At the very beginning, it is worth considering why build links at all? Google’s algorithms are complex and are constantly evolving. However, link building has for many years remained an important factor that Google uses to determine the position of a given website. Well-built links are an important signal to Google that your website is a valuable resource worth citing and showing to your visitors. Therefore, websites with more backlinks tend to rank higher.

Important: There is a good and a bad way to link to your website. If you care about long-term profitability, you should only engage in natural link building, which is the process of gaining links, not buying or achieving them through manipulative tactics. These types of practices are called black hat SEO and can even cause your website to be removed from search results. In the article below, we will discuss the most important issues that you should keep in mind when it comes to link building, which will improve your organic rankings without violating Google’s guidelines.

What is link building?

Link building is the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. Hyperlinks (usually just called a link or a link) allow you to navigate between pages on the Internet. Search engines, on the other hand, use links to index the web. They index both links between individual pages on a given site and links between individual web pages on a given site.

White-hat SEO link building tactic

This type of link building takes time. It consists in creating valuable content to which other websites will want to refer their users. It is related to defining your target group and its needs. It is worth considering what content recipients are looking for and what they want to learn, and then create content that will be interesting and engaging for them.

This is the type of link building that will also be most effective. It is based on a genuine desire to connect with your audience. These types of interactions form the basis of well-established online dialogue and communication. Journalists, writers and editors of other websites, after reading the valuable content, will find it worth publishing, in other words, worth a link.

One of the biggest mistakes website owners make when it comes to link building is over-focusing on the link itself, not the content it leads to. Your content should be valuable to generate impressions, engagement, and most importantly – conversions.

What do links mean for search engines?

Links are a very important determinant of the authority of a website. After searching the web pages, search engines can extract their content and add it to their indexes. Thus, they decide if the page is worth enough to get high ranking for the relevant keywords.

When classifying pages, search engines not only analyze the content of the page, but also take into account the number of links pointing to a given site from external websites. The quality of these external sites is also important. Overall, the more high-quality sites linking to your website, the more likely you are to rank well in search engine results.

Link building in marketing activities

It is also true to say that links appear naturally as a result of other marketing activities that are not primarily aimed at generating links. For example, if you introduce a new, really innovative product, you will likely end up with lots of backlinks to your website as a result. Likewise, if you create interesting content that will be the best and complete guide to a topic in your industry, other sites will want to send their audience to your article and you will get links as a result.

Both creating a new product and posting great content are not for link building, but links are a consequence of doing so. Therefore, it makes sense to think of link building not as a standalone activity, but something that connects with other activities of your company, the benefits of which go beyond link building.

Helpful internal links

SEO people often want the benefits of a single referring link to span the entire domain, not just the single linked page. One way to do this is through internal linking, which is by placing a link on the landing page that points to another page on the same domain. This is an effective method of spreading your authority and standing on your site. It is true that Google does not measure internal links the same way as external links. However, it is essential that the domain contains both internal and external links to maximize its ranking potential.

Internal links are not as valuable as external links, but they help Google understand your website’s structure, which can be helpful for SEO. An example of this is our free text paraphrase tool based on artificial intelligence.

How to get high-quality links?

As you may be aware, not all links are created equal. We have already mentioned that Google takes into account not only the number of links referring to a given domain, but also analyzes the quality of the pages from which the links come. In link building it is very important that the backlinks come from websites that themselves have strong SEO metrics. Not all links are created equal, and links coming from the wrong sites can actually harm your link profile. For Google, this could be a sign that the website is using SEO manipulative practices, which could lead to its being blocked from search results.

High-quality websites that will enable you to implement effective link building should:
– have high domain authority and low spam score,
– generate a lot of organic traffic and traffic from social media,
– answer the topic or industry to your website,
– have a healthy backlink profile.

Link position in content

Few people may be aware that the position of a link in content on a website is also very important for its effectiveness. If a link to a website is placed at the beginning of the content, search engines assign it a higher value than the links appearing further down the page. In addition, it is important to bear in mind that link building campaigns aim to embed the link in the main body of the text, not in the sidebar or page header. Spam links or advertisements are usually placed in these places. Google is cautious and, in most cases, classifies links outside of the main content as significantly less valuable.

