Backlinks are one of the most important indicators and criteria Google uses to evaluate the quality, ranking, and importance of websites. In fact, a study conducted by Backlinko found that Google values backlinks more than any other factor when it comes to ranking websites.
This means that the more backlinks your site has, the higher it will rank in Google search results . This is because when a large number of websites link to your content, Google will assume that you’re sharing useful , valuable content that’s relevant to what others are searching for. This is what Google wants: to show its users the best results.
However, the process of creating and building backlinks is not easy because no one will give you a link for free; in fact, you need to work towards getting backlinks by adopting a real strategy for building links and connections with other sites.
In this article, we’ll learn about seven types of content that naturally attract the most backlinks and encourage others to link to their content.
So let’s get to the heart of the matter and start listing seven types of content that attract the most backlinks for website owners, bloggers, and content creators on the web.
1. Original studies and research
The first type of content that can guarantee you backlinks is original research, surveys, or studies conducted by you or your team. While it may require a lot more effort than creating regular daily content, it’s definitely worth the effort to boost your site’s search engine rankings. By conducting your own research and studies, you’ll be able to provide unique and valuable content that other sites and sources can’t, and you’ll ensure your content stands out from the crowd.
Ahrefs demonstrated this idea in its Google traffic survey . In this study, data from nearly one billion websites was reviewed and found that 90.63% of the sites surveyed receive no organic traffic from Google’s search engine.
Did you know that, so far, as shown in the image above, this study page on Ahrefs alone has 5,991 backlinks?
2. Data and statistics collection
Collecting or gathering data and statistics is a very important type of content in marketing, as it is the type of content every content creator seeks to obtain and cite in their content to enhance and support it and make it more reliable for readers. If you are unable to conduct your own research and studies, as Ahrefs has done, you can always adopt this type of content to gather data and statistics from other websites and sources.
To do this, you’ll need to gather statistics, data, and studies on a specific topic from various websites and sources, then present them as a single, comprehensive article or post that details and connects these statistics to create valuable content. In this case, your content will be valuable and useful to other content creators, and they won’t need to browse the internet to search for those statistics; instead, they’ll be guided by your content.
A great example of the importance of data-driven content is Biteable’s article ” Video Marketing Statistics : The State of Video Marketing in 2021.” The article covers all the statistics you need to know about video marketing , and the article page alone generated 6,740 backlinks.
3. Original explanations and comprehensive guides (Complete Guide)
A comprehensive guide or tutorial is a comprehensive piece of content that provides an in-depth and comprehensive explanation of a specific topic. This type of content works best as a reference for people planning to write about the same topic or field. Also, when content writers don’t have enough space to explain something thoroughly, they can always reference your comprehensive guide page and link to it in their content.
For an example of the importance and effectiveness of this type of content, take a look at this comprehensive guide on Search Engine Journal . The guide is divided into 20 chapters to explain everything about search engine optimization (SEO). Although it required a lot of effort and time, it has been a tremendous success for the site and its creators, as this content has generated a staggering number of backlinks, reaching over 23,000!
The same is true for exclusive explanations on how to use things, whether technical explanations or methods and ways of using tools, equipment, products, etc.
4. Top Lists
In addition to collecting statistics and data, you can also compile a “menu” of any type of data, such as a comprehensive list of useful tools and services for digital marketers, web development tools, engineering tools, SEO tools, and other lists that may contain valuable and useful items. Researching all these tools is very time-consuming, and not everyone has the time. This is your opportunity to create valuable content for marketers and content creators.
Paperform, a website specializing in web development tools, has compiled over 50 web development tools to help web developers and website owners create and develop their websites. This list page alone generated over 1,100 backlinks.
5. Case studies
Case studies are similar to original research and studies because they are both derived exclusively from your personal experience, which means people will have to link back to you if they want to infer the results of your experiment and case study.
What distinguishes case studies from conducting research is that they are essentially your own success story of how you accomplished something in a particular way. For example, consider this case study conducted by Unbounce on the best place to place interactive elements on your website’s homepage.
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In the study article, Unbounce tells the story of their A/B test to determine the best place to place a CTA button on a landing page. The results of this case study revealed that placing a CTA in the right location can boost conversion rates by up to 591%. Due to the study’s original and useful content, the study page successfully generated over 900 backlinks.
6. Free software (tools or applications)
If you have a spare marketing budget and want to go the extra mile, I highly recommend creating a free software or tool that marketers, content creators, or even regular users can use. It doesn’t have to be something huge and grand; just make sure the free software tool or application you offer is extremely useful.
Or if your product is a tool or software you’ve developed, and you want to make money from it and promote it widely, I advise you to offer a free version of the tool alongside the paid version, which is exactly what Camerasim has done.
Camerasim has provided a free version of its beautiful and simple online camera simulator tool, allowing visitors to use it and try it out online. It’s no surprise, then, that the free tool’s page on Camerasim has generated over 26,000 backlinks so far.
7. Infographics
The final type of content to attract backlinks is infographics. Their small size makes it easy to share data and statistics across various platforms, and their beautiful visual design captures audience attention.
Attracting and building backlinks with infographics is a simple method you can implement, but it may require a lot of patience and perseverance.
You can benefit from a previous article I published about: A great website for creating online presentations and infographics . If you’re not proficient with design software, this article will help you design and create charts and infographics using the ready-made, editable templates the website provides for free.
All you have to do is:
- Create and design a high-quality infographic that includes valuable information or data.
- Publish it on your website or blog, as well as in infographic and infographic guides on the web.
- Find other websites in the same field/niche.
- Reach out to them and submit your infographic designs for use in their content.
- Keep going and repeating it over and over again.
Best Infographic Sharing Sites
- Visual.ly
- eLearning Infographics
- Slideshare
- Behance
- Daily Infographic
- Flickr
- Infographic Bee
- Cool Infographics
- Infographic Journal
- Visualistan
- Graphs.net
- Infographics Archives
Tips before submitting an infographic publication request
Before you go to each of the sites above and try to submit and share your content on these sites, be sure to follow these helpful tips:
- It’s important to remember that many of these sites receive thousands of submissions each month. To maximize your chances of getting your artwork and designs published on these sites , ensure your data and information are accurate and submit your designs based on the needs of each individual directory.
- As an added bonus, suggest to these sites that you’ll promote them after they publish your infographics. This will benefit both your brand and the site where your content will be published.
Most likely, some of the above sites will reject your design, while others will accept to publish your design on the condition that you write a guest post for them. However, if you are diligent and your infographic content is valuable and uniquely designed, I promise that most directories and sites will agree to publish your designs. Content creators will also engage with your designs, and websites and blogs will use your infographics and designs, and most of them will cite the source of the design in their content and link to your site as the source of the infographic, which will gain your site traction and valuable backlinks .
Conclusion
In digital marketing, it’s all about your content. Is it useful and valuable? How can it help people? If your content is able to break away from the same old clichés and is unique and can actually offer unique insights, people are more likely to link to the page on your site that contains that content.
In conclusion, we have learned that original research and studies, statistics and data, definitive guides, comprehensive lists, case studies, and infographics are the types of content that perform best and give web pages the best chance of getting backlinks.
However, this doesn’t mean that this is the only way to get backlinks, as there are other factors that play a major role in increasing your chances of getting backlinks as well, such as your website’s current traffic and how you market the content you create across different mediums.
In addition to everything we’ve mentioned and talked about in this article, you need to keep testing to see what type of content works and what doesn’t based on your business, your industry, and how your audience responds to your website content.
