1. Justin Herring, YEAH! Local
1. Use keyword research tools to locate low-competition terms
If you want to rank higher on Google without developing backlinks, keyword research is a crucial skill to acquire. Before pursuing any term, it is usually a good idea to do some research on Google to see how competitive it is.
2. Begin creating articles with the low competition keywords
Your first 15-20 articles should cover themes or issues that no one else is covering. On Google, look for direct queries consumers are likely to ask.
Start your questions with:
- Is
- What
- How to
You should write on subjects that haven’t already been covered extensively. Even if they don’t bring in a lot of traffic, creating content that no one else has published is critical for getting your first traffic and making it easier to reach the top of Google faster without backlinks.
3. Use internal links to help Google find other articles on your website
Internal links are valuable assets that may assist other articles on your site to rank for other search keywords. Internal link structure can help you improve your rankings without getting backlinks.
2. Jamie Irwin, Straight Up Search
At the risk of mentioning something a tad cliché in this industry, you could double down on your content optimisation. But in a very targeted way.
To begin with, make sure that your entire site architecture is mapped to different primary keywords. This is the foundation for any SEO strategy – ensuring that each page targets a different keyword and search intent. This has the added bonus of reducing keyword cannibalization.
Once you have done thorough keyword research, start looking at your content on a page-by-page basis. Search your primary keyword on Google and look at the competitors, check out the SERP landscape – play a game of spot the difference – what is your content missing? Perhaps your content could do with more FAQs, semantic headings, and media-rich assets like videos, graphs and (relevant) images.
Based on experience, if your content is top-notch – backlinks won’t be required until the space gets more competitive. Admittedly, backlinks will speed up your organic traction but high-quality content (targeted to your keyword) is enough to get initial rankings.
3. Jordan Choo, Kogneta
Focus on creating content.
To clarify, I don’t mean pumping out 8 pieces of content a month that is focused on targeting high volume keywords. I mean creating content that actually focuses on the problems and questions that your ideal customer has.
Lots of companies these days are forgetting that the content you produce needs to actually provide value and set you apart from the competition.
Don’t copy the sites that are ranking, take it to a whole different level.
4. Olivier Mamet, Sandbox Consulting
You can create a small award for your company or your industry. You then give those awards to your clients or companies you work with. They can display those awards in the form of a widget or photo that carries a backlink.
This allows you to earn amazing backlinks from partners or clients rather quickly. They would sometimes display that on their home page or some other important page on the website and therefore give you the most link juice possible from the website.
5. Jason Morris, Profit Engine
Let’s be honest, ranking a site in any competitive niche without backlinks is extremely hard. If you are going to attempt this, then your focus has to be on Keyword Research.
Use ahrefs to identify low keyword difficulty (think 0-10) and low traffic volume keywords, don’t worry about the traffic. Focus on writing content around all those keywords.
Over time you will build your niche relevancy and show google you are worthy of ranking within that niche. That’s when you can move up to medium difficulty keywords and that’s when you need to start thinking about links!
6. Matthew Schmidt, Diabetes Life Solutions
For those who are not building backlinks, it’s still quite possible to rank your site and to generate organic traffic. If you’re in this category, I’d strongly advise you to focus on keywords with low competition. You could easily explore these keywords using AHREFS or SEMRUSH.
After you’ve identified some of these low hanging fruit keywords, write quality content about your subject. Make sure to follow Google’s guidelines of having a Meta Title, introductory paragraph, proper headers, and add internal links. By putting in a little effort, it should be quite possible to get your site pages to rank without requiring backlinks from outside sources.
7. Nestor Vazquez, SEO Mexico
Resource Pages Link Building
When thinking of ways to get backlinks, many often start with big, complicated tactics in mind. But one of the most effective ways to build links is with resource link building.
To be successful with this tactic, you need to identify where your business can add value to your audience. Next, you need to create great resource pages so that you can earn quality backlinks from relevant authorities.
