The world of backlink building is like the Wild West of the internet. When you want to get the word out about your website, you use backlink building, where other websites link to yours. It’s fairly simple, but getting them can be some ‘shady’ business. Scammers are everywhere. They want your money and they’ll do just about anything to get it. That includes trying to convince you that their latest website on local clubs, construction companies, restaurants, or anything else is far more important than it actually is. It’s not always a sophisticated agency or expert trying to sell you a link, it could just be a scammer.

What your business really needs is more commonly known as Digital PR. Your business, brand, services, or products deserve thoroughly planned strategies to build those backlinks. Someone who comes promising a load of backlinks for a suspiciously low price is not the digital pr you should be looking for. I wanted to help people differentiate between the admittedly tantalizing promises of backlink building to the more sophisticated, and effective, digital PR strategizing.

You should focus on comprehensive strategies that build your business by getting links in the right places and using the right content. So instead of giving a lying agency a chunk of your next check, let’s talk about the differences between backlink scammers and true digital PR so you can stay ahead of the scam.

Primary Goals

So let’s get this out of the way, backlink building is actually a good thing. It can significantly improve the traffic to your website, which eventually generates more leads and sales.

So how does that happen?

Backlink building itself is the process of getting as many links from other websites to your own. Not only will those links help to improve your traffic but they’ll also improve your site’s ranking in Google search results. Referral traffic is extremely valuable, especially when it comes from valued websites with respected reputations. It also increases your brand visibility, adds more credibility to your overall business, and as I already mentioned helps your business in those precious search results. Backlink building is extremely valuable when done the right way, and it’s not exactly new either.

While you might not have heard of it, 40% of companies spend over $1,000 on backlink building each month, and that number continues to grow. Many of those companies focus on the quantity of those links and not the quality, which can ultimately damage your brand and website’s legitimacy to the average user.

What Is Digital PR?

Digital PR represents a more comprehensive plan for building links for a brand, business, and website. You want to increase your brand awareness, but you also want to do it through legitimate sources that users trust - not random sites without authority or reliable traffic. Digital PR can help cultivate that brand awareness with the kind of high-quality backlinks that can truly propel you forward. That’s not going to happen with lackluster links.

The results are in and 90% of marketers agree that brand authenticity is a key contributor to the branding process. Users won’t think your website is reputable if your backlinks aren’t trustworthy. That’s why digital PR tends to focus on valuable content from trusted sources.

Low-quality backlinks may lead to temporary improvements, but quality digital PR can lead to lasting and tangible benefits.

Strategies and Tactics

Methods

Those backlinks are even more valuable when they include more information, which is how directory submissions work. Those directories categorize different businesses, sometimes for free, and that can lead to improved visibility and an improved SERP ranking.

Link exchange is also another practice that can get temporary improvements but may lead to mixed results. Two websites agree to exchange links with each other to improve the other’s visibility. Not unlike other ways businesses use synergy, but when that other site isn’t an authority in your field or industry, is it worth it?

The most questionable methods of them all are gray hat techniques. That includes using expired domains from dated brands or companies to boost visibility and even submitting links to old posts and content. These kinds of techniques skirt the lines of search engine guidelines and could even lead to some costly penalties.

Risk

Some of those are certainly beneficial in the short term. You get your URL out there in any way and you’re likely to see an increase in traffic, but is it worthwhile traffic? The above strategies are short-term thinking with low-quality links. When the website isn’t a trusted source, why would users think you’re trustable? Low-quality links can do more damage to your brand than good.

Digital PR Tactics

Methods

There’s a reason almost every website has an “About Us” page these days. Companies want to know about your story and digital PR focuses on getting that story out there. Users are compelled by compelling stories, so make sure they get to hear yours.

Another way of getting the word out there is press releases - which literally get the word out there. They could be about business changes, new products, or plans for the upcoming year. A press release is a legitimate way of making an announcement and users will take notice.

Digital PR also emphasizes partnerships with worthwhile connections like journalists or social media influencers. Let’s not kid ourselves, social media is a huge advertising platform, and one where almost 80% of social media users will ignore sponsored results in lieu of genuinely engaging content. Find the journalists who write local reviews and find the influencers who create the content that speaks directly to your target market.

Approach

Rome wasn’t built in a day and your business relationships won’t be either. The goal is to find legitimate connections that can provide referrals or backlinks that matter. Local journalists aren’t just in papers, they’re online with blogs and articles. Let them heap praise on you while you gain worthwhile backlinks and referrals in the process.

Your business will be generating actual and natural buzz in no time.

Outcomes and Metrics of Success

Metrics

Generally, you will see some metrics improve with basic backlink building. Firstly, you’ll see more backlinks. You’ll also see an increase in domain authority thanks to your URL getting out there and a slight increase in search engine rankings.

Limitations

Short-term gains with long-term risks. Those backlinks you quickly acquired won’t be as reputable as they make themselves out to be. You might gain some traffic and sales but your reputation will take a big, and possibly irreversible, hit.

Digital PR Outcomes

Metrics

Remember those journalists we talked about? Those articles they post are actual media coverage and that’s worth its weight in gold. That can lead to increased brand visibility which leads to even more high-quality backlinks from legitimate sources. Factor in some influencers on social media and the perception of your brand will hit that next level.

Advantages

This is where your investments pay off. The long-term benefits to your brand will be great and they will be many. You’ll also get more sustainable results thanks to those credible backlink sources. That leads to an increase in brand authority from users who read those referrals and the oh-so-many benefits of an increase in search engine performance.

Why Digital PR Is Superior

Quality Over Quantity

Backlinks can be worth a few cents or a few hundred dollars depending on the source. When you’re striving for basic backlink building, you’ll see some success. You’ll get a few hundred backlinks for a couple hundred bucks and the gains will be visible but minimal. The true value lies in quality over quantity. Find the authoritative voices in your industry and build a relationship with them. Then, you’ll gain some genuine content written by a trusted source, leading to you also becoming a trusted source.

Long-Term Benefits

Your reputation needs to last as long as your business. That’s not going to happen with poor-quality backlinks that look more sketchy than trustworthy. Digital PR leads to the creation of content that stands the test of time. The kind of content that will provide consistent SEO value to boost your search engine rankings instead of crap content designed to generate a few clicks.

Enhanced Brand Awareness

Your brand is your business, so you want users to be as aware of the former as they are of the latter. Digital PR isn’t just basic backlink building, it’s about boosting your brand identity and presenting it to your target market. It won’t just throw your URL on random pages, you’ll increase your brand visibility through legitimate content and sources.

Worthwhile digital PR builds trust and visibility. In the long term, you and your business will see the exponential value that comes with it much more than the short gains of lackluster backlinks.