Link building – where to start?

If you are new to link building, the amount of information associated with creating a link profile may seem overwhelming to you. In the case of small businesses, it is worth using the potential of local SEO and publishing guest posts on high-quality websites in the first place.

Local SEO

Listing your website address in local business directories is relatively inexpensive. One of the best options for getting a big boost in local search results is to create a listing for your business on Google Maps. Almost a third of all mobile searches are location-based, and local SEO can help search engines better understand your location, markets served, and how customers can reach you.

For unlinked sites, local SEO is a great way to start creating trust signals. Not only will they make your website more prominent in search results, but they will also give you backlinks from well-established sites with high traffic.

Guest posts – a way to get high-quality links

Not only the content posted on your website can help in link building. Publishing guest posts on other websites is an equally effective and, what is worth emphasizing, practice in line with Google’s guidelines. This tactic involves creating and offering content that may be of value to the audience of the website where the article will be published.

If you are a specialist in a given field, you can ask the owners of a high-quality website to write an article for them in which you will link to your domain. When presenting your proposal, briefly describe what you want to write about and indicate the value of the recipients of the page who read the article. Guest posts, apart from the possibility of obtaining a link, have one more, very important advantage – they allow you to build relationships with other websites and expand your professional network of contacts.

We hope this article helped you understand what link building is and why it is so important to SEO. Link building is a very broad topic, but if done correctly, it can bring amazing results for your website traffic and affect your Google ranking. If you have any questions about link building or need additional SEO help, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will help you get high ranking positions in a profitable and, above all, long-term way.

SaaS model – what is it?

SaaS stands for software as a service. Users can access it via the cloud, they don’t need to install anything on their computers. This is due to the lack of the need for configuration or servicing. SaaS is a turnkey solution. To use it, all you need to do is pay the subscription fee. In this model, the obligations related to updating, technical support and management are transferred to the service provider. He, not the user of the software, has control over everything and it is his responsibility to ensure that it runs reliably.

There are many examples of SaaS, each of us uses such a solution. This includes e mail. You log into your account to gain access to the box, but the software is in the cloud, all messages and attachments are saved on an external server. The SaaS model is also used by popular streaming services, but it is most often referred to in the context of business. Through it, various types of applications are made available, including financial, accounting, analytical and human resource management. On this model, you can host video files, manage projects, run podcasts or build your own online store. SaaS is an important element of running a business for many people.

Advantages of SaaS – is it worth choosing such software?

One of the most important advantages of the SaaS model is the comfort of use. It does not require the purchase of a license, installation of the program on computers, remembering about updates or regular servicing. The service provider is responsible for managing the application. SaaS is associated with rapid deployment. There is no need to waste time not only installing software, but also waiting for the delivery, construction and configuration of the entire system and server infrastructure. The very process of implementing a new solution is not only shorter, but usually also cheaper. The user does not bear the license fee, which can be risky when checking new software (only after some time it may turn out that it does not fully work). It should also be remembered that if the application is installed on several computers, a separate license must be purchased for each one. In the Software as a Service model, a monthly, quarterly or annual subscription is most often profitable, which is not very burdensome.

It is also important to have access to all software data from anywhere. Information is stored in the cloud and you only need a device with Internet access to view, modify or share it. In addition, SaaS is a model that ensures a high level of security. There is no risk of data loss in the event of a hardware failure of the user. IT systems secured in such a way as to provide customers with the highest possible level of protection are responsible for the provision of services. It is not without significance that access to SaaS must be guaranteed at all times, without any interruptions. It is the suppliers’ responsibility to ensure reliable operation, even in the event of a major breakdown or natural disaster.

The other advantages of SaaS include:
– Simplicity and comfort of work – software as a service is a model that ensures easy and comfortable use. Anyone can concentrate on the tasks they need to get done without having to think about how to handle the software. The problem of a temporary drop in its performance or jamming also disappears.
– Access to the current version ensured – users always use the current version of the application, even though they do not have to install it themselves. The service provider is responsible for everything.
– Access for everyone – there is no need for time-consuming training before implementing the software. It is also not necessary to employ people with specialist knowledge, incl. on data security. Each employee of the company can freely use the application, also via smartphones and similar devices, which has a positive effect on their mobilization.
– Customization – SaaS is a flexible solution that can be easily adapted to individual needs. When the need arises, the number of access points or necessary resources can be increased.

