SaaS Website Link Building Guide
As a SaaS company, your website is your bread and butter. It’s how you attract new customers and grow your business. No matter what market you’re in or what your target demographic is, you need a good amount of search traffic to be successful.
But how can you achieve that?
Key Takeaways
- Link building is a strategy used to increase a website's ranking on SERPs by earning links from reputable websites.
- There are two types of SEO- black hat and white hat. White hat SEO follows Google's guidelines and is the only way to go if you want to rank safely.
- The best link-building strategies for SaaS companies are guest posting, looking for brand mentions, creating testimonials and reviews, creating infographics, creating data-driven content, creating skyscraper content, conducting roundups and trend reports, and participating in conferences and webinars.
There are a ton of SEO strategies that you can use to make sure your website ranks high on SERPs, and one of them is link building. By earning more links and establishing strong relationships with experts in your niche, you can boost your website’s authority and increase your conversion rates.
But it all starts with developing a link-building strategy that suits your goals and meets all of Google’s guidelines for good SEO.
Our expert link-building team at Husky Hamster has helped to put together this guide so that you can create a link-building strategy that will grow your website and help you find the success you deserve.
Link Building in a Nutshell
Before we dive into the specifics of link building, it’s important to understand how links drive search traffic and how Google’s algorithm works.
As a search engine, Google’s main goal is to give its users the best experience possible. That’s why it wants to show the most relevant results first.
To accomplish that, they need to measure two things: trust and relevance. Reliability and relevance are the two pillars that ultimately create a positive user experience.
Relevance is important because Google wants to serve users with content that aligns with their interests. If a website offers a solution that solves a user’s pain points, then they’re likely to find it relevant.
When it comes to trust, Google can’t serve users with content that's potentially spammy, malicious, or inappropriate. They need to make sure that the sites they serve their users are reputable and trustworthy.
That’s why it’s vital to ensure that the links you build will be seen as high quality by Google.
In a nutshell, negative links equal low trust, which equals low relevance, which equals no ranking.
That’s where link-building comes into play. A good link-building strategy will help you build links from reputable websites and increase your site’s authority.
Black-Hat SEO and White-Hat SEO
Before we begin, it’s important to understand the differences between black-hat SEO and white-hat SEO.
However, let us make a little disclaimer first:
We utterly HATE the black-hat/white-hat classification!
In our opinion, it's very shallow, and you can always find something you can call black-hat - at least depending on the definition.
Yet, it's a widely used distinction, hence, by clarifying the definition, we hope to (at least) clarify of what should be considered one or another.
- Black-hat SEO is a strategy that uses methods that violate Google’s guidelines for good SEO.
This usually involves buying links from sketchy link networks (or even creating sketchy networks), creating spammy content, or even using hidden text and hidden links on hacked websites to trick Google to rank the site higher.
By definition, black-hat SEO is risky of getting a penalty from Google. - White-hat SEO, on the other hand, follows Google’s guidelines for a high search engine ranking.
You’re encouraged to create quality content and build a strong online presence.
We'll teach you how to follow this approach correctly in this article.
If you’re looking to rank higher in SERPs, then white-hat SEO is the right way to go. But it requires a lot of time, effort, and expertise. That's why many business owners prefer to outsource their SEO campaigns to teams like ours.
As a SaaS company, you want to rank as high as possible. However, considering that your presence online is essentially your business, you should always err on the side of caution when it comes to SEO. Use white-hat SEO strategies to avoid risking your website’s reputation.
The Best Link-Building Strategies for SaaS Companies
There are several link-building strategies that you can use, but we’ve narrowed it down to the top strategies that have worked the best for our clients.
Use these strategies to boost your search traffic, increase your conversions and drive more revenue.
1) Guest Posting on Relevant Websites
Guest posting is one of the most effective link-building strategies on the market. It allows you to reach out to a larger audience and expand your online presence.
That’s why it’s recommended that part of your SEO strategy includes guest posting on relevant websites. This will help you establish yourself as a thought leader, which is essential for long-term growth.
When you guest post on a website, they’ll usually include a byline or a link back to your website. That way, you can increase your organic search traffic and find a new audience for your content.
But not just any old post will do. It’s important that you create high-quality content that aligns with the website’s audience and resonates with them. You’ll also want to make sure that the site is authoritative in your industry, as this will help you rank higher in SERPs— especially if the post goes viral.
Depending on the length of your post and the size of the website, guest posting can be very time-consuming. That’s why most business owners prefer to hire an expert team like ours to handle their marketing campaigns successfully. No matter how many posts you’re looking to publish or where you want to publish them, Husky Hamster has got you covered.
