The 10 Industries That Benefit from SEO the Most

The 10 Best Industries for Taking Advantage of SEO

While most businesses in general can benefit from SEO, it simply performs more cost-effectively in some industries and for certain business models. SEO works best when the average sale size or customer lifetime value exceeds the cost of enlisting SEO services year-round.

In this article, I’ll be going over 10 industries that are strongly positioned to take full advantage of SEO. 

SaaS

At the heart of every SaaS startup is problem solving. Your SaaS solves a problem that’s a paint point for consumers or other businesses.

So, what do people typically do when they encounter a problem?

They hit up Google in search of a solution. Ideally, your SaaS will be the first solution in search results when they look for relief from their problem. That’s where SEO comes into play: building inbound traffic from potential users.

SEO is a powerful growth channel for SaaS companies when harnessed properly. Organic search traffic builds stronger brand positioning, strengthens your reputation and is often more likely to convert to new signups than other channels. SaaS SEO is often seen as merely a demand capture channel, but with some finesse, you can also use it for demand generation as well.

That said, there are some essential pages that every SaaS should have to leverage their website to earn signups at every stage of the customer journey:

  • About
  • Pricing
  • Integrations
  • Case Studies
  • [competitor] vs. [your SaaS]
  • [competitor] alternatives
  • [category] software
  • 404 → Content Hub + Contact

Home Services

Local SEO is powerful for anyone offering home services because it captures the regional demand for their services. People are always actively seeking out home service professionals, so by putting resources into SEO, you can appear at the top of their search results. For example, if you were a roofing company, it would greatly benefit you to rank well for high buyer intent keywords like “emergency roof repair” or “roof replacement.”

SEO is an especially effective lead generation channel for home service companies because their average ticket price is often several times higher than the cost of ranking on Google locally.

5 Types of Home Services That Benefit from SEO:

  • General Contractors
  • Roofers
  • Plumbers
  • Electricians
  • HVAC

Startups

Startups, especially early-stage startups who haven’t (yet) raised investment, can rely on SEO as a growth channel.

Startups are uniquely positioned to earn backlinks through PR because of the sheer amount of tech news outlets that cover milestones like launches and funding rounds. Startups can also get listed in startup and software review sites and directories that other types of businesses don’t have access to like Crunchbase and Capterra. This results in powerful backlinks that don’t require much (if any) resources to earn.

Backlink building is often an expensive endeavor for new companies, but startups are able to earn backlinks naturally through tech press and directories without breaking the bank. That just leaves the other part of the equation to focus on: content. When done right, this can be done on a small initial investment. 

It’s best for startups to work with an SEO agency that has sliding scale pricing without long-term commitments to get the job done efficiently. If this sounds up your alley, contact us today and we can get you a custom quote to match your startup’s growth goals.

Medical Providers

Would you blindly trust a dentist that pays a hefty sum of money on advertising to get your business? Maybe.

But I bet you would more easily trust a dentist that has an overwhelming number of positive reviews on Google Maps, appears at the top of search results underneath the paid advertising and has a professional-looking website.

5 Types of Medical Providers That Rely on SEO:

  • Dentists
  • Doctors
  • Naturopaths
  • Chiropractors
  • Cosmetic Surgeons

Food and Beverage

It doesn’t matter if you’re a large chain or a local gem: bars and restaurants need SEO. After all, customers need to know where you are and what type of food/beverage you offer before they can come in.

Searches for “[cuisine] restaurant” and “restaurants near me” are all too common to ignore.

Types of Food and Beverage Businesses That Need SEO:

  • Bars
  • Cafes
  • Caterers
  • Bakeries
  • Breweries
  • Restaurants
  • Private Chefs

Travel & Hospitality

Unless you’re 100% confident in your presence on booking websites, travel SEO cannot be ignored. Whether you’re a bed and breakfast, a hostel or a large hotel chain, we’re willing to bet that you’d love a passive method of increasing your bookings.

While most travel brands will benefit greatly from local SEO efforts, if you’re multi-location or service a broader area than a single city, you’re going to want to put some resources into backlink building from websites established on a national or international scale.

Travel & Hospitality Businesses That Benefit from SEO:

  • Hotels
  • Hostels
  • Events Companies
  • Tour Guides and Companies
travel SEO industries

Online Businesses

Online businesses should tackle as many growth channels as they can realistically handle without being overworked or spreading themselves too thin. SEO is a great growth channel for online businesses because it’s a powerful way to tap into already existing demand for products and services.

