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How to Build Links for Niche Sites

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Building niche sites that make money in autopilot has been always one of my plans.

Since beginning of this year, I learned to use LongTailPRO (read my 3300 words guide here) and I created a niche site, monetized with Amazon affiliate program and Adsense. It ranked within the top 10 in search results for its keyword, generating a decent traffic and revenue, since then.

In this post I want to share the strategies I used to build links for my niche site, ranking high for my keywords.

 

Introduction to Link Building

Even after all the algorithm updates (Panda, Penguin, etc), Google still likes links.

The question is: should you “build” links or “attract” them in a “natural” way?

The answer is simple.

For authority sites, you should not build links; instead, focus on writing content with added value and marketing your posts and your online reputation.

For niche sites, created from scratch, link building is still very effective.

For example, I have “built” a very few links for NoPassiveIncome.com; but if I check, I notice that I have much more links pointing to my blog (yes, Chris, the previous owner of this site, did an amazing job in terms of SEO, but since I own it, my online reputation has come to a certain level, I receive a good amount of backlinks every month – see my interviews, for example).

So for niche sites, after you find profitable keywords, the link building is the second most important part of the work to create a property that make money over time.

 

How to Build Links

With my niche site project, I focused on creating links considering the velocity and the diversity.

Link velocity is the rate at which you are building links. In other terms, you should create links proportionally to the content you produce and to the age of your domain.

Don’t create 2-3 posts, then go to a cheap marketplace site to buy “A Thousand links for just 5$”, because the only thing you are going to achieve is just another penalized and unsuccessful site.

I found an awesome image to let you understand at glance what works (thanks to GoBloggingTips for the image):

Good-link-velocity

The concept of link profile diversity is quite complicated. This term refers to the overall view of your backlinks and considers a big number of factors like the linking page types, content types, domain names, IP address, anchor usage, PR, degree of relevancy, follow/nofollow, and more.

A “normal link profile” should have different kind of links and it is this diversity that helps to make your link profile looks “natural” and let Google loving your site (check more at QuickSprout: What Is a “Good Link Profile” and How Do You Get One?).

So your plan should be diversify the sources and the types of the links you gain, so to create a natural link profile.

Here’s a list of different links you can get:

This is just a list of ideas for creating links for your sites, but there are many more, of course.

Let’s dig more into a few of them.

 

Blog Commenting

Blog commenting is an effective way to get links and to receive fresh traffic to your site.

Also, you can create new connections with the blog owners, where you post your comments.

Don’t worry about getting dofollow links, just look for relevant content in your niche and leave meaningful comments, with your real name and the link back to your site.

This is important to gain relevancy pointing to your niche site.

A practical tip: go to Google and search for: “your keyword” + “leave a comment” to find blogs allowing comments, with reference to your main keywords.

comments

 

Web 2.0 Sites

This is a great way to gain dofollow links.

Just create a free account at these places and add unique and relevant content.

Look for platforms like:

  • Squidoo
  • WordPress.com
  • Blogger.com
  • LiveJournal.com
  • Xing.com
  • Weebly.com
  • Slashdot.org

 

Diversify the Anchor Text

Ok, so you are going to build a few links every 1-3 days, while paying attention to getting them from different sources.

Now, another point to take care of is diversifying the anchor text.

The formula should look something like this:

10% Exact Match  – example: “garden swing chairs”

20% Partial Match – example: “best swing chairs”

10% URL Match – example: “Mygardenswingchairs.com”

10% Brand Match – example: “My Garden Swing Chairs” (if your site is mygardenswingchairs.com)

20% Related keyword match – example: “garden swing pod” or “garden swing hammock”

30% No match – example: “click here”, “read more” or “visit our website”

Of course this is just a guideline you should consider, but it worked really well for my niche site project.

 

Second Tier Links

This is the last point of the link building strategy that worked for me.

Second Tier Links are basically links to your links.

The main goal is to let Google know of your recently built links.

I basically used just social media shares and bookmarks, but you may want to use other strategies, like blog commenting too, for example.

 

More Link Building Ideas

Check the following posts for more link building ideas:

10 Link Building Tactics to Generate Free Traffic from Google

5 Link Building Tips for 2013

 

In Conclusion

I want to point up that I shared the strategy that worked for me.

You may want to experiment first, or to add these methods to yours.

It took me around three months to rank my site within the top 10 of Google for my keywords. I created it the end of February, and today it ranks at position #4 for U.S. market for Google (3rd Yahoo and 22th at Bing).

I created links for just two months (some more powerful, some less), 1-3 links every two or three days. Now it has officially around 40 unique referring domains and 1000 total backlinks, with 1000 total referring pages.