Some common examples of online resource pages include
- Travel and tourism tips
- Universities
- Local governments
Mentions of non-linked brands
From mentions in regional online newspapers and radio stations to product reviews and references, it is not uncommon for many businesses to find that they have been mentioned on the web.
While the ideal situation is that these mentions also link back to your website, sometimes this is not the case. This is known as unlinked brand mentions.
8. Ray Lim, Singapore Moneylender, I-Credit
SEO for beginners can be a complex and daunting topic. But when you break it down, it’s really not that difficult to understand. And when it comes to SEO, the most important factor to consider is your website’s backlink profile.
If your website doesn’t have any backlinks, then it’s not going to rank well in search engines. So, if you want to rank well, you need to make sure your website has a strong backlink profile.
There are a few ways to build backlinks to your website. One way is to guest blog on other websites. This is where you write an article for another website, and in return, they link back to your website.
Another way is to create informative and shareable content on your website. This could be in the form of a blog post, an infographic, or even a video. If people find your content useful, they may link to it from their own website.
You can also reach out to other websites and ask them to link to your website. This is known as link building, and it’s a great way to get high-quality backlinks.
So, there you have it – a few ways to build backlinks to your website. Just remember that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to backlinks. So focus on getting high-quality backlinks from websites that are relevant to your industry.
9. Patrick Garde, ExaWeb Corporation
Focus on the SERP Features
Make sure your content provides value, and you can still rank on the SERPs with no backlinks.
One SERP feature is Featured Snippets. It can be a FAQ, a bulleted or numbered list, or a data table.
Another feature is the Knowledge Graph or Knowledge Panel, which shows on the right side of the SERP. Since the data is scraped from credible sources like Wikipedia or Crunchbase, ensure that your information is accurate and updated.
If you have a physical store or serve certain areas, your listing can also appear on Local Packs. Make sure your Google Business Profile listing is updated as well.
Google sometimes features Image or Video results for keywords where it makes sense. Ensure that you optimize your image’s alt text, title, filename, description, etc.
If you are looking for content ideas, you may also answer the People Also Ask questions on the SERP on your website in the form of blog posts, videos, or podcasts.
Lastly, Twitter results also show up on the SERP. Google pulls the latest tweets from a specific Twitter account, whether a person or a company account.
Take advantage of these SERP features, and you can still do SEO for your website without backlinks.
10. Vikas Tiwari, What a Story
If you’re looking to improve your website’s SEO without any backlinks, one of the best things you can do is add an explainer video in the homepage. Explainer videos help to reduce bounce rates and keep visitors on your site longer, both of which are factors that Google takes into account when ranking sites. Plus, having a video on your homepage makes your site more likely to be featured in search results.
To get started, Get a professional explainer video done and upload it on your website and make sure it’s prominently featured on the homepage.
For best results, include keywords in the video title and description that you’re targeting with your SEO campaign. So that your video is found by those who are searching for the topics you’re covering.
Videos are not only a great way to improve the look of your website, but they can also help improve your website’s reputation and create a lasting first impression on your audience. So if you’re not using video as part of your SEO strategy, you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity to improve your website’s ranking.
11. Kartik Ahuja, GrowthScribe
Whether you’re a small business owner or a big-shot in the industry, SEO is a must for any business that wants to succeed.
Here are my top 2 beginner-friendly SEO strategies for sites with zero backlinks:
#1 — Write unique, original content
Your content is the fuel that drives SEO.
So if you want users to return to your site, you need to produce quality content that is original and comprehensive.
Also, search engines such as Google are big-time judges of content quality, so it’s incredibly important to have unique, quality content on your website.
If Google deems your content worthy, it will likely rank you at the top of the SERPs.
#2 — Optimize your page title and meta description
Google enables you to showcase your blog and articles with a meta description that appears on search results. Your page title and meta description are the first things that a user sees so they can either make or break your content marketing.
Hence, you need to ensure there’s clarity, impact, and relevance in your title and description in order to obtain the results you’re looking for.