Types of Online Businesses That Can Leverage SEO:

  • eCommerce shops
  • Blogs and informational websites
  • Affiliate marketing websites
  • Online courses and educational platforms
  • Online marketplaces
  • Review and comparison websites
  • Service based businesses like agencies

Real Estate

Real estate (in general) is absurdly competitive and even more so in densely populated areas. And with great competition comes massive budgets that you have to compete with. Fledgling realtors have to compete with large, seemingly endless advertising budgets, making SEO an attractive alternative.

SEO is relatively cheap by comparison and a much better long-term investment because you’re actively building digital assets that will bring in business over time. PPC, on the other hand, stops working the second you stop running advertisements. PPC feels more like a band-aid solution than a true solution to growing a real estate business like SEO is.

eCommerce Brands

Much like other types of online businesses, eCommerce brands live and die by digital channels, so it’s important to take advantage of every traffic source possible. Ranking on page 1 of Google also helps build brand positioning in a very direct way. If the SERP for your eCommerce brand looks something like this, you’re sitting in great shape:

  1. Big Retailer 1
  2. Big Retailer 2
  3. [your eCommerce Brand here]

Legal Services

Much like the real estate industry, advertising for legal services can be not only highly competitive but also expensive to get started. SEO is cheaper by comparison and a stronger long-term investment than PPC for legal services. SEO requires less resources off the hop, creates content assets you can repurpose for other channels and builds brand positioning in the SERP.

Local SEO services are powerful for lawyers because they can tackle specific issues by publishing their own legal advice in blog content. Those that see value in their expertise will contract them for their legal needs.

Final Thoughts

Although certain industries may appear to be more popular for SEO, there are many other sectors that can benefit greatly from implementing strong SEO strategies.

Whether you’re a startup looking for cost-effective backlinks, a food and beverage business needing more visibility online, or an eCommerce brand trying to compete with larger retailers, SEO can help drive traffic and increase conversions. And with the right SEO agency backing your company, you can achieve success in any industry.

So don’t hesitate to dive into the world of SEO and start seeing the benefits for your business today! Contact us now and we’ll provide a custom quote tailored to your specific needs. Let’s work together to reach your growth goals and dominate the SERPs! 

How to Build Backlinks for SaaS Startups

SaaS Backlink Building Strategies

When doing SEO for SaaS, it’s important to have consistent means of building backlinks. Without that, you’ll find it difficult to outrank competitors, especially in competitive software categories.

For example, if you want to rank for “SEO tools”, you’ll be up against some tough competition. In this post, we’ll give an overview of how to build backlinks for SaaS companies.

Software Review Websites

When you’re just starting out, software review sites are a great way to build foundational backlinks. You can submit your product to sites like Capterra, G2, and TrustPilot, which will help give your rankings a boost. Make sure you take the time to fill out each site’s listing completely and accurately, as this will improve your chances of being accepted.

To get the most out of these listings, be sure to include links back to your site in the “Website” field. You can also include additional information in the “About” section, such as a brief description of your product and how it helps users. Some platforms will allow you to include separate links to product demos as well as pricing pages.

If you have any industry awards or accolades, make sure to list them here as well. These will help build your product’s credibility and increase the likelihood that users will take your listing seriously.

g2 crowd software reviews

Creating Linkable Content

Before you start putting serious efforts into backlink building, it’s a great idea to build a base library of linkable content first. Normally people will think of linkable assets as the typical link magnets like infographics and whitepapers, but what I mean is that you should have content that can be easily linked to in anchor text.

The most consistent way to build backlinks for SaaS companies is through guest blogging, so you’ll want to have blog content on your own website that can be linked to in a natural, conversational way through your guest blog content. Without a strong base library of content, you’ll find yourself struggling to find natural-looking anchor text in the content you produce. It’s important to create a versatile and varied library so that your anchors are easy to insert into content for different types of websites.

If you’re just beginning your blog, a good starting point would be to publish at least 1 blog for each category your site is going to cover. This way, you’ll be able to pitch guest posts to blogs that cover each of these topics right off the bat.

For example, if your SaaS was a WhatsApp CRM for Shopify merchants like Zoko, your blog categories could look something like this:

  • eCommerce
  • Customer Service
  • Sales
  • Shopify
  • WhatsApp

By producing a blog for each of these categories, you’ll have a strong, foundational base ‘library’ of anchor text to choose from when producing your guest blog content.

