- April 15, 2023
- by Nina
- Link Building
- 0 Comments
Link building is a critical part of search engine optimization (SEO). As a SaaS business owner, knowing how to use it to your advantage is essential. In today’s competitive online landscape, having a robust link profile is vital to outrank your competition on Google. Building links helps boost your website’s authority, increase its visibility, and drive more organic traffic.
However, not all links are created equal, and some link building strategies can harm your website’s ranking. In this article, we’ll share 16 effective link building strategies that can help you dominate Google, from identifying broken links to creating highly shareable content and collaborating with industry experts.
By the end of this article, you’ll have the tools and knowledge to build a strong link profile that drives long-term success. So, let’s dive in and explore the world of SaaS link building!
What is The Importance of SaaS Link Building for SEO?
White hat link building is crucial in SEO and especially for SaaS businesses. In simple terms, link building involves getting other websites to link back to your site. When high-quality websites link to your SaaS website, it signals to search engines that your site is trustworthy and authoritative. As a result, your website’s ranking on search engines like Google will improve.
In today’s digital age, building links is a continuous process that requires a strategic and proactive approach. With the right link building strategies, you can stay ahead of your competition and increase your website’s authority and visibility. So, let’s explore some of the best practices and strategies that can help you dominate Google with your link profile.
What are Some Things to Avoid When Building Links?
While building links is essential for your SaaS website’s SEO, there are also some practices you should avoid. One common mistake is using irrelevant or spammy anchor text, which can harm your website’s ranking.
Another practice to avoid is using link farms or low-quality directories to build links. These sites exist solely to provide links and are considered black hat SEO tactics. Google can quickly recognize these practices and penalize your website, causing a significant drop in ranking. So, you should focus on getting links from high-quality sites relevant to your niche.
What Makes a Good Link?
Relevance
When building links for your SaaS website, it’s essential to consider the criteria that make a link “good” in the eyes of search engines like Google. One key factor is relevance; the link should come from a topically relevant site to your website’s content. The more closely related the two sites’ topics, the more valuable the link will likely be.
Authority
Another essential factor is the authority of the site linking to you. Sites with higher domain authority are considered more trustworthy and can pass more link juice to your site, boosting your rankings. Page traffic is also important, as links from popular pages will likely provide more visibility and traffic to your website.
External and Internal Links
External and internal links also matter when assessing the value of a link. Links from pages with high-quality external links and internal links to your site can signal to Google that your content is valuable and relevant. Finally, the anchor text used for the link should be natural and descriptive rather than spammy or stuffed with keywords.
Identifying Broken Links
When it comes to link building, identifying broken links and doing broken link building is an essential strategy. Broken links are links that no longer work, resulting in a 404 error page. Google and other search engines dislike broken links, which may hurt your website’s ranking. You can use various tools to find broken links, such as Broken Link Checker, Check My Links, and Ahrefs.
Once you find broken links, you can contact the website owner and suggest replacing the broken link with a link to your website. Ensuring that your website’s content is a suitable replacement for the broken link is essential. You can also use the opportunity to suggest other links to improve the website’s content.
How to Build Links for SaaS
As a business owner or digital marketer in the SaaS industry, you know that building links are essential for driving traffic and increasing your search engine rankings. But with so many strategies and tactics available, it can be difficult to know where to start.
In this article, we’ll share some actionable tips and best practices for building links that will help you improve your website’s visibility and drive more leads and sales. Whether you’re just starting or looking to refine your existing link building strategy, we’ve got you covered.
So if you’re ready to take your SaaS business to the next level, keep reading and learn how to build links to help you stand out in a crowded market.
Claiming brand mentions that aren’t linked
Claiming brand mentions that aren’t linked is another effective way to build links for your SaaS business. Brand mentions are instances where your company is mentioned online but not necessarily linked to your website. You can turn these unlinked mentions into valuable backlinks by reaching out to the author or website owner and requesting a link to your website.
To find brand mentions, you can use tools such as Google Alerts, Mention, or Ahrefs. Once you have identified unlinked brand mentions, contact the website owner and request a link to your site. Be sure to make a clear and compelling case for why linking back to your site would be valuable for their readers.
By claiming unlinked brand mentions, you can increase the number of backlinks to your site and improve your search engine rankings.
Developing free tools
Creating and distributing free tools is excellent for building links for your SaaS product. You can develop tools that help users solve a problem related to your product and make them available for free on your website. These tools can be in the form of calculators, widgets, plugins, or even mobile apps.
By offering free tools, you provide value to your target audience while building brand awareness and credibility. If your tool is helpful, it can attract links from other websites and social media shares. This can increase your website’s traffic and improve your search engine rankings.
To get started, identify a problem your target audience faces and brainstorm ideas for a tool to help them solve it. Make sure your tool aligns with your product and brand message. Once you’ve developed your tool, promote it through social media, email, and other channels.