I think you should aim to gain up to 100 base links, for niche sites.

But it really depends on your keywords and its competitiveness.

Do you want to know how I discovered the keywords to build my successful niche site? Check this post.

 

Have you ever built a niche site?

What was the result?

Do you have some secrets to share?

Please add your comment below, thanks!

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Comments

  1. Hi Erik,

    Interesting take on link building. I have always been of the opinion that despite Google’s latest update, one of the factors that determine the rank of a website is the quality of links that link back to it. I am glad you confirmed that in your article.

    Link building does take a lot of work. For instance, from your article, it seems that to rank a website, one has to be a webmaster of two other web2.0 sites, that means owning a minimum of three sites in total. All these recommended practices or black-hat practices?

    Reply

    • The link building strategies listed in this post are all white-hat practice, Chioma.
      I’ve been using these methods to rank my niche site at #4 position for its keywords on Google U.S.
      It worked for me!

      Reply

  2. Hi Erik!
    I am glad and happy to read your success. 10 times more happy that you shared your tricks.
    I am also making one niche site but will disclose when made. your post will help me a lot to make my niche site popular and profitable.
    Bookmarked.
    Thanks.

    Reply

    • Hello Vashishtha,
      thanks for the kind words.

      Glad to hear you enjoyed my link building strategies.
      Good luck with your niche site! 🙂

      Reply

      • Hi Erik,
        I am very sorry for a late reply.
        Thanks again for your best wishes.
        I really like this blog.
        have a nice day.
        One week passed and I can say, niche blogging is better than anything else.

        Reply

        • Thanks for the kind words, Vashistha,
          hope you learn something new browsing within the blog.
          Enjoy your weekend.

          Reply

  3. Hello Erik. Yes, there are many more ways to create links for your sites.

    Blog commenting
    Guest posting
    Social media
    Social bookmarking

    These four are for me the most effective, most particularly in blog commenting. The key to leverage your success in link building is to consistently perform, contribute, and share and so on.

    Link building is not just the future outcome if you will do the 4 strategies. You can increase your Domain authority, increase sales, build new relationships, increase subscribers and increase your reputation.

    Additionally, in blog commenting, you can also educate yourself about the niche you’re in.

    Reply

    • Hello Metz,
      you are very expert in blog commenting! 😉

      Yes, aside from building links, it will increase your online reputation, together with creating awesome connections within your niche.
      Indeed, really worth it!

      Thanks for visiting and sharing your experience,
      have a good one!

      Reply

    • Hello Ranuka,
      that’s right.

      Considering Google updates,
      the link building strategies I shared are white-hat!

      Reply

  5. Oh blog commenting….my fave Erik!

    I am sharing my free eBook on that now because too many bloggers ignore this powerful link building technique. Good note on velocity too; find a steady rate to make things happen.

    Thanks for the share dude!

    Ryan

    Reply

    • You’re the master of blog commenting, Ryan! 🙂

      I love the title of your eBooks:
      “How to Build an Online Empire through Blog Commenting”.

      I clicked on your CommentLuv link as soon as I read your offer of sharing for free your eBook,
      but your site gives this at the moment:

      “502 Bad Gateway”

      And the second time I tried:

      “Error establishing a database connection”

      I’m sure it will be fixed soon.
      Thanks for visiting and commenting, Ryan.

      It’s always a big pleasure to see you, my friend.
      Rock on!

      Reply

  6. Hi Erik Sir,

    I’m glad that i landed here at the right time. This is in fact one of the most informative post i have read. I liked the idea of internal links. I’m going to try it. Currently i’m working on writing an attractive meta description for my posts.

    Thanks for this post.

    Reply

    • Hello Saurabh,
      I’m writing right now a post on “on-page SEO”.
      Be sure to not miss it next week! 🙂

      Thanks for visiting,
      have a good one.

      Reply

  7. Hello Erik,
    Really appreciate your time in posting this information, I was using blog comments on my college website It worked for some months and I was able to get backlinks which reflected on ahrefs.com. However for the last 2 week my comments on blogs do not go through. I suspect Google must have penalized my url. Thank you for this post. please advice on the way forward. want to go back and successfully post my comments on blogs in my niche.

    Reply

    • Hi Timothy,
      have you claimed your site via Google Webmaster Tool?
      You can check if your site is penalized there.

      Reply

  8. Hi Erik,

    Good list of links. There were rumours that article directories, forum posting are now consideered spam links but I think if they are done in the correct way, without the intention of just throwing a link but to provide value, then they would really be better as a source for link building.

    I found this post on Kingged.com.

    Thanks,
    Mainak.

    Reply

    • Hello Mainak,
      glad you liked the post.

