Ecommerce SEO is the process of optimizing your online store for search engines, so that you can rank higher, drive more traffic, and increase your sales. Ecommerce SEO involves many factors, such as site structure, technical SEO, on-page SEO, content marketing, and user experience.
However, one of the most important and challenging aspects of ecommerce SEO is link building. Link building is the process of acquiring backlinks from other websites to your own website. Backlinks are like votes of confidence that signal to search engines that your website is trustworthy, authoritative, and relevant.
Link building for ecommerce websites is not easy. Ecommerce websites often have thousands of product pages that are difficult to link to, as they offer little value or information to other websites. Ecommerce websites also face a lot of competition from other online retailers who are vying for the same keywords and customers.
In this guide, we will share with you six proven strategies that you can use to boost your ecommerce SEO with link building.
#1: Create Linkable Assets That Provide Value To Your Audience
One of the best ways to build links for ecommerce websites is to create linkable assets. Linkable assets are pages that provide useful information or resources for your target audience, and attract backlinks naturally or through outreach. Linkable assets can help you showcase your expertise, solve problems, answer questions, educate, entertain, or inspire your audience.
Some examples of linkable assets for ecommerce websites are:
- Guides: Guides are comprehensive articles that teach your audience how to do something related to your niche or products. For example, if you sell gardening products, you can create a guide on how to grow organic vegetables at home.
- Infographics: Infographics are visual representations of data or information that make complex topics easier to understand. For example, if you sell fitness products, you can create an infographic on the benefits of exercise for different age groups.
- Calculators: Calculators are interactive tools that help your audience calculate something related to your niche or products. For example, if you sell travel products, you can create a calculator that helps your audience estimate their travel budget.
- Tools: Tools are software applications that help your audience perform a specific task related to your niche or products. For example, if you sell beauty products, you can create a tool that helps your audience find their perfect shade of lipstick.
- Quizzes: Quizzes are fun and engaging tests that help your audience learn something new or discover something about themselves related to your niche or products. For example, if you sell fashion products, you can create a quiz that helps your audience find their personal style.
- Videos: Videos are multimedia content that capture the attention and interest of your audience with visuals and sounds. For example, if you sell cooking products, you can create a video that shows how to make a delicious recipe using your products.
- Podcasts: Podcasts are audio content that provide valuable information or insights for your audience on a specific topic related to your niche or products. For example, if you sell health products, you can create a podcast that interviews experts on various health issues.
To create effective linkable assets for ecommerce websites, you need to follow these steps:
- Identify the needs and interests of your target audience.
- Choose a format that suits your topic and audience.
- Create high-quality and original content that provides value to your audience.
- Promote your linkable assets to relevant websites and platforms.
#2: Leverage User-Generated Content To Build Trust And Authority
Another great way to build links for ecommerce websites is to leverage user-generated content. User-generated content is any content that is created by your customers or fans, such as reviews, testimonials, social media posts, user photos, videos, etc. User-generated content can help you build trust and authority, as it shows that your products or services are loved and appreciated by real people.
Some examples of user-generated content for ecommerce websites are:
- Reviews: Reviews are feedback or opinions from your customers about your products or services. Reviews can help you increase your conversions, as they provide social proof and credibility for your products or services. You can collect reviews from your customers using platforms like Trustpilot or Google My Business.
- Testimonials: Testimonials are positive stories or experiences from your customers about how your products or services helped them solve a problem or achieve a goal. Testimonials can help you showcase the benefits and value of your products or services, as they provide emotional appeal and personal connection.
- Social media posts: Social media posts are content that your customers or fans share on social media platforms about your products or services. Social media posts can help you increase your exposure and engagement, as they provide word-of-mouth and viral marketing for your products or services. You can encourage your customers or fans to share social media posts about your products or services using hashtags, contests, giveaways, and similar.
- User photos: User photos are images that your customers or fans take with your products or services. User photos can help you increase your authenticity and attractiveness, as they provide visual evidence and appeal for your products or services. You can encourage your customers or fans to take user photos with your products or services using stickers, filters, frames, etc.