Guest Post Backlink Funnel

Link Prospecting

Link prospecting is the process of finding target websites that are likely to give a backlink to your website. In this case, we’re focusing solely on websites that are most likely to accept guest blog content.

Websites that are most likely to accept your guest post are ones that have already published guest submissions in the past.

After you’ve built up a list of target websites, the next step in link prospecting is to find contact email addresses for your outreach.

How to Manually Find Contact Email Addresses

  • Skim the company website’s header, footer, about and contact pages.
  • Check the company’s Facebook Page in the About tab.
  • Check the company’s LinkedIn Company profile.
  • Check the company’s YouTube channel.

You can also find contact information using search tools like Instantly, Hunter or Apollo.io. While these platforms don’t always have contact emails on file, their databases are quite robust and you’ll usually be able to find what you’re looking for. Email finder tools work best for larger, more established companies, as it’s more likely they have public-facing contact information available.

Writing the Pitch

Finding contact information is one thing, but crafting a guest blog pitch that actually converts is another story. But there’s one thing every effective pitch has in common: leverage. 

When you’re writing a guest blog pitch, your ultimate goal is to get the publication to say yes. In order to do that, you need to show them how publishing your article will benefit them. 

Think about it from their perspective: why would they want to publish your article? Is it because it will help them grow their traffic? Is it because it will position them as an authority in their industry? Is it because it will introduce their audience to a new product or service? 

Whatever the reason may be, make sure you spell it out in your pitch. The more specific you can be, the better.

Including links to your previous work is also a good idea. As you might already know, social proof works wonders in driving conversions. This will give the publication an idea of your writing style and help them determine whether or not you’re a good fit for their site. 

Tailoring Your Pitch

Now that you know what needs to be included in a guest blog pitch, it’s time to start tailoring your pitch to specific publications. 

The first step is to visit the website of the publication you’d like to contribute to and take a look at their existing content. This will give you an idea of their writing style, tone, and overall theme. 

From there, you can start to tailor your pitch. The goal is to make it as specific as possible while still demonstrating how your article will benefit their audience. 

Here’s a guest post pitch example: 

Hello {{firstName}}, 

I was recently reading the {{companyName}} blog and noticed that you regularly publish articles on the topic of SEO. I’ve been working in the SEO industry for the past few years and have a lot of valuable insights to share. 

In particular, I’d like to write an article on the topic of backlinks. I think this would be valuable to your audience because X,Y, and Z. 

If you’re interested, I’d be happy to send over a few examples of my previous work. 

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

This pitch is specific, demonstrates how the article will benefit the publication’s audience, and includes links to the writer’s previous work. 

Key Takeaways

When it comes to guest blogging, quality trumps quantity every time. It’s better to have a handful of high-quality backlinks than a bunch of low-quality ones.

To recap, here’s how backlink building for SaaS companies is done effectively:

  • Guest blogging on relevant websites is the one of the most consistent backlink building methods for SaaS companies.
  • The first step in guest blogging is finding contact information for the website’s editor or author.
  • Email finder tools like Hunter or Apollo.io can be helpful in finding contact information.
  • The second step is to write a pitch tailored to the publication you’re targeting.
  • Your pitch should demonstrate how publishing your article will benefit the website.
  • Including links to your previous work can also help convince the publication to say yes.

How Link Farms Can Damage Your Site’s Search Performance

Many of us become impatient or deploy risky SEO practices and fail to get the desired results. This leads to using unethical practices to boost website ranking like abusing link farms for backlink equity. This practice was a cheat code to get around Google’s algorithm back in the day. But now, Google considers link farming as a manipulative black-hat SEO tactic that can have a devastating effect on the performance of your website in organic search results.

So while link farming can temporarily help your website gain visibility, it is a black-listed backlink building practice that you should avoid at all costs. Here, we discuss the risks associated with link farming and how to detect if a website is using link farms.

Header Image Source: Pexels

What Is a Link Farm?

Link farms are websites made up of a large number of links, often to unrelated sites. The purpose of link farms is to improve the rankings of their associated sites in search engine results pages. Or to just make money—oftentimes, link farms are made solely to generate profit from selling backlinks. Most are created with the intent to manipulate search engine rankings and are considered to violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. 

Link farms can be created using automated programs that generate a large number of links in a short amount of time. These programs create thousands of web pages containing hundreds or thousands of outgoing links to affiliated sites. This helps artificially inflate the number of backlinks pointed to affiliated sites, making them appear more popular and authoritative than they actually are.

