You might have noticed already that I am doing regular blog posts on Medium about a new site that I am creating. The plan is to build a fresh site and rank it well enough to make at least $500/month in next 6-8 months and I am blogging the whole journey on Medium.
In case if you are not following the journey there, I just finished publishing and scheduling around 25000 words worth of articles on that new site and started thinking about backlinks.
When it comes to backlink, I can assure you that I have done it all. White, black, grey, red, pink…and all the hats that you can think of, I have worn them in my life.
Some worked, most didn’t.
Like any other internet marketer, I also know that backlink costs a lot of pain, sometime money and hassle for us.
Now that I am planning to build my first 100 backlinks for this new site, I started to wonder, what should be the game plan.
That’s why I decided to write this piece today.
The goal is to give you a clear idea on how to get your first 100 backlinks and I am pretty confident that if you have 100 solid backlinks, you will start earning (at least something) from your site.
I will be assuming that you are a SEO expert or you at least know the ins and outs of SEO.
The Social Ones
The easiest backlinks that you get are from your social profiles. I am not taking about social signals here (they help too) but I am talking about the profile backlinks that you generate from each of your social media account. I am sure you know but let me briefly explain:
These are your must have social links:
Facebook Page: Don’t stop at creating a Facebook page alone. Make sure that your URL is there in the about us page. Also, try to always publish links on Facebook whenever you are done posting something on your site. That helps you to get additional links.
Twitter Bio: You have the option to put a link on your Twitter bio and that’s exactly what you should do. It should redirect to the homepage of your website and boom! You got another solid backlink.
Instagram Bio: Similar to Twitter, you also get an Instagram bio link from them. Remember, this is the only clickable link you get from Instagram (unless you go for paid ads) so do not waste this opportunity.
Google+: Do people who are not internet marketers still use Google Plus? I don’t think so. Internet marketers are the only ones who use Google+ and there’s a reason behind that. As this is Google’s own product, you get a free backlink from the info page and I have also seen positive movements when you are actively posting links on G+ every now and then.
YouTube About Section: When you build an YouTube channel, you get an option to add a link to your website from channel. Make sure that you are utilising that option.
Alright, you get the idea. There’s Vimeo, Reddit, Snapchat and a ton of other platforms that you can get similar links from. As these are all regular legit links, you got nothing to worry about on a Google algorithm level.
I am sure if you are serious and if done right, you can easily get 20 backlinks from these social profiles.
Reach Out to Friends
This may sound like crazy but if you are an internet marketer, I am pretty certain that you have other friends who also build sites. How about networking with them and getting a backlink? I know if I ask 10 of my friends for a backlink (and they get a decent quality content in return or a beer), most of them will say yes. It doesn’t harm one’s website in any ways.
Once again, I have tested this myself and it works every time.
There’s a catch though!
You don’t want to get backlinks from a friend who also has a website on the same niche. That will never happen. That’s where the concept of cross-matching comes into play.
What is Cross Matching Backlinks
Suppose, you have a dog website and your friend has a travel website. An article titled “How to Travel with your Dog” can be relevant to both websites, right?
That’s where the cross matching backlink comes into play. This can go beyond regular niches:
Cooking: 10 Recipes That both you and your dog will love
Hobby: Is Dog Petting the Best Hobby in World? Our Analysis
Hiking: Can I Take My Dog To Hike? Explained
You get the idea….
It is a bit hectic but if done right, you can easily manage to receive a decent number of backlinks and they all will be relevant and legit.
Forums
Disclaimer: They are not a great source of backlinks but they are easy and if you actually invest time, you can get a good number of visitors too from relevant forums.
- Step 1: Find 20-30 forums that are exactly on your topic
- Step 2: Create account, get involved in discussions (don’t spam)
- Step 3: Put your link in the bio
This is just a drop in the ocean for you when it comes to forums as you can do a ton more than just getting a backlink from the profile. The profile links are not that powerful anyways for most links.
However, a forum is a place where people that have similar interests as your site hangs out and that’s a golden opportunity. You must engage into discussions and carefully place your links where relevant. Don’t bomb people with link and try to be genuinely helpful and build relations.
You can always leverage on this relation later in the form of a website traffic or even a backlink in some case.
These are the initial strategies I will be using before getting into serious SEO like Skyscraper or guest posting.
And no, you don’t have to literally get 100 backlinks. That’s way too many. If you get 30 using the strategy of this article, you are good to go.
More on that later. Probably on Medium and I will also keep Passive Journal posted.
Hi, Mr. Farhan!
Thank you for your generous advice.
I appreciate your advice on Cross Matching Backlinks. It is a great idea! I am planning to apply this on my sites… It was very helpful.
Best regards
Nahida
This very much important content 👍👍👍👍
Thanks for this awesome inrformative post. I have a quick question! Can I exchange my link? With my friend website? If he give me a backlink one of his website and I give back a Link from the same website! is there any problem? please let me know 😊
No that’s not a good idea. You will be asking for Google penalty if you do that 🙂
Sorry for stepping in. Even if the sites are from different niche, is there any chance of penalty?
Thanks Bro, you have mentioned great things for getting 100 backlink easily.
Very threat-releasing writing for the new…..
Dear Brother
I think if it will be bangla then good for all Bangladeshi
Thanks
We actually have a different site for our Bangladeshi audience which is passivejournaluniversity.com
Thanks, Khalid Farhan for a great piece of article. I need to know more about Skyscraper. Actually the first time I read this term.
You said that friends of mine who have also website links to me. My question is that do it necessary to them have same niche’s website???
Not important. The article has to relevant though.
Always Thank You, Farhan
Thank You Brother I Always Learning from You (passive journal university) & I Think This One Is One of The Best from You.
Earlier there was no good idea about Backlinks But after reading your article I got a good idea about backlinks.
Thank you for sharing the article with us.
Hi Farhan,
I Just Loved This Post, Especially “Cross Matching Backlinks” I Loved More. That’s My New Learning. Can You Ensure That’s Profile Back Strategy Work Now? Can You Give a Details Post, How can Make A Profile Backlink More Effective? I am New, Can I am Not Sure, My Question Is Right Or Wrong. But You Are Expert I Think You Understand What I Ask To You.
Thank You.
Waiting For Next Magic
Thank you so much for this idea..
Now i can get back-links quite easily!!
Really informative . thanks farhan vai.
Very Nice article. I have a question. I have some website thats I own. But all are in same hosting. Is there any problem if I exchange with each other.
How can manage one person so many social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instargam, Youtube, Google+, Linkdin, Vimeo, Reddit, Snapchat etc? Need so much energy(Longs).
Thanks Bro, for sharing useful content for the backlink. Cross-matching backlink is a great idea but it does not apply all kind of sites.
Dear Khalid Bhai,
Suppose I have a site belongs to an amazon product.
Then how should I creat social profiles? Named by me (my name) or by the company (website) name ?