DR 83, 54, and 50 – how you obtain strong backlinks in a targeted way with linkbaits

DR 83, 54, and 50?

For anyone who doesn't know: DR stands for Domain Rating and is a quality metric from Ahrefs – the higher the value, the stronger (theoretically) the website is as well (high-authority website). Such strong backlinks can give your rankings a decent push thanks to their power.

But how do you obtain a backlink from such websites?

Simply buy such backlinks, one or two people are now guessing.

To that a clear “yes and no!”

Sure, you can theoretically also buy such backlinks for a lot of money. It's just that this violates the Google guidelines, and the competition can then usually rebuild these backlinks as well.

It's better here to use a so-called linkbait. And no, linkbaits are far from dead yet – if you use them correctly, you can still build really strong links with them.

In this article I therefore want to show you how you can get really strong backlinks with linkbaits, ones that can't be rebuilt so easily by the competition – and that without paying a publisher money for it.

What is a linkbait?

A linkbait, in German “Linkköder”, is the creation of content that serves as a kind of link magnet in order to build backlinks. The goal is to build strong backlinks in a natural way, without paying for the links, and to thereby strengthen the target website with high-quality links.

Aren't linkbaits long dead by now …?

Contents

• Aren't linkbaits long dead by now …?
• DR is just a metric …
• Basics: How do you proceed?
• Finding the target group
• Example: Creating content with high added value
• Pre-outreach – the preparation
• Content distribution: The spread is the key
• How to pass on the link power?
• Conclusion

No, linkbaits can of course still work.

But the quality has to be right and the corresponding preparation, which can be quite a lot of work, must not be underestimated. Linkbaits often attract links automatically precisely when they can't be recognized as such at all.

First of all, it's important to know from which target group, or from which website, you even want to have a link at all. But how do you find the right target group?

DR is just a metric …

Before we start with the tactics, one thing first: No matter whether Domain Rating (DR), Trust Flow (TF), or LRT Power*Trust: There is no single link metric that you always have to look at. Always look at the link profile itself – are there really strong links there? Who is linking and where does the link come from?

A domain with a high DR that links to you is all well and good, but if the link comes from a deeply hidden subpage, it will hardly pass on any power, even if the domain itself is strong. It therefore always depends on exactly which subpage the link comes from and how strong this subpage is.

Basics: How do you proceed?

You're planning a linkbait in order to build really strong links with it? Then you have to think about the following points in advance:

• Which topics fit my website?
• From which websites do I want to have a link?
• Where do these link to?
• Which topics do they find interesting?
• How do I have to compile the information so that other webmasters find it good and voluntarily link to me as a source?
• How can I get in contact with the target group?

Once you have clarified these points, you can get started with “earning links”. Let's take a detailed look at this:

Finding the target group

The target group for a linkbait are other webmasters who have websites with a strong link profile. So take a look at which kind of content you can suitably deliver and in which topic areas especially strong websites exist. Such strong websites can be, for example, cities or clubs.

In doing so, analyze which of them link out and, if so, where they link to.

Simple example: You can easily find such club websites via Google with the search operator “club (your topic) + link list”.

And there you go, you're shown websites of clubs that have link lists. Then analyze where they link to and whether you have content that can likewise be an enrichment for such link lists.

Example: Creating content with high added value

As already mentioned, the linkbait must not be recognizable as such, because otherwise many publishers won't want to link and will suspect a cheap trick to grab backlinks.

Let's assume you've selected fire brigade clubs and their websites as potential link providers. You want to strengthen your shop, which offers correspondingly valuable information, but only very few clubs will link to you.

Why?

With a shop, a direct profit intention is of course recognizable, and often something like that is not linked. With cities, for example, it's often the case that there is a requirement not to link to profit-oriented sites.

Therefore your linkbait for the fire brigade clubs has to be placed neutrally on a standalone website. It's not enough to create a subpage on your shop. Most link providers of course still recognize that as a shop.

And which content could now be linked?

For example, a website on the topic of fire protection could be created, on which posts are published such as “10 tips to secure your apartment against fires” – and yes, it has to be a full-fledged website, with several topics. The more content there is on such a linkbait, the more valuable it is and the better its chances of being linked!

Pre-outreach – the preparation

Stop! Before any topic is picked and loads of work is invested in creating content, you should call some potential link providers and bring up the possible topic: “Would this topic be interesting for your website and could you imagine linking to it?”

Yes, really, you should communicate with the link providers that directly. Only when, on a sample basis, some find the topic interesting and can imagine linking to it does it now mean really getting down to work!

Content distribution: The spread is the key

As soon as the content is ready, it's time for the spread: Enter all potential publishers and go through each one to ask for a link. In our experience, the best way here is to give preference to a personal phone call and only write an email after the personal conversation.

Especially with authorities and clubs, an email is usually pointless, because it is ignored or simply not forwarded to the right contact person. It's better to track down the right contact person directly, who is responsible for the website, and to talk to them about your concern. Find out from them whether a link would be possible and have them give you their email address so that you can show the contact person your linkbait.

And that's exactly the approach: Always phone before email. In our experience, if you do everything right, you have a success rate of about 10% – so out of 100 potential link providers, about 10 will link to your linkbait. The probabilities fall or rise depending on how good your content is and how cleverly you go about the outreach.

How to pass on the link power?

Let's assume that the linkbait has received a few backlinks. The creation and spread may well have taken four to six weeks. But of course such a linkbait can also receive further backlinks on its own sooner or later.

Now the only question left to clarify is how you can use it to strengthen your actual target page (shop or website).

One method is to put the same content on your own website and redirect the linkbait website to your website by means of a 301. That way the content remains and the links stay credible and will only very rarely be deleted again.

By the way, simply redirecting the linkbait to the homepage of your website is not advisable, since Google can view such a redirect as a 404 soft error and the link power is then not passed on.

Even better is to simply leave the linkbait, or the website, in place and to strengthen the most important landing pages on your website by means of backlinks. This of course loses link power, but the chances here are especially high that the links to the linkbait remain in place and are no longer deleted.

Conclusion

Linkbaits can still work wonderfully today too, in order to get really strong backlinks from high-authority websites that you otherwise can't reach and that can only be rebuilt with difficulty by the competition.

The most important tips on this:

• Think carefully about which webmasters you want to have a link from
• The linkbait must not look like one
• Only high-quality content wins: This also applies to the layout of the website and to the content design
• A pre-outreach helps you determine whether potential link providers are interested in your idea
• Phone first and then email (this is also better with bloggers, since it's more personal)

However, there is no guarantee of success. Often, trying things out and regularly creating new linkbaits is the best way to permanently get new, strong backlinks. Some tuition fees always have to be paid at the beginning with this strategy, but it's worth it!

-Fabian

And how can we help you?

You want to have really strong backlinks? You're looking for an agency that builds successful linkbaits for your project? Then write to us – we'll be glad to advise and support you. Request a free and non-binding quote now: hallo@farbentour.de