Signs a Website Is Link Farm

Here are the signs that a website is potentially a link farm.

An Abundance of Outbound Links

One of the major signs that a website is a link farm is an abundance of external links or links to other websites. Link farms contain a large number of links to other websites that have nothing to do with the content on the page. This is done to increase the number of an affiliated website’s number of inbound links, which can boost the website’s search engine rankings or metrics like domain authority (DA) and domain rating (DR).

Poorly Written Content

Another sign that a website is a link farm is the presence of poorly written content. Link farms contain content stuffed with keywords and phrases, but it is written in a choppy or unnatural manner.

Through the use of AI, link farms can be written at scale in violation of Google’s AI guidelines. This type of content production is not only against guidelines, it can actually harm a website’s SERP ranking by triggering a manual penalty from Google.

link farm example

Random and Unrelated Content Published

Finding random and unrelated content published on the same page indicates that the website is a link farm. Link farms often contain content unrelated to the site’s main niche because they’re selling guest post placements to anyone with a wallet. 

If you’re wondering if a website has unrelated content, try using one of these Google searches:

  • site:domain.com crypto
  • site:domain.com gambling
  • site:domain.com casino
  • site.domain.com “any keyword or phrase here”
link farm example 2

Unnatural Anchor Text

Unnatural anchor text is another sign of a link farm. Link farms use unnatural or keyword-rich anchor texts to create backlinks, which can be easily identified by checking the source code of a website and doing a Ctrl+F search for “<a hrefs=”. This will highlight every instance of a hyperlink on a page.

Links from Low Authority Domains

The presence of links from low-authority domains is another indication that a website is a link farm. Link farms usually contain backlinks from websites with little to no domain authority, which can be easily identified by checking the source code of a website.

High Number of Links from the Same Domain

A high number of links from the same domain is a major sign that a website is a link farm. Link farms contain hundreds of backlinks from the same domain or website, which is a tell-tale sign of poor research and only focused on improving the site’s ranking through backlinking.

Web Pages with Nothing But Links without Context

Link farms contain web pages with nothing but links without context, another major sign of a link farm. Link farms are full of web pages with a long list of links without any meaningful content.

Why Should You Avoid Link from Link Farms

We know improving your site’s search results can force you to link farms, but here are all the reasons you should avoid doing it.

Negative Impact on Search Rankings

Link farming is considered a black hat SEO technique, and search engines like Google will penalize any website that engages in this practice. Search algorithms are designed to detect link farms, so it’s important to be careful when buildinglinks.

Decreased Visibility

Link farming can clog up search engine results with low-quality, irrelevant content. This means your website won’t be seen as much because it will get buried in all the links created by link farms.

Reputation Damage

Using a link farm can also damage your reputation and put your business at risk of losing customers or potential clients. It could lead to people believing that your business is operating unethically and will damage the trust between you and your customers.

Risk of Being Penalized by Search Engines

Another reason to avoid link farming is the risk of being penalized by search engines. Google has strict rules regarding linking under its spam policies, and if you violate these rules, your website could be removed from its indexes completely.

Low-Quality Links

Link farming can lead to low-quality links that provide no real value to your website. Link farms are often created by spammers and contain links to sites with poor context. These links will not help you improve your search engine rankings but could potentially hurt them.

Waste of Time and Money

Link farming is a time-consuming and expensive technique that requires constant monitoring. It also requires you to invest in marketing and advertising to get your links seen. All this effort can be wasted if your link farm ends up being detected by search engines. So it’s best to avoid link farms and focus on creating high-quality, relevant content.

Key Takeaways

A link farm is risky and can negatively affect your website’s search rankings. If you want to improve your SEO ranking without being penalized by search engines or damaging your business’s credibility, focus on creating high-quality content instead of link farms.

Link farms are websites with many backlinks without relevant content. 

Remember that:

  • Signs of link farming include unnatural anchor text, links from low authority domains, and webpages with nothing but links without context. 
  • Link farming can harm search rankings, decrease visibility, and damage your reputation. 
  • Link farming can also lead to being penalized by search engines and low-quality links that provide no real value.

Why You Need to Join an SEO Slack Channel for Partnerships

SEO Slack Channel: Maximizing Benefits Through Networking and Collaboration

The SEO world can be a complex and overwhelming landscape. That’s why leveraging the power of networking and collaboration is key. 

