{"id":12430,"date":"2018-07-24T08:35:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T00:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zegal.com\/?p=12430"},"modified":"2023-12-19T19:49:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T11:49:25","slug":"backlink-guide-for-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zegal.com\/en-sg\/blog\/post\/backlink-guide-for-beginners\/","title":{"rendered":"Backlink guide for beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you know even a little bit about SEO then you would\u2019ve probably heard the words \u2018backlink\u2019 or \u2018link-building\u2019 tossed around. You may not know what backlinks are but all you know is that they help SEO and to your dismay, you fear that your competitors may be leaving you behind in this arena. Well if you fall under this category then look no further because we\u2019ve created a simple guide for the backlink beginners, why they matter and where your business stands compared to your competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>1. What is a \u2018backlink\u2019?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, you want to get your pages to rank higher than your competitors and know just as much about link building<\/a> as I do about \u2018Dad jokes\u2019. Well the first thing you should know is that a backlink is a hyperlink to your website placed somewhere (on any page) on another website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re running a specific campaign and want to monitor the traffic coming to your website, then you could generate a UTM link using a UTM generator<\/a>. This new URL can be tracked to understand what kind of traffic you are receiving from this specific link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>3. Who are these \u2018competitors\u2019 you speak of?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whatever industry your brand resides in \u2013 it\u2019s important to understand that you will be competing with other businesses who offer the same service as you. And while the endgame is beating your competitors\u2019 backlink acquisition<\/a> numbers, before you can beat them you need to identify them and what their position is. This is done by generating a simple share of voice report<\/a> of your industry. What is a share of voice? Just another piece of digital marketing jargon? Not exactly, a share of voice (SoV) is the representation of your brand\u2019s visibility for one or more keywords in comparison to other websites in the same industry. In other words, a SoV report will show you who ranks for how many keywords in which industry. The share of voice report will display a lot of other sites so may need to cull the non-competing sites. This can be done by removing any non-commercial (Wikipedia), editorial (New York Times), or social communities and review sites (Trip Advisor). The remaining results should be a list of sites offering identical services as your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>4. So\u2026 where do I stand?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A SoV report will allow you to highlight the top nine industry players in terms of online brand visibility. Your goal is to have a higher SoV% than your competitors by ranking for more keywords than them and finding more linkable assets<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image below highlights how a SoV may seem for the Australian finance industry. For demonstrative purposes of a SoV report, the green and red figures highlight the SERP\u2019s visibility change over the four-month period.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Credit: Indago Digital<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Share of voice is a whole chapter in itself and rather than go off-track, have a read of this expert guide<\/a> in your spare time. With all this information at hand, you should now know where you stand amongst your competitors. If you wish to increase your SoV then here\u2019s a guide on how to spy on your competitor\u2019s backlink strategy to build your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was written by Jay Bedi, a content writer and distributor from Indago Digital. Jay\u2019s work spans from content marketing to entrepreneurship. He is also keenly interested in the Australian & American film industries.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n