For example, Roast Coffee created a free coffee to water calculator, which raked in 388 backlinks and currently getting around 8,656 organic traffic per month:
Creating highly shareable content
Creating highly shareable content is one of the most effective ways to attract backlinks to your SaaS website. This could include creating infographics, blog posts, podcasts, and videos that offer valuable insights or solve a problem for your target audience. By developing valuable content, you are positioning yourself as an expert in your industry and providing value to your potential customers.
To create highly shareable content, you should first understand your target audience’s pain points and interests. Conducting market research and analyzing the performance of your existing content can help you identify topics that resonate with your audience. Additionally, creating content in different formats can appeal to a broader audience and encourage sharing on social media.
Ensure your content is easily shareable by including social media sharing buttons and embedding code for your infographics or videos. Promote your content through your social media channels and email newsletter to reach a wider audience and encourage others to share it.
Providing endorsements or testimonials
One of the best ways to build links for your SaaS is by providing endorsements or testimonials to other businesses. Many companies seek credible sources to back up their products or services. By offering your endorsement or testimonial, you can establish a relationship with the business and gain a link to your website. Reach out to companies you have worked with or are familiar with and offer an endorsement or testimonial. Make sure to include a link back to your website. You can also look for companies that offer products or services related to your SaaS and offer to provide a testimonial in exchange for a link. This strategy can help build your authority and increase your website traffic.
For example, Authority Hacker provided a short but credible testimonial to Ahrefs, which landed them a cool link here:
Obtaining links from resource pages that are relevant to your niche
Another effective way to build links for your SaaS business is to obtain links from resource pages relevant to your niche. Resource pages are pages that provide a list of links to other websites that offer helpful information on a specific topic.
To find relevant resource pages, you can use search queries such as “your niche + resources” or “your niche + links” in your preferred search engine. Once you have a list of resource pages, reach out to the website owners and ask them to add your SaaS business to their resource page.
To increase your chances of success, ensure that your SaaS business offers valuable information or tools relevant to the website’s audience. Additionally, consider offering to reciprocate the link and add the website to your resource page.
Finding link opportunities with reverse image search
Another way to identify potential link opportunities is through reverse image search. Using Google’s reverse image search tool, you can upload an image or paste a URL to search for similar images or pages where the image has been used. This can help you find instances where your brand or product image has been used without proper attribution or links.
Once you have identified these instances, you can contact the website owners and request a link back to your website or the product page. Doing so gives you a link and ensures that your brand is represented accurately and fairly.
In addition to Google’s reverse image search, other tools like TinEye and Bing Image Search are available. These tools can help you find more link opportunities and protect your brand image from misuse or misrepresentation.
Collaborating with experts for content
Collaborating with experts in your industry is an excellent way to create high-quality content that attracts backlinks. Reach out to industry experts and ask if they would be interested in collaborating with you on a piece of content. This could be a blog post, infographic, or video that you create together.
When you publish the content, give the expert credit and include a link to their website. They will likely share the content with their followers, increasing their reach and the chances of getting more backlinks.
Collaborating with experts also allows you to create informative and credible content. This type of content is more likely to be shared and linked to by other websites, further increasing your backlink profile.
In addition, collaborating with experts can help you establish relationships with influencers in your industry. These relationships can lead to more opportunities for collaboration and exposure for your brand.
Participating in interviews to build links
Another way to build links is by participating in interviews related to your industry or niche. When you get interviewed, mention your website and link back to it. By doing so, you can get quality links from authoritative websites in your niche. You can search for interview opportunities on social media, podcasts, or blogs to get started. You can also contact journalists or bloggers who cover your niche and offer to be interviewed.
When participating in an interview, provide insightful and valuable information to the audience. By doing so, you will not only build links but also establish yourself as an authority in your field. Also, make sure to share the interview on your website and social media channels to drive traffic and increase your brand’s visibility. Participating in interviews is a great way to build links and increase your online visibility.
Reaching out to websites for guest posting opportunities
Guest posting is a great way to build backlinks and improve your website’s visibility. It involves writing content for other websites in your industry in exchange for a backlink to your site. When looking for guest posting opportunities, it’s important to find websites that are relevant to your niche and have a good reputation.
Research websites that accept guest posts and compile a list of potential targets. Look for sites that have high domain authority and a significant amount of traffic. Once you’ve identified potential websites, reach out to them with a pitch for your article.
Tailor your pitch to each website and show them your familiarity with their content and audience. Your pitch should summarize your proposed article and how it will benefit their readers.
Remember, guest posting is a mutually beneficial arrangement, so it’s essential to offer high-quality content that provides value to the website’s audience. If your pitch is accepted, take the time to write a well-researched and interesting article that showcases your expertise.