- Videos: Videos are multimedia content that your customers or fans create with your products or services. Videos can help you increase your persuasiveness and excitement, as they provide dynamic and interactive demonstration and entertainment for your products or services. You can encourage your customers or fans to create videos with your products or services using challenges, tutorials, reviews, etc.
To leverage user-generated content for ecommerce link building, you need to follow these steps:
- Encourage your customers to leave reviews, testimonials, ratings, or feedback on your products or services. You can do this by sending them email reminders, offering incentives, or creating a loyalty program. Reviews and testimonials can help you build trust and authority, as well as generate social proof and word-of-mouth marketing. They can also provide you with valuable insights into your customers’ needs and preferences.
- Showcase your user-generated content on your website, social media platforms, or other channels. You can create a dedicated page for user reviews or testimonials, or feature them on your product pages, homepage, or blog posts. You can also share user-generated content on your social media accounts. This can help you increase your brand awareness, engagement, and reach.
- Ask your customers to share their user-generated content with their own networks. You can do this by creating hashtags, contests, challenges, or campaigns that encourage them to post their photos, videos, stories, or experiences with your products or services. You can also ask them to tag you or use a specific link in their posts. This can help you generate more exposure, traffic, and backlinks to your website.
- Reach out to the websites or platforms that feature your user-generated content and ask them to link back to you.
#3: Run Contests And Giveaways To Generate Buzz And Engagement
Another effective way to boost your ecommerce link building is to run contests and giveaways that generate buzz and engagement among your target audience. Contests and giveaways are promotional activities that offer prizes or rewards to participants who enter or complete certain tasks.
They can help you increase your brand awareness, traffic, social media followers, email subscribers, and customer loyalty. They can also help you earn backlinks from websites or platforms that feature or promote your contests and giveaways.
To run contests and giveaways for ecommerce link building, you need to follow these steps:
- Define your goals and metrics. You need to decide what you want to achieve with your contests and giveaways, such as increasing sales, leads, referrals, or reviews.
- Choose your prizes and rewards. You need to choose prizes and rewards that are relevant, valuable, and appealing to your target audience. You can offer your own products or services, gift cards, vouchers, or discounts. You can also partner with other brands or influencers to offer co-branded or sponsored prizes and rewards.
- Choose your contest or giveaway type. You need to choose a contest or giveaway type that suits your goals and audience. You can choose from various types, such as sweepstakes, quizzes, challenges, or referrals. You can also use tools like Gleam or Rafflecopter to create and manage your contests and giveaways.
- Choose your contest or giveaway platform. You need to choose a platform where you will host and promote your contests and giveaways. You can choose from various platforms, such as your website, blog, social media accounts, email list, etc.
- Promote your contest or giveaway. You need to promote your contest or giveaway to reach and attract your target audience. You can use various channels, such as email marketing, social media marketing, influencer marketing, paid advertising, etc.
- Manage your contest or giveaway. You need to manage your contest or giveaway to ensure its smooth operation and compliance with the rules and regulations. You need to monitor and moderate the entries, interactions, and feedback from the participants. You also need to select and announce the winners, deliver the prizes or rewards, and follow up with the participants.
#4: Partner With Influencers And Bloggers To Reach A Wider Audience
Another powerful way to boost your ecommerce link building is to partner with influencers and bloggers who have a large and relevant audience in your niche. Influencers and bloggers are individuals who have established credibility and authority in a specific topic or industry.
They can help you increase your brand awareness, trustworthiness, and reputation. They can also help you earn backlinks from their websites or platforms that have high domain authority and traffic.
To partner with influencers and bloggers for ecommerce link building, you need to follow these steps:
- Find and research potential influencers and bloggers. You need to find and research potential influencers and bloggers who are relevant, reputable, and influential in your niche. You can use tools like Ahrefs to find influencers and bloggers who rank for your target keywords, have a high domain authority and traffic, and have a large and engaged social media following. Analyze their content, audience, tone, style, and goals to see if they are a good fit for your brand and products.
