Defining And Choosing The Best Link Format For Your Link Building Strategy

In order to build a great web presence, you need to include link building into your campaign.

Link building is the process of acquiring backlinks from other websites to your own. Backlinks, or just link, is a way for users to navigate between pages on the internet. It's the basic form of getting to one place to another on the web, that is also used by search engines when crawling the web.

There are many techniques that you can use for building links, and they all vary in difficulty. But before doing any link building, you must at least know what are the formats you can use, and how you can use them in tandem with your strategy.

There are several common types of link formats you can use for link building, with each having its own advantages and disadvantages.

Breaking them down, the most common formats for links include:

Backlink building

Text Links

The oldest but never obsolete. It's the base and the foundation of links, and also the most traditional way.

Advantages

  • Does not require a developer or a designer.
  • People that want to give you backlink, can do so very easily.
  • Text links can be placed anywhere on a web page, allowing the website that want to give you backlink, unmatched flexibility.
  • Cross browser without any problem.
  • If it comes as an ad, it shouldn't be easily recognized.

Disadvantages

  • Almost synonymous to spam.
  • Not easily identifiable or seen. Depending on the site's design, text links can be obscured or not visible.
  • Does not allow any interactivity or appeal. People are most likely to click on a link if they found the anchor interesting.

Static Imageries

A static format is basically some kind of image, infographic or other kind of imageries. It can be found usually in the form of banners on various websites that host ads.

While this type of link format isn't engaging, it can still be attractive due to its nature in leveraging images to compel the audience. What's more, because it's the most common format, you should start creating one easily and fast.

Advantages

  • Does not require the need for a developer, only a designer to complete the work.
  • People can easily put the link type as easy as putting any links. They can also upload them to any host if they don't want to host them themselves.
  • Small in size so it shouldn't affect website speed by much.
  • Can be placed almost anywhere on a web page with empty space (white space).
  • Cross browser without any problem.

Disadvantages

  • Most of the time, this type of link format is not responsive or native.
  • You are restricted to just a small space to put all the needed information.
  • You may require to design multiple banners to meet different audience.
  • People that developed ad blindness will not easily take notice.

GIF And Animation

Moving images or animation, can put more information in the same space used by imageries in static link format.

Because of this, GIFs and animation as links are really popular on many websites due to their appeal and simplicity. This makes the format a great choice for link building.

Backlinks

Advantages

  • They are relatively easy to create, even without proper development resources.
  • Just like text and statics, GIFs and animation links can be pretty easy to upload and implement on various social pages and content management systems.
  • It doesn't need complex coding, making it flexible on any website seen on any platform, seen on any devices.
  • You can put a lot more information, if compared to statics, but still using the same dimension.
  • Relatively small in size, and should not put a lot of weight on web pages if properly designed.

Disadvantages

  • Like statics, GIFs and animations aren't responsive by default, which means that you either need to keep them very simple or create a different GIF for different devices.
  • Not all websites want to host GIFs and animations because they may disturb the experience or design.
  • Can be larger in size if compared to standard imageries.
  • Users you want to target may dislike it because of the fact that GIFs and animations are distracting.

Interactive

The youngest of all and also one of the more popular one. Interactive puts content beyond static and animations, and simply makes users able to engage with it by showing different perspective on something.

The format comes as mobile usage increases, and brands have been challenged to figure out how to do more with less screen size and to compete with people's shorter attention spans.

They are like a rethink of standard banner by using 360-degree video, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). It aims to get users engaging with it beyond just clicking through to go to a website or download an app.

Interactive format is made possible using a combination of various technologies, and also more power on mobile devices, better internet speed, and a next level of creativity. Interactive content come fully into their own, with a number of companies are on the forefront.

If the link comes as ads, they can be called engagement or immersive ads.

Advantages

  • You can present an immersive experience using multiple angles on a topic. This is giving your the chance to include more information.
  • Allowing users to get into different parts of the content, and find the information most useful and relevant to them.
  • You can target a wide range of people because you can include more information that are relevant to all of them.
  • A lot more attractive and eye-catching.
  • Able to create something that is not only engaging, but also fun.

Disadvantages

  • Far from easy to make, and also longer. if compared to others.
  • You may need web developer and also designers, with the project costing you a lot more than other format types.
  • You need to properly test the content to ensure quality elements are shown and to eliminate bugs, as well as cross-browser problems.
  • Multiple design may be required, due to the content targeting different device.
  • A lot heavier to load, and may slow down websites.
  • You may need to develop custom embed codes to allow complex pieces to be embeddable.

Choosing The Best

When it comes to choosing the format itself, you need to first start with the topic or message you want to convey. Knowing what is the message allows you to decide the best link format.

You also need to take the following into account:

  • Your resources. If you don’t have any, then you have to choose text format, to then work your way to image if possible, then followed by GIFs and animations, and lastly, interactive link format.
  • The restriction: Not all websites are willing to give you GIFs and animated backlink. You should communicate with the webmaster to know what they want to benefit both parties.
  • The audience: Some people may just love to engage interactive links. But there are chances that some people still like static images or just plain simple link to click on.

After deciding the format you think is best, know that your choice may not actually be the best for your audience. For this reason, you need to continuously analyze engagements and click-through rate on those links, and see the results.

Further reading: Backlinks Are Important. But Don't Let Them Bother You Too Much