      You’re right.
      If you respect relevancy, velocity and diversity, those links building methods are still effective and Google updates proof.

      What is the one you like more?

      Thanks for commenting!

      Reply

  9. This is a great guide to link building. I never followed any practice of link building that may have my site penalized because I have heard so many stories of people being penalized. I like the strategies you have listed here and I recently started link building in Q & A sites like quora. I can say that I really like the strategy and I even receive visits to my website from quora, when I write a good answer that receives a lot of views. I have also been commenting on blogs for some time now and . that have been working well as well. I still have to look into blog directories and other ways you mentioned in this post to build my linking capabilities. Great post!

    Reply

    • Hello Lawrence,
      happy to hear you liked this post about link building methods.

      Quora is really good for increasing your authority and creating new links, while showcasing your expertise in your field.

      If you are able to provide added value to readers, then your answers (and your site) are going to receive many hits and visits.

      Thanks for sharing your views and experience!
      Good luck with your blog.

      Reply

  10. Link building for niche sites should/must be done with consistent practicality. In doing this, value should be at the mind of the blogger/webmaster.

    Indeed, there are many ways to build links for niche sites but the most important tactics to be applied are often misconstrued. Link building should not be complicated but it requires consistent efforts in following the basic principles of engagements and value creation.

    This post was found in kingged.com as well.

    Reply

    • Hello Sunday,
      link building is part of the blogging game.

      And learning how to do it properly, without getting a Google penalization is the challenge.

      Hope to help some new webmaster working on SEO the right way.

      Thanks for your comment!

      Reply

  11. Hey Erik,

    Thanks for sharing this topic. Link building is still a relevant strategy despite all the changes that google makes to their algorithm. I still find that, although it can be tedious, that commenting is the best strategy for me.

    I also want to get more into guest posting, Q&A sites like Quora, and using bookmarking sites. For me it’s time to work a little smarter now since I have a good routine than harder. I never built a niche site, but I see that it’s not too much different than building the site I have now so at least I’ll have an idea if I ever build a niche site.

    Thanks for sharing Erik! Have a great week!

    I found your post on kingged.com under SEO/SEM category

    Reply

    • Hello Sherman,
      glad you enjoyed reading this post.

      That’s right, Google STILL loves links!

      Bookmarking is part of the game.
      There are a few sharing sites you should start using every time you want to promote a quality post.

      Hope these tips are going to help you if someday you will build a niche site.

      Thanks for commenting, Sherman.
      Have a nice friday!

      Reply

  12. Erik, I have to say that you did a very good job explaining how to properly build backlinks. Indeed, links are very important and they really help to establish authority in your niche, but the most important at this point is content.
    I have seen websites with no backlinks, over-ranking sites that have been around for years. So I assume not only content but especially fresh and updated content is what really makes a difference.

    Reply

  13. Hi,

    Awesome post, I think its kinda hard to build niche based backlinks as we can’t find much websites for building backlinks on specific niche,

    Thanks for the tips

    Reply

  14. Hi Erik!

    Yeah, those are still acceptable links in certain cases.

    But I’m a bit hesitant to recommend some of those techniques as newbies tend to abuse them (especially all the easy ones) and eventually get hit with a penalty.

    With a new update overdue, lots of sites will definitely disappear again in the rankings.

    Hopefully, your readers will take your advice and take it easy and not go crazy with them. 😀

    Reply

    • Hi Dennis,
      smart advise.

      I hope this link building techniques are taken with the right approach!
      You surely know how to do SEO.

      Thanks for stopping by and leaving your views.
      Have a great day, my friend!

      Reply

  15. Great suggestions! As mentioned by Dennis, these tactics are only effective depending on how the link builder plans on using these. Personally, while forming a strategy using these techniques are good in forming a diversified link profile, I feel it’s still best to focus on earning links as a priority (building evergreen content, applying Skyscraper Techniques to your content creation strat, etc.).

    Reply

  16. Thank you very much@ Erik Emanuelli

    I didn’t know that link building has such so many ways! Definitely it will help me.

    Thanks again for your nice post.

    Reply

  17. Hi Erik,
    Glad to see your content on link building. Here you give most complete list of link building tactics for niche sites.

    Creating content is only half of content marketing. The other half is promoting your content.. As we know social media is an important ranking factor in google. I believe the best way to promote content is on social media.

    Link building is important, but it can be dangerous. Here you provide fully safe method to build link for niche sites. Many thanks for your great tips on link building.

    Kind Regards
    Yasin Rishad

    Reply

    • Hi Yasin,
      thanks for the kind feedback.

      I believe that marketing the content is the big part of influence a site success.

      Glad you enjoyed the article, thanks for commenting.

