In ecommerce SEO, the primary focus should be on ranking category, product, or brand pages.
While sitewide conversion rates for ecommerce typically hover around 2-3%, product pages have the potential to reach conversion rates of over 30% (averaging around 7%) when optimized correctly.
However, obtaining links directly to these pages can be time-consuming for many in-house SEOs.
This article explores six effective link-building tactics for ecommerce brands today.
Ecommerce Link Building: Challenges and Solutions
For ecommerce sites, driving traffic to category, brand, and product pages can result in significant returns.
However, earning links to these pages is challenging because many high-quality publishers prefer to link to informational content.
Many ecommerce sites do not produce long-form, helpful content because blogs and content hubs often do not yield direct sales and can take months to rank.
Additionally, affiliate sites with robust link profiles for long-form content often outrank established brands.
However, SEOs have developed strategies to overcome common ecommerce link-building hurdles.
- Content-led link building, coupled with internal linking, provides indirect links to target pages. Long-form content generates up to 70% more links than short-form content.
- Building homepage links or profile image links through guest posting, podcast appearances, PR, and webinars. Often, you can get sites or podcasters to link to your homepage or a headshot hosted on your website.
- Paying for links remains common but is against Google’s link spam guidelines.
- Building and maintaining relationships with publishers. Cold email campaigns generally have a reply rate of under 10%, so having a known contact can significantly improve response rates.
- Locating content that mentions your brand or the brands you sell without including a link.
Let’s delve deeper into these ecommerce link-building techniques.
1. Unlinked Brand Mentions
An unlinked brand mention occurs when an article or webpage mentions your brand name, the brands you sell, or the names of team members but does not include an active link to your site.
You can find unlinked brand mentions using Google Alerts or Ahrefs.
Set Up Google Alerts
Start by setting up Google Alerts for your brand name and its variations. This will notify you via email whenever your brand is mentioned online.
Check to see if the mention includes a link to your website. If it does not, contact the site owner and request a link.
Use Ahrefs Content Explorer and Batch Analysis Tool
Ahrefs’ Content Explorer can help you find unlinked mentions of your brand or the brands you sell.
Follow these steps:
- Log in to your Ahrefs account and go to “Content Explorer” in the top menu.
- Enter your brand name in the search bar and press Enter.
- Apply the “One article per domain” filter to avoid multiple results from the same website.
- Export the list of articles mentioning your brand.
- Manually check if each mention has a link to your website using your browser’s “Find” function (Ctrl + F or Command + F).
Once you have a list of URLs with unlinked brand mentions, use Ahrefs’ Batch Analysis tool to gather more information about each website. This will help you prioritize which websites to contact for link-building opportunities.
- Go to “More” in the top menu of Ahrefs and click “Batch Analysis.”
- Paste the list of URLs with unlinked brand mentions and click “Start Analysis.”
- Once the analysis is complete, review metrics like Domain Rating (DR), Ahrefs Rank (AR), and the number of referring domains for each website. Use these metrics to prioritize which sites to contact.
2. Reverse Product Image Link Building
Reverse image link building involves finding websites that use your images without proper attribution or a link back to your site.
While identifying these images is relatively simple, it can be time-consuming.
Identify Your Original Images
Select the images on your website that are original and unique, such as infographics, custom illustrations, or high-quality custom photographs.
Perform a Reverse Image Search
Use a reverse image search engine like Google Images or TinEye to find websites that have used your images.
Analyze the Results
Review the list of websites manually and check if they have provided proper attribution and a link to your site.
Gather Contact Information
Find the contact details of the website owners or content creators on each site, such as email addresses or contact forms.
3. Resource Page Link Building
A resource page is a webpage designed to list and link to valuable resources, tools, or content related to a particular topic or industry.
The process of resource page link building generally involves these steps:
Identify Your Link-Worthy Content
Identify or create high-quality, valuable, and informative content on your website that would fit well on resource pages. This could include blog posts, articles, tutorials, guides, infographics, tools, or other content types that provide value to users.
