Ecommerce Link Building Strategies to Nurture a Strong Backlink Profile
Be it ecommerce or any other business niche, link building is an integral part of SEO as it helps websites build strong domain authority. However, ecommerce businesses can also leverage link building to attract targeted customers to their websites. By creating content that caters to your target shoppers and using it to acquire quality backlinks, you can not only strengthen your backlink profile but also generate qualified leads.
That’s why all ecommerce SEO agencies use link building as one of their primary weapons to build a successful SEO campaign. But, what are the best link-building strategies for ecommerce? How can ecommerce business owners get started with link building for their website? And, more importantly, which platforms are the best to acquire backlinks from?
These are a few of the queries we’ll be addressing in this comprehensive link-building guide for ecommerce. Whether you run a simple ecommerce portal to sell your own products or a full-scale ecommerce marketplace like Amazon, these link-building strategies will cater to your website’s growth and help you generate the desired leads.
So, without any further ado, let’s get started.
Understanding Link Building (In General)
Now, before we get started with ecommerce link-building strategies, let’s first get a strong grasp on the concept of link building and why it’s so important for SEO. To go with the textbook definition – link building is the process of acquiring links from other websites to yours. It’s a way to demonstrate your website’s authority and rank higher in Google search results for target search queries.
A website with a higher number of quality backlinks automatically showcases high authority. In fact, backlinks are so crucial that even Google considers them one of the most important ranking signals and uses them to rank websites in its search results. In short, the more quality backlinks your website has, the easier it becomes to secure top positions in Google search results.
Unfortunately, link building isn’t a straightforward process? Studies suggest that 65% of digital marketers believe that link building is the most strenuous task of constructing an SEO campaign. Why? Because no one is distributing links for free, especially when we’re talking about high-authority domains. You’ll need effective strategies, the right type of content, and patience to build a strong backlink profile.
Now, when we’re talking about ecommerce link building, the process is slightly different. The idea is to acquire links from websites that could also help you drive qualified leads to your online store. It means you’ll have to be extra cautious while choosing the platforms you want to link to.
Ecommerce Link Building Strategies to Acquire High-Quality Backlinks
1. Use Video Marketing
Today, video marketing has become one of the most effective marketing tools for brands to grab customers’ attention. People no longer have the time to read 3,000 word blogs to understand the working of a particular product. Instead, they prefer watching a 2-minute “how to” tutorial video to get the job done. So, if you’re not using videos in your marketing campaign, you are most likely to struggle while gaining the desired customer exposure.
But, it’s also worth understanding that videos can also help you gain quality backlinks from high-authority domains. How? Any high-authority domain wants to cater to customers’ search queries. It means if you have published a tutorial or walkaround video on your website, people will most likely link to it.
But, keep in mind that video marketing has become relatively common and all brands are using it. So, it’ll be important to make videos that stand out and can grab users’ attention right away. Even if you are creating a simple product walkaround video, make sure to use different camera angles to make it look as professional as possible.
If you have the resources, you can also hire professional cinematographers and editors for the job. In any case, always focus on the quality of your videos as it’ll make it much easier to attract website owners to link to your product pages.
2. Partner With Influencers for Better Outreach
Yes, even influencer marketing can work as an effective link-building strategy for your ecommerce website. For readers who don’t know, influencer marketing is the process of partnering with social media influencers to make your products reach a wider audience.
From startups to large-scale enterprises, businesses of all sizes use influencer marketing to gain more online exposure. The best part is influencer marketing works like a charm because these social media influencers have a legit follower base.
Now, as far as link building is concerned, you can partner with different influencers and ask them to create high-quality content to showcase your products. Even though these social media links won’t directly strengthen your backlink profile, they’ll help you stand out in the market.
Consequently, large publishing platforms in your niche would like to feature your brand on their website and you’ll end up getting a quality backlink from a high-authority domain. Of course, the process is a bit time-consuming, but if your execution is right, you’ll be able to increase your domain authority (DA) by a huge margin.
3. Leverage the “Product Feedback” Strategy
The “product-feedback” strategy is a remarkable way of getting high-authority websites to link to your product pages. It’s basically a process where you find blogs that have listed “best (product type)” lists, but your product or brand name isn’t mentioned in the list. Here the goal would be to reach out to the authors and get yourself listed in the blog. Sounds pretty simple, right?
Unfortunately, NO! These authors are pretty loyal to their followers and won’t list a product in their blog if they don’t like it. So, to get yourself listed in these lists, you’ll first have to convince the respective author why your products are superior to the ones already mentioned in the list.
Let’s understand this with the help of an example!
Let’s say you sell Smart TVs on your website and you’ve come across a blog titled “Best Online Platforms to Purchase Smart TVs in 2022”. Now, to get your brand listed on this platform, you’ll first have to convince the author why your ecommerce store is a better option to buy smart TVs.
In short, if you want to use the “product feedback” strategy for link building, you’ll have to stay ready for multiple to-and-fro emails and continuous communication. Again, even if the process seems pretty time-consuming, the end results will be worth the wait.
4. Create Compelling and Link-Worthy Content
Even in 2022, content is one of the major pillars of a successful SEO campaign. It can help you attract customers, build a unique brand identity, and even acquire quality backlinks for your ecommerce website. But, how can you leverage content as a link-building strategy for your online store?
The answer is pretty simple – by publishing regular – high-quality – blogs on your website. Unlike conventional belief, publishing blogs on ecommerce websites is an effective way to build a strong brand identity. Moreover, writing informative blogs will help you address the most common customer queries and answer them right on your website.
As we mentioned earlier, domains with a higher authority want to link to pages that provide informative content to the users. So, when you publish information-driven blogs on your website, you’ll automatically start attracting more and more quality backlinks from high-authority domains.
5. Use Discount and Exclusive Coupon Codes
It’s no arguing the fact that shoppers like nothing more than great deals and special discounts. Many ecommerce websites offer discounts to gain customer loyalty and increase revenue. However, offering exclusive discounts can also cater to your link-building efforts and help you nurture a strong backlink profile. To do this, try to offer seasonal or exclusive discount programs and customize them from time to time to keep things interesting.
Now, as soon as you start a new discount program on your website, you can reach out to bloggers and get your brand listed on their pages. In addition to authority backlinks, this will also help you gain exposure from the target customers and you’ll be able to create a new traffic funnel for your products.
Keep in mind that running discount programs will not work in the first go. In many cases, you’ll have to rely on A/B testing to identify the most potential discount scheme that interests your customers and stick to it for the desired online exposure.
The Bottom Line
Like any other SEO campaign, link building is a non-separable part of ecommerce SEO. However, the way you approach link building for ecommerce is slightly different from the conventional link building practices. Here the goal should be to gain high-authority backlinks while also generating leads to sell more products. These link-building practices are a great starting point for ecommerce businesses to embark on their link-building journey. And, it goes without saying that if you don’t have the required expertise, it would be better to hire a dedicated team of SEO experts who can devise a result-oriented link-building plan for your ecommerce website and help you boost your website’s link credibility.
