A Quick Guide To Backlinking

If you’re reading this blog post and trying to decide whether you’re going to catch up on a Game of Thrones episode or experiment with baking for the first time with the free hour you have over the weekend, I’ve got a much better idea. Let’s add backlinks to your website! In five easy steps, you can make a difference in your SEO exposure and drive new patients to your practice. Think of all of the episodes of Game of Thrones you can binge watch after your new patient numbers increase month to month.

Backlinks are links to your website on a third party website. Let’s say your dental office sponsors a basketball team. If that basketball team has a website, you should ask them to add a link to your website. That way, when Google and other search engines scan or index the backlink, they give your website a boost in local search rankings because the basketball team’s site is “vouching” for the quality and importance of your website. Because Google treats backlinks as votes of confidence, they’re one of the most effective ways of getting more online visibility.

Ready to get started? Here are five quick steps on how to add backlinks to your website:

Step 1: Grab a notepad and list out all of the affiliations your practice has. This could include sports teams you sponsor, dental blogs that you’re active on, or even your local chamber of commerce.

• It’s important that your backlinks are local and relevant. For example, we recommend not getting a backlink from a condominium complex website in a different state. If you do this, Google might penalize you for having a suspicious backlink.

Step 2: Create a spreadsheet with all of your affiliation contacts, websites, and reachout dates. It’s important to keep track of who you’ve reached out to, who has said yes and what websites you’ve backlinked to.

Step 3: Send out emails to your identified affiliations asking to add a backlink to their website. Start by creating an email template, explaining how you’re a local dental practice that is looking to drive traffic to your website. Try to make this email personal so they take it serious, and so it does not end up in their junk folder. I highly recommend you mention how backlinks are mutually beneficial!

Step 4: Remember to keep track of who you reach out to and who responds to your email on your spreadsheet. Please make sure you are not reaching out every other day, it’s important to give them time to process the email. They might need to contact their website administrator, or ask for permission.

Step 5: Rinse and repeat. I suggest contacting your affiliations every three to four months or until you hear back from them. Please be patient, as this process can take a while. If they have denied you a backlink, make sure to add them to a do not contact list.

An added benefit of backlinking is that it creates different ways for people to find your website while browsing online. This can help increase referral traffic to your website, bringing in new prospective patients. More people clicking on backlinks to your website means a better opportunity for those folks to turn into new patients! Your backlinking plans should be well-planned and implemented strategically.

The final step to this whole process is adding your backlink to your affiliations websites! Part of backlinking is creating a well thought out plan. Once an affiliation has agreed to put a backlink on their website, make sure that you know which link you want to go where. You may link directly to your website or you may link to a really informative blog you’ve written about your partnership. Whatever you choose, create a plan that works well for your and your practice! If you have any questions or need advice, do not hesitate to reach out to our SEO team!

—Tyler Rundle, SEO Specialist II, Sesame Communications