One of the most difficult pieces of an inbound marketing strategy is obtaining backlinks to your website.  Having links to your pages that come from reputable websites is essential to improving your search rankings.  In the past, many marketers have dropped links into the comment sections of blogs that may have nothing to do with their content.  Search engines have begun to figure this practice out and it is no longer effective.  There are many legitimate ways you can obtain backlinks for free.

1. Consistent Valuable Content

Publishing valuable content consistently is the best way to garner more backlinks.  If you create dynamic content that educates your readers, they are very likely to share it with others.  The more consistently you publish your material, the more fresh content your readers will have to share, thus increasing the links to your site.  You’ll also want to consider interviewing current clients for your blogs.  These are sure to be shared by them and their colleagues.

2. Link to Relevant Blogs

At its core, your blog is essentially a social tool.  Providing links to other blogs is a great way to establish a relationship with other bloggers.  If you’re linking to their sites, they are very likely to return the favor.  Developing these relationships with other bloggers is a sure way to receive consistent backlinks to your content.

3. Resource Lists

Creating industry relevant resource lists is another great way to get your content shared.  These types of lists can be very useful to others in your industry.  Developing these lists yourself will make it easy for other bloggers to share this type of content without them having to rehash them themselves.

4. Case Studies

Writing case studies that highlight your most successful clients is a sure way to gain more links.  The clients you are writing about are highly likely to link to your case study to show off their own success.  If it happens to be a large company that you cover in your case study, the new links you establish could be significant.  You can also volunteer yourself to companies of which you are a client as well.  Doing so in exchange for links to your site is a great way to strengthen your relationship as well.

5. Webinars

If you produce an informative webinar, your attendees are sure to share it.  You’ll want to archive these webinars so that other sites can link to them without issue.  They can be embedded within a blog post so that those that could not attend will still be able to view the content.

6. Templates

Templates are another tool that people will find useful and want to link to.  Creating templates that can be used for a long time to come are very likely to be bookmarked as well.  This increases SEO and the likelihood that this content will be linked to in the future.

7. Visual Content

Infographics, videos, cartoons and charts are some of the most shared content online.  They are very easily digestible and can be relatable for a large percentage of readers.  They are very likely to be linked to since other bloggers may find it easier to link to you rather than creating the visual content themselves.

8. Humor

Funny posts tend to be shared very frequently.  Creating linkable content that contains industry related humor is a great way to obtain links.  Just make sure you know your audience so that you avoid posting anything that could be considered offensive.

9. Partnerships and Co-marketing

Partnering up with other companies to promote each other’s content is a great way to build consistent backlinks.  Additionally, if you happen to be a part of a channel, partnering with others within your channel to share links can help everyone involved.

10. Social Sharing Buttons

One of the easiest ways to get your content shared is by including social sharing buttons within your content.  You’ll want to include these on any white papers, Ebooks, blog posts and case studies.

Developing backlinks is an integral part of any inbound marketing strategy.  They not only increase your SEO and website traffic, they can help you to develop strategic alliances within complementary industries.  Winn Technology Group is a Hubspot Partner and specializes in inbound marketing.  Click the link below to schedule your free inbound marketing assessment.