Contextual Links – A Simple SEO Tactic, Guaranteed Traffic, Leads and Results

Contextual Links – A Simple SEO Tactic, Guaranteed Traffic, Leads and Results

What if you could make one small and simple change to your internet and digital marketing that creates an exponential increase to your opportunities, leads, sales and bottom line?

In due course of conversation, I frequently mention to people “the value of contextual links“. More often than not, people respond; “What is a contextual link?”

SO, with that said, I thought it would be helpful for to write an EASY TO UNDERSTAND article on contextual links with some VERY SIMPLE recommendations to help implement them.

What is a Contextual Backlink?

Contextual backlinks are WORDS OR PHRASES that are linked on a webpage, these links are placed within CONTENT on a website and are IN CONTEXT (words on a page). Contextual links are NATURAL within the content, meaning that they are words that have meaning and context within the content on that page.

They are not links that are placed within the navigation, sidebars, widgets, footer or ads, nor are they links with JUST a website (or page) address, i.e. https://3vbiz.com, nor are the linked to words like “Click Here” or “Website” (linking to words like “Click Here” and “Website” will actually do more harm than good).

Why are Contextual Links Important?

Contextual links are important because they are;

• NATURAL (ORGANIC)
• Contextually are part of the story or content, they read naturally
• IMPORTANT: Context sends powerful signals to search engines!

First and foremost, it is VERY IMPORTANT to understand the value of a LINK (or what SEO pro’s’ call a “backlink”) to your website. I will assume that if you have read this far, you understand the value and power of links on the internet.

“If you do not have ANY links pointing to your website, you will get VERY LITTLE (IF ANY) organic traffic from search engines.

Likewise, the MORE links and the better the quality the links you have to your website, the MORE traffic and the BETTER the traffic to your website, BETTER simply means consumers with a higher level of intent or interest in your business, product or brand.

Examples of a NON-Contextual Backlink

Let’s start with WHAT IS NOT A CONTEXTUAL LINK.

They are NOT links that are placed within the navigation, sidebars, widgets, footer or ads, nor are they links with JUST a website (or page) address, i.e. https://3vbiz.com.

Sites like directories, link directories, business organizations, etc. predominantly use NON-CONTEXTUAL LINKS (see example below);

There is still some value in a non-contextual link, but the value will end up being a relatively “weak signal to a search engine”, because there is no context. You may still receive a small boost in your rankings and traffic.

Examples of a Contextual Backlink

SO, now let’s take a look at a CONTEXTUAL BACKLINK, OR SIMPLY CONTEXTUAL LINK, see image below;

In the example above, the phrase “Funeral Insurance Quote Online” gives CONTEXT to the link and the destination website.

… SO … When a search engines views (or crawls) this page, it will see this link and be able to “index” the website and conclude that the link destination is relevant to “FUNERAL INSURANCE QUOTES ONLINE.” —> SUCH THAT THE WEBSITE WILL NOW RANK IN SEARCH ENGINES FOR ANYONE SEARCH THAT PHRASE!!!

Once again, our goal is not get too technical, rather to explain in simple and easy to understand terms, the difference and how you can immediately use this information to get value out of your internet marketing and website! Let’s consider the difference between a NON-CONTEXTUAL and a CONTEXTUAL LINK real quick.

Pretend you are a search engine for one minute, and you view or “crawl” a page with a link to a 3rd party website. Which one of these links gives you MORE information about the link;

• https://cheapestfinalexpense.com
• Click Here for Website
• … OR … FUNERAL INSURANCE QUOTES ONLINE

The answer is (or at least should be) obvious!

The Value & Benefits of Contextual Links

So, let’s continue using the “Funeral Insurance Quotes Online” example for illustrative purposes.

BEFORE the link in image 3 above, the life insurance website had ZERO exposure for the phrase (and phrases similar to); “Funeral Insurance Quotes Online“, zero exposure simply means that when a consumer searched that term, the website did NOT appear in the search engine.

After ONE (1) contextual link, the website within 3-4 weeks began appearing on the 2nd page of a Google search, and while many SEO pro’s have a funny way of describing page 2 rankings on Google;

Question: Where is the best place to hide a dead body?

Answer: On the 2nd page of a Google search

The value and benefit of just ONE CONTEXTUAL BACKLINK is that the website improved from ZERO exposure to being ranked 11th-20th on Google, with JUST ONE CONTEXTUAL BACKLINK!

I would predict that a NON-CONTEXTUAL BACKLINK in this case, probably would NOT even help the website get into the top 100, because there is simply just no context!

NOTE: Because of the “value” of this domain and website, the simple fact that I created a CONTEXTUAL LINK in this article, that should be enough to bump the linked website from 11th-20th easily into the top 10! Upon adding 2-3 more, the website would easily make the top 5 – AND – be worth probably an additional 20-40 ORGANIC (a.k.a. FREE) leads per month!

How to Use this Information About Contextual Links?

I have a couple of strong recommendations for you and anyone reading this article, STRONG AND SIMPLE RECOMMENDATIONS!

• When somebody or some website links to your website, ask them to use a CONTEXTUAL LINK! i.e. if you are an attorney, ask the source to contextually link words like “Best DUI Attorney in Southgate, Michigan“, or if you are an AdWords expert, “Best AdWords Agency near Detroit” (NOTE: those links are linked to sites owned/operated by colleagues, they will certainly get a small bump in rankings/traffic in the next 2-4 weeks).

• Find partners with blogs and/or websites that accept guest blogs and offer to write an article (500-1000 words) with a topic that relevant for both of you. In that article, add contextual links back to your website – BUT – make sure the context and the links are relevant to the topic (i.e. do not write an article about grapes and contextually link words about cars!)

• IMPORTANT – If you belong to a business association, Chamber of Commerce or any business organization, ASK THEM TO CONTEXTUALLY LINK YOUR WEBSITE! For the life of me, I do not understand why ANY this is not a standard nor do any associations do this, it would add an INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF VALUE FOR THEIR MEMBERS!

• Within your website, add contextual links throughout your content (pages, blog, etc.) This will certainly help your website acquire exposure for a more broad set of words, terms and phrases. Using the “Funeral Insurance Quotes Online”, another phrase that I am working on capturing exposure is “Senior Life Insurance Quotes”, the process to begin that exposure can be as simple as adding internal contextual links on the website!

I hope you found this article to have VALUABLE information and SIMPLE recommendations that will have BIG impact on your internet, website and digital marketing!