What Links Should You Build First?

When you’re launching your link-building campaign, it’s tempting to chase after high-authority backlinks right away, but not so fast—building a solid foundation comes first. You’ll need to think strategically about which pages to prioritize and how to set the stage for lasting results. Start by focusing your efforts where they’ll make the most impact, but before you make your first move, consider why not all links are created equal…

The Importance of Foundational Links for New Websites

When launching a new website, it's important to secure foundational links from sources such as business directories and social media profiles.

These foundational links contribute to your site's credibility by shaping its backlink profile and signaling trustworthiness to search engines. By focusing on diverse sources from the outset, you can enhance SEO benefits and improve your site's visibility, particularly for low-competition keywords and your brand name. For businesses looking to simplify this process, meup.com offers tools and resources designed to help new sites acquire essential foundational links quickly and effectively.

Foundational links serve as a basis for authority backlinks, facilitating competition in a crowded online market. Incorporating foundational link building into your overall link building strategy helps new websites quickly establish relevance and improve their search engine rankings.

Key Website Pages to Target for First Backlinks

To establish a solid foundation for your SEO strategy, it's important to select the appropriate pages for initial backlink building. Starting with the homepage is advisable due to its established authority, making it an effective target for early backlinks.

Following this, focus on high-quality content pages, such as informational and resource pages, which naturally attract links and resonate with your target audience.

It's also crucial to include commercial pages in your backlink strategy, as links to these pages can enhance the effectiveness of your sales funnel.

Lastly, consider targeting mid and bottom-funnel pages to enhance their visibility in search engine results. This approach assists in guiding users through the conversion process, ultimately fostering customer loyalty through strategic link placement.

Choosing the Right Keywords for Early Link Building

Once you have determined which website pages will benefit most from initial backlinks, it's crucial to select appropriate keywords for those links.

Prioritize keywords that have low competition but reasonable search volume to enable more efficient link-building results. Utilizing SEO analytics tools can aid in conducting thorough keyword research, ensuring alignment with your target audience and the conversion objectives of your commercial pages.

Long-tail keywords can be particularly beneficial as they tend to attract more specific organic traffic, which is advantageous for early link-building efforts.

Regularly evaluate the performance of your selected keywords and adjust your strategy as necessary to enhance the acquisition of authoritative backlinks. This approach will help ensure that your efforts continue to be effective over time.

Strategies for Building Links to Home, Informational, and Commercial Pages

Developing a comprehensive link-building strategy is essential for enhancing the overall authority of your website. It's important to adopt distinct approaches when targeting home, informational, and commercial pages.

Initially, focus on acquiring backlinks to your home page, as this serves as the central structure of your website and effectively distributes link equity throughout other pages.

Subsequently, prioritize creating backlinks for informational pages rich in valuable content, as these are more likely to attract high-quality backlinks. This, in turn, can enhance your digital marketing efforts and increase referral traffic.

When it comes to commercial pages, aim to secure backlinks from sources that are closely related to the content to improve specific page rankings. Although obtaining endorsements for commercial pages can be more challenging, it's crucial for achieving targeted visibility.

It's important to maintain a balanced link-building approach across all core page types to optimize authority, organic visibility, and the potential for conversions on your website.

Dofollow Vs Nofollow: Which Links to Prioritize First

When initiating a link-building campaign, the question often arises: should you prioritize dofollow or nofollow backlinks first?

For effective search engine optimization (SEO), it's advisable to prioritize dofollow links. These links from high-authority sites can pass link equity, potentially improving your pages' rankings in search engine results and enhancing your backlink profile.

Although nofollow links don't directly influence rankings, they can still drive referral traffic and contribute to brand visibility.

Therefore, while it's important to include both types in a natural and balanced link-building strategy, dofollow links should be prioritized due to their greater impact on long-term authority and search engine performance.

Top Tactics for Acquiring Foundational Backlinks

Developing a well-rounded backlink profile begins with obtaining foundational links that enhance your website’s reliability and trustworthiness from the perspective of search engines.

Initial steps should include citation building on reputable directory listings, which can establish foundational credibility and improve local search visibility. Securing your brand’s social media profiles is also critical, as it can reinforce your authority and protect branded search results.

Guest blogging is another useful strategy to acquire relevant backlinks and to establish your site’s topical authority early on. Additionally, consider link insertions on high-traffic websites to achieve immediate benefits.

Lastly, diversify your backlink sources through targeted outreach to multiple reputable sources. This approach is crucial for constructing a reliable and authoritative backlink profile, which is vital for sustained SEO success.

Leveraging Internal Linking to Amplify Early Backlinks

Foundational backlinks establish the initial authority of a website, but internal linking is crucial for distributing that authority throughout the site.

By strategically structuring internal links, websites can direct link equity from high-authority pages to other important pages, thereby enhancing their search engine rankings.

Placing internal links prominently within content can optimize SEO performance for targeted pages.

Establishing a coherent internal link network helps connect early backlinks with pertinent content, improving user experience and reducing dependence on external links.

It's advisable to conduct regular audits and optimizations of internal links to ensure key pages receive adequate link equity, fostering organic growth and balanced authority distribution.

Timing Your Link Building for Maximum SEO Impact

After establishing a solid internal linking structure that effectively channels authority from initial backlinks, attention should be directed towards the timing and strategy for acquiring new external links.

It's advisable to begin building links immediately after launching a website, with an emphasis on obtaining high-quality backlinks connected to the homepage and service pages. This approach helps in enhancing brand visibility and increasing search traffic.

Additionally, it's beneficial to initiate link-building campaigns for informational content and existing materials that offer value, as these are likely to attract more organic links.

A steady acquisition rate of approximately one link every 3-4 days is recommended to maintain consistency and avoid sudden spikes.

Regularly reviewing competitor activities and page rankings is crucial, allowing for strategic adjustments, particularly towards commercial pages with significant keyword potential, to optimize SEO benefits.

Conclusion

When you start building links, focus on quality over quantity. Prioritize foundational backlinks to your homepage, key informational pages, and trusted directories for a strong SEO base. Pick low-competition keywords and mix dofollow and nofollow links to appear natural. Don’t forget to use internal linking to boost your early gains. By taking these steps in the right order, you’ll set your website up for lasting authority and higher rankings right from the start.