A great way to do this is by joining an SEO Slack channel where industry professionals come together to share knowledge, ask questions, and help each other succeed.

In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of joining a Slack community for SEO, how to get the most out of it, and some great tips for networking and collaboration within these groups.

Importance of Community

Strong communities are critical as they create a sense of purpose, build social connections, and develop a sense of belonging. Communities allow individuals to share ideas, resources, and experiences. This can foster collaboration and create opportunities for everyone involved. Through strong communities, people can learn from each other while developing new relationships and deepening existing ones.

SEO slack communities are a great example of how strong communities can be built online. They allow members to connect and share their problems, ask questions and give/receive advice. The support received from other community members is constructive, especially when tackling difficult problems.

Our Backlink Builders Slack channel members have found new clients, reputable backlink vendors, collaborations, opportunities and acquisitions. 

Benefits of Joining an SEO Slack Channel

As of 2023, Slack has over 20 million active users. Its user base is predicted to increase to 47.2 million Daily active users and 79 million monthly active users by 2025.

With such an expansive user base, Slack communities are the perfect platform for SEO professionals to come together to learn, collaborate, and connect.

Here’s how a Slack community devoted to SEO can benefit professionals of all levels.

Networking Opportunities

Digital marketers, SEO professionals, content creators, web admins, and anyone related to the SEO industry can join an SEO Slack community for networking purposes. Whether you’re looking for consistent work, help on a specific project, or advice to improve your SEO strategy, the members of an SEO Slack community can help you.

Find Guest Post Opportunities

Guest posts help expose your brand to new audiences, drive traffic to your website, and build backlinks. An SEO Slack community is a great place to find guest post opportunities for your website. Also, if you’re a content creator looking for websites to write for, you can find ample leads in an SEO Slack community.

When looking for blogs to guest post on, just make sure they are relevant to your target audience and have decent domain strength.

Learn from Experts in the Industry

Google is known to adapt and change its algorithms rapidly. An SEO practice that worked last year may be irrelevant now. For example, keyword stuffing was a common SEO practice in the early days of search. Today, it can get you penalized.

Joining an SEO slack channel is an excellent way to stay updated on trends in the industry, new tools, and tips from SEO experts. For beginners, it’s a path to learn the basics; for experts, it’s the perfect place to learn about and discuss upcoming changes. 

Receive Insightful Advice

The biggest challenge for an SEO professional is knowing how to tackle the wide variety of SEO-related issues. Whether you’re unable to figure out why your rankings are dropping or don’t know where to begin with your off-page SEO strategy, being a part of a hyper-focused SEO channel can help. 

You can get helpful advice from experienced SEO professionals who have already gone through the same struggles.

Find Job Opportunities

Platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed are the go-to resources for job seekers, but an unconventional yet effective way to land a job is through a private Slack communities. Slack communities are full of experienced professionals, recruiters, and companies searching for skilled candidates. 

Here are a few tips to get started:

  • Introduce Yourself: Let the community members know who you are and what kind of job you’re looking for.
  • Add Value: Participate in conversations and share helpful information so the community knows you’re knowledgeable about SEO. This way, when someone is looking for an SEO professional, they’ll remember you. 
  • Ask Questions: Reach out to individuals who have previously offered jobs and ask them what they look for in potential hires.

Get Access to Link Partnerships 

Link partnership involves combining forces with other websites in your industry or niche to exchange links. This helps build authority, increase the visibility of both websites in search engine rankings, and bring more traffic to sites. However, link exchange should be done with care. You don’t want to exchange links with just anyone, as you could associate your website with sites with a questionable reputation. 

It’s also important to do what are called A-B-C link exchanges to avoid reciprocal linking, which can be detrimental to your SEO efforts. An A-B-C link exchange is when there are 3 domains involved with 2 people exchanging links.Site A links to Site B and Site C links to Site A in exchange.

SEO slack communities make it easier to find website owners in your niche who are interested in partnering up. Instead of spending hours researching potential link partners, you can join a Slack channel and get access to hundreds of possible link partners.

Join Backlink Builders for Guest Blogging and Link Partnerships

Backlink Builders is a private SEO slack channel run by Spacebar Collective designed to connect professional backlink builders, website owners, SEO agency owners, SEO freelancers, freelance writers, and journalists. 

You can use the channel to network with industry peers, find potential guest blogging opportunities, and secure link partnerships.

