A Guide To Linkable Assets For Effective Link Building

Strategies For Developing Shareable Assets To Boost Backlinks

Save time and effort by creating content that naturally attracts links with this guide (including awesome examples!). Not all content receives the same level of engagement, and only some blog posts get external links pointing to them. Getting backlinks for every single article requires an immense amount of outreach due to the effort it takes to secure links to just one page.
Instead of having a link building program solely focused on outreach, having a highly shareable piece of content can garner links and improve response rates to your pitches. This guide will assist with developing linkworthy assets so you can organically develop a link profile faster. Let's start by characterizing a shareable asset.

What Is A Linkworthy Asset? Shareable content assets describe high-caliber content built to entice backlinks from additional sites, either by promotion initiatives or link building outreach approaches.
These assets come in multiple forms, like infographics, blog posts, videos, online tools, or downloadable PDFs. A linkworthy asset is normally an extensive, long-form resource surpassing top-ranked similar content. Your content needs to provide immense value, have uniqueness, and resonate with your target demographic. To facilitate an optimal traffic flow, links should point users to a definite landing page. Thus, integrate the asset into an HTML page. There is a vast selection of linkworthy assets, like Search Engine Journal’s History of Google Algorithm Updates.
As per Ahrefs, this asset has successfully obtained nearly 3,000 referring domains up to now.
Established companies usually get additional links compared to emerging or lesser known websites. SEJ has formed a reputable brand around premium SEO content, playing a big role in this asset’s favorable outcome. An asset’s efficacy relies heavily on proven domain expertise, experience, authority and trustworthiness.
Enhancing these factors boosts content appeal to publishers. Now, let's analyze expertise, authority, experience and trustworthiness.

Leveraging Expertise, Authority, Experience & Trust Google introduced the idea of expertise, authority, experience and trustworthiness (E-A-E-T) within its Search Quality Guidelines to aid content evaluation.
E-A-E-T holds growing influence in SEO, content marketing and link building. To amplify a linkworthy asset, showcase these traits:

• Expertise: Convey topic comprehension via credentials, career experience or publications.
• Experience: Establish firsthand topic knowledge from interviews, research or individual experiences.
• Authority: Gain industry credibility through affiliations, credentials or exceptional work.
• Trustworthiness: Exhibit integrity via transparency, impartiality and avoiding conflicts of interest.

While these guidelines don’t disclose Google’s algorithm, Google claims following them produces comparable search results to the algorithm. Optimizing for E-A-E-T can thus better rankings and sharing potential. Pro Tip: Targeting real user questions displays expertise and experience.

The introduction of AI like ChatGPT has raised inquiries about exhibiting E-A-E-T in computer-generated content. Next, let’s explore AI in content creation.

Leveraging AI For Content Concepts

Generative AI is changing how content marketers perform research, brainstorm ideas and create assets. Solutions like ChatGPT, Google Bard and Bing Chat immensely reduce research time and offer compelling topics.
As AI content generation develops, search engine and publisher regulations continue adapting.
Incorporating topic experts, case studies and thorough exploration ensures authenticity and avoids plagiarism in AI-produced content.

Prompt Idea Generation With ChatGPT Pick a niche, then ask ChatGPT to "Act as a blog manager and suggest 20 novel long-form ideas around [topic] for me to consider." Select pertinent, distinctive ideas and polish them by benchmarking versus top-ranked content.

Develop A Framework With ChatGPT

Prompt ChatGPT to "Act as [industry blog or brand] and design a detailed content outline for '[working title]', utilizing modern content marketing approaches." An editor refines the computer-generated framework.
Leverage Bard for questions to address with "What questions arise around '[keyword]'?"
Update the outline with Bard's questions and solutions from an industry expert’s perspective, determining which sections to retain or delete.

Pro Tip: Use tools like ZeroGPT or ChatGPT AI Classifier to ensure your content doesn’t appear overly synthetic.

Comparing ChatGPT To Other AI

Bing Chat & Google Bard access individual search outputs and existing content while ChatGPT has periodic refreshes without web access. Use Bing & Google for research and ChatGPT for headlines, outlines and procedural steps.

Generative AI shows potential to elevate topic ideation and content outlines for linkworthy assets, addressing some downsides too. Next, let’s examine the up and downsides of linkable content.

