Generating links to your content is imperative for gaining more brand publicity. And, if you’re struggling to generate links then the promise of gaining lots of links fast via black-hat techniques can be very tempting. But, using black hat techniques (the worst among them, cloaking and buying links from ‘bad neighborhoods’) is like robbing a bank for a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. It may seem like a quick fix but the consequences will leave you in a worse place than you were original.
So, on to more positive things! In this blog post we’re going to explain five ways to generate more links for your content, and they’re all completely white hat! 
1. Social Sharing Buttons
Most blogs already have social sharing buttons linked in, but they are often limited to the top two social networks (Twitter and Facebook). There are so many networks out there that your business could benefit from: Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and so on.
So the first thing you need to do is install a social buttons plugin to your blog (or the page where you display the bulk of your content). The most popular sites to use are AddtoAny and ShareThis so be sure to check those out! AddtoAny can even be streamlined with your Google Analytics.
To further encourage users to share your content you can add ‘click to tweet’ buttons within your content. Click to tweet buttons are useful when you have a particular snippet of information that you want to highlight. Check out the example below:
“Twitter engagement for brands is 17% higher on weekends” Tweet
Looks good doesn’t it? And it’s a discrete way to get links not only back to your content, but also your original site.
2. Offer Incentives
Once your social sharing buttons are up and running you can further encourage your users to use them by offering great incentives.
Now incentives don’t have to burn a hole in your pocket, nor do they have to be given to each and every user that clicks the share button. A good way to encourage shares with incentives is through a competition. The prize (or incentive) can be one of your products, or something similar that would benefit your ideal user, and to enter the competition your users simply share your content. Win-win.
Similarly, if you link or refer to other industry authority figures within your content then why not let them know about it, and ask them to share it for you? The worst they can do is say no, or ignore you, so it’s always worth a try. You may even end up building a strong relationship with a fellow industry leader and increasing links and profits for the both of you. This brings us on to our next point…
3. Guest Posting
Done correctly, guest posting gives you the chance to speak to a whole new reader base whilst increasing exposure for your own content. However, a lot of bloggers are now skeptical about guest posting due to villains in black hats destroying the reputation with poorly written content and low-quality links.
To make guest posting work you need to find an authority figure within your industry and put a lot of time and effort into writing a post that would benefit them as much as it would you. Also, before you approach these people you should attempt to build a relationship with them — chat to them on Twitter, comment on their blog etc. When you do get the chance to guest post it can be tempting to flood links back to your own site, but one (or at the absolute maximum, two) should do it.
A similar way to gain brand exposure and generate links is to give reviews of products used by your company, or testimonials of people you have worked with, always remembering to link back to your site. For example:
“This product is really great” Matt, KeywordEye.com
4. Outreach your Content
You’d think in order to generate links to your content that most of your time should be spent creating perfect, insightful, and informative content. Whilst that’s true, you should also spend just as much time promoting your content, otherwise the links will not come. The sad truth is, you have to do the legwork, and go to the links before they’ll come to you.
A good way to do this is by outreaching your content. This is similar to guest posting but you find blogs that purposely share the work of others to inform their users. So you get all of the credit, and more importantly links, to your site. To find quality blogs like this within your industry you can visit Alltop — a website thats kind of a yellow pages of high-performing blogs. Or, you can simply Google your topic and check out the top search results.
As with guest posting it’s best to build a solid relationship before sending an email asking if the blog will post your content. Outreaching does take some time, but the links you can generate from it make it 100% worth it!
5. Keyword Tool
Keywords are the lifeblood of good content because these are the words your users are searching for and that ultimately lead them to you. The more knowledgable you are about the keywords your users are searching for, the more links your content will generate.
Our keyword tool is easy to use and helps you decide which keywords will work best for your content. And, it’s absolutely free! Check it out here.
Final Thoughts
It can be frustrating to pour all of your blood, sweat, and profits into content only to see nothing in return. But, we have to face the fact that the philosophy ‘Build it and they will come’ just doesn’t work on the internet. If you begin working on the five points above you will definitely see an increase in links to your content, as well as an increase in your SEO.
Thanks for reading!