To join the channel, follow Chris Tweten and send a DM requesting an invitation. When asking for the invite, be sure to share links to the websites you operate. Each member of the Backlink Builders Slack channel is personally vetted by our team.

Backlink Builders SEO Slack channel

Key Takeaways

Slack communities are similar to Facebook groups. Each Slack community is based on a certain topic. SEO slack communities, in particular, provide a place for SEO professionals to share knowledge, seek help, and form connections.

Joining an SEO slack channel comes with several benefits, such as:

  • Network with SEO professionals to learn and share insights.
  • Find guest blog opportunities to increase website visibility.
  • Receive helpful advice on SEO-related issues from experienced professionals.
  • Find job opportunities offered by recruiters and companies.
  • Build link partnerships with websites in your industry or niche.

What is a PBN? Private Blog Networks Explained

Be Cautious of PBNs When Backlink Building

PBNs are networks of blogs that are owned by the same person or company and used to improve a website’s search engine rankings. But what exactly are PBNs, and how can they improve your website’s ranking?

This post will explain everything you need to know about PBNs. We’ll cover what PBNs are, how they work, and why they can be an effective tool for improving your website’s search engine ranking. Let’s dive in to learn more about PBNs.

What Is a PBN?

PBN stands for Private Blog Network and is a network of websites used to build links back to your main website. While building traditional links can take time and effort, a PBN lets you get these results quickly without much hassle.

PBNs are great for SEO (search engine optimization) as they help boost your website’s rankings in the search engines. They are also beneficial for building brand awareness and increasing your website’s visibility. It is important to note that PBNs can be extremely risky if not done correctly, so it is best to do research beforehand before using one.

How Do PBNs Work?

PBNs create a network of websites to link back to your primary website. The links help search engines recognize the authority of your primary site and boost its ranking in searches.

A PBN is usually made up of several websites owned by one company or individual. These sites are interlinked so that when a search engine crawls one of them, it is directed to other sites in the network. This connection helps increase your website’s visibility in search results and gives it a boost over competitors’ websites.

Why People Use PBNs

Link Building Is Hard

Backlink building is complex, time-consuming and is resource-heavy, making it difficult for businesses to stay on top of their SEO game. To make matters worse, search engines are constantly changing the spam policies around link building, meaning that today’s strategies could be penalized tomorrow. People use Private Blog Networks (PBNs) as an alternative solution to link building.

PBNs can be used to create needle-moving links for your website, which helps with its rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). With PBNs, businesses don’t have to worry about constantly changing algorithms or spending time manually building links. Private Blog Networks provide a reliable, efficient way to boost your website’s search engine rankings.

However, this comes with a much higher than normal risk profile. When a PBN is discovered by Google, every site it has linked to is often penalized together. Spacebar Collective strongly advises against using PBNs for link building because it’s not worth risking your primary domain. While there are situations where PBNs are suitable, we can’t in good conscience recommend using them to beginner or even intermediate SEOs.

PBNs Can Manipulate Anchor Text

Anchor text is an important component of SEO because it helps search engines understand the context of a website and can influence how your page ranks in the search engine results. PBNs improve your website’s ranking by manipulating anchor text.

By manipulating anchor text, you can control the context of a website and target specific keywords that will help you rank higher in search engine results.

Main Risks of Using a PBN

While a PBN is a powerful tool that helps you take control of your website ranking, it does not come without its risks.

Your Site May Get Penalized

When using a PBN, it is crucial to be aware of the risks. If you are not careful with your practices, you could face severe penalties from search engines. It’s essential to understand that this type of network can be easily detected by search engine algorithms, leading to harsh consequences if they see any suspicious activity. 

Even if your network is private and you think it won’t be discovered, there is still a risk of being penalized by Google. Using this system could also lead to a poor user experience because the links may not be relevant or useful for visitors.

This can ultimately hurt your website’s ranking in search engine results pages. It is important to be aware of the potential risks and ensure that you take all necessary precautions and constantly monitor your website alongside Google Search Engine Essentials.

Your Links May Get Ignored

Search engine algorithms may ignore the links from your Private Blog Network (PBN) altogether. This can be because of not having enough contextual relevance or lacking high-quality content on your sites.

Your PBN links may become irrelevant if the content isn’t updated regularly and monitored for accuracy. Ultimately, if your PBN links seem spammy or suspicious to search engine algorithms, they may be deemed low quality and ignored.

How to Identify a PBN

Once you’ve identified a PBN, several key indicators can help you confirm your suspicions. 

