One of the biggest things that can help your ranking in search engines is links to your website from authoritative websites. This tells search engines that other people who are proven as knowledgeable and respected are referring you, or giving you an endorsement. This helps both the specific pages that are being linked to, but also the domain (your URL) overall. To increase your number of links, you'll need to be relevant and informative with your content, make sure people know about you, and fill the gaps in the industry. It's a wheel that's harder to get started than to keep going, but there are specific content strategies and link tactics to make getting that momentum a little easier.
The best links come from high authority sources. This means that this website has a good search engine ranking, a large amount of traffic, and that when people have the option of this on their search results, they pick this website over others. Because they are seen as having an authority, they are seen as being correct for referring you, over a site that has little traffic and little ranking on search engines. Most links are positive, it's those sites that are spam, or porn sites that are going to have a negative effect. The link should also direct to the most relevant piece of content, or page, on your website to keep people on your site once there.
Any link that will positively effect your ranking must be an editorially given link. Social media, forums, and other sites where you can add a link yourself in the link spot, must have a no follow link. This means that although they can help with traffic to your site, they don't have an effect on your search engine ranking. Having a large number of links from a large number of websites is better than a large number of links from a few websites, so try to gain width, rather than being satisfied with a few people linking to you regularly. Again, this is great for traffic, but doesn't have the same effect on your ranking as you might think.
It's also best if the text that is hyperlinked to send the reader to your website is a relevant piece of content, e.g. wedding photographer, rather than here. It helps to show search engines what you are, and how you are relevant to the referring piece of content.
The first step to building your links, is to do things that make people want to link to you. This could be collaborating with other businesses or with influencers to create content, creating niche content that doesn't already exist anywhere, or by connecting with people who often share links to other people and websites. Make sure you have a specific page or piece of content that once linked to, will interest the people sent there.
To help find more people and businesses that may link to your content, it does help to amplify your brand online, through social media platforms. This just helps people find you, but does also get people onto your website if you refer them there. Social media links don't count as referral links, but they increase traffic, and also have a slight effect on your ranking.
1. Guest blogging with a link in your bio, possibly for an additional piece of content that works for these readers, can assist with both traffic and your search engine ranking.
2. Speaking at events and conferences, or attending conference where an online bio of you is published can assist you. These websites often have a good authority too.
3. Create resources that are needed in your industry and send to influencers to contribute and share. Bloggers and other influencers usually have good authority, just be mindful that if they only share the content via social media, this won't have as much of an effect.
4. Turn un-linked mentions into links by contacting the publisher of any content that references you, but doesn't link to you, and provide them with a link that you believe is the best fit for that individual piece of content.
5. Create content that shows your opinion on a topic, ready for referral from other sources. This can work particularly well if spotted by news sites and blogs around this topic, as they will quote you, credit you, and link to your piece of content.
6. Look at the websites that link to your direct and indirect competitors and get in touch with them with an idea of how you could collaborate and how they could organically link to you.
Get started by creating content that is worth linking to and sharing, where you assist the end user at the end of your desired links. Create pillar content that is integral for your ideal market. Once you have the content, start to reach out.