A diverse link mass is a key to success in website promotion, attracting new users, and converting traffic into new customers. The more natural the anchor list and the more links of different types are used, the faster the site gets the first lines in the search results. Link mass is an important ranking factor by search engines: if many authoritative sources link to a page, then robots bring this page to the TOP of Google and other search systems. What varieties of backlinks exist, and what strategies you can apply to promote your CBD brand – read below.

What varieties of links do exist?

A link mass is a set of backlinks that are located on online platforms, websites, and social networks and lead to a specific resource. According to the CBD link-building professionals from the MjSeo team, backlinks can be of two types:

Organic

These are usually links obtained from reviews, reposts, or recommendations. They are published by business owners themselves, product manufacturers, or customers who want to share impressions or information on the product. Organic links are free and distributed by people voluntarily. For example, a brand may offer a discount on the next order for leaving a review on their social network with the backlink to the company account.

Purchased

Here we are talking about SEO links that a company buys to optimize a page and bring it to the TOP in search engines. However, users distinguish organic reviews and articles from paid ones, and this mostly repels them. People are much more willing to choose brands that do not hide anything and honestly answer all questions.

Search engines are gradually making changes to their search algorithms so that they select sites precisely for the quality of content and not for the number of links to it. Thus, to build an effective backlink mass for a CBD brand, you should focus on organic links and work on the brand’s reputation.

How do build backlinks in the right way?

The priority of search engines is always organic links to the cannabis site. They recognize them according to the following criteria:

  • placed on an authoritative, visited resource with useful and fascinating content;
  • the platform where the link is published (donor) corresponds to the subject of the site to which they link (recipient);
  • links are placed step-by-step since excessive activity greatly reduces their weight.

In the process of link building, you need to pay attention to the behavioral characteristics of the donor site. If its credibility suddenly falls, it is better to transfer the link to another, more significant resource. It is also crucial to surround anchors with thematic text and prevent spamming. Now let’s move on to specific tactics that increase the company’s link profile. Let’s start with the white techniques that are officially allowed and work well.

Crowd marketing

This method is usually regarded as a way to sow unobtrusive recommendations and links on various thematic forums, blogs, QA sites, directories, and markets. The target audience of the cannabis dispensary must be present at the donor sites. Here is how the tool works:

  1. Find sites that fit your cannabis niche/topic;
  2. Create profiles on them and start actively participating in discussions;
  3. Write the most natural, useful comments on the topic;
  4. Publish the text by linking to your cannabis site.

This approach helps to dilute the link mass, attract targeted traffic, improve behavioral factors on your resource, and make the brand recognizable and the audience loyal. This method is especially effective for online stores of any direction, including cannabis, various startups, and companies with a negative or zero reputation. You can do crowd marketing on your own without any financial investments, but this will take a lot of time. This option is suitable for newly launched projects and small businesses. Alternatively, you should consider Choosing A Digital Marketing Agency that will make the job done for you.

Outreach

This is a tactic in which links are placed by agreement with the site owners. Sites with the highest level of trust from search engines are chosen as donors. The method is considered quite costly since it involves considerable investments in the preparation of high-quality content, which must be engaging and unique. Usually, advertising publications of this kind include banners, infographics, and useful text. In addition, the placement of such links itself is expensive: the average is between $70 and $300.

You need to select resources for outreach that are relevant to the topic and are at the top of the search results. It is also essential to evaluate their incoming traffic, the quality of the content, and the presence of comments. Overall, the benefits of an outreach strategy are the following:

  • the ability to massively reach the target audience;
  • a valuable link that continues to grow even over time;
  • the result in the form of receiving targeted traffic in a short time;
  • brand advertising, distribution of content on other resources, and social networks.

Submits

This is a popular link-building technique, which involves placing submits on sites with useful information. It can be review sites, directories, social networks, or various blogs. Most often, submissions are posted for free, but on some resources, they ask for $50 to $300 for one link. The price tag depends on the trust of the donor site. The effect of this method can be noticed quite quickly. It contributes to the growth of company recognition, increases trust, and expands the backlink profile. In addition, this is nice protection against sanctions since a natural link mass is formed.

Guest posting

This is one of the simplest and still relevant link-building tactics. Posts are published on sites that are most likely to bring targeted, relevant traffic. You can come up with themes yourself or check the ideas of your competitors. Before using the method, you must:

  • identify authoritative resources that intersect with your niche;
  • watch their content for a while;
  • offer them a valuable publication that will be useful to their audience.

Multilevel links

Link weight is determined by the quality of the referring resource. If it develops and improves performance, then the value of the link continues to grow. These sites are needed to implement the methodology of multi-level links. Its structure resembles a pyramid:

  • your cannabis site;
  • tier 1 backlinks;
  • tier 2 backlinks.

Here is the essence of the scheme: an authoritative trust resource refers to the promoted cannabis site. Several links of the 2nd level are put on this page. Each of them also contains the 3rd level backlinks and so on by analogy. Each new link expands the backlink profile of the promoted resource. The very first link gets the most authority, as many other resources recommend this page. As a result, its potential is revealed to the maximum.

Methods that should not be used

In addition to proven and safe methods, there are black and gray methods of getting links in link building. Most of them are based on manipulation with search engines. Links obtained by such methods are of extremely low quality. Therefore, experts do not recommend using them. For example:

  • Spam. Links are massively placed in inappropriate places, leading to pages with many other links on completely different topics. Useless and absurd links are also considered spam;
  • 301 redirect. Links to the promoted cannabis site are redirected from the purchased domain using a 301 redirect;
  • Website hacking. The company is referred to from hacked sites;
  • Massive link purchase. Links are purchased in large quantities on specialized exchanges. The method is considered gray because Google considers building a link profile as a natural process that reflects the real benefit of the site for the audience.

If an attempt to use prohibited schemes is detected, the site may fall under the sanctions of search engines.

Conclusion

When choosing a link-building method, be guided by the available budget, the skills of the team, and specific tasks. We recommend using safe white methods allowed by search engines in your strategy. This will eliminate possible problems, including sanctions. The use of effective, proven tactics will provide an opportunity to build a high-quality link profile. It will improve the position of the online store in the search results, bring targeted traffic, and increase the popularity of the cannabis site.

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