, let your low-volume keyword be “Longtail”
You’ll climb to the first page for that low-search volume keyword if you can provide a high-quality article (with quality visual content, such as infographics, videos, or images).
5: Build Your Internal Links:
Internal links refer to any link from one page to another on the same website. It is so easy to build.
Now, let me state this clearly. Internal links aren’t as effective as external links (backlinks) for SEO. Internal links don’t send the same signal as external links, but they are still very relevant.
Internal links help Google to decide which webpage is most vital to a website. These links also allow visitors to navigate your site with ease.
So, don’t ignore internal linking if you want to stick with your no-backlink strategy.
My team and I have helped dozens of websites rank with a no-backlink strategy. What did we do? We did the simple things right.
We did our keyword research, got the required keyword, produced high-quality content, and deployed a robust internal linking strategy.
We have used this strategy to rank websites and web pages high DA websites.
Let me quickly share the top internal linking strategy you can follow.
- Create tons of content
- Make sure links are contextual
- Utilize the anchor text you would like to rank for
- Utilize relevant links in your internal linking strategy
- Get your high authority pages linked to new ones to improve ranking.
- Place the link strategically within the post. Spread them evenly through your content.
- Don’t use similar anchor texts for two different pages within a website.
A Pro Tip: Your internal link-building strategy has to be spot on. Remember to spread your links evenly and ensure you don’t abuse them.
You can add 2 to 5 links per post of 1500 word count. 5 internal links should be the maximum.
6: Customer Reviews Matters
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If you have not received customer reviews, you miss out big time. Reviews are a crucial inbound marketing tool that can significantly impact your ranking and traffic.
Any business that has a local presence will benefit immensely from positive reviews.
I have helped clients that weren’t visible on local search results become visible. So, I know how powerful reviews can be. They help potential customers form an opinion about your products or services and make buying decisions (if the opinion is a positive one).
Here are some preview statistics to show you know how powerful reviews are.
- Approximately 95% of customers read reviews left by others before making a purchase. [Powerreviews]
- 72% of customers won’t make any buying decision unless they have read reviews about the product. [Testimonial Engine]
- Reviews influence over 88% of online shoppers’ buying decisions. [Testimonial Engine]
- 93% of potential customers will first read reviews of a local business to ascertain its quality before making purchase. [BrightLocal]
- For each one-star review that a business obtains on Yelp, there’s a 5-9% increase in revenue. [Harvard Business Review]
- 91% of potential customers aged 18 to 34 have similar trust for online reviews as they do for personal recommendations. [Bright Local]
- Customer reviews are responsible for 15% of the method Google deploys to rank local businesses. [Moz]
- To outperform your competitors, you must be ready to respond to at least 30% of your reviews. [Uberall]
You can see the stats that prove reviews can take your business to another level. They impact businesses no matter the industry or status of the company.
Reviews are an excellent option for businesses using the no-backlink strategy. Besides, it’s a ranking factor, so why neglect it?
So, what are the things Google looks for in a customer review? Good question.
Let me break it down for easy understanding.
- Google considered the number of stars your customer gave you.
- What keyword did your reviewer use in their reviews?
- The sentiments behind the reviewers
So, reviews are critical. Besides getting positive reviews from customers, other ways you can grow traffic and ranking without backlinks is:
- Build citations on multiple local directories
- Get a Google My Business account.
Final Thought:
Is SEO without link building possible? Yes, it is. You can rank your website and webpage on search engines and obtain organic traffic without backlinks.
I have mentioned the different ways you can grow your business without backlinks. You can use them to help your business gain more traffic, ranking and brand awareness.
However, if you’re busy and don’t know how to go about no back-link strategy, you have to hire a SEO expert.
Why Choose BitChip Digital
BitChip Digital is a digital marketing agency company with a difference. We have a team of SEO specialists committed to helping new and existing businesses grow, using best SEO practices.
So, contact us today, let’s help your business grow.
