8 White Hat Link Building Techniques for Long-Term SEO Success

Link building is one of the important components of a successful SEO strategy. However, one question that arises is are you doing it the white hat way? This is one of the safest and most trusted ways to build links by avoiding penalties from Google. Following the guidelines and implementing white hat link building techniques for your SEO effort will reward you greatly. However, what exactly are these so-called techniques? That’s exactly what we’ll explain in this blog along with the various types of such strategies which you can implement for your brand, let’s get started.

Diving Into white hat link building techniques

First things first, what is white hat link building?

This process is defined as leveraging different types of strategies to build backlinks without violating Google’s guidelines. It’s the safest form of link building and is the least likely to generate penalties that affect your search engine rankings. But how do you know that the strategies you use are completely white hat SEO link building techniques?

This is mainly because there are a ton of such techniques available, some of which might be unfair black hat tactics. Even though your intention is good, using such techniques can be detected by Google which results in the penalization of your website and lower rankings. This is something you don’t want to experience at all. 

Now speaking about backlinks, there was a time where having a higher number of backlinks mattered for website rankings, however, things have changed now. With various algorithm updates introduced, Google now prioritizes link quality over quantity. 

Exploring The Other Shades

Now that you have briefly understood about white hat link building, let’s explore the other shades namely black hat and gray hat link building. If you are familiar with the various hacker types, then this should be familiar. White hat link building tips typically adhere closely to Google’s guidelines.

Black hat link building is the direct opposite of white hat which leverages various techniques that explicitly violate Google guidelines. These strategies are best to avoid if you have long-term business plans. Not only can they be detected by Google but it also results in penalization and low website rankings.

As the name implies, gray hat link building sits between white and black hat. It can be defined as utilizing strategies that aren’t completely ethical but also fall somewhat in the white hat link-building category. These techniques can be useful, as long as you know what you are doing and the risks involved in it. Want to learn more? Check out the comparison list right below.

Source: 

The Various white hat link building strategies

With the various types of strategies for inbound and outbound links in seo, let’s move on to some of the effective white hat link building techniques which we think will help you generate high quality links from websites in the long run.

Leverage Digital PR

PR link building is one of the tried and tested white hat link building tips that can be chosen for your needs. This is essentially leveraging public relations to earn backlinks from high-authority and genuine news sites, blogs etc.

Suppose you create something newsworthy or have a new product or service launch on your website. What you do is you pitch the idea to renowned journalists and writers who then publishes your story and links back to your site. If done correctly, this strategy generates hundreds of quality backlinks and boosts brand visibility. 

Create High-Value Content

We all say content is king and it is true to a certain extent. This makes it one of the most important white hat link building tips. When you create valuable original content on your website and it gains traction, other websites will link your article or web content within their web pages. This process helps increase your credibility and drives organic traffic to your website.

Do Guest Blogging

Blogging is an important part of increasing brand awareness and driving traffic. As you create blogs for your website, you can do the same by drafting compelling articles related to your niche on other reputed websites. Being one of the reliable white hat link building strategies, guest blogging primarily allows you to earn backlinks from relevant websites, which are far more valuable than non-relevant links.

HARO Link Building

Help a Reporter Out or HARO is an online platform that helps journalists find experts who can provide reliable information on their articles. For businesses, sharing expert views about a specific niche will help gain backlinks from well-known reputable sources. To be a part of HARO, you must first register as a source on the platform. After that, you must select relevant queries and focus on them by writing clear responses. The idea behind this is simple: to connect both journalists and writers with sources for their stories.

Build Valuable Relationships

Building relationships with industry experts is one of the popular white hat SEO link building techniques. This effectively simplifies your efforts and helps gain backlinks with ease. There are a ton of ways in which you can build meaningful long-lasting relations with renowned people related to your business. Engaging or collaborating with other bloggers, websites, projects, etc helps gain exposure and reach. This also increases your credibility and online brand visibility. As you support your peers, they are more likely to return the favour by linking to your content naturally.

Do Broken Link Building

Broken link building involves finding out inactive or dead links on other websites and presenting your content as a quality replacement to the site owner. You must wonder why this is of much importance. You can help the website owners fix their broken links in exchange for a genuine quality backlink. You can use tools such as Ahrefs or SEMrush to find broken links in your niche and offer content replacements. 

Monitor Your Backlink Profile

Another effective white hat link building tips is keeping an eye on monitoring your backlink profile. This is one of the crucial procedures that must be done regularly as it offers valuable insights into the quantity, quality, and diversity of your backlink profile. Monitoring also helps discover spammy/low-quality backlinks that could negatively affect your SEO efforts.

Unlinked Brand Mentions

When it comes to generating backlinks, it is easier to get them from sources that are familiar with your brand/business rather than from those who aren’t aware of your online presence. There are certain cases where certain brands may have mentioned you but haven’t linked back yet. This situation is called unlinked brand mention. Using various tools including Semrush, it is possible to identify such websites, get in touch with them and ask for backlinks.

Winding up

White hat link building techniques are definitely important for long-term SEO success. Building links isn’t an easy process as it takes time, effort and risks if you are willing to take it. When it comes to link building, the strategies fall into white, black and gray. Choosing white hat link-building techniques is a safe bet for the long term. However, the process becomes much easier if you’re willing to bend the rules a little.

When it comes to black hat vs white hat SEO, the former is bad while the latter is good. Leveraging the various techniques explained above, you can implement them and see what works well for your brand with ease. If you wish to learn more, GTECH Digital, the renowned SEO agency in Dubai is ready to help you with that aspect.