Just so we are aligned, a contextual backlink is a link embedded to a text on someone else’s blog, which leads to your site. The phrase or keyword used that has the link is related to the actual content of the URL that it points to.
Scoring high-quality contextual backlinks is a hard thing to do. It is not likely for other bloggers to link back to your site unless they get something in return. To help you score high-quality contextual backlinks for your blog, I decided to share my best practices.
1. Blogger Outreach
The easiest of all the approaches to building contextual backlinks is blogger outreach. In this method, you look for blog posts with a relevant keyword to your content, then you reach out to the blogger and ask if he can give you a backlink.
In a blogger outreach program, you can either pay the blogger for a link or get it for free. The thing with free backlinks is that you have to provide value. What this means is you should also give a backlink to the blogger.
A backlink-for-backlink strategy only works if your website has high domain authority (DA). If your blog’s DA is lower than his, it makes no sense to give you a backlink to the blogger.
For paid ones, the challenge here is cost. You will pay money for each backlink you get, and for what? It is not as if one backlink can generate millions of views for your website. As such, paid links are not advisable.
2. Guest Posting
Guest posting is similar to blogger outreach, but the key difference is you are writing an article. The blogger will publish this article and send a backlink to your site.
In a nutshell, here is how it works:
- You look for a blog relevant to your niche but not a competitor
- You propose a topic to the blogger
- If the blogger agrees, you write the article
- In that article, put a link to your blog (contextual backlink)
- The blogger approves your work and publishes your article
That is how guest posting works. You publish articles on another person’s blog, and in return, the blog post has a backlink to your site.
It is a lot of work, especially if you write the article. As a result, many bloggers hire an affordable freelance writer to do this for them.
Of course, you must also choose a blog that has high traffic. Otherwise, that backlink does not improve your SEO position in Google at all.
3. Find Broken Backlinks
One of the most challenging things to build contextual backlinks is looking for a broken backlink. A broken backlink is a phrase or keyword in a blog post whose link is broken.
If a person clicks on that link, the link does not work anymore. Since it is a broken link, it is your opportunity to replace it with yours.
For example, let us say that on blog A, the phrase “how to make money online” is a link, but it is broken. If you have an article on your blog about making money online, you can reach out to the webmaster and give him your URL.
Before you can do this, you need a tool to find broken links for you. It is a terrible idea to do this the manual way. There are many tools you can use to find broken links.
4. Use a Guest-o-Graphic
The guest-o-graphic is nothing more than an infographic. It is a term that Brian Dean from Backlinko popularized. You create an infographic and publish it on your blog in this approach.
The next step is to look for top-ranking articles using this infographic. For example, let us say you have an infographic about the part of a whale used for human consumption.
In this case, you want to look for articles about whales. Once you find these articles, you must contact the owners. Show them your infographic and ask them if they would be interested in posting that image on their website. In return, they give you a contextual backlink.
It is entirely up to you to link to the infographic or another webpage on your site. The beauty of this is that it is not costly. You also do not have to create new content. The trick here is that every time you write an article, think of making an interesting infographic.
5. Interview Authority Site Bloggers
The last and most difficult is doing interviews. What you can do here is look for authority figures in your niche. The interview does not have to happen in person. You can send the questionnaire, and they will reply with answers.
Do not just interview anybody. Find someone who has a massive following. Interview that person and publish the interview on your blog.
Once the article is up, give the link to the interviewed person. What he will do is to make contextual backlinks leading to your website, particularly the interview page.
He can also use the URL in his social media posts. This is great because followers will click on that link and read your blog.
What you are doing here is capitalizing on the influence of this person. Since he has a massive base of followers, you found yourself a stream of traffic, and all you have to do is interview the person. Of course, he would like it as he wants exposure.
Conclusion
Backlinks are an essential component of your SEO strategy. If you follow the five methods above, you can build your links over time and help your website’s authority. Moreover, you’ll also increase your traffic, and this, in turn, will promote this cycle of growth for your site.
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