Link building changes fast. The best practices today may not be the best practices in just a few short months. At present, many SEO agencies are moving towards content marketing, which is considered to be one of the most important techniques in link building. While content marketing and link building are two distinct techniques, in a top-notch SEO strategy, they are two sides of the same coin. Together, they are useful for:

• Driving Traffic
• Improving conversions
• Building Brands
• Fostering Relationships
• Increasing Online Visibility

It is true that link building doesn’t always need content, but it is easier to build links with relevant content. In the same way, content marketing doesn’t require a link. If you get an inbound link from content provided to another site, consider it a bonus. Both content marketing and link building can be performed independently, but they shine like a new penny when hand in hand. For instance, when content marketing comes in the form of content on the same domain, this eliminates a major task in link building: link prospecting. They work together and they should.

How Content Marketing Supports Link Building

A content marketing strategy should not go out of its way to develop links that point to your website. Good content makes link building easy, yielding something a link builder can actually leverage. With poorly written or irrelevant content, you will find no link equity. Good content is good both for readers and for the webmaster.

However, that does not mean you should give away all your best content. Keep some of your good content for your own domain. You do want to gain traffic as others are gaining with your content, so have some of your best work to display on your site as well. This type of content makes link building easier.

A site without much content is not necessarily a bad site, but content is definitely a valuable link asset. The more valuable your content, the easier it will be to build links. Your content can be a source that another blog could cite, and you can show that in the form of a link.

What determines the quality of content? It varies. Quality is subjective; as they say, in the eye of the beholder. Generally speaking, however, content should:

• Be well-researched
• Convey a clear message
• Target a specific audience
• Add value to a conversation
• Fill a the content gap

We know that content requires time investment, but it is worthless if no one sees it. This means you need to do something so that your eye is drawn to it. Visibility is thus another aspect of quality content, and of course, the better quality content you publish, the easier link building will be.

How Link Building Supports Content Marketing?

Content won’t be worth much if it fails to get attention from the audience. This is where link building comes in. As you create content, try to build a link into it. This will, in turn, generate referral traffic to your content and improve the content performance in search. Don’t let anyone tell you, ‘link equity does not work.’

There are a few ways to build links and improve your visibility in the search engine results pages (SERP’s). For one, set up a Google Alert, with a name of the article for example and track every mention of your article. If someone mentions your article online, but does not have a hyperlink attached, reach out to that webmaster. If the person agrees to insert a link, this is called fresh mention link building. For persons and websites mentioned in your content, build an outreach list and send a few emails. It could be beneficial for the other party’s marketing. Even if it is not necessary, no one is immune to flattery. If it is beneficial to their marketing, they will definitely link to your content.

Other ways to build a link to your valuable content need more care. Content marketing is itself an exhaustive process, but you make it harder yourself if you spend a lot of time creating content that no one wants to see. It’s better to invest some time doing the right research and crafting content that will definitely pull a large audience.

Being in the online marketing industry for years and working with both link building and content marketing; we will say that link building is always one step ahead of the content. Nevertheless, laying out a marketing strategy is tough. If you’re serious about driving traffic to your website, it best to try a range of marketing techniques that make sense for your niche. Employing complementary tactics makes the whole process easier and more effective.