Imagine finding overlooked sources for free do-follow backlinks that could bump up your website’s visibility on search engines. This article unveils those often-missed opportunities, ensuring your digital footprint is firmly planted in the world of Search Engine Optimisation. You’ll explore how to increase your site’s ranking potential without spending a penny, simply by knowing where to find these golden SEO opportunities — free do-follow backlinks.
Understanding Do-Follow Backlinks
Concept and importance of do-follow backlinks
In the world of search engine optimisation (SEO), do-follow backlinks are pure gold. But what exactly are they? Put simply, they’re a vote of confidence. When another website links to your site with a do-follow backlink, they’re essentially telling search engines like Google that your website is credible and trustworthy. This ‘thumbs up’ influences your site’s SEO ranking, indicating its worth and usefulness to potential visitors.
Impact of do-follow backlinks on website ranking
How do do-follow backlinks help you scale the online ladder? Well, search engines use backlinks as one of the key factors in determining where your site will rank in search results. A higher number of good quality do-follow backlinks signals to search engines that your website is a valuable resource well worth promoting. This can boost your online visibility and drive more organic traffic to your site, thereby ultimately benefiting your business.
Difference between do-follow and no-follow backlinks
It’s imperative to understand the distinction between do-follow and no-follow backlinks in managing your SEO strategy. While the former boosts your SEO and site traffic, the latter doesn’t pass on any ‘SEO juice’ and doesn’t impact your ranking. However, no-follow links are not useless; they can still drive traffic to your site and foster relationships with other relevant industry players.
Social Media Platforms
Leveraging Facebook for do-follow backlinks
Your social media presence plays a crucial role in your brand’s online visibility, and smart use of do-follow backlinks can help capitalise on that. On Facebook, for instance, you can add a link to your website on your page’s ‘About’ section. Posts and comments that involve your site’s URL can also work as indirect do-follow backlink strategies.
Using LinkedIn as a platform for do-follow backlinks
LinkedIn may be a professional networking site, but it’s also a powerful tool for generating do-follow backlinks. There’s space for a website link in your profile, and, valuable backlinks can be created through posts and articles published on this platform.
Gaining valuable backlinks from Instagram
Take advantage of Instagram by adding a link to your website in your profile bio. Though this technically counts as a no-follow link, it can still generate substantial traffic, particularly if your Instagram account has a significant reach.
Blogging Platforms
Generating backlinks through guest blogging
Guest blogging on a reputable website in your industry can garner you fantastic do-follow backlinks. Even better, the audience of that site will be likely to have a genuine interest in your content, making these links highly valuable in terms of both SEO and direct traffic.
Getting do-follow backlinks from Blogger and WordPress
Platforms like Blogger and WordPress are notable for bloggers wishing to secure do-follow backlinks. By creating high-quality, engaging blog posts and sharing them on these platforms, you can encourage others to link back to your content, thus growing your do-follow backlinks database.
The role of Medium and Tumblr in creating backlinks
Again, while Medium and Tumblr backlinks are technically labelled as no-follow, the traffic potential from these sites is considerable. If you can get your articles in front of the right eyes, they can still result in substantial direct traffic, and indirectly lead to more do-follow backlinks if readers choose to link to your posts on their own platforms or sites.
Comment Sections and Forums
Earning backlinks through relevant blog comments
Engaging in conversation on relevant industry blogs can also help generate do-follow backlinks. Leave insightful, worthwhile comments, and include a link back to your site. However, ensure this is always done in a respectful and non-spammy way to prevent tarnishing your brand’s reputation.
Exploiting niche forums like Quora and Reddit for backlinks
Answering questions on forums like Quora and Reddit can be a powerful method of securing backlinks. If you manage to provide a genuinely useful answer that includes a link to your website, not only will you gain a do-follow backlink, but you’ll also boost your credibility in your industry.
Leveraging Disqus and other comment systems
The thumb rule of this method is similar to commenting on blogs: make sure your comments are valuable and not just self-promotional. This approach can provide the dual benefits of direct traffic from people reading your comments, and enhanced SEO from the backlinks you manage to include.
Business Directories and Review Websites
Building do-follow backlinks on Yelp and Trip Advisor
For those in hospitality, travel, or customer-facing industries, review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor can provide effective do-follow backlinks. By ensuring your business is listed on these sites and encouraging customers to leave reviews, you’re helping improve your short-term visibility and long-term SEO.
Listing your website on Google My Business for backlinks
One of the most powerful tools for local SEO, a Google My Business listing with a link to your website can help you stand out in local search results, and it counts as a valuable do-follow backlink.
