A backlink is an incoming hyperlink from one website to another. It is a core strategy for building value for your practice website by driving traffic and enhancing search engine ranking.
Why should you care?
Because when another site mentions your brand or name and includes a link that goes directly to your site, that constitutes a backlink. Getting mentioned on other sites and linked to is a valid way to increase traffic to your landing page or blog. Therefore, when someone reads about you on another site they trust, they will be more inclined to click on the link and see what you have to offer.
We all know that getting your page ranked high on Google is the Holy Grail of digital marketing. Backlinks can help strengthen the important factors that can influence your search engine ranking, including traffic and click-through rates, and other good stuff that you need to stay top of mind to your target audience.
It is important to assign a team member or your web developer to manage backlinks for your site on an ongoing basis. Check on any broken links which can harm your site’s search engine ranking.
Another excellent strategy is to offer to write guest posts or blogs on other sites that may have good traffic. It can be well worth your time to create content for other sites in order to drive readers to go to your site for more. When it comes to search-engine friendly content, more is definitely more. Guest blogging can open doors for experts because all sites are desperate for good, original, relevant content to attract new readers. So, this strategy is a win-win.
Consider being proactive about reaching out to bloggers and local journalists. If you are fortunate enough to get an interview, and they decided to mention your name and/or practice, simply ask if you can have a backlink to your site. Create a media list of local journalists in your area. Find them on Twitter and Instagram or look to see if they are on LinkedIn. You or a staff member can connect with them to get acquainted. You may also want to comment on their posts to let them know you think highly of their work and start a relationship going.
It is also valuable to have a comprehensive plan to actively promote your original content across the web. The best place to start is by creating strong content that is on brand in various formats; for example, text, images, video, infographics, podcasts, blogs, landing pages for specific treatments, eBooks and more.
Utilize as many platforms as possible to get your content notices, and be sure to consider that nuances between platforms. What does the ideal user experience look like? How do they want to consumer content? This takes some work but will benefit your online presence in the long run because you will end up generating more backlinks to get found.
Lastly, another way to get backlinks is to write reviews, rate other business and post comments on relevant content from influencers that matter to your practice. Use you first and last name and degree, and name of your practice whenever possible.
Building backlinks is a vital component of a well-planned content marketing strategy. Remember the old adage: Google rules the world; we just live in it.
