Effective Link Building Strategies for E-commerce Companies
Having a great e-commerce website is key to driving sales, but getting people to visit your site in the first place is just as important. So, how do you attract more shoppers? The answer lies in building authority for your brand across the web.
One of the most effective ways to do this is through link building, which helps boost your site’s visibility and credibility in search engines.
In simple terms, link building is when other websites link back to your site. This can improve your search engine rankings and drive more traffic your way. But how do you go about building these valuable links?
In this post, we’ll break down some effective link building strategies that can help e-commerce companies like yours gain authority and increase website traffic through smart link-building techniques.
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What is Link Building for eCommerce Website?
Link building for e-commerce is the process of getting other websites to link back to your online store. The idea behind this is simple: when other reputable sites link to your pages, it signals to search engines like Google that your site is trustworthy and authoritative.
These links act as “votes of confidence,” showing that your website provides valuable information or products worth recommending. However, link building doesn’t happen automatically. You need to be proactive and strategic in growing your link profile.
This can include:
- Creating shareable content like infographics or videos
- Writing guest posts on other websites
- Distributing your content to a wider audience
- Building relationships with other businesses
Even hosting contests, getting positive product reviews, or sponsoring events can lead to more links.
Top 15 Effective Link Building Strategies for Ecommerce Companies
Here are 15 effective strategies to help boost your website’s authority and drive more traffic through quality backlinks.
1. Create High-Quality Blog Content Targeting Specific Keywords
Well-written, valuable blog content is a great way to boost your SEO rankings and drive conversions. But it’s also an effective strategy for generating backlinks over time. Start a blog on your e-commerce site and write articles targeting keywords related to your products or services.
For example, if you sell surfboards, you could write a post on “best surfboards for beginners” and feature some of the boards you offer. This helps attract more traffic and build valuable links to your site.
2. Leverage HARO to Become a Go-To Source for Bloggers and Journalists
The HARO (Help a Reporter Out) platform is a great way to build quality backlinks, connecting journalists and bloggers with experts in various fields.
By signing up, you can share your expertise with reporters working on articles related to your industry. If they use your insights, they’ll likely link back to your e-commerce site, helping to boost your SEO and credibility.
3. Launch a Creative PR Campaign to Boost Brand Awareness
A well-executed PR campaign can drive a lot of backlinks, traffic, and sales—especially when you get creative with it. Take Rise at Seven PR’s campaign as an example. They spotted identical women’s jumpers on a website and created an exclusive story with TYLA.
This sparked 30k social media engagements within an hour, leading to a new, optimized category page and product line. They added blog content and used internal links to boost the page’s value even more. The result? Over 60 backlinks, thousands of social media links, sold-out stock, and a boost in revenue.
4. Utilize Niche Edits to Build Relevant Links
Niche edits, also known as link insertions, are a popular link-building strategy. This involves finding high-quality websites related to your products or industry and adding a link to your site within their existing content.
By tapping into the authority and relevance of these websites, you can improve your own site’s rankings and visibility.
5. Write Guest Posts to Expand Your Reach
Guest posting is the practice of writing articles for other websites within your niche. By contributing content to these platforms, you not only expand your reach to a broader audience but also establish connections with industry leaders.
This strategy helps build credibility while securing valuable backlinks to your e-commerce site, which can improve your SEO and online visibility.
6. Send Press Releases to Get Media Coverage
A great link-building strategy for e-commerce is publishing a press release. News sites and industry blogs often pick them up, driving new traffic and earning backlinks to your site.
For example, when Hobby Lobby raised its minimum wage, the press release helped them get noticed across various platforms and blogs.
Some press release services charge a fee, while others offer free submissions. For extra exposure, aim to get your release featured on Google News. Here are a few ideas for press releases:
- Announce a limited-edition product
- Highlight company donations or charity work
- Share news about your company’s impact and community involvement
7. Participate in Podcasts to Gain Exposure and Backlinks
Podcasts often include “show notes” with each episode, summarizing the content and linking to relevant products and websites. Research podcasts in your industry, make a list of contacts, and reach out to offer to co-host or sponsor an episode in exchange for a link.
For example, if you’re in the parenting niche, look for popular parenting or “mommy” podcasts. Many also have online forms to apply for a guest spot.
8. Request Links from Your Business Partners
If you’re a reseller or retail e-commerce seller, reach out to your suppliers and distributors who list where to buy their products, and ask them to include your site.
For example, if you sell Greenies pet food, contact your distributors and request a link to your store. You’ve already built relationships with these vendors, so the hard part is done.
9. Capture Competitor Links for Your Own Benefit
You can improve your backlink strategy by leveraging your competitors’ links. Here are three ways to do it:
- Broken link building: Find broken links on other sites that no longer work.
- Lost link building: Discover links that were recently removed from competitor sites.
- Working competitor links: See which websites are linking to your competitors.
In each case, you can reach out to these sites and suggest linking to your content instead, helping you earn valuable backlinks.
10. Identify and Contact Industry Resource Pages for Link Opportunities
Resource pages (or roundup pages) are designed to link to multiple sites within the same niche, making it easier for you to get featured. For e-commerce sites, these are often “best product” type articles, though the titles can vary. Try searching with terms like:
- “useful links” AND
- “ useful resources”
- “ resources”
- “[topic] roundup”
- “[topic] resources”
- “best ”
- “ultimate list [topic]”
Once you find relevant pages, look for contact details on the site’s contact or “about” page and reach out to request a link.
11. Turn Unlinked Brand Mentions into Valuable Backlinks
Unlinked mentions happen when your brand, product, or service is mentioned online without a link to your website. This strategy involves contacting the person or organization behind the mention and asking them to add a link to your site.