  • Look for Duplicate Content: PBNs often copy and paste content from other sources to populate their sites. You can check for duplicate content by copy-pasting a paragraph on a search engine.
  • Check for Abundant External Links: PBNs typically link to various other websites and rely heavily on backlinks. This is often done as a way to inflate their SEO rankings. 
  • Investigate the Hosting Provider: Many PBNs use dedicated servers or shared hosting providers with IP addresses previously associated with PBNs.
  • Images and Videos: Many PBNs use the same videos and images on multiple sites as they are expensive. If the same images or videos appear across multiple sites, this could signify a shared network.
  • Look for Low-Quality Content: PBN sites rarely feature original, high-quality content. Instead, they are often filled with thin, keyword-stuffed articles and pages that lack depth.
  • Check for Similar Backlink profile: The backlinks pointing to a PBN often share similarities with other sites that link to the same network. It is essential to investigate this further before making any assumptions.

Key Takeaways

We hope this article helped you understand PBNs, their uses, benefits, and risks. Here is what we discussed:

  • PBNs are a powerful tool for improving your website’s ranking in search engine results pages, but they come with risks.
  • It is essential to be aware of the potential risks and take all necessary precautions when using a PBN.
  • Search engine algorithms may ignore PBN links if they are found to be spammy or suspicious.
  • Some key indicators that can help you identify a PBN are duplicate content, excessive external links, similar backlink profiles, and low-quality content.

The 5 Best Platforms for Citation Building

Citation Building Explained

To grow your business, you need your name to be out there so that customers, clients, and potential partners can find you. One way to do this is through citation building. Citation building is creating consistent business listings on popular websites and directories. 

This helps improve your brand visibility, credibility, and authority. It also makes it easier for customers to find and remember your business.

Here, we discuss the best platforms for citation building to get more eyes on your business.

What Is Citation Building?

Citation building is a form of backlink building where you create profiles and listings in business directories.

Earlier, having web pages dedicated to cities, states, or regions were sufficient. But in today’s competitive market, it is not enough. Your local search engine game needs to be on point.

Let’s say you own a retail shop or restaurant. You want potential customers to find you, so you must ensure your business is listed on the right websites and directories. This is where citation building comes in. Citations are mentions of your business online.

Citation building involves creating listings for your business on well-known and credible business directories such as Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, and Yellowpages.

Types of Citation 

Here are two primary types of citation building.

Structured Citations

Structured citations are listings that follow a specific format, such as those found in directories, social media profiles, and local listings. Businesses should include as much detail as possible when creating these listings, including their website link, hours of operation, address, and contact information. 

Examples of structured citations include Facebook, Maps, Yellowpages, and Foursquare. 

Unstructured Citations

Unstructured citations are when businesses are mentioned on sites that aren’t necessarily directories. This could include a mention in a magazine, blog post, or review. In other words, an unstructured citation is when someone mentions your business in a non-formal way.

Benefits of Citation Building

78% of local searches on mobile result in an offline purchase and 30% of all Google mobile searches are related to location.

It is, therefore, essential for businesses to use citation building to strengthen their presence in local search engine results. 

Here are a few benefits of citation building.

Improves Reputation

63% of customers say they will trust a brand more if there are positive reviews of the company online. If your citation-building efforts include reviews and ratings, it adds to the credibility of your business and helps you build trust with potential customers.

Increases Brand Visibility

Every business owner aims to ensure their business is visible wherever and whenever customers search. A business listing on Yelp, Google My Business, and Facebook will help your business gain visibility.

Improves Search Engine Results

Google prioritizes businesses that seem most helpful and values customers’ experiences. When you claim your business profile on Google, your business, you don’t just make it easier for customers to reach you but also influence Google’s search engine results. Your business will also appear on Google Maps, which can be great for passive lead generation or increasing foot traffic to a brick and mortar location.

Generates Leads

Citation building can create leads for your business by directing users to take action. When potential customers search for businesses like yours, they can find your business and contact you easily. This will help you entice customers who have decided to purchase and are only looking for the right company.

Helps Compete Against Your Competitors

Businesses follow different strategies to win their competitors’ customers. Almost every business focuses on creating better content, running ads, and improving its backlink profiles. But, a well-executed citation-building strategy can be the key to winning customers from your competitors and staying one step ahead of them.

If your competitors haven’t listed their business online, or even if they have but with poor listings, you have a great opportunity to build quality citations.

