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How to Build Backlinks in 2018

Backlinks are one of the most valuable commodities a website can get and we are going to show you How to Build Backlinks in 2019.

Let’s face it, backlink building is work, but there are tricks I have learned that can be replicated to help achieve higher rankings without having to reach out to prospective website owners in hopes of gaining a backlink.

Build Backlinks rel=nofollow

The golden age of easy backlink juice seems to be coming to an end.  Websites such as Forbes, Huffington Post, and others are implemented a strategy of applying nofollow tags to all links from contributor articles.  So if I wanted to write an article for Forbes or Huffington Posts, the links aren’t going to pass any value because they are now coded as nofollow.

Now, to be honest, nofollow backlinks still have a value from a CTR perspective, but it will not raise the page ranking since no link juice is pushed through.

Building Backlinks Do Follow

For the last part of 2017 into 2018 I set out to rank Hang Ten SEO for the keyword “Austin SEO Expert” and along the way, I found some really good ways to build backlinks that work and are do follow.

Google Docs | Building 2019 Backlinks

Google Docs Building Backlink 2018

Did you know that Google Docs is a really easy way to gain backlinks?  The key ingredient is making sure you set the document SHARE property to PUBLIC.  Google gives priority or at least seems to give priority to it’s own products in searches, so by creating a Google Document with links to your articles and website pages will generate backlinks from a very high Domain Authority site, namely Google.  It really doesn’t get any higher and since it’s a Google document, you can put as much or as little content as you feel necessary.  In general you will want to have at least 300 words, but the more specific you can get pertaining to the keyword or keyword phrase you are trying to rank for the better.

In the Google Docs, below I added 2 links, including a link to the Contact Us page and a link to an article on Austin SEO Expert.

Once the document was created I submitted the document’s URL to Google and Bing.
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sTP5xL5moyhy-qCZL7jfzw_hOjqjtf6ere3cxnCldXQ)

Are there any downsides to using Google Docs as a backlink method?

The biggest downside will be the link juice coming from the Google Docs will not be worth much unless the document has it’s own backlinks.  While the Domain Authority is really high, the Page Authority is basically 1, meaning it doesn’t have a lot of weight.

The second downside is the URL structure isn’t optimal for SEO.  When you create Google document, as far as I know you don’t have control over customizing the URL to make it more SEO compliant, so it ends up being a mixture of letters and numbers.

You can use services like Bitly (https://bitly.com/) or Google Shortener (https://goo.gl/) to shorten the URL, but again the backlink URL structure still isn’t optimal.

Lastly you don’t have SEO control over things such as titles, meta description and URL structure, all of which would help the document rank higher and gain more link juice.

Google Docs Backlink Method 2018 Hang Ten SEO Austin SEO Expert

Google Docs Backlink Tips

  • Set the document’s SHARE property to Public
  • Add roughly 300 or more words
  • Submit the URL to Google and Bing

Google Sites | Building 2019 Backlinks

google_sites Backlink Building 2018

Another Google Product that has a bit more punch than Google Documents is Google Sites.  With Google Sites you have the ability to create a website under the Google brand name, like Google Docs.  I wrote an article that goes into great detail about using Google Sites (Google Sites SEO Google Listing Trick) as a backlink strategy.

Where Google Docs fall short with respect to naming the URL, Google Sites allows for customization.  For example my Google Sites targeting the keyword phrase “Austin SEO Expert” is https://sites.google.com/view/austinseoexpert.

I have found Google Sites tend to rank better than Google Docs and in markets that aren’t too competitive can rank in the top 20 without much effort.  This potentially means you could have multiple listings in the top 20 based on a specific keyword or phrase.  Obviously Ranking on page 2 really isn’t helpful for click thru rate (CTR), but it still can help boost your money site or the main site or article you are trying to rank for.

The other advantage to Google Sites over Google Docs is a full blown website, rather than just a document.

Are there any downsides to using Google Sites as a backlink method?

The main downside to Google Sites is the fact that it is another website, which means it will take a bit of time to build. To take full advantage of it, you will want to start a backlink campaign to boost it’s website ranking, which in turn will boost it’s link juice capability to your money site.

Google Sites Backlink Tips

  • Focus on a single Keyword phrase
  • Add roughly 300 or more words to each page
  • Submit the URL to Google and Bing

LinkedIn | Building 2019 Backlinks

LinkedIn Building Backlinks 2018

Right now there is a little known trick in LinkedIn (LinkedIn Google Listing Trick) that allows you to create a company name targeting your keyword phrase.  When you signup for a LinkedIn account, you have the ability to create company pages.  As far as I know this functionality is unlimited, meaning you can create as many LinkedIn company pages as you want.

When designing the page the goal is to set it up in such a way that it targets your keyword or keyword phrase.  I usually set the Company Website URL to the article I want the backlink for.

LinkedIn Company Details Backlink 2018

When setting up the LinkedIn Company Page I will use the Targeted Keyword Phrase, so for example the Austin SEO Expert LinkedIn company page would be called Austin SEO Expert.  Unfortunately someone took that, so I opted for Austin SEO Expert Hang Ten SEO (https://www.linkedin.com/company/austinseoexperthangtenseo).

LinkedIn Search - Austin SEO Expert 2018

From my experience LinkedIn pages in general rank really well.  When you perform a search on “Hang Ten SEO”, the LinkedIn pages are ranked 3 and 4.

Hang Ten SEO LinkIn Google Serp Listings

Once the LinkedIn company page is setup, LinkedIn allows you to post updates to the page creating backlinks to articles you post.  These backlinks appear to be follow links, which can boost the backlinked article’s performance in rankings.

LinkedIn Recent Updates Backlinks 2018

To Be Continued

Yelp SEO Google Listing Trick
2017 Trello Google Listing Trick