Link building is an ever-changing process. Over the past few years, it has gone from just dropping tons of spam links on the web to spending massive amounts of time on a few relevant opportunities.
Link building these days is more about developing multiple strategies in order to develop a healthy backlink profile. We have already discussed using Google Alerts and online forums for quick wins in the game.
This article is about building Expertise, Authority and Reliability (EAT) by contributing to Quora and Reddit threads. For those reading with a skeptical mind, Google’s John Muller has confirmed that Quora links are permanently retrieved.
What is EAT and why should I care?
EAT is a ranking factor launched by Google in 2018 and represents a set of website quality standards for quality testers to apply when evaluating websites.
It was originally intended for YMYL (YourMoneyYourLife) websites, specifically on topics related to finance and personal health. However, it is now part of Google’s core algorithm and has an impact on a wider range of niches.
With around 547,200 new websites created every day, it makes sense that Google had to come up with a highly evolved algorithm to reward quality and trustworthy websites while demoting pure spam.
Quora and Reddit are seen as handy fruits in the process of increasing your EAT scores and that’s no surprise, but there are a few dos and don’ts that you need to consider.
Take the time to develop a professional user profile
Rushing this step won’t help you in the long run and could jeopardize your entire campaign for Quora and Reddit. There are millions of fake profiles, bots, and spammers out there so you need to make sure your profile stands out from the crowd.
At a minimum, your profile should display the following:
- Your real full name and / or username – avoid strange symbols or numbers as much as possible, as these are typically used by spammers.
- A real photo of yourself as a profile photo – use an image that is relevant to the niche you plan to contribute to.
- Biography – education, experience, maybe something fun, and profile links from other relevant social media sites.
What does it take to successfully contribute to Quora and Reddit threads?
Both Quora and Reddit have developed very sophisticated anti-spam systems so that discussion threads are not inundated with unnecessary information and self-promoting comments. Without further ado, here’s our list of dos and don’ts when it comes to using Quora and Reddit for link building:
- Quickly scan the entire thread and understand where the conversation is. Your response should flow naturally with the rest of the posts.
- Avoid starting your response by promoting an external resource – it will automatically be selected as spam.
- Show you’ve done your homework by referencing high quality sources for this topic.
- Simply responding with a bunch of random words or throwing a trivial phrase will most likely result in your comment being deleted.
- Format your text so it’s easy to read and understand – use bullets, style the text, and even add visual content if possible.
- Link to your website as naturally as possible – prove your expertise on the topic first, add value to the feed, and avoid being over-selling. We recommend that you reference your website as a resource in the body or at the end of the post.
- It’s not just about placing backlinks – creating EATs is a delicate and nuanced process, sometimes it is enough to contribute with a high quality response and help answer the question.
- Make sure that the sources of your quotes are always disclosed – plagiarism is not acceptable, I hope it is not a surprise.
Wrap
Hope this article has been successful in removing some of the stigma that Quora and Reddit has when it comes to backlinks, SEO, and building an online presence.
Nonetheless, as pointed out in the previous article in the series, this strategy can prove to be extremely useful when you take the time to understand the game and avoid toxic self-promotion.
Using Quora and Reddit for link building in 2021 is no small feat, but I’m sure you’ve now figured out that link building is a marathon, not a sprint!