Many entrepreneurs choose the SaaS model to automate their business. Thanks to it, it becomes possible to create customer databases, issue invoices and perform many other activities in the CRM system. Is it a completely flawless solution? Not completely. While SaaS can be used anywhere and anytime, an Internet connection is required. However, for most companies, this is not a problem, because constant access to the network is already a standard. You should also be aware that when a supplier breaks down, working in the enterprise can be very difficult. However, the risk of this happening is small. The owners of this type of service ensure the security and reliability of the entire infrastructure. Another obstacle for some is that the number of features available depends on the platform. Not all of them can fully suit the user in this respect.

SaaS in e-commerce

There are many platform solutions available for online stores on the e-commerce market. People starting their adventure in this area of ​​activity are very often recommended SaaS. This is due both to the high potential of this model and the relatively low cost. Software as a service can be easily integrated with marketing automation, couriers, mailing platform and similar options. There is a settlement in the form of a subscription, and the monthly fee is sometimes only a few dozen dollars, so it is not a big burden for the business. This encourages you to give SaaS a try and see if it’s a good choice in the long run. It is an almost ready-to-run online store, just enter the most important elements needed for its functioning, including products, prices, regulations, etc. Software as a Service does not require very large investments at the very beginning, which distinguishes it from creating your own website from scratch . Using it has several other benefits, such as:

– Automation of activities – in SaaS you can automate, among others mailing. Employees do not have to write and send messages on their own regarding the change of order status, shipment of products or new products in the offer. This not only saves valuable time, but also minimizes the risk of mistakes. Automation to some extent also affects customer satisfaction, as they do not have to ask for important information about their orders themselves.
– Acceleration of processes – software as a service is a model that allows integration with various programs necessary to run an online store, including accounting and warehouse. This speeds up the course of all important processes, and thus improves the functioning of the business.
– Flexibility – even if the simplest and cheapest subscription was chosen at the beginning, nothing prevents you from changing it to a more extensive option at the right moment. This is conducive to the free development of business, every entrepreneur will easily adapt SaaS to his needs and requirements.
– Support for marketing activities – in order to be successful, the online store must not forget about marketing. SaaS provides support also in this area, an example is the possibility of starting a blog, which works very well as an additional channel of communication with customers. If necessary, other solutions can also be implemented, such as discount coupons or integration with a price comparison engine.
– Access to updates and technical support – the SaaS user always has access to the current version of the software and new functions. In addition, he does not need to hire someone to solve problems related to the operation of the system. Technical support is provided by the service provider.

Which SaaS online store to choose?

In order not to regret choosing a specific software, it is worth first preparing a list of what it should contain. It is necessary to pay attention not only to the ease of use, but also to all available functions, integration options, template modification and similar issues that are important. The next steps are to read the opinions about the systems and check which one is most tailored to your individual requirements.

When deciding which SaaS to choose, it is worth paying special attention to the most popular solutions. These include:
– Shoper – the system can be tested for free for 14 days. There are two options to choose from, i.e. an online store integrated with Shoper Premium with options such as handling high traffic or migrations.
– IdoSell – the service provider currently supports over 6500 online stores, provides unlimited technical support and a modern engine. IdoSell also means many integrations, any design of the sales platform and thousands of ready-made functions.
– Shopify – here you can also try the software for 14 days for free. It is an efficient English-language platform that gives access to many different website designs and all the
The inscription SaaS surrounded by technology necessary options such as shipping, secure payments and marketing activities.
– Shoplo – offers three tools to choose from: an online store, a platform for contacts with customers and multi-channel sales. It is a comprehensive software with built-in payments, ready-made templates and over a hundred integrations and add-ons.

Especially when you don’t have a large start-up budget, SaaS is a good choice. Often, it is also chosen by those who want to find out if their idea will turn out to be a thriving budget. Software as a service is a model that works well for both one-person and much larger companies. Nevertheless, before making a binding decision, it is worth considering all the advantages and disadvantages of this solution in order to be sure that it will facilitate your business.