      Reply

  18. Thanks for showing new ways of backlinking, I normally miss Q& A sites. let me try to use thus on next campaign If you looking for a a. by the way Squidoo is out dated and its not available any more.

    Reply

    • You’re right, Rakhilesh.

      At the time of this writing, Squidoo was still active.
      In august 2015, Seth Godin, the founder and owner of Squidoo, announced the social content platform, has been acquired by HubPages.

      Glad you liked the info here, thanks for your feedback.

      Reply

  19. Thanks Erik Emanuelli for showing the right path in order to create backlink. This is really an impressive way to create backlink for a website. I have recently started a business website. Now, I am in the way to create backlink. I will keep your tricks in mind in order to do the backlink.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  20. Hey Erik,
    Awesome post on link building. LB used to be pretty straightforward, but now there is a lot of fear of what and how to build due to all of the Google updates. Staying smart and not going overboard on any one technique is, I think, the key. This is a good reference – thanks!

    Reply

    • Link building can still give awesome results, you just need to do it the smart way.

      Thanks for your feedback, Christina.

      Reply

  21. Hello Erik!

    Thanks for providing the smart way to find the link opportunities for my niche. The ways that you have mentioned are really amazing. I am applying them for some days, and get very good result too!

    I just read some blog that are also suggesting to submit local business for niche website. How much they are profitable to create backlink in the business directory? I do not have any idea about this. Can you suggest any idea?

    Thanks

    Reply

    • Glad you enjoyed the post.
      Regarding the submission of local business, it depends on your niche and relevance, but yes, it gives benefits for your site at Google’s eyes.

      Reply

      • Thank you Erik for your reply. I was looking for my niche and relevance local business listing sites. Can you suggest me the way that I can use for finding easily? Thanks!

        Reply

  22. Hi Erik,
    Thanks for sharing so much information about link building. As i am a beginner in SEO, so i have only studied less about link building.. I was not aware of the fact that we dont need to create to links for authority websites…No one has ever told me about this..But after reading your blog I not only knew this tactic but had also learn tactics for creating links for niche websites…
    Thanks once again,
    Jennifer

    Reply

  23. Hey Erik,,You article is offering great information about link building but something i want to know is do bookmarking really helps in ranking as we mostly gets no follow links from bookmarking. And if we get do follow then also do they provide quality juice..??

    Reply

    • Yes, dofollow links pass link juice, Joseph.
      However, you should look after getting both nofollow and dofollow. Make your link profile natural!

      Reply

  24. I used some Social bookmarking website to give some juice to my website. But, seems that it did not worked for me. I think that they were of low quality. Now, I am going to try the web 2.0 and forum links. But, this time i am going to check DA and PA before making the links.
    Please suggest me some more ideas which i can implement on my website.

    Reply

  26. For Me if content is king, then backlinks are queen. without both the Kingdom of blog is uncertain. If both are good we can get the best ranking. The Strategy you shared over here are master piece.
    These are important for perfect ranking.

    Reply

  27. Twitter: 1BirthdayGreetings

    I used some Social bookmarking website to give some juice to my website. But, seems that it did not worked for me. I think that they were of low quality. Now, I am going to try the web 2.0 and forum links. But, this time i am going to check DA and PA before making the links.

    Please suggest me some more ideas which i can implement on my website.
    Ruchi singh recommend you to read:

    1birthdaygreetings.com

    Reply

  28. Thanks a million for such an in-depth article.

    It is true that links can be achieved by writing great content (with topical keywords). Most important is relevancy of the link. However; I am totally agreed to Erik Emanuelli that anchor text should also be varied.

    Reply

  29. Really appreciate your time in posting this information, I was using blog comments on my college website It worked for some months and I was able to get backlinks which reflected on ahrefs.com. However for the last 2 week my comments on blogs do not go through. I suspect Google must have penalized my url. Thank you for this post. please advice on the way forward. want to go back and successfully post my comments on blogs in my niche.

    Reply

  30. Hi Erik Emanuelli,

    This is a great post and I found this very useful for my niche site. Keep writing such quality material.

    Thanks
    ~ Arun Dominic

    Reply

  31. Awesome tips I’m going to put into use to push mt site up the rankings before the year ends. It’s really a good time to have come across this.

    Time to create more content and get links to it in a variety of ways.

    Reply

  33. Hi. Great post. I’m building my niche sites also and I’m looking for a link building strategies right now.
    I see that you too like nichepursuits.com 🙂

    Reply

  34. amazing post to have a backlink, nice writing and amazing lines. Support each other to provide such good content

    Reply

  35. This really amazing tips to do backlink. I am doing social bookmarking for my website but this is not working fine for ranking. I will follow this tips. Thanks.

    Reply

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