Reduces Your Marketing Efforts

Today, having a website and creating content isn’t enough to get customers—you must ensure your business is visible everywhere. Citation building helps you ensure your business is seen in all the right places, which reduces the need to spend extra money on marketing efforts.

Does Citation Building Work in 2023?

Some SEO professionals think that citation building doesn’t work anymore. But that’s far from the truth. Relevant and high-quality citations can still be a great way to improve your local SEO.

When it comes to citations, the difficulty lies in determining their SEO value vs the time involved with creating listings. Some sites won’t have much of an impact, while major software review sites like Capterra or G2 could be needle-moving citations for your startup.

Quality citations can help you rank better on search engines.

That said, there are still some good practices to follow when building citations. These include:

  • Research the sites where you should be listed and submit your business information accordingly.
  • Ensure that the citation sites you submit to are relevant to your industry and respected by Google.
  • Keep a consistent NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) across all your citations.
  • Link to your website if the citation site allows it.

5 Best Citation Building Platforms for 2023

The following are the best citation platforms to use in 2023.

SEMrush

SEMrush citation building platform

Source: SEMrush

With SEMrush, you can easily increase your business’s visibility and improve its online presence. Its Listing Management tool lets you audit to determine how visible your business is on local directories and Google Maps.

The tool lets you put your business on Google Maps and optimize your profile on Google My Business and local directories to gain maximum exposure.

SEMrush also assists in discovering opportunities and updating your business’s listings across multiple online sources.

Whitespark 

Whitespark citation building services

Source: Whitespark

Finding citation opportunities is difficult. You don’t want your business to be listed on sites that are low quality, but you also don’t want to spend a lot of time researching and manually submitting listings. That’s where Whitespark’s Local Citation Finder comes in.

The tool helps identify citation opportunities based on the top-ranked competitors in your area, monitor citations across the internet, and discover new citation sites.

It also tracks your growth and shares weekly citation opportunities to keep your listings updated.

Moz Local

Moz local citation building

Source: Moz Local

Moz Local lets you see how accurately your business is listed across top directories and finds new listing opportunities. It leverages a data-driven approach to optimize your online presence and make the most out of it. 

Enter your country along with the business name and address into the tool, and the tool will scan the web to display citations from sources that it finds. It grades each listing and gives you a scorecard with all the details. 

Yext

Yext local SEO platform

Source: Yext

Yext is another excellent tool for citation building and local SEO optimization.

The following are a few features Yext offers:

  • The Listing Analysis feature scans the web to pull out 3rd party listings data to analyze the performance and accuracy of listings. This helps identify trends and opportunities to improve visibility and performance in local search results.
  • Yext’s Duplicate Detection feature helps identify duplicate listings from over 100 publishers and flags them for review.
  • Yext’s Knowledge Graph is designed to sync data across the entire Publisher Network. It ensures all data is adequately structured and optimized for each publisher’s requirements.
  • The tool offers Edit Suggestions from Google and Facebook. You can review the edits and decide which ones to save to your optimized Knowledge Graph.

Synup

Synup citation building

Source: Synup

Synup allows you to optimize and manage your business profiles on Yelp, Facebook, Bing, Google, and 60+ premium publishers.

The listing & reputation management software uses AI technology to manage locations across regions. This simplifies the process of making changes to all your locations from one single interface, saving you time.

Also, you can set up custom notifications to be informed of any changes to ensure accuracy.

Synup’s citation-building platform also tracks your listing’s growth, giving you deep insights into your online reputation.

Key Takeaways 

Citation building helps ensure your business appears in local search results. When your business is listed on Google and business directories like Yellowpages and Yelp, it increases the chances of getting discovered by potential customers. 

The following are the citation-building platforms covered in this article: 

  • SEMrush’s listing management feature allows you to audit and optimize your business listings on local directories and Google Maps.
  • Whitespark’s Local Citation Finder helps you identify citation opportunities and monitor citations across the web.
  • Moz Local scores your listing and helps find new opportunities to get your business discovered by potential customers.
  • Yext offers features like Listing Analysis, Duplicate Detection, Knowledge Graph, and Edit Suggestions to help build and implement a successful citation-building strategy. 
  • Synup allows you to optimize and manage your listings on 60+ premium publishers, track growth with custom notifications, and get deep insights into your online reputation.

If you want a professional to handle citation building for you, it’s best to get in touch with an SEO agency. This ensures your citations have consistent information, stay up-to-date and are built in a timely fashion.