In the past, direct interpersonal relationships have been a standard way of getting business contacts. Admittedly, there were occasions to establish cooperation by phone, although the human factor still played a significant role. The situation has changed significantly as a result of dynamic technological development.

It can be said that the expectations of contractors have turned 180 degrees. At present, business customers require more from interaction with sales representatives in the early stages of negotiations. They require in-depth attention known to them from other purchasing processes. And rightly so!

Mobile technologies are selling better

Google joined forces with The Boston Consulting Group to see how much impact the mobile market has on the realities of the B2B sector. Interactions carried out by mobile devices turned out to generate on average over 40% of revenues in leading organizations. Interestingly, the rule described applies more to enterprises that focus more on trade than marketing activities.

Mobile drivers, or influences, an average of over 40% of revenue in leading B2B organizations.

Who are the users of mobile devices?

Consumers are now comparing your options to the best digital experience they’ve ever experienced. Thus, mobile devices also play an important role in the B2B sector. According to statistics, as much as 50% of business queries come from smartphones and tablets. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that by 2020 the scale of this phenomenon will be 70%. However, it should be remembered that these data come from the US market.

However, business customers use technology at every step. They use mobile technologies to work, and also perform many tasks simultaneously using several screens. Employees are no longer attached to the desk. Instead, they are increasingly working from home. In addition, mobile technologies enable them to remain productive during business trips.

How to improve cooperation with business clients?

Customers from the B2B sector are also devoting more and more time to the use of mobile technology. Currently, research shows that they spend two hours in front of the display. Statistics in this matter are significantly overstated by younger generations of recipients. Forecasts show that by 2020 consumers will use smartphones and tablets for an average of three hours a day.

50% of B2B search queries today are made on smartphones. BCG expects that figure to grow to 70% by 2020.

Increased usage is not just empty statistics. This state of affairs directly translates into business results. BCG revealed that mobile technologies speed up purchasing time, which naturally increases revenues and reduces investment costs. The smartphone can reduce the purchase time by 20%. This state of affairs greatly facilitates decision making and facilitates team collaboration.

The skilful use of mobile technologies increases the level of engagement, which takes the form of search queries, increased website traffic, acquisition of potential customers and conducting transactions. The mobile market is also characterized by a higher customer loyalty rate. Along with positive experiences, loyalty and frequency of repeated purchases increase.

Benefiting from the use of smartphones and tablets requires an appropriate attitude. First of all, mobile technologies should become the basis of business strategy. It is also worth presenting the content in vertical orientation. Thanks to this they look much better on displays. In addition, you must combine your own data with information collected from recipients. The combination of these three factors will increase the effectiveness of operations.

Monitor effects

Monitoring the effects of actions is key – what is the point in making changes without being able to compare data before modifications? Constructive conclusions cannot be drawn in this case.

Position monitoring

The tool is useful primarily in the positioning process. It allows (in most cases) to constantly monitor the position of our website on individual key phrases. Most of them, in addition to displaying our page, also point to other pages, which allows us to monitor competition on an ongoing basis.

The growing popularity of mobile devices has also contributed to the creation of mobile applications presenting position information. Most of them allow free monitoring of at least one page and a dozen or so phrases.

Phrase monitoring and search

An ideal tool for both SEO and SEM specialists. Tools of this type present information on the number of phrases for which a given site is ranked (usually from TOP1 to TOP50), divided into various groups, present information on traffic from a given expression, present information on ongoing CPC campaigns with amounts, and even help choose new words to start promoting.

The big advantage of this type of tools is the fact that as soon as the site is indexed by the search engine crawler, the tool will collect information about this site and its “performance” on an ongoing basis. Such tools also allow direct comparison with competitors’ websites and check them for:

– the number of ranking phrases and the phrases themselves,
– traffic generated from positioned expressions and campaigns,
– phrases to which competition is promoted in paid campaigns.

The data set will easily compare our competition and help increase traffic to our site.

