Google’s algorithms are so smart that they can easily identify which backlink has useful content. The crawlers dive into the webpage through that link and check whether it’s relevant to the user’s search query or not.
Moreover, a backlink weighs more when it’s used in context than if the link is placed randomly with unrelated content.
This post will give you the four effective contextual link-building strategies to boost your website’s ranking on SERP. But before that, let’s understand the concept of contextual link building.
What is Contextual Link Building?
When you embed an information-rich link in a relevant piece of content back to your site, that is a contextual link.
In literal terms, the word ‘contextual’ refers to the relevancy of an idea, statement, or topic.
Suppose there is a 1,000 words article on How to Write User-Friendly Content. Somewhere in the body of the content, you add a link to the phrase “increase the readability of your content.”
This link directs the user to your website, where you share tips on how to increase the readability score of your content. Since the link is in the context of what you’re discussing, it’s a contextual link.
This type of link building is quite beneficial:
- It helps the users get more detailed answers to their queries.
- You will get a contextual white hat link back to your site.
Other than that, Google’s crawler will find that particular web page of your site valuable. It’s because you gave a relevant answer to the user’s query in that link, and that user also found your answer helpful. Thus, you will eventually get a boost on the SERP ranking.
How Does Contextual Backlink Strategy Work?
According to Google, your website gets promoted based on topical authority. Therefore, it’s important to know how the contextual backlinks work to increase content relevance.
Same Niche
Suppose you are dealing in Apple smartphones and your website is linking to the latest iOS news and updates blogs. That means you are targeting the same niche – and it’s very helpful in ranking your site.
Google and other search engines will find such type of contextual link building viable. As a result, your website will get a quality SEO score due to the high amount of relevance.
Different Niche
Sometimes, a link sends the user to a website that may seem irrelevant because of its title, niche, or the products/services they’re selling. But when they check the content on that page, it’s quite relevant. Based on relevance, the search engine crawlers will also mark that contextual link as positive.
An example can be a graphic designing firm that has a service for creating SEO-friendly infographics. Although the niche is different, the client looking to boost their website will find that particular web page informative.
Irrelevant Niche
Linking to an irrelevant niche can harm your SEO ranking.
Suppose you deal in automobile spare parts, and you list a backlink on an online gift store website. How would the user feel? Yes, confused.
Google will also give a similar response, and you might face the following consequences:
- Google will label that contextual link as spam.
- You lose time as well as money.
- Your website’s domain authority (DA) will suffer.
Therefore, the best practice is to avoid creating unnecessary backlinks in an irrelevant niche. All that matters is your reader is getting something relevant and informative.
4 Strategies to Create Contextual Backlinks
Let’s discuss the strategies of contextual link building and their advantages.
Manually Reach Out to Bloggers/Influencers
First, you have to make sure your website is credible enough to stand out from your competitors. This simply means your website’s content should be:
- Professionally written
- Authentic
Professionally written web content is grammatically correct, easily readable, and informative. When users find content on your website professionally written, they will spend more time reading that.
The content on your website should be authentic as well. If you are adding facts and figures to make a piece of information convincing, don’t forget to mention the references. That authenticates your web content.
Such websites serve as gold mines for bloggers and influencers. If they find your online presence trustworthy, they will create backlinks to your website without any hesitation.
When you reach that point, it’s time to manually hunt for famous bloggers and influencers. But, why must you do that?
According to research, 77% of people read blogs online. This means, if you get the bloggers to incorporate your website’s link, your chances of getting organic traffic (the traffic that comes with no paid source) will rise, and so does your ranking.
For this purpose, you have to find out where these avid readers spend their time on blogs. You can use the tool SparkToro through which you can find niche relevant platforms.
It’ll help you reach out to the required bloggers and influencers efficiently.
Guest Posting – Free or Paid
Guest posting is the most common technique for getting quality contextual backlinks to your website. However, it’s mandatory that you submit your post to the right platform. Why?
The right platform gets you to the right audience which finds your post relevant. If you don’t submit your post to the right platform, that might be a waste of time and money. It’s because no one wants to spend time reading an irrelevant post.
Once you have found the right platform(s), prepare for the next step. You need to understand the blog’s requirements and pitch your guest post in exactly the same manner.
Here are some tips for contacting the site owner:
- Prepare separate emails for each of your guest posts.
- Show the statistics of your guest post, including published links and traffic generation.
- Display top keywords and SERP ranking.
Replace Competitors’ Broken Links with Yours
Do a quick audit of your competitor’s website, and you may be able to find some broken links.
To perform competitor site audits, you can use tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs.
Broken links to any relevant website serve no purpose. In fact, they might devalue the page with links that are leading to nowhere, leading to a poor user experience.
So, what you can do is to reach out to these website owners and offer them your link as a replacement They will surely accept that. In fact, 9 out of 10 times, they will replace that broken link.
As a result, you will get a quality dofollow backlink to your website from your competitor.
Research-Based Links
Last but not least, prepare research-based content. This means that the piece of content should be validated and credited from the proper sources of information.
The next step is to find out what websites are publishing articles relevant to your research. Once you do that, start sending them emails.
Since your content is of relevant context and full of research, it will be a valuable asset for website owners.
While that particular website gets research-based content, you will get a quality contextual backlink.
Advantages of Contextual Link Building
Here are some advantages of developing contextual link building strategies:
- You will get recognition on SERP as well as on social media.
- Your website’s credibility will increase.
- Internet surfers will find your website trustworthy.
- Users will share your content as you have provided the information they were looking for.
Conclusion
As online businesses thrive to get SERP ranking, your website can stay one step ahead by contextual link building. However, you have to make sure that your links provide informative content to the readers. LinkDoctor’s organic link building strategies will help your website to stand out from the crowd along with building authoritative & contextual links.
That way, readers will find your website trustworthy, and you will eventually stand out in SERP’s eyes.
