Tom Thorley • Brand Marketing for Startups & Small Businesses

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There's no question that getting free backlinks is a killer way to improve your website rankings.

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Don't spend a fortune paying for backlinks.

Instead, use these 5 effective strategies to get quality backlinks for free.

1. Write Guest Posts for Other Blogs in Your Industry&nbsp;

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One of the&nbsp;easiest ways to build links and increase traffic&nbsp;to your website is by&nbsp;writing guest posts&nbsp;for other blogs in your industry.

By&nbsp;writing a guest post for another blog, you'll allow the readers of that blog to visit your website and learn more about what you do.

Here's what the process looks like in a nutshell:

Find a blog you want to feature in and contact them and ask if you can guest blog.

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Write an original article that is related to the topic of the blog you're writing for.

Include at least one link back to your blog at the end of your post.

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This is an overly simplified overview of how it works.

There are plenty of websites that allow guest posting.

When asking to guest post try to offer value and build a partnership.

Explain that you write a lot of posts, and offer them a backlink.

Build a solid relationship first then later you can ask for a backlink.

It's a more pleasant and productive experience if you can offer something to them first.

When you get the go ahead to write a guest post follow this list:

Tell them you can do it and get it done quickly

Pitch them three or four topics that their audience might like - not something they already have on their site

Tell them it will be keyword optimized for SEO

Set some boundaries - word count, style, etc.

You can outsource if you want or use an AI tool to speed up the process.

2. Get more Backlinks for Free Using HARO

H.A.R.O Stands for help a reporter out.&nbsp;

You sign up to receive daily automated emails from <a href="https://helpareporter.com">helpareporter.com</a>.

The emails contain lists with lots of opportunities from reporters/bloggers looking for content about a specific topic.

If you spot one that fits your niche and you want to contribute then you can apply.

If you are successful then you can get featured on their blog with a free backlink.

A lot of the sites have high domain authority too so the backlinks may be very valuable to your brand.

Be quick when applying though as the good opportunities go fast.

Also, be prepared to have your inbox inundated with emails from Haro.

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3. Guest on Podcasts or Host Your Own Podcast (Expert Roundup)

One of the best ways of building a brand and getting backlinks for free is to build real relationships with people in your niche.

If you collaborate on content then you both, or all have something new to share and link to.

You could gather up a few industry experts (easy to find on LinkedIn) and invite them to a podcast.&nbsp;

When the podcast goes live, guess who will link back to your site? All your new industry friends!

It’s also a great way to meet new people and build important relationships.

Alternatively, create your own podcast and invite industry leaders to appear.

Create ideas posts or really long lists (RLL) that act as resource pages.

This kind of content is more “shareable” or more “link-worthy” than other posts.&nbsp;

Examples of really useful resource pages might be:&nbsp;

A long list of current tools for digital marketing&nbsp;

104 websites that will speed up your content creation&nbsp;

Lists like these are an incredibly valuable resource for the right person.

These types of “Linkbait” pages can get you free organic backlinks simply because people like to share useful resources.

It comes back to writing great content.

But it’s more strategic with this type of content and aiming for "linkability" from the start.

A broken link also known as a dead link is a link that goes nowhere.

This means the page it links to is inactive or no longer exists.&nbsp;

There are a lot of broken links on the internet.&nbsp;

This is bad for the user experience but you can use it to your advantage.&nbsp;

If you can find a broken link then you can offer to replace it and earn yourself a free backlink!

There are tools that allow you to discover these broken links.&nbsp;

One such tool is&nbsp;<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/check-my-links/ojkcdipcgfaekbeaelaapakgnjflfglf?hl=en-GB" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Check My Links Google Chrome extension</a>&nbsp;– This Chrome browser extension helps you quickly check for broken links.

When you discover a broken backlink you can ask the website administrator to replace it with a link to your resource.

You will obviously need to have a relevant piece of content that can replace the link.

Use a backlink tool to find broken links&nbsp;

Contact the webmasters explaining that they have a broken link but you have a resource to replace it.

Create a blog post that is better than the original, or at least worthy&nbsp;

If all goes well then they will accept your offer and then link back to your post.

There are many different ways that you can get free backlinks to your.

The tips in this post are just five of the most effective methods that work right now.

Start building links and generating more traffic to your site by implementing a few of these strategies regularly and you'll be on your way to building a strong online presence for your business in no time.

I hope that you've found this short list useful and that it has helped to shed some light on how you can start getting high-quality backlinks to your website for free.

If you need help with your markerting and SEO then <a href="/contact">contact</a> me.