Link profile

An important element also in the positioning process. Tools of this type present information about links leading to your website, showing details about:

– the number of backlinks from individual domains,
– anchor text,
– the location of the domain where the backlink is placed,
– link ratings,
– the history of links leading to the site,
– theme of the domain on which the link to our site was placed.

Webmaster Tools

We can not forget about the tools that provide information only about our site. This is important because all of the above proposals present most of the information based on their own data, which they do not have direct access to. Often, these results are simulated or calculated based on original formulas.

A series of information related to our website in Google search will show us the Google Search Console tool.

This tool offers detailed information about links leading to the website. It also has information about traffic as well as about the impressions for individual expressions. What’s more, GSC is expanded with additional functionalities to manage our website in a dedicated search engine.

Analytical tools

Having such a tool on your site should already be standard. The market provides us with very good free solutions and more advanced paid counterparts.

In addition to traffic information, tools of this type also include detailed data on users, traffic sources and the effectiveness of marketing activities, as well as allow to view the data in real time.

Brand popularity research

Verifying the popularity of the brand is also important when performing competition analysis. With a more recognizable brand, promoting competitive phrases can be much easier. Numerous opinions on the web, mentions on forums or other partner portals testify to their popularity. For this purpose, you can use both the free Google Alerts tool.

Elements of competition page analysis

All of the above tools are a treasury of knowledge for every specialist. Although some of them have the ability to generate audits, the classic approach for analyzing a competitor’s website may prove to be the best, because the tool will not necessarily focus on elements that attract human attention.

Are we choosing the right pages for the promotion?

Before starting any promotion – both positioning and paid campaigns – it is worth analyzing which subpages the competition promotes for a given phrase. Then, answer the following questions: Is my site themed for a given phrase? Does my offer match the expression? Did I choose a good positioning page for the given expression?

Before starting any promotion – both positioning and paid campaigns – it is worth analyzing which subpages the competition promotes for a given phrase. Then, answer the following questions: Is my site themed for a given phrase? Does my offer match the expression? Did I choose a good positioning page for the given expression?

In the positioning process, the promotion of subpages by force, in addition to the effects described above, can also contribute to a manual penalty from Google Rater or an automatic algorithmic filter for excessive linking of a given expression or unnatural phrase saturation, which is an attempt to artificially replace the lack of an offer.

Is my text as valuable as it is for competitors?

Under the slogan “valuable text” there are several elements and questions to answer:

– user-friendliness – does my text answer potential customer’s questions,
– expertness – does the text exhaust and provide all the information sought by the client,
– length – is my text comparatively long,
– formatting – is my text properly formatted to easily find the information I am looking for,
– extended elements – does my text contain useful infographics, charts, attachments or other elements,
– phrase saturation – does my text have artificially placed expressions, or do they occur naturally

Of course, if any of the above-mentioned elements does not appear on the competition page, and we have an idea to place it, it is advisable as much as possible. It is this element that can determine the position achieved or more contacts compared to the competition.

Do I have a similar number of products as the competition?

However, placing new products artificially will not give us the effect of adding a unique product description and your own photos every time (if possible). The subpages prepared in this way will also allow you to appear on the so-called long tail, i.e. complex and precise expressions, e.g. interior wooden brown doors.

Do I get competitive links?

For this point, the tools for analyzing link profiles indicated above will be useful. It’s worth getting links from sites such as competition – if your partners link your competition, let’s do it too, if your competition’s website has links from blogs, let’s think about a whisper.

However, we should remember that link building is a difficult task, especially when it comes to selecting the anchor text, and after the last update responsible for backlinks assessment it is not as important anymore as it used to be. Therefore, actions should be carried out very carefully. It is still the safest way to obtain links from YellowPages directories.

Does my site have a similar website structure?

This is very important when promoting online stores. If our product categories are too general and competitors have more specific subcategories, it may be important to implement this change.

It may be similar in the case of a catalog and offer page. It is important to have a similar hierarchy, e.g. interior door offer, external door. If everything is thrown into one bag, it may be necessary to change this structure.

It is also worth remembering that competing with a corporate website with online stores can be extremely difficult, and sometimes even impossible, because these websites do not have the opportunity to buy, and in most cases the structure of the website is radically different.