Using business directories for backlinks generation
Listing your business on online directories is a must when aiming to accumulate do-follow backlinks. They provide an accessible platform for users to locate and learn more about your business, which leads to increased website traffic and, of course, beneficial do-follow backlinks.
Document Sharing Platforms
Gaining backlinks with SlideShare and Scribd
These platforms allow you to share slide presentations and documents with a wider audience, whilst also enabling you to secure do-follow backlinks. After all, every time someone chooses to share or reference your work, you’ll effectively gain a new backlink.
Creating backlinks through eBook distribution
Creating and distributing eBooks or whitepapers containing hyperlinks to your website is an underrated method of building do-follow backlinks. They serve as a rich resource of information, and if your audience finds them useful, they’re likely to reference them in their online content, creating organic backlinks.
Using do-follow document sharing sites for backlinks
Utilising document sharing sites to gain do-follow backlinks can be incredibly successful. The important thing is to offer high-quality, valuable content. This not only increases the likelihood of your document being shared (and thus new backlinks being created), but it also boosts the credibility and trustworthiness of your website.
Press Release Sites
Using PR Newswire and Business Wire for backlinks
Optimising your press releases for backlinks is another effective strategy. PR sites like PR Newswire and Business Wire can publish your press releases, providing you with opportunities to spread your site’s link.
How to get backlinks from online press releases
To gain backlinks, embed links in your press releases that lead back to your site. If your release gets picked up by multiple outlets, you’ll gain multiple do-follow backlinks in a heartbeat.
Importance of consistent press releases for quality backlinks
Remember: consistency is key. Regularly publishing press releases ensures a continuous stream of new backlinks. This consistency aids in maintaining your SEO ranking and keeps your website on the radar, resulting in better visibility and reach.
Creating Quality Content
Role of content quality in obtaining backlinks
In a nutshell: content as king. If your site hosts high-quality, invaluable content, it’s natural that other sites will want to link back to you. It’s an organic way of making sure your site earns the backlinks it deserves.
Implementing the skyscraper technique for backlinks
The skyscraper technique is lauded as a productive approach in gaining high-quality backlinks. Its method is simple – you find existing high-ranking content in your niche, create a version that’s even better, and then reach out to the right people. The trick is ensuring your content genuinely delivers added value, encouraging others to backlink to you.
How infographics and other visual contents can generate backlinks
Too often overlooked, the importance of visual content and infographics cannot be overstated. Well-researched, well-designed visual content can be readily shared in publications, social media or blogs, which usually involves linking back to the source – cue your backlinks.
Expert Roundups and Interviews
How expert roundups can garner backlinks
A roundup of insights from experts in your field can prove to be a backlink goldmine. They’re highly shareable since the experts involved will often link back to the post from their sites and social accounts, consequently creating a multitude of valuable do-follow backlinks.
Gaining backlinks through podcast guesting and interviews
Partaking in interviews or being a guest on podcasts related to your niche can offer you excellent opportunities for backlinks. Besides sharing your expertise, it allows you to link to your site — securing both a do-follow backlink and enhancing audience interest in your website.
Sourcing do-follow backlinks through expert panel discussions
Similar to roundups and interviews, hosting or participating in online expert panels can also garner beneficial backlinks. If the discussion’s content gets published online or shared on social media, it’s a sure-fire way to help you secure those links you crave.
Do-follow Backlinks from Video Sharing Sites
Generating backlinks through YouTube videos
YouTube isn’t just for viral videos; it can, in fact, be a superb way to earn do-follow backlinks. By creating relevant, high-quality videos and adding a link to your website in the video description, you’re encouraging viewers to link to your site and generating a boon of backlinks.
Using Vimeo and other video platforms for do-follow backlinks
Similar to YouTube, other video-sharing platforms like Vimeo can also be leveraged to gain backlinks. Remember, the more quality content you provide that resonates with your target audience, the higher the likelihood of your videos earning backlinks.
How live streaming can encourage backlinks
Live streaming events and videos is booming, and the backlink potential here is huge. Besides making it easy for viewers to share links during the live event itself, you can also encourage links back to archived versions of these live events, offering further backlink possibilities.
In conclusion, earning do-follow backlinks needn’t be an uphill task. Adopt a well-rounded approach including social media, blogs, comment sections, business directories, press release sites, top-notch content, expert interviews, and video sharing sites, and you’ll be well on your way to reaping the SEO benefits these invaluable links provide. Remember, good things take time, so be patient and persistent in your backlink building efforts.
Hi, I’m Nicholas Bortoluzzi (but people often call me Nico).
I am the Founder and Director at SEO Lynx, an internet marketing agency operating in the UK and servicing clients worldwide.
The article on this page was written and curated by myself.