12. Collaborate with Subject Matter Experts to Enhance Your Content
This strategy involves working with subject matter experts (SMEs) in your industry to create valuable content for your website. By tapping into their knowledge, you can produce high-quality content that appeals to both your audience and search engines.
13. Pitch Your Products for Reviews to Gain Credibility and Links
If HARO opportunities are limited or you want more control, reach out to journalists or bloggers who have written about products in your category or reviewed your competitors.
Many publications do annual product reviews, so you can pitch your product for inclusion. Product reviews provide social proof and give potential customers valuable insights into what you offer.
14. Develop Linkable Assets, or “Link Bait,” to Attract Backlinks
You can attract backlinks by creating valuable content that others want to link to. This not only boosts your credibility but also keeps your link profile natural. Examples of linkable content include:
- Infographics
- Statistics pages
- Data studies or analyses
- Interactive tools
- Video content
Other website owners will link to these resources to support their own content.
15. Monitor Brand Mentions to Discover New Link Opportunities
Brand monitoring goes beyond social media; it tracks the mention of your brand across the entire internet. When you find websites, blogs, or social media posts mentioning your brand without a link, reach out and politely ask for a backlink to your eCommerce site. This helps turn unlinked mentions into valuable links, improving your link profile.
Why Implementing Link Building is Important for eCommerce Companies
Link building is a key strategy for boosting your e-commerce site’s visibility and authority online. By gaining high-quality backlinks, you can:
1. Enhanced Brand Recognition and Authority
When your website appears on reputable, relevant external sites, it creates a strong connection between your brand and your products. This helps build brand recognition and authority, making consumers more likely to trust and engage with your business.
2. Boosted Direct Sales
When other reputable websites link to your products or services, it acts as a powerful recommendation. Consumers are more likely to trust your brand if they see it being endorsed by a site they already trust. These links can directly lead to higher conversion rates and increased sales.
3. Improved Organic Search Performance
Link building helps your e-commerce pages rank higher in search engine results. When your site gets more high-quality backlinks, it signals to search engines like Google that your content is valuable and trustworthy.
As a result, your pages are more likely to appear in top search results, improving your organic traffic and search performance.
4. Increased Search Visibility
With more backlinks pointing to your site, your search engine visibility improves. This increased visibility means that more potential customers will find your site when searching for products or services related to what you offer.
5. Better User Experience
Good link building can also enhance the user experience on your site. By acquiring links from trustworthy sources, you gain access to higher-quality traffic, which often leads to a better engagement rate.
When users come to your site through trusted links, they are more likely to find what they are looking for, stay longer, and interact more.
6. More Referral Traffic
Effective link building can bring in a steady stream of referral traffic from relevant industry sites. These visitors are often already interested in your niche, making them more likely to convert into customers.
By focusing on obtaining links from authoritative websites in your industry, you can increase the amount of traffic coming to your online store and drive potential buyers directly to your products.
Common Link Building Challenges for Ecommerce Websites
One of the biggest challenges in link building for e-commerce sites is not having enough linkable content. Quality content takes time to create and rank, and without it, other websites will have little reason to link to you.
Another challenge is competing with larger, more established platforms like:
- Etsy
- Amazon
- eBay
These sites already have high traffic, many backlinks, and strong authority, making it harder for smaller e-commerce businesses to catch up.
A great way to earn more links is by creating valuable content. Consider adding a blog section to your website where you can share blogs, articles, guides, infographics, and other content that appeals to your audience.
FAQs on eCommerce Link Building Strategies
Are all backlinks equally valuable?
No, not all backlinks are the same. Links from high-quality, authoritative sites have a bigger impact on your rankings. Factors like the relevance of the linking site, the anchor text, and the content quality all play a role in how valuable a backlink is.
How long does it take to see results from link building?
It depends on things like the quality of your links, your site’s SEO health, and the competition in your niche. Usually, you can start seeing improvements in a few months of consistent link building.
What’s the best way to approach link building outreach?
When reaching out to potential link partners, be polite and offer something valuable, like a guest post or collaboration. Make sure your message is personalized and shows how your site is a relevant and useful resource.
How many backlinks should you aim for per target URL?
There’s no set number, but you can check your competitors’ backlinks to get an idea of what it takes to outrank them. Remember, quality matters more than quantity.
A couple of high-authority links are better than many low-quality ones. Consider factors like traffic, rankings, and relevance when evaluating link quality.
How should you optimize anchor text for an eCommerce site?
Keep anchor text short, clear, and descriptive. Instead of using generic terms like “click here,” use specific keywords related to your product or page. For example, “Mia Mia Mine reviews YSL’s College handbag” is better than “Read more about our product here.”
Also, vary your anchor text by using different types, such as exact-match, partial-match, branded, and naked links, as they help Google understand what your page is about.
Should you focus on links to collection pages or product pages?
It’s better to focus on collection pages. Product pages change over time, so you may lose backlinks if products are replaced. Collection pages, however, are more permanent and can retain backlinks longer.
How do you decide which pages to promote on your eCommerce website?
Identify your “money pages,” the ones most likely to drive conversions and sales. If you’re unsure, an ecommerce SEO strategist can help you figure out which pages to focus on to outrank your competitors.
Ready to Start Your New Link Building Campaign for your eCommerce Company?
Link building is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies for eCommerce companies. By acquiring quality backlinks, you improve your website’s authority, boost organic traffic, and increase your chances of ranking higher on search engines.
At BrandLume, we specialize in helping eCommerce businesses build a strong link profile that drives traffic and boosts sales. Our team can guide you through effective link-building strategies tailored to your unique needs. Contact us now.
