Within the competitive world of e-commerce, one must be highly visible. E-commerce businesses always look out for means through which they can dominate search and attract more customers, a way to a greater online presence is through link building.
But what is link building for e-commerce, and how might one go about it effectively? The purpose of this blog is to arm you with knowledge and tools so you can kickstart your e-commerce link-building journey.
What is E-commerce Link Building?
E-commerce link building is the process of acquiring high-quality backlinks to online stores. Backlinks are much like virtual recommendations that tell search engines your website is a trustworthy domain with authority. Unlike general link building, e-commerce link building focuses on enhancing visibility for product and category pages and drives targeted traffic likely to convert into sales. Additionally, it boosts domain authority in specific retail niches.
Why is this important? Consider this: link building is considered the third most important SEO ranking factor, following Content and Keywords. Moreover, about 58% of businesses believe that link building significantly impacts their search engine results SERP page rankings. This is critical, as for e-commerce sites, effective link building can make all the difference between obscurity and being at the top of page one.
Things to Consider When Building Links
Before getting into the link building tactics, there are a few key drivers that, as such, one must know, which gives meaning to the results of your efforts. The following are three of the major considerations:
Niche Relevance
While building links for an e-commerce site, relevance comes first. Links from websites related to your products or industry are heavier in weight and more likely to bring in qualified traffic.
For example, a kitchenware store might pursue links from cooking blogs or recipe websites, and an outdoor gear retailer could go after links from hiking forums or adventure travel sites.
Focusing on niche-relevant links means you're not only improving SEO but also engaging with possible customers within spaces that they already inhabit.
Domain Authority
Domain Authority is a metric developed by Moz, it approximates the ranking of a given website on search result pages. Thus, building links from sites with higher DA scores should be your target, since they forward more link juice to your site. 65% of marketers measure the quality of links by Domain Authority, this underscores the fact that it is truly important in the industry.
Take note of the steps to follow in determining the DA of potential link sources. Tools to use: Moz Domain Authority checker Search for sites with DA above, or close to your own. Note that not all relevant sites are going to have a DA higher than yours. Many very relevant sites can be lower.
Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. Anchor text is super important in link building because it provides context to search engines about the page being linked to. As you build links for your ecommerce site
Describe what your product or category is with descriptive anchor text. Do not be overly optimized with anchor text. For example, use keywords that exactly match over and over again. It's best to have branded, generic, and keyword-rich anchor text in a natural mix.
By careful consideration of these factors, you'll be able to establish a strong foundation for any e-commerce link building strategy.
You can use MarketingMiner’s keyword suggestion tools to select the optimal anchor text for targeting specific rankings.
Additionally, you can monitor the improvement of those keyword rankings using the rank tracking feature.
How to Build Links to an E-commerce Website
Now that you understand what considerations are involved, let's talk about some practical strategies regarding link building on your e-commerce website. Some business people like to create links in-house, while others contract to outsource link building that will free their time up or even for lack of knowledge in this line. Whichever approach you apply, knowing these most basic strategies is necessary if you hope for success to get the job done.
Creating Linkable Assets
These assets are the cornerstone of any link building campaign in e-commerce, and they offer very fine content pieces that organically attract backlinks because of their relevance to your audience. For online stores, these might include in-depth buying guides, detailed product comparisons, or industry trend reports.
Infographics work particularly for e-commerce websites. They will give a representation, through an interesting and highly shareable way, of complex product information or even industry statistics. Consider creating infographics that compare different product features or illustrate the benefits involved with what you have in your offer.
Other interactive tools related to your products can be very powerful linkable assets. For instance, a furniture seller could have a room planner tool, while a nutritional supplement shop might be geared up with a personalized vitamin recommendation quiz.
Remember that, regardless of your specific approach, you need to create something that others in your industry are going to want to reference and link to. This attracts backlinks but also helps get your e-commerce website recognized as an authority in its niche.
Guest Post Link Building and Niche Edits
Guest posting is, on the other hand, always a workable means for e-commerce link building. A person can establish their expertise, of course, in laying claim to these highly valued backlinks through the creation of quality content, which would at all times be relevant to a guest blog or industry publication.
In guest posting, go after sites that very closely relate to your product offerings. For instance, if you are selling environment-friendly products, reach out to those who are interested in blogging about sustainability or green living. This will ensure that the backlinks you collect are of relevance and will attract targeted traffic.
Niche edits are places where you'll add your link to existing content on other websites. After all, if you can provide additional value to the existing content, it's going to be effective in gaining contextually relevant links.
For example, let's say that you run across a recommendation for a product in an article, but it is out of date. You could reach out to that site owner and offer to bring it up to date with a link to your more current offering.
Finding Link Building Opportunities on Websites
Get opportunities for link building from websites. The potential can be exposed with the help of backlink profiles of your competitors. Tools like Backlink Analytics will let you know where similar e-commerce sites are gaining their links from, thus providing the roadmap for your efforts.
