The Dos and Don’ts for Successful SaaS Link Building

The Dos and Don’ts for Successful SaaS Link Building

Link building is often the difference maker in SEO. Building powerful backlinks is very helpful in the process of ranking higher for commercial keywords and driving a large amount of traffic to your SaaS business.

However, if you get link building wrong it can lead to less than impressive results, or even in rare cases penalties or deindexing. 

If you get your link building wrong you will waste tons of time and money. That’s why it’s important to follow the major dos and don’ts of SaaS link building. This article will delve into all the best practices for link building to follow, as well as the common pitfalls to avoid. 

I want to teach you how to build a strong link profile that helps your business succeed. So, let’s go!

Building Strong SaaS Links

Building strong backlinks that actually help you to rank is pivotal to having a successful digital marketing strategy, and for SaaS businesses, it is even more crucial. Why?

Because most SaaS businesses are fairly reliant on organic traffic, or at least, it’s a major lead source.

The key is to build strong links that are relevant, contextual, and authoritative.

You want to focus on building links from relevant sources that will bring in more traffic to your website. Tools like Semrush and Ahrefs will help you to determine the websites that are generating a large share of relevant industry traffic. From here you can reach out to them for link building opportunities. 

However, just reaching out and asking for links will probably not be enough. You will also need to create high-quality content that is shareable, informative, and valuable to your target audience.

Not only will this help you to attract more links but it will also position your business as an authority in your niche. 

Another strategy for SaaS link building is to engage in social media marketing. This can be a great way to reach a broader audience and boost your link building efforts. Social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are a great way to share your content and connect with your target audience.

 Social media marketing can also be a good way to increase your brand visibility and attract more backlinks to your website. Why? Because bloggers and influencers who engage with your brand on social media will be far more likely to also link to your content. 

To build out a successful SaaS link building strategy I recommend that you consistently monitor and evaluate your link building strategy. This will help you to identify and fix any issues quickly. Taking an agile marketing approach will stop you from repeating mistakes. Don’t underestimate the importance of identifying the links that are contributing to your website’s success and the ones that are hurting your rankings.

Sometimes it’s not obvious, that’s why a thorough backlink audit every now and again is necessary.

The Dos and Don’ts of Link Building

Creating linkable assets on your website is the best way to earn organic backlinks. So, I recommend that you start (or keep) producing high-quality, relevant content that will attract other websites to link to your site. 

Although this isn’t active, “link building” content can be the most sustainable way of building links. Content can include blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, and more. The more unique the content, the more likely it is to receive links. Additionally, unique content will help you to establish your business as a thought leader in the industry as this can attract even more links.

Outreach. Reaching out to other websites and offering a value exchange. You do something for them and in return they will link to you. This doesn’t have to be financial (and it shouldn’t be). Outreach needs to involve identifying potential link opportunities, reaching out to the website owners, and requesting that they link to your content. 

You can also offer to guest post on their site in exchange for a link back to your own site. However, it is important to only engage in ethical and natural outreach practices, as Google “can” penalize websites for engaging in artificial link building practices. 

We say “can” because, despite what Google guidelines state, it can sometimes be impossible for search engines to distinguish between organic and paid links.

Now, let’s talk about the don’ts of link building. 

First, do not engage in any black hat SEO techniques, buying links from marketplaces like Fiverr or participating in obvious PBNs and link farms is one of the easiest ways to receive a penalty. 

These penalties from Google can be severe too, such as having your website removed from search engines entirely. Additionally, it is essential to avoid over-optimizing your website for search engines. In other words, you need to avoid black hat techniques like keyword stuffing and cloaking.

What are some key steps for successful SaaS link building?

To successfully build links for your SaaS business, there are a few things you should do. Firstly, have a system in place to produce high-quality, informative content that is relevant to your target audience at scale. You essentially want this to be a solution that is on “auto-pilot”. Creating lots of content helps you build topical authority, this helps you rank and attract organic links.