2) Looking for Brand Mentions
Another great way to earn high-quality backlinks is to look for brand mentions. This is also known as link reclamation.
If you find out that someone mentioned your website, you can reach out to the writer and ask if they’d be willing to add a link back to your website. This is a great strategy because it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved: the writer gets to back up their claims with a source, and you get an easy link that will help you to rank higher in SERPs.
There are also cases where the writer might have linked to your company’s homepage, but you would like to have a more relevant page instead. This strategy allows you to reach out and ask the writer to change the link to a different piece of content on your site.
In the end, this strategy will be easier if you conduct a quick backlink audit. That way, you’ll know which websites are already linking to you or mentioning you and which ones you should reach out to.
3) Testimonials and Reviews
Another way to earn high-quality links and an easy way to diversify your link-building strategy is to have your customers write reviews and testimonials about your products or services.
There's nothing more powerful than a third-party review that says your product or service is worth its salt. Not only will this strategy boost your search traffic, but it'll also help you build long-lasting relationships with your customers.
When you're able to show that you have a good reputation by earning positive reviews, this will help you to increase your conversion rates and expand your customer base.
You should also make sure to respond to all of your reviews— both positive and negative. This shows that you care about your customers and their experience with your company. It also allows you to address any issues that they might have so that you can improve your product or service.
4) Creating Infographics
Infographics are another great way to earn links and increase your search traffic. They're a great way to take complex topics and break them down into bite-sized chunks that are easy for people to understand.
However, not only are they easy to understand, but they're also easy to share. And when people share your infographics, they'll usually include a link back to your website.
This is a great strategy because it allows you to earn high-quality links while also increasing your brand awareness. People will see your infographics and associate your brand with the topic at hand.
When you're creating infographics, make sure to include a call-to-action so that people know where they can find more information. You should also promote your infographics on social media and in other places where your target audience is likely to see them.
5) Creating Data-Driven Content
Data-driven content is a type of content that's based on data and research. This could be an original study that you conducted or data from a third-party source.
The goal of data-driven content is to offer something truly valuable that's not available anywhere else. When you're able to do this, people will be more likely to link to your content and share it with their audience.
This is a great strategy because it allows you to build links while also establishing yourself as an expert in your industry. People will see that you have access to data that they don't and that you're willing to share it.
Some examples of data-driven content include infographics, case studies, eBooks, and research papers.
6) Creating Skyscraper Content
Skyscraper content is a type of content designed to be the best in its class. It's the tallest building in the city, and it's the best content on the internet for a certain topic.
To create skyscraper content, you need to find popular content in your industry and make it better. This could be an older blog post that's no longer relevant or a piece of content that's missing key information.
You could make it more attractive by adding new data, updating the information, or even changing the format.
The goal is to make your content the go-to resource for that topic. When you're able to do this, people will be more likely to link to your content and share it with their audience.
7) Round ups, Trend Reports, and Newsletters
If you want to be seen as an expert in your industry, then you need to be on top of the latest trends. You can do this by conducting research, writing trend reports, or even curating a roundup of the latest news in your industry.
When you write a trend report or a roundup, you can reach out to the websites that you mention and let them know about it. This is a great way to start building relationships with other websites in your industry.
It’s also worth noting that these types of articles tend to be very shareable, so they have the potential to go viral. If that happens, you could see a significant boost in your website’s search traffic.
On the other hand, you can be featured in someone else’s roundup or trend report. This is a great way to get exposure for your website and attract links from other websites. If you have strong connections, you can simply ask to be featured in their next article.
8) Conferences, Webinars, Podcasts, Q&As
If you want to attract links and boost your website’s search traffic, then you need to get involved in your industry. One of the best ways to do that is by taking part in conferences and webinars.
This is a great way to build brand awareness and establish yourselfas a thought leader in your industry. You can also use this opportunity to build relationships with other businesses and to get your name out there.
If you’re unable to attend a conference or webinar, then you can also try to get involved in podcasts or Q&As. It's the perfect solution to showcase your expertise without having to leave the office.
The Bottom Line
Link building is an essential part of any SEO strategy. It’s a great way to increase your website’s search traffic and boost your conversion rates. There are a ton of link-building strategies that you can use, but the best ones for SaaS companies are guest posting, looking for brand mentions, conducting data-driven research, creating skyscraper content, and taking part in conferences and webinars.
But it’s important to note that link building is a long-term strategy. It’s not something that you can do overnight. It takes time, effort, and expertise. So, if you want to rank higher in SERPs and attract more customers, then you need to start building links today.
If you don’t have the time or resources to commit to a link-building campaign, then you can always hire an expert team like ours. We’ll help you to develop a customized link-building strategy that meets your goals and fits within your budget.
