There are many different techniques that are involved in search engine optimization. While website development and on-site SEO play a significant role in determining your search ranking, your site’s domain authority matters, too.

Domain rating isn’t formally calculated by Google, but how authoritative a website is will factor into that site’s rankings. One of the best ways to improve a site’s domain rating is by obtaining backlinks from other websites that are already seen by Google as being valuable and authoritative. These sites will then pass some of their “link juice” to your site — which is like giving a digital endorsement of your own site’s worth.

It’s important to note that some backlinks are more helpful than others, so you’ll need to be discerning when actively trying to get more backlinks to your site. Google frowns upon paid links as well, which means you’ll need to obtain backlinks through more creative means. But knowing how to get high-quality links to your site in the first place might seem a bit overwhelming. To help you get started, we’re sharing a few different techniques you can utilize in an effort to secure free backlinks to your site.

Guest Posts

Guest blogging is one of the most popular options for obtaining backlinks, but it’s also a great way to increase brand visibility and traffic. By creating content for another site, you’ll be able to share information and improve awareness surrounding your business. It’s about more than just getting a link from a good website; if your audience is well-aligned with that of the site owner, you may be able to increase visits to your site and even see new conversions from that one link.

Pitching to guest blogging opportunities will require a bit of legwork — and creating the content will take some time, too. But engaging in this practice can allow you to build new relationships and reach new web users you might otherwise have trouble connecting with. In addition, this content can provide a wealth of opportunities for social media sharing and cross-promotion.

Infographics

Infographics are highly valuable pieces of visual content you can use on your own site, but they can also be published on other sites to promote your brand. They tend to offer a lot of useful information in a format that’s easy to digest, which makes them ideal in terms of shareability.

You will need some graphic design skills to create an infographic, but you don’t necessarily need to be a Photoshop whiz to make a compelling post. In fact, there are free programs that offer infographic templates that can allow you to easily create something special.

That said, outsourcing to a professional graphic designer really isn’t that expensive — particularly if you’re able to leverage a handful of backlinks from one infographic post. You can pitch your infographic (along with a unique write-up of content pertaining to the visual component) to a number of websites in exchange for a backlink. As a bonus, you can include embed code so that site owners can feel free to share your infographic (and link back to your site) without any kind of formal trade.

Skyscraper Content

You may already know that long-form content can be an excellent way to keep visitors on your site for a longer period of time. But skyscraper content is a little bit different. Usually, it’s on the longer side — but that’s not actually its most distinctive feature. Skyscraper content is intended to outperform a piece of industry content that’s already performing well. In other words, the intent here is to basically supplant that piece of content in search results and on sites that have linked to that content already.

This technique involves searching for relevant content that’s already doing well in search engines and even on social media. If the topic is relevant to your business and audience, you’ll want to find a way to make a better version of that content. Then, you can approach those who have linked to the original content in the past and suggest linking to your content instead — or reach out to influential individuals within your niche and simply ask for a backlink, provided those individuals have shown interest in this topic before.

Testimonials

You don’t necessarily need to devote a lot of time to content creation in order to secure a backlink. You may also be able to obtain a link from a high-quality website if you write a testimonial for a product or service you or your business already uses. You can easily write a short endorsement for a material supplier, accountant, graphic design company, website designer, or local vendor to cement your relationship. In turn, you can request that the site link back to yours as part of your testimonial.

Keep in mind that you should never fake a testimonial in order to get a backlink — and that your backlink profile needs to be made up of more than just testimonials. However, this can be a good way to diversify your backlink profile in a way that doesn’t require a huge time investment.

While these aren’t the only proven methods to obtain backlinks, these are some of the most prevalent and forthright ways to improve your backlink profile. By focusing on these techniques, you’ll be well on your way to improving your domain rating in no time.