Tradeoffs Of Linkable Assets

While stellar linkworthy assets can achieve impressive links and traffic, this strategy has some negatives.

Pros Of Linkable Content Scalability: Informational content permits link chances across numerous subjects.
Visibility Gains: Long-form articles can yield thousands of visitors across multiple keywords. Relationship Building: Quality assets foster connections with influencers, enabling future collaborations.
Evergreenness: Relevant, valuable evergreen content continues securing links and traffic over time.
Brand Building: Assets showcase your brand’s industry expertise, elevating credibility and trust.

Cons Of Linkable Content Links Don’t Target Preferred Pages: Links typically target the asset itself rather than key landing pages. Resource Intensive: Creating superb assets demands extensive time, effort and resources, challenging smaller teams.
No Guarantee of Links: Even extraordinary content doesn’t guarantee backlinks or rankings boosts.
Hard To Quantify Value: Evaluating linkable content's impact requires time for search engines to reward gained links.
Increasing Content Competition: Standing out gets harder with more sites competing for visibility and links.

Now, let’s explore structures to implement linkable assets in link building.

Link Building With Assets

Content can focus on specific link building techniques/audiences or have general appeal.

Technique-Focused
This tactic involves tailoring content around a particular audience and strategy to achieve links.

Pinpoint sites, influencers or groups interested in a topic, craft relevant content, and distribute it to secure links. Examples include Skyscraper links, statistical posts, niche forums, competitor links and guest articles.

Audience-Focused Here you create content for a general audience before pursuing relevant links. Leverage existing assets or make new content with mainstream appeal.

Ideation techniques include focus groups of experts or solving unanswered niche questions. Distribution methods encompass HARO, emailing contacts, social promotions and press announcements.

Next, let’s explore some easily reproducible asset examples.

Asset Examples

Content pieces engineered to achieve links have been a significant focus since Brian Dean’s 2013 Skyscraper technique article - and long before then too.

But endless formats work well for gaining links. Let’s narrow it down to assets with proven potential to better outreach responses and links.

Statistical Listicles These aggregate credible statistics into logical groups for simplified lookup.

For instance, SEJ’s roundup of 71 Jaw Dropping SEO Statistics. These are split into categories like organic, local search, link metrics, Google trends and more.

Unique Research Studies
Custom studies detailing methodology and conclusions published online. Typically surveys, analyzing internal data or compiling external statistics.

Ahrefs has many data-driven studies, like claiming 90% of All Content Gets No Search Traffic. This asset even embedded data charts for additional linking and graphic options.

Lists Of Tools, Companies & Influencers "Listicles" combine "list" and "article" into easily scannable formats enumerating items with brief depictions.

These cropped explanations simplify complex subjects but risk oversimplification. Fortunately, lists work in virtually any niche.

For example, Quality Logo Products’ 12 Free Logo Makers You Can Try Right Now shows wide applicability. It reviews logo tools with examples plus pros and cons.

In any listicle, include examples demonstrating expertise & trustworthiness.

Engaging Infographics
Infographics visually communicate intricate information quickly and clearly through graphs, icons, images and minimal text.

For instance, this Carbon Budget Infographic from World Resources Institute leverages a graphically Earth to clarify complex climate data and forecasts.

Project Planning Templates Templates simplify organizing multifaceted initiatives via Excel, Google Sheets or other digital documents. While imperfect, they provide structure inspiration.

Virtually anything benefits from templates - home organization, events, budgets, schedules and more. Higher searches often concentrate on project management.

For example, "Excel budget templates" draws up to 100K monthly searches. B2B SaaS, project management platforms and every industry utilize handy templates like these Excel Budgeting Templates from ProjectManager.

This basic example has secured over 100 referring domains.

Additional Options Calculators
Interactive calculators helping with specific tasks like finance management, home improvement calculations and more.

Checklists
List-based assets assisting readers complete involved projects in the form of online apps, spreadsheets or PDFs.

In Conclusion

A shareable asset that websites will naturally leverage can reduce outreach while passively achieving links. Despite demanding significant upfront effort, they ultimately save time acquiring backlinks.

An asset might be an intricate research study or basic spreadsheet template assisting planners. Next time you start a link building campaign, develop an innately linkworthy piece to accelerate success.