- Reach out and pitch your partnership proposal. You need to reach out and pitch your partnership proposal to the influencers and bloggers you have identified. Craft a personalized and compelling email that introduces yourself, your brand, and your products. You need to explain why you want to partner with them, what value you can offer them, and what you expect from them. Then, propose a partnership type that suits both parties, such as product reviews, sponsored posts, guest posts, collaborations, etc. You need to follow up with them until you get a response and negotiate the terms of the partnership.
#5: Replicate Competitors’ Links To Gain An Edge In The Market
Another smart way to boost your ecommerce link building is to replicate competitors’ links that have already proven to be effective in your niche. Competitors’ links are backlinks that your competitors have earned from other websites or platforms that are relevant and authoritative in your niche.
They can help you identify the best link building opportunities and strategies in your niche. They can also help you gain an edge in the market by outranking or outperforming your competitors.
To replicate competitors’ links for ecommerce link building, you need to follow these steps:
- Identify your main competitors. You need to identify your main competitors who are ranking for your target keywords, offering similar products or services, or targeting similar audiences. Use Ahrefs to find your main competitors based on various criteria, such as domain authority, traffic, keywords, backlinks, etc.
- Analyze their backlink profiles. Find out where they are getting their backlinks from, what types of backlinks they have, what anchor texts they use, etc.
- Replicate their best backlinks. You need to replicate their best backlinks by using similar strategies or reaching out to the same websites or platforms that link to them. Use email finder tools to find the contact information of the website owners or editors and send them a personalized and persuasive email that requests a link from them. You can also offer them something valuable in return, such as a guest post, a product review, a testimonial, etc.
#6: Build Links With Unlinked Brand Mentions To Maximize Your Brand Awareness
Another simple way to boost your ecommerce link building is to build links with unlinked brand mentions that are already existing on the web. Unlinked brand mentions are mentions of your brand or products on other websites or platforms without a link back to your website.
They can help you increase your brand awareness, reputation, and authority. They can also help you earn backlinks from websites or platforms that have high domain authority and traffic.
To build links with unlinked brand mentions for ecommerce link building, you need to follow these steps:
- Find your unlinked brand mentions. You can also use Ahrefs to find your unlinked brand mentions by searching for your brand name or product names and filtering the results by “no link”.
- Reach out and request a link. You need to reach out and request a link from the websites or platforms that mention your brand or products without a link. You need to craft a friendly and appreciative email that thanks them for mentioning your brand or products and politely asks them to add a link to your website. Offer them something valuable in return, such as a discount, a free sample, a testimonial, etc.
These are some of the steps you need to follow to build links with unlinked brand mentions for ecommerce link building. By doing so, you can not only improve your SEO performance but also enhance your brand image and reputation.
Wrapping Up
Link building is one of the most important and challenging aspects of ecommerce SEO. It can help you improve your search engine rankings, traffic, conversions, and sales. However, it requires a lot of time, effort, and creativity to execute effectively.
In this post, we have shared with you six proven strategies to boost your ecommerce link building.
By applying these strategies, you can not only boost your ecommerce link building but also enhance your ecommerce SEO performance.
Here are some tips and best practices for ecommerce link building that you should keep in mind:
- Focus on quality over quantity. It is better to have fewer but more relevant and authoritative backlinks than many but low-quality ones.
- Be natural and diversified. It is better to have a natural and diversified backlink profile that includes different types of backlinks from different sources with different anchor text.
- Be consistent and persistent. It is better to have a consistent and persistent link building strategy that involves creating and promoting valuable content regularly and reaching out and building relationships with relevant websites or platforms continuously.
- Be creative and innovative. It is better to have a creative and innovative link building strategy that involves finding and exploiting new opportunities and trends in your niche and offering something unique and useful to your audience.