Look for industry-specific directories or resource pages that list products or services in your niche. These can be excellent sources for relevant backlinks. Also, find opportunities to reach out to bloggers or influencers in your industry who would want to review your products.
Engage in industry forums and online communities that concern your products. While it's obvious, there are few tools more harmful than directly building links within these forums. However, through actively becoming a valuable member of the community, you will generate natural linking opportunities while sharing your expertise.
The Outreach Process
Finding Contacts
Successful outreach has to be based on finding the right contact at each target site. In e-commerce link building, this may be a content manager, website owner, or editor of a section specifically related to your products.
You can use professional networking sites like LinkedIn to get in touch with relevant contacts. You can also use email finder services to help you in getting direct contact information. Keep in mind that when you reach out to the appropriate person, your chance of receiving a positive response rises.
Outreach Template Creation
Write a personalized outreach email that will help you stand out from hundreds of messages in an inbox. Introduce yourself briefly, the e-commerce site, and explain the intention of the email and how your proposed collaboration with the guest post, product feature, or link exchange can help their audience.
Add value to your outreach. This could be in the form of a proprietary analysis of the industry, a unique perspective on an idea that's been creating waves, or access to review your products. Make sure you provide an easy way for the recipient to respond by making your call to action about what you're purporting and how they can progress.
Avoid generic templates. Mention something about their site or recent developments in the niche to personalize each email. It shows you have done your homework and the interest in collaboration is real.
Reach Out and Build Relationships
Build links like you're building relationships, not transacting. Interact with target site content first by commenting thoughtfully on relevant posts or sharing their content on social media. This warms up the relationship and helps your outreach feel a little more natural.
When you do reach out, focus on providing value beyond just asking for a link. Maybe you can offer expert commentary on a topic they have covered, or complementary information to enhance their existing content.
If you get no answer, then after a week or two, it's all right to send a follow-up that isn't pressuring in any way. Sometimes, only that one little nudge is necessary to pop out an answer to a query. But be respectful of others' time and decisions – if you hear nothing after a follow-up, move on to the next opportunity.
Keeping the relationship going is also important after getting a link. Share their content, including your link, update them with your products if necessary, and continually seek ways for further collaboration. All of these continuous relationships will turn into a number of link opportunities in due time and firmly entrenched your e-commerce site as a highly valued industry partner.
Focus on these augmented link-building and outreach strategies, and one will find that they truly fortify an e-commerce site owner's very proficient link building campaign, hence improving the overall SEO efforts and successfully driving targeted traffic to an online store.
Marketing Miner for link building:
Marketing Miner is a versatile tool that simplifies link-building by providing features that help you identify opportunities, monitor backlinks, and track brand mentions. Here’s how you can use it for your link-building efforts:
- Link Prospecting: Use the Link Prospecting tool to find relevant websites and blogs that could be valuable backlink sources. By analyzing competitor backlinks and industry-related pages, you can quickly build a list of high-quality sites to reach out to.
- Related Pages and Domains: This feature allows you to discover websites that are related to your niche or business, increasing your chances of securing backlinks. It helps you identify domains that are already linking to similar content, making them ideal prospects for outreach.
- Contact Finder: Once you’ve identified potential backlink opportunities, the Contact Finder tool enables you to locate the right contact details of website owners or editors, streamlining your outreach process.
- Brand Mention Monitoring: Keep track of where your brand is mentioned online. If a site mentions your brand without linking to you, you can easily approach them and request a backlink to increase your site’s authority.
- Search Visibility: Monitoring your site’s visibility in search engines gives insights into how your link-building efforts are improving your rankings. This feature tracks your position for relevant keywords, helping you optimize further.
- Backlink Monitoring: Use Backlink Monitoring to track the status of your acquired backlinks. It alerts you if a link is removed or changed, ensuring your hard-earned backlinks remain intact.
By leveraging these features, Marketing Miner enhances your link-building strategy, making it more efficient and effective.
Wrapping Up
Link building for e-commerce websites is one surefire way to increase online presence, drive relevant traffic, and boost sales finally. By focusing on quality content, relationship building, and a steady supply of high-quality, very relevant backlinks, you can acquire authority and ranking on search engines for any e-commerce site.
Remember that proper link building takes a long time and is full of effort. Start small, very qualitative, and grow your efforts with visible results in view only. Then, only will you have a strong backlink profile backing long-term e-commerce success.
FAQs
How many backlinks should an e-commerce site aim for?
The quality is much more important than the quantity of backlinks. So, focus on acquiring relevant, high-quality backlinks rather than chasing a certain number.
Can I buy backlinks for my eCommerce site?
Buying backlinks is against Google's guidelines and can easily result in penalties. It's best to focus on earning them organically.
How long before I see results from link building?
Most of the time, it takes around 1-3 months to feel the real effect of link building on rankings and traffic.
Are social media links valuable for e-commerce SEO?
While this won't directly impact SEO, social media links will increase brand awareness and content, thus indirectly helping in the support of SEO.