Secondly, build relationships with other businesses and websites in your niche by networking with them on social media platforms and attending industry events. You can reach out to marketing and growth managers at SaaS companies and ask for a call, provide some free value to them and start to build a connection with them. This will also lead to guest blogging opportunities which can start to establish yourself as an expert in your field, whilst also helping you to build strong links back to your website.

What are some things to avoid with SaaS link building?

There are also some things you should avoid when trying to build links for your SaaS business. Firstly, avoid the temptation to buy links that are clearly auto-generated or are part of a link farm. The key giveaway here is if the link is cheap and seems too good to be true.

These links are detected by search engines as SPAM and they do go against Google’s guidelines and can result in a penalty. Secondly, don’t use spammy tactics such as comment spamming or reciprocal link exchanges as this will also raise spam indicators in your backlink profile. Finally, don’t focus solely on getting a high volume of links, instead, focus on getting high-quality, relevant editorial links that will drive traffic and improve your search visibility.

How can social media help with SaaS link building?

Social media is a powerful tool for SaaS link building as it allows you to engage with other businesses and industry leaders in your niche. By connecting with other businesses on social media (particularly Linkedin), you can build relationships that can lead to future link opportunities. 

Additionally, social media can be used to amplify your content and encourage others to share it on their websites, which can generate some good backlinks. Finally, social media is a key tool for monitoring conversations related to your industry and identifying trends that you can capitalize on – potential link building opportunities.

What role does content creation play in SaaS link building?

Content creation is a critical component of successful SaaS link building. Creating engaging content on low competition keywords that is well optimized for SEO will rank and can attract links naturally from other websites. These won’t always be the most authoritative and powerful links, but they will be good for building a natural link profile.

When creating content, it’s important to focus on topics that are strictly relevant to your target audience, as this will increase the chances that other websites will link to it. Also, backlinks tell search engines what your site is about. So, loads of irrelevant backlinks will only serve to confuse search engines.

How important is link relevance in SaaS link building?

Link relevance is an absolutely crucial factor in SaaS link building. When building links, it’s important to focus on getting links from websites that are relevant to your business and industry. For example, if you’re a SaaS business selling marketing software, links from websites in the marketing or software space are going to be more valuable than links from unrelated websites. By getting links from relevant websites, you are effectively communicating to Google that you are a topical authority. Naturally, this will have positive effects on your rankings.

SaaS Link Building Best Practices

Putting the right practices into place is critical in making sure that your SaaS link building efforts are truly effective. Good link-building processes drive businesses growth – this is key.

Sticking with commonly agreed white-hat link building techniques is much safer than relying on black-hat methods such as PBN links, automated links, or link-farming. That’s why it’s key to invest your time and money into building contextual links that make sense to people but also distribute a significant amount of authority. 

As a SaaS business you have a unique opportunity to connect with other brands on various social media platforms as these can be an excellent tool for building your network, distributing content, increasing your website traffic, and gaining backlinks.

Building relationships with other website owners may sound like a generic tip. But, reaching out to other website owners in your niche and building relationships with them is a great way to collaborate with brands on guest posts and tactical exchange links. It can give you a nice boost to your website’s link profile and authority.

It’s key that you keep an eye on your link profile and ensure that you’re not accumulating spammy or toxic links.

SaaS Broken Link Building

Don’t be afraid to take advantage of broken link building. This strategy involves finding broken links on other websites and suggesting that they replace the link with one that leads to your content or website. 

By reaching out and providing a helpful solution, you have the potential to start building new relationships with others in your industry and acquire a backlink to your site.

You can find broken links on key websites in your industry using SEO tools. Then, you can identify the context of the broken link by analyzing the anchor text. Next, you can find a relevant page on your website and send out an email asking for a direct replacement.

It’s unlikely that you will get lots of links this way, but by outsourcing the emailing to a junior employee you can definitely earn a few quality links with a decent time investment.

