A Guide to Kick-Starting Link Building Career While Studying

Today, many students start a career on the side while still studying. This has been going on for some time now. For example, in 2021, about 23%  of students aged 15 to 29 were working.

Today that number has jumped even higher  as more students report working longer hours to make ends meet.

Yet, the high cost of living is only one of the reasons why young professionals want to begin their careers as early as possible.

Students choose to work while in school as a way to gain firsthand experience of what a degree they study might look like in the real world. This helps them prepare for their professional life and earn income to support their studies. Being a link-building specialist offers the best chance to do both without neglecting your studies.

How does it work? This article will answer that question and give you a guide to help you kickstart your career in this industry.

Should You Consider Freelance Link Building to Start a Career?

Since studying requires a major time commitment, more and more students are looking at online job opportunities that give them the flexibility they need to balance work and study. One example of such a career is link building. The average hourly pay for a link builder in the US is $21.96,  and since it's a remote job, it's easy to fit around any schedule.

The cool part is that it doesn't require long intensive training, and you can jump in anytime.

As a freelance link building specialist, you can start mastering your guest posting skills. 

This means helping clients create content for relevant websites in their industry to earn high-quality backlinks that boost their visibility. Any SEO specialist has to invest in their network of website owners in several niches. Yet, it takes time. So if you want to start working straight away, you can find sites in catalogs created for guest blogging.

Besides, remember to follow the best practices and always put quality first to build an impressive backlinks profile for your clients.

How to Start a Career as a Link-Building Specialist

One of the main things students like you look out for when starting a career is the possibility of growth in that industry. Becoming a link-building specialist means embarking on a journey that makes it easy to transition into other areas of SEO. To begin, you must:

1. Get a Good Grasp of SEO Knowledge

You need to know general SEO concepts to become an effective link builder. There are tons of free resources that can bring you up to speed in no time. Trying to figure out where to start?

The Semrush SEO crash course, Hubspot Academy SEO training, or the MOZ SEO 101 guide might be some good options.

You can also check out YouTube tutorials from other SEO companies like Ahrefs or read their blogs.

A Google search for courses will bring up tons of free and paid resources that you can leverage to brush up on your skills.

2. Practice and Perfect Your Outreach Skills

A link-building specialist interacts with a lot of different people in a professional capacity. To be successful, you need good communication and outreach skills. It comes in handy as you need to be persuasive to get other sites to let you guest blog for them. A simple copy-paste email won't bring great results. So start early and learn from others.

It takes work to find contact info, but then comes the next part – the outreach. Learn to craft compelling, genuine messages that highlight your value. Take advantage of the countless SEO tools and programs available online to simplify the process. These give you more options to create an outreach strategy based on real data. Remember to cultivate the strength to take rejection gracefully and use it as motivation.

Be Patient While Building Your Profile

Everyone starts from somewhere, so you must exercise patience, especially at the beginning. Luckily, there are ways to simplify the process and quickly build up an impressive profile that clients will love. Some tools help you compile prospective sites you can contact. This saves you hours of manually searching the web for prospects. Working for a white-hat SEO agency might also be a quicker way to earn your first few links, so you have something to offer as proof to prospects.

Also, if you already have a blog, it is easier to show people what quality of content you can create and convince them to link to you so you can add it to your profile. Take care to create high-quality content. There is free software to make your writing clear. There are several productivity tools that students love to use daily, with no learning curve required.

When you have a few links under your belt, don't be afraid to reach out to the big websites in your niche and ask to guest blog for them.

Stay Savvy When It Comes to Ethical Link Building Practices

To be a freelance link-building specialist, you must learn the difference between good and bad link building. Google has specific guidelines and frequently updates its policies to discourage people from manipulating links to influence search rankings. There are penalties for violating these rules. Some of these seem harmless, and it's easy for a newbie to get deceived by a spammy site. So, spotting bad links that could hurt you and your clients is essential. Besides, staying updated with the latest changes makes you efficient and better at your work.

Career as a Student: Online Jobs for SEO Beginners

But what if you’re unsure about working as a link-building specialist and wondering if there are other SEO jobs for beginners? Well, it’s true. There are many options in the SEO field. Here are a couple more jobs to consider for a career as a student.

• Digital marketer. Some colleges offer internships for students who are interested in digital marketing. This might be a good fit if you love connecting people to the right products and services.
• Social media marketer. Do you spend a lot of time watching product reviews on social media? You could help businesses reach customers and earn good money from doing so.
• Content creator. This is one of the best careers for you as a student. You can create videos, visuals, or blogs around any topic or even your experience as a student. Plus, if you have even a basic knowledge of SEO, it’s easy to make content that trends.
• Copywriter. Most people believe you need a degree for this, but you can also freelance or start your own blog. TechYoY recommends starting a blog from your phone with apps like Medium, WordPress, or Blogger. If you are good at this, more people will be willing to overlook the lack of a degree and focus on your results and experience.

Conclusion

A student can become a link-building specialist while still studying. You can set your own hours and work from anywhere. Also, many tools and software are available to make the process more streamlined for you. Combining studies while earning money and getting real-life work experience are just some of the perks that make a freelance link-building career attractive to students.