How to create linkable content for SEO

In the world of SEO it’s easy to get caught up in the metrics, links, conversions, clicks, impressions, it’s a cliché, but there are people behind all of these, and when creating content, keeping this front of mind is crucial. In the world of link-building and digital PR having content and a story that has genuine interest from human readers makes all the difference when it comes to landing coverage. So how do you go about creating content that people actually want to link to? Well if you keep reading, you may just find out.

Relevance is one of the most important factors in a modern SEO approach, yet it is often where brands make their first mistake. Too many businesses jump straight into competitor backlink analysis without first considering their own goals, ambitions, and key objectives.

By taking the time to understand your priorities, you can ensure that every SEO and content decision aligns with your wider business strategy. For example, imagine you are a clothing retailer specialising in the climbing niche. A competitor may be generating significant links to their general outerwear pages through a strong digital PR campaign. While you can certainly learn from their approach, replicating it may not deliver the best return if outerwear is not a core focus for your business.

If your board has identified climbing footwear as a high-priority area, then creating and promoting content that earns links in this category will achieve far more impact. This creates the sweet spot — valuable links combined with strong relevance between the content being linked to and your overall business goals.

But how do you identify the types of content with the highest link potential?

The classics are classic for a reason, competitor backlinks are a great place to start when it comes to ideation around content to create. Look at the competitors with the most quality backlinks (do not just look at domain authority, consider traffic, relevance and other metrics too) and see what pages and areas of the sites those links are pointing to. Cross-reference this with your current content (LLMs can speed up this process) and give loads of context around the links you want to build, angles you can go down as a business and any other areas you think could develop the best response. Once you have this list of linkable content from the competition, you can get to work. 

Bonus tip: Use a tool like SEMRush to analyse when the links have come in for the content, it will give you an idea of potential (which can help when it comes to making a business case for activity) but also show potential seasonal trends to get ahead of (if a particular bit of content gets loads of links in Jan for a competitor every year, you may not want to leave getting this live a few weeks before Christmas. An example graph we developed for one of our clients competitors can be found below, and this has rightly shifted the order of our content production. 

A linkable asset content plan provides a structured roadmap for creating resources that naturally attract attention, shares, and citations. With that in mind and your data from the competitor analysis, create a plan that prioritises based on link driving potential (base this on the links competitors and other sites ranking for corresponding keywords are getting from the content in question), and also the relevance to your business objectives. Beyond that, include the target keywords, commonly asked questions (you can get these via an SEO tool or Google itself), determine content length (based on the average length of the top 5 content pieces in Google for the corresponding keywords) and go from there! 

1. Comprehensive Statistics Pages
   Compiling up-to-date statistics in one place provides immense value for writers, marketers, and journalists. By curating credible research and presenting it clearly, your brand becomes a go-to resource that others will reference in their own content.
2. In-Depth How-To Guides
   Step-by-step guides demonstrate expertise while solving real problems for your audience. They are frequently linked to by other content creators who want to avoid repeating foundational explanations in their own articles.
3. Engaging Infographics
   Well-designed infographics distill complex information into a format that is easy to consume and share. They perform especially well on social media, making them highly attractive to publishers seeking visual content.
4. Interactive Tools and Calculators
   Practical tools, such as calculators or generators, provide ongoing value by helping users solve problems instantly. Because they are functional and evergreen, they are frequently recommended and linked to by other sites.
5. Original Research and Reports
   Publishing proprietary research establishes authority and positions your brand as a thought leader. Journalists and bloggers frequently cite such data to strengthen their own work, which makes this one of the most reliable strategies for link acquisition.

Creating linkable content is a must when it comes to generate awareness and coverage online, combining proactive outreach of the content with long-term organic link driving potential will help you have the maximum impact on your SEO and business performance. 

• Start with your brand goals to ensure content aligns with business objectives.
• Use competitor backlink analysis to identify proven opportunities and seasonal trends.
• Build a structured linkable asset content plan guided by relevance and link potential.
• Focus on proven formats like stats pages, guides, infographics, tools, and original research.

If you’re looking for help building your portfolio of linkable content, or improving your off-page SEO, get in touch with our specialist Off-page SEO team.