For example, here’s a guest post we published for one of our SaaS clients in Bigcommerce.com:
Contacting journalists through HARO (Help a Reporter Out)
If you’re looking to build quality backlinks for your website, reaching out to journalists through HARO can be a highly effective strategy. HARO is a platform where journalists and reporters post queries for experts to provide quotes and information for their stories.
By signing up for HARO and responding to relevant queries in your niche, you can get featured in authoritative publications and earn high-quality backlinks to your website. Remember that you should only respond to queries that are genuinely relevant to your expertise and industry.
To increase your chances of being selected, provide thoughtful, insightful, and valuable information that adds value to the journalist’s story. Also, remember to include a brief author bio with a link to your website in your response.
Overall, HARO is an excellent tool for building relationships with journalists and earning high-quality backlinks to your website. However, like all link building strategies, it requires effort, time, and patience to see results.
Using podcasts to expand your reach
Podcasts have become increasingly popular in recent years, and they can effectively expand your reach and build links. You can share your expertise, connect with new audiences, and gain valuable backlinks by appearing on podcasts relevant to your niche.
To get started, research podcasts in your industry and identify ones that align with your brand and message. Reach out to the hosts and offer your expertise as a guest. During the interview, share your insights, tell stories, and provide actionable tips from which the audience can benefit.
After the podcast is published, share it on your website and social media channels to reach a wider audience. You can also ask the host to include a link to your website in the show notes, which can help improve your search engine rankings.
Podcasts are a great way to build relationships, expand your reach, and earn valuable backlinks. By taking advantage of this growing medium, you can increase your visibility and grow your business.
Taking advantage of product embedding
Product embedding is a popular link building technique used by many businesses to increase brand awareness and generate backlinks. By embedding your product or service into relevant websites, you can gain valuable exposure and create opportunities for links back to your site.
To start with product embedding, you can first identify websites in your industry or niche that could benefit from showcasing your product or service. For example, if you sell workout equipment, you could contact fitness bloggers or websites and offer them a free piece of equipment in exchange for a product review and embedding your product link.
Another strategy is to partner with influencers or industry experts who can help promote your product to their audience. You can incentivize them to promote your product and link back to your site by offering them a discount code or special offer for their followers.
For example, when embedding a contact form by Typeform, they have included a link back to their page, which helped increase their traffic and rankings:
Partnering with other websites for link building
Collaborating with other websites is another excellent strategy for building backlinks. You can consider guest posting or co-authoring a blog post with another website targeting your business’s audience. This way, you can gain exposure to new audiences and build relationships with other businesses in your industry. You can also collaborate with influencers or other thought leaders in your field to gain credibility and build trust with your audience.
Research potential partners carefully and only partner with reputable and relevant websites for your business. You can also use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to find websites linking to your competitors and reach out to them for collaboration opportunities. Remember, building a network of quality backlinks takes time and effort, but it can pay off in the long run with improved search engine rankings, increased traffic, and, ultimately, more sales for your business.
Speaking at online conferences
Online conferences provide excellent opportunities for link building and expanding your reach. You can position yourself as an authority in your industry and attract new audiences to your website by participating as a speaker. Do some research and find relevant conferences that are related to your industry or niche. Contact the conference organizers and pitch a topic that you can present. Ensure your presentation provides value to the audience and your talk is engaging and informative. You can include links to your website in your presentation or your bio, usually featured on the conference website.
Speaking at online conferences can also help you network with other professionals in your field, leading to future link building opportunities. Don’t forget to promote your participation on social media and on your website to encourage your followers to attend the conference and view your presentation. Online conferences are becoming increasingly popular, and they are an excellent way to build your brand, expand your reach and build links for your website.
Creating content that demonstrates thought leadership
Creating valuable and insightful content effectively establishes yourself as a thought leader in your industry. You can attract an audience and build credibility by sharing your knowledge and experience through articles, blog posts, whitepapers, and social media posts.
To create content demonstrating thought leadership, start by identifying your industry’s most pressing topics and questions. Then, offer original and valuable insights on these topics through your content. Use data and statistics to support your arguments and provide actionable advice that readers can use.
Consider collaborating with other experts in your field to create content that is both informative and engaging. Sharing your content on social media and other relevant platforms can expand your reach and attract a wider audience.
Remember to keep your content focused and concise. Avoid fluff and keep your writing clear and to the point. By consistently creating high-quality content, you can establish yourself as a trusted authority in your industry and attract new business opportunities.
Wrap Up
In conclusion, link building is crucial to any SaaS business’s SEO strategy. By implementing the tactics outlined in this article, you can expand your reach, drive traffic to your site, and improve your search engine rankings. Remember to always focus on high-quality, relevant links, and avoid shady practices that could harm your reputation.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or don’t have the time to devote to link building, our link building services can help. Our team of experts can create a custom link building strategy tailored to your business and goals, and we’ll handle all the details, so you can focus on running your business.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to improve your SEO and drive more traffic to your site. Contact us today to learn more about our link building services and how we can help your business grow.