Find Relevant Resource Pages
Search for resource pages in your niche or industry that might be interested in linking to your content. You can search Google for queries like these (replace “keyword” with your target keyword or niche topic):
- “keyword” + “resources”
- “keyword” + “useful links”
- “keyword” + “helpful resources”
- “keyword” + “links”
Evaluate the Resource Pages
Assess the quality and relevance of the resource pages you find. Look for pages with high domain authority, good user engagement, and relevant content.
Craft a Personalized Outreach Email
Write a polite, personalized email to the website owner or editor explaining who you are and why you believe your content would be a valuable addition to their resource page. Highlight the specific benefits your content provides and how it would be helpful to their audience.
4. Build a Database of Publishers
Many tools can help you prospect lists of sites, but not all allow you to upload your own list and manage outreach to contacts.
Pitchbox is effective for this, but you can also use tools like Buzzstream, which is more cost-effective.
Pitchbox is an outreach and link-building tool that simplifies finding potential websites, automating outreach, and managing relationships.
Here’s how you can build a database of sites using Pitchbox:
Set Up a New Campaign
In the Pitchbox dashboard, click on the “Campaigns” tab and select “Create New Campaign.” Enter a name for your campaign and choose your desired campaign type (such as “Blogger Outreach” or “Link Building”).
Configure Your Campaign Settings
Customize your campaign settings, such as the email account you’ll use for outreach and the domains you want to exclude (e.g., competitors or sites you’ve already connected with).
Conduct a Prospect Search
In your campaign’s “Prospects” tab, click “Add Prospects” and select a method for finding potential websites to include in your database. You can use Pitchbox’s built-in search, import a list from another tool like Ahrefs or Semrush, or manually add websites.
- If you use Pitchbox’s built-in search, enter your target keywords and select your desired search method (such as “Blogger,” “Resource Page,” or “Guest Post”). Pitchbox will generate a list of relevant websites for your campaign.
- If you prefer to import a list, export it from your preferred SEO tool in CSV format and upload it to Pitchbox.
Review and Filter Your Prospects
Review the list and filter out any irrelevant or low-quality sites. Use Pitchbox’s built-in metrics, such as domain authority (DA), to evaluate the quality of each website. Check the checkbox next to each website you want to include in your database and click “Add Selected Prospects.”
5. Podcast Interviews
Use podcast directories to pitch yourself or find a podcast booking service. Preparing for a podcast can consume a lot of time, so focus on a few targeted podcasts that are highly relevant to your niche.
Search through directories like Stitcher, Podbean, or TuneIn for potential podcasts and build custom outreach.
Identify Your Niche
Define the niche you want to target and the goals you want to achieve by appearing on a podcast.
Research Podcast Directories
Look for podcast directories relevant to your niche or industry and compile a list of potential podcasts to pitch.
Listen to Episodes
Listen to a few episodes of the podcasts to understand the show’s format, style, and tone before pitching.
Develop Your Pitch
Create a compelling pitch explaining why you would be a valuable guest on the podcast. Include a brief introduction, your area of expertise, and why you would be a good fit for the show. Mention relevant topics you could discuss or offer a unique perspective.
Send Your Pitch
Contact the podcast host or producer via email or Twitter with your pitch. Keep it concise, personalized, and professional.
6. Rank Curated Statistical Pages
This is a highly effective strategy for securing links for ecommerce sites.
Many ecommerce sites lack the resources to conduct unique studies, so curating statistical pages is a straightforward approach.
Compile a list of statistics from government data websites or primary data studies and aggregate them for your readers.
For instance, a list of 50 statistics and facts on promotional products can rank for specific search terms and secure links naturally as journalists and bloggers reference these statistics.
Conclusion
Ranking category, product, or brand pages in Google search results is vital for ecommerce businesses to drive high conversion rates. However, securing high-quality backlinks to these pages can be challenging due to the nature of ecommerce.
To meet these challenges, you can combine content-led link building, strategic internal linking, and creative outreach techniques.
By employing these strategies, ecommerce businesses can overcome the challenges associated with ecommerce linking and improve their search engine visibility.
