**Updated for 2021
Although Google has worked a lot in order to eliminate various exploitive link building methods, SEO experts still find a way to cheat the system.
Now, from the perspective of Google search engine, links should come naturally and you should never force them yourself.
In 2017, we are much more attentive in terms of link quality and relevance. You are no longer able to spam various niches and get batches of links in order to boost a page. Google sees right through it.
Still, even though everything looks peachy, there are numerous gray hat link building methods that are being used on a daily basis.
In this short article I will review 7 awesome link building strategies that still work and will not get you into trouble.
- Guest posts
Writing guest posts is one of those strategies that should’ve have been long gone. However, guest posting still exists although not in the same way it was several years ago.
Today, it is really important to focus on relevancy and quality. You have to get links from your niche and preferably, from authoritative sources.
I feel that Google still doesn’t want to pursue guest posts due to their obvious advantages. They simply give life to blogosphere.
If you consider that the biggest website heavily depends on guest contributors, you can easily see how the whole system could go down due to this small change.
When talking about link building, guest posting is probably the best method to use; not only do you get backlink and exposure but you’re also working on building relationships with other bloggers.
- Round ups
Here is another good method. Unlike guest posting which is in the gray zone, roundups are completely straight.
Roundup is a content types where you ask numerous bloggers a question and present their answers within an article. In fact, this is probably one of the best ways to attract attention to a newly created website.
The most important thing about roundups is that it helps you create a list of all the influencers within the niche. You get to copy their emails and website which can be used later on. So, it’s not only a link building method; it is used for competitive analysis as well.
Have in mind that influencers don’t have to link back to you (or better said, your roundup). Still, most of them will share this news with their readers as it is always positive when you’re invited to give your professional opinion.
- Turning mentions into links
This is one of the best and easiest ways to get links.
Basically, all you have to do is check the web and see where you’re mentioned. After that, you just contact site owner and persuade him to turn that mention into a link.
In theory, this is all nice and well but it does have some drawbacks.
If you’re a small website, there is a good chance no one will be mentioning you. Even if you’re a medium sized one, you will be mentioned only occasionally.
Luckily for you, you can check all the mentions really quickly by using one of numerous tools so at least you won’t spend too much time on it.
- Broken link building
During broken link building, you need to find a page that was no longer active. Also, this page received a lot of links.
Now, you recreate that page and start pitching people who initially linked out. You mention that there is a broken link on their website and you offer a substitution.
As most of bloggers do not wish to remove their content, they will likely replace the link in question. Still, they might even rephrase the whole paragraph or sentence if it’s not too much of a hassle.
Broken link building is a win-win situation where you actually offer something to the website owner. Again, it can lead to some issues (for example, your broken link building project can reach original article creator and he might decide to pursue you).
In general, it’s one of the most powerful and legit ways to build one-way links to your sites today.
- Explainer videos
Link building content is constantly fluctuating.
As soon as one type becomes popular, it slowly starts becoming redundant, boring and overused. Suddenly, everybody starts pitching you with emails asking you to read their post and if possible, link out to it.
This is why you constantly need to change your approach.
One of the newest content types that is meant to bring you link is explainer video.
This is a short form video that lasts for 2-3 minutes and is used to define a term or better yet, explain something. It can easily fit on any page and can improve your content.
For example, instead of explaining something with words, you simply embed an explainer video that provides you with a visual explanation.
Explainers can be full of ideas for your link building. I suggest you check these 14 Types of animated explainers by BreadNBeyond which are full of great ideas.
- Scholarships
This is one of the best methods for building links and yet, it is the most expensive one.
During scholarship campaign, you offer scholarships to students. Basically, you start pitching scholarship departments of various websites and wait to see who responds. If they decide to use your plan, they will post an announcement on their blog. Most often than not this will be a link to your company.
Great thing about this approach is that you will get top notch .edu links which are hard to get otherwise.
The main issue? It takes of time and money.
- HARO
HARO or Help A Reporter Out is a platform that connects bloggers and journalists. Through it, journalists are always able to get freshest news.
It connects you to biggest media outlets and can provide some awesome links. But, you need to have something that is newsworthy.
This can be a study, research or something else of value that hasn’t been published anywhere else. Link that you will receive will likely be awesome but it will take you a lot of time to get there.
8. Niche edits
similar to broken link building but usually involves in placing links on hacked wordpress sites – not recommended if you’re dont know what you’re doing.
Nikolay Stoyanov is a well-known Bulgarian SEO expert with nearly 10 years of SEO experience. He blogs about SEO on his blog NikSto.com. Nikolay practices 100% white hat SEO and has a vast experience in keyword research, on-page optimization, SEO auditing and white hat link building. He enjoys learning new things, making new friendships and improving his skills all the time.