Quality content can get your web pages ranking higher in Google search results. But contextual links can help, too.
Google says the inclusion of relevant, high-quality links signals the content that includes them may be quality content, too.
So, how can you earn contextual links to give your content an edge over the competition? Adopt one, two, or all three of the strategies detailed in this article.
But first, let’s understand what contextual links are.
What are contextual links?
A contextual link appears in the body of a web page’s content. A hyperlink is added to a relevant word or phrase. They:
- Link to other pages on the site.
- Cite the source of a claim or statistic.
- Indicate other relevant pages.
- Provide readers with more in-depth information on the topic.
- Guide readers to a product or service.
In this screenshot of an article with the header, Challenges of Productivity Tracking in Remote Workplaces, three phrases are hyperlinked — measure productivity, Microsoft, and research by Gartner.
Each contextual link serves a purpose:
- “Measure productivity” goes to a Slack article about how to measure employee productivity.
- “Microsoft” directs the reader to the original research for the cited statistic.
- “Research by Gartner” links to the native source for the research cited in that paragraph.
With a contextual link-building strategy, you not only boost your content in the eyes of Google but also encourage other sites to use your valuable content to provide their readers with additional information or context.
Now, let me show you three strategies to grow your contextual links and improve your content’s rankings.
1. Help sites fix their broken links
Broken link building involves contacting a website, pointing out a broken external link on a page, and suggesting your content as its replacement.
Broken links could result from a 404 error, a blank page, or a redirect to an irrelevant page — any alteration that ruins the original link’s purpose.
Since broken links negatively affect the visitor experience, removing them is in the site’s best interest. Your replacement offer gives them a quick solution to their problem. Plus, people are more willing to help you after you’ve helped them.
To find broken links, use a tool like Free Backlink Checker extension. I also like to inspect links manually since most tools only pick up 404 errors. Rely solely on them, and you will miss relevant broken-link opportunities.
Ahrefs also has tools for finding broken links. Its free broken link checker is helpful, but the paid version is more robust.
Paid subscribers can go to Site Explorer, go to the Outgoing Links report, and click on “Broken Links” from the dropdown menu.
The report identifies the total number of broken links (3,136 in the example below), the referring pages (the URL for the content including the broken link), the anchor (the words hyperlinked in the content), and the link (the URL that no longer directs to a viable page).
Ahrefs subscribers can also compile a Best by Links report under the Pages option in the Site Explorer tool.
In this example, the report lists pages with 404 page-not-found errors for TheMuse.com. It has 6,230 pages with broken external links. Each page URL listed is accompanied by the number of referring domains and a number of links to the page.
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