Linkable Assets

You can also incorporate linkable assets into your content, such as infographics and videos, that can be shared on other websites. This can increase the chances of other websites linking back to your site, which can improve your online brand presence and improve your rankings for related keywords.

Linkable assets… the more unique the better. Calculators, quizzes, and interactive animations are all highly shareable and provide value to users. Therefore, these “linkable assets” are backlink magnets.

Link building Tips

  • Do target relevant websites for link building. Search for websites related to your SaaS product or service (the more relevant, the better) and prioritize those with the high domain rating score and most organic traffic. 
  • Don’t use black hat tactics such as buying backlinks on Fiverr or using automated link building tools. These methods won’t have a positive effect on your link profile and could even result in penalties if these methods are abused.
  • Do create high-quality content that other websites will want to link to. When you have a content asset that is attracting backlinks, this could be in the form of blog posts, infographics, or videos that provide value and insights to your target audience you will be earning the most natural possible links. This is great for building diversity in your link profile.
  • Don’t use generic anchor text in your backlinks. If you are able to specify and control the anchor text of the link try to  use specific keywords or phrases that accurately describe the linked content. This not only helps with SEO but also provides context to users clicking on the link. However, be sure not to overuse certain keyword optimized anchors as this can appear spammy and manipulative.
  • Do reach out to other websites with a personalized message explaining why your content is relevant to their audience and why they should link to it. Tailor your outreach approach based on the individual website and its sub-niche to increase your chances of success. Also, be sure to explain who you are and why you can bring value to their business.

FAQs

What are the biggest don’ts in link building?

One of the biggest don’ts in link building is buying or exchanging links at scale. The occasional link exchange or bought link will probably be fine. However, Google specifically warns against this practice and can penalize websites for participating in it. Another, don’t is acquiring backlinks from spammy or low-quality websites. Getting backlinks to your site from domains like this is simpl;y not worth your time.

Also, don’t use keyword-rich anchor text excessively, as this can appear unnatural and also result in penalties. Lastly, don’t neglect your website’s internal linking structure, while this isn’t strictly related to “link building” , internal links can improve your search engine optimization as well as user navigation on your site.

What are the best practices techniques you use for link building as a SaaS company?

As a SaaS company your first job is to identify relevant websites and other SaaS companies that could benefit from your services and reach out to them to establish a relationship. Guest posting on relevant industry publications and blogs is a good way to build links. Offering testimonials, and integrations can be a good way to earn backlinks here too. Consistency and patience are also key factors in building a strong link profile over time. If you are working on outreach and building relationships all the time you will see results much quicker.

What are the key elements of a successful link building strategy?

A successful link building strategy will need to include a process for identifying and targeting relevant websites, creating valuable content that others actually want to link to, establishing relationships with website owners and publishers, diversifying your link sources, and regularly monitoring and adjusting your strategy using an agile marketing approach.

When it comes to link building you should also prioritize quality over quantity. Building a strong and natural link profile does take a lot of time and effort, but can greatly benefit your website’s rankings and organic traffic.

What makes a good link in link building?

A good link in link building is one that is highly relevant to your SaaS business. It needs to come from a reputable and respected website, and make use of descriptive anchor text that accurately represents the content of the link. Additionally, a good link should be natural and earned rather than automatically generated or clearly purchased… This is known as “editorial value”.

Having backlinks from diverse sources, such as blogs, publications, and social media, can also contribute to a strong and natural link profile. Ultimately, the goal of link building is to attract high-quality, authoritative links that improve your SaaS brands online presence.

Wrap Up

Taking a strategic approach to SaaS link building that involves following best practices and avoiding common errors is a great idea and an incredible way to build a sustainable SEO strategy. Avoid spammy link building tactics that could harm your website’s reputation and instead focus on the DOs of link building we have covered.

Focus on building relationships with relevant and authoritative websites can help you secure quality backlinks (both now and in the future).

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