Backlinks are one of the main driving forces behind a website’s success, but creating them can be challenging and time-consuming, with some types being much more powerful and useful than others.
Enter “link insertions” (AKA “niche edits”).
This newer link building strategy not only gets you powerful backlinks, but it can be easier and cheaper than many other strategies!
Despite the simplicity of link insertions, the potential for increased traffic, authority, and rankings is massive, making them one of the best ways to build backlinks today.
In this article, we’ll cover what they are, why they’re good for SEO, pros and cons, how to build them, and much more.
Let’s go!
Link Insertion Services
While utilizing link insertions can benefit your SEO and rankings, managing it yourself can be complex.
That’s where our link insertion service (niche edits) comes into play.
Our team scouts for high-authority, relevant websites and inserts your links in a natural and search engine/Google-friendly manner so that they pass as much link juice to you as possible.
If you prefer to spend more time on your core business operations and less on backlink building, check out our niche edits.
What Are Link Insertions?
Link insertions are a type of backlink where you insert external links into an existing page rather than creating a new post.
The article (and perhaps domain) selected is typically one that is relevant to your website’s niche, thus the term “niche edits.”
These link placements help create a natural, relevant, and powerful link profile, improving your website’s SEO performance.
Link Insertion Example
Here’s an example of a link insertion:
The above article in the dog niche was found via Google.
The site owner was contacted, and a backlink was inserted with the anchor text “an estimated 5,000 pets.”
Voila!
Now there’s a backlink pointing to the target website from this highly relevant article that’s already established trust with Google.
Are Link Insertions Good For SEO?
Yes, link insertions are excellent for SEO.
They stand alongside guest posts as one of the most effective and popular link-building strategies used by professional SEOs.
The reason is two-fold.
First, they provide a relevant, high-quality backlink to your site, which search engines like Google love. This is one of the main ways rankings are determined.
Second, because the link is inserted into an already indexed and ranked post, the benefits are often seen quicker than with new content (like a guest post).
There are more benefits of this type of link, but we’ll get into that in just a bit.
Link Insertion Campaign Results
Our link insertion strategy has yielded impressive results in many link-building campaigns over the years.
Here’s a screenshot of a recent campaign that heavily utilized link insertions while still following the best practice of link diversity:
There’s a marked increase in organic traffic and a substantial boost in search engine rankings for targeted keywords.
Moreover, the website’s domain authority (Ahrefs’ DR) has seen a noticeable rise.
The results this client achieved were absolutely insane. This is what happens when you pair powerful link insertion backlinks with a well-executed content strategy.
Advantages of Link Insertions
Here are some of the main advantages of link insertions:
- High-quality backlinks
- Quick SEO benefits
- Cost-effective
- Topical relevance to your niche
- Increased website traffic
- Higher rankings in search engines
- Enhanced online visibility
- Greater website credibility
- Natural link-building
We’ve covered some of these benefits already, but there are two I’d like to expand on.
First, link insertion backlinks are often cheaper than other types of quality links as they require less work. The site owners simply have to edit a backlink into an existing article.
Second, they are a white-hat style of link building that is very safe to utilize. You still need to follow link building best practices, but link insertions leverage the trust and authority of preexisting articles and are very natural.
Disadvantages of Link Insertions
Despite their numerous benefits, link insertions are not without a few drawbacks.
To start off, the process of creating them can be time-consuming and intricate. It involves identifying relevant, high-authority sites, reaching out en masse, then negotiating and managing the insertion of your links.
That’s where a link building services agency like ourselves shines. We take on the complexity and time commitment of building link insertion backlinks, allowing you to focus on your core business while we boost your authority.
Also, while they are typically more affordable than other types of links, the cost can still be considerable, especially for smaller businesses or startups.
The benefits clearly outweigh the cost, but it’s still something smaller businesses can struggle to cope with.
Link Insertions Vs. Guest Posts
We’ve got a whole article on niche edits vs guest posts, but here’s the gist of it.
Link insertions and guest posts are two of the most powerful SEO strategies, each with its strengths.
Guest posting involves creating fresh, high-quality content that includes your external links and is then published on another website. They allow you to control the content (relevance) and placement of your link but require more time, creativity, and money.
On the other hand, niche edits or link insertions involve adding your backlink to an already existing, relevant post. They offer faster SEO benefits as the blog post is already indexed and ranked and cost less.
However, link insertion backlinks lack the content control and laser-focused relevance that guest posting offers.
We use both niche edits and guest posts on every link building campaign we run in about a fifty-fifty split, but this may change a little depending on the niche of the target website.
TLDR: They are both great. We use both, and doing so helps create a healthier and more diversified link profile.
How To Get Link Insertions
Here’s how you can get powerful link insertions to help boost your rankings.
Buying Link Insertions Through An Agency
When it comes to link insertions, choosing a reputable link building agency can offer considerable advantages.