Like the competition, do I follow UX rules?

Please note that the page you are analyzing adheres to UX principles and is fully user-friendly. If it is difficult for you to assess the satisfaction of using the site, ask your friend to click through your site and the competition, and finally talk to him, which was not friendly to him and what he liked on both sites. You can ask him to pay attention to features such as:

– consistency – simplicity in using the website,
– instructions – the user does not need information on how the site works,
– color scheme – whether individual elements are clearly visible and marked according to the rules, e.g. delete button – red.

Do I use https like the competition?

According to the latest Google guidelines for Webmasters, if you have forms on the website that send information about logging in or credit cards, it is advisable to have the https protocol, i.e. an SSL certificate to secure data transfer. Even if your competitors do not yet have this certificate, it is worth considering its implementation now.

Do I have useful subpages like the competition?

FAQ, Price List, Gallery, About the company, Tips and Blog are just some of the most overlooked pages. It is worth analyzing whether the competitor’s website has them and prepare similar ones on their own website. These types of subpages provide information in the simplest and quickest form for the user – that’s why they are so valuable.

Does my site adapt to mobile devices?

In the light of the constantly announced changes regarding the change in the algorithm called mobile-first index, it is worth verifying whether the competitors’ websites are adapting to mobile devices. Even if not, as in the case of the https protocol, it is worth implementing it before the competition and following the trends, because currently mobile traffic is almost identical to the traffic from desktop devices. In order to verify the correct display on mobile devices, one of the external tools should be used, e.g. Google’s mobile page compatibility tester, available in the Google Search Console tool.

Do I have similar interaction elements on the same types of pages?

With each change, the site evaluation algorithms are increasingly demanding and try to receive the site as a user. Therefore, the lack of important elements that competitors have can also block you from gaining top positions or building more traffic.

At this point, it’s worth comparing page types, e.g. product pages, category pages, blog entry pages. Examples of items for product pages may be:

– social media buttons (share buttons),
– the ability to add reviews,
– table / dedicated tab with product technical specification,
– related products,
– products that are worth buying with a given product,
– attributes, product configurations,
– the ability to ask questions about the product.

Do I also have internal links to key subpages?

To make it easier and at the same time indicate valuable pages to which the user should reach, it is worth using internal linking not only in the top, bottom or crumb navigation, but also in the texts themselves. Finding such linking with competitors also shows us the phrases to which the site is promoted.

Are key pages easily accessible in navigation on every subpage?

Verify accessibility to key pages. Like your competition, are your pages in the drop-down menu or footer? If not, it is necessary to take measures to improve navigation.

Do I run similar off-page activities?

The website visibility in search engines and the website traffic itself is not only affected by good optimization. It is also worth doing a number of additional activities outside the site. If you operate locally, check if the competition has a business card on Google My Business and in the absence of it for your business, be sure to create one. In addition, analyze how your competitor’s business card was filled in to see if all items are completed and do so similarly. In the case of an incomplete competition card, do not make their mistake and fill in yours 100% by adding elements such as photographs of the place, team and virtual walk.

Is my brand recognizable enough to promote competitive expressions?

Monitor your brand and the biggest competition brand to analyze how cyclical mentions of it appear on the web. If you get more notifications about your competition, it may mean that people are more familiar with this brand and are more likely to mention it on the web and share materials from it. Try to work towards natural sharing of your site by users for whom your offer or content will be so attractive that they will want to share it with friends.

Summary

As you can see, the amount of data and elements that should be verified when analyzing competition is large. Performing all of the above actions and using one of the indicated tools gives us some SEO audit.

What they should give us and how we can use the collected data:

– reaching new keywords,
– increasing traffic on our site,
– a website fully adapted to the needs of potential customers,
– obtaining valuable links to our site that affect the site’s ranking,
– long-term strategy of actions,
– monitoring your own website,
– good knowledge of competition.

We should remember that we are not only interested in reaching the widest possible range of potential customers, so the competition works equally intensively. That is why it is worth following her actions on an ongoing basis and always trying to be one step ahead of her, implementing innovative solutions useful for the user, as well as filling the gaps that emerged during the analysis.