An agency such as ourselves takes the hassle out of the process by identifying high-authority, topically relevant websites and seamlessly integrating your links.
This not only ensures quality backlinks for your website but also saves you valuable time.
An experienced SEO agency has the knowledge, network, and resources to maximize the effectiveness of this strategy, allowing you to focus elsewhere.
So vet some agencies, and choose wisely!
Building Link Insertions Yourself
Building link insertions yourself is another option, but it requires careful planning and execution as well as a good understanding of SEO.
You can often save money by doing things yourself, but it will also require a significant investment in time and tools.
It’s crucial to execute each step of the link insertion process correctly to gain the desired SEO benefits without any of the headaches.
Best Practices
First of all, be sure to follow all link building best practices. Here are some of the more important ones:
- Quality over quantity
- Anchor text diversity
- Link diversity
- Target URL diversity
- No spam
- Look for healthy sites
Following these best practices should keep you out of trouble with Google.
If you are unsure about any of these things, it would be best to trust your link building with an agency instead of doing things yourself.
Find Websites
The first step in building link insertion backlinks yourself is to identify relevant websites.
You can start with a simple Google search for blogs in your niche or articles on the topic you’d like a link from.
Make a list of all the websites that have articles you’d like to get your links inserted into, as well as the articles themselves.
The more, the merrier – link insertion link building can be a numbers game!
Analyze Metrics
It’s critical to find sites that not only have existing content relevant to your niche, but are also high-authority, have traffic, are healthy, not penalized, trusted by Google, and so on.
You can use SEO tools like Ahrefs, SEMRush, or Moz to identify such sites, or you can use more specialized link building software to speed things up.
It’s also good to be aware of common tricks that some site owners might engage in to sell more links, such as artificially inflating their domain authority or traffic levels.
Outreach Campaign
Next, it’s time to reach out to each of the site owners or article authors or editors.
Specialized tools would have already helped in the previous steps, but outreach is the real time sink where link building software can save you hundreds of hours.
You should write personalized emails explaining why your link should be inserted into their articles.
Be sure to follow up when you inevitably don’t receive a response right away!
This will greatly enhance your link insertion campaign
Negotiate
Many websites will expect payment of some sort to have your links inserted into their articles.
That’s fine, but be sure to negotiate! They will often accept much less than their initial offer.
Some sites might also accept other things like social media shares, link exchanges, and so on.
So be sure to ask if money is tight!
Maybe don’t bargain this hard, though.
Target URL and Anchor Text
Once you’ve negotiated terms with the website owner to have your link inserted, they will need to know the target URL of the page that should be linked to and the anchor text to be used.
You should always link to a relevant article on your site, and you should use relevant anchor text.
Like mentioned previously, be sure to take into account best practices such as target URL diversity and anchor text diversity to avoid creating an unnatural backlink profile that Google might decide to penalize.
After this, the website owner will have everything they need and will insert a backlink to your site in their existing content!
Link Exchanges
If you decide to do link exchanges like mentioned previously, be sure to avoid too much reciprocal linking and other common pitfalls.
This can be a good way to get out of paying for inserting links, but be sure you do things properly!
Unlinked Brand Mentions
Finding where people have mentioned your brand but not linked to you is an easy way to score backlinks, and they are technically the same as a link insertion.
Instead of searching for blogs in your niche to get started, you could just use Google search operators to search for your brand name.
Broken link building is technically the same as well.
Are Link Insertions Right For You?
Determining whether link insertions are right for you largely depends on your SEO objectives.
If you’re looking to enhance your site’s visibility, improve search engine rankings, and generate more organic traffic from search engine results pages, then yes, link insertions are indeed an excellent choice.
They offer a quicker route to these benefits as they involve placing your link on already indexed and high-authority pages, and if you’re building other types of backlinks like guest posts, they will help maintain link diversity.
Even if the process seems time-consuming or complex, remember that link building services agencies are available to streamline the process.
So, regardless of your business size or industry, link insertions can be a valuable part of your link building strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are Paid Link Insertions?
Paid link insertions are when you pay site owners to add your website’s link into their already published content. This is a widely used strategy for gaining high-quality backlinks, similar to guest posting.
Are Paid Links Illegal?
No, paid links are not illegal. However, they do violate Google’s terms of service. Be sure to follow link building best practices to avoid any complications.
Can Too Many Links Hurt SEO?
Yes, too many links can hurt SEO if the links are low quality or irrelevant. Google can view this as spammy behavior and may penalize your site. It’s better to focus on acquiring fewer but high-quality and highly relevant links, like quality niche edits or guest posts.
Why Are Link Insertions Important?
Link insertions are important because they are a powerful type of link placement that passes trust, domain authority, and topical relevance to the target website. Link insertions work quicker compared to some other link building strategies.
What Are Niche Edits?
Niche edits are the same thing as link insertion backlinks. They involve adding your website’s link to an existing, relevant article on another website. This is different from a guest post, which is an external link in new content.
