10 Simple Link-Building Tips
Link-building (getting other sites to link back to yours) has become an essential step for any online business. Not only does this help propel your ranking in search engines such as Google, but it also helps potential customers and clients find you using the good ole traditional word-of-mouth method. Although link-building might sound difficult at first, it's actually one of the easiest steps any webmaster or site owner can take towards search engine optimization (SEO). So easy, in fact, that I've even included some of the best (and simplest) tips for building those important inbound links!
1) Learn to Network. Yes, that means Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can serve a purpose other than following Ashton Kutcher's every move or seeing what your old high school sweetheart is up to these days. Networking is, first and foremost, about meeting people, making friends and getting your name out there. Think of the internet as a wonderful new tool that you can use to do this. Building these relationships will only help build your business – and luckily, we now have social networking sites to assist in our global reach.
2) Identify possible reciprocal linkers. Then, contact them directly and ask if they’d be interested in linking to your site if you return the favor and link back to theirs. This step is pretty easy but please know that there is a right and a wrong way to do this. First of all, JUST SAY NO TO LINK FARMS. If you don't know what a link farm is, consider yourself lucky. These are sites where people pay for links from hundreds of different sites that often have absolutely nothing to do with theirs. They do this with the hopes of moving up in the search engine results pages quicker, and sometimes (unfortunately) they do, but because this practice is frowned on by all the major search engines, this pleasure is usually short-lived. I don't recommend taking this risk unless you are looking to get banned. Instead, I'll tell you the right way to get inbound links: go to a search engine such as Google and type words for products and services that COMPLIMENT but don’t COMPETE WITH yours. Make a list of the sites that seem to get the HIGHEST traffic, and contact those sites first. If you get turned down, don't give up; there are plenty of sites out there, and most of them are undoubtedly in the same position as yourself, and need to build their reciprocal links. Remember, search engine optimization can be a long and slow process, so be patient and keep at it, and eventually you'll see some results!
3) Set up an affiliate program. There are plenty of resources on the web for doing this. You can do a search on any major search engine for "affiliate program" to see some examples.
4) Submit classified ads to online services. Make sure there is a link included either in your ad or on the page somewhere, so that you actually do receive a link back to your site!
5) Write articles. Obviously, this method is going to be slightly more tedious, so it isn't for everyone, although it can be very effective. You can write articles and submit them to webmasters who will link back to your site in return, or put an ad on Craigslist stating that you would be willing to write articles for a reciprocal link. Do make sure that you don't post the same articles on your site that are being posted elsewhere around the Internet, though, as this is viewed as "duplicate content" and can be a big no-no for high search engine rankings.
6) Put your site on rotation. Advertisement rotation, that is. There are plenty of sites out there that will let you pay either per click or a flat rate to place a banner or other advertisement on their page, with a link back to your site. You can use your favorite search engine to find one based on relevant keywords and phrases. I recommend finding a site that has similar or complimentary content to your own (again, avoid your competitors' sites) and preferably choose a site with plenty of visitor traffic and high search engine rankings. Prices, time frames, advertisement size and locations of the ad spot may vary. Many sites also prefer that you create the ad yourself and then send it over to them. If you have questions, be sure to contact the site owner or webmaster for more details.
7) Link-sharing services. This includes sites like delicious.com and Digg, which allow users to recommend blogs and pages that they find helpful. This makes it easier for other users to find your site, gives you credibility for posting useful (or at least interesting) information and - best of all - the search engines crawl these sites and will notice if your site gets recommended. This is a win-win-win situation so encourage your visitors to submit your site to these services!
8) Free For All (FFA) link pages. Did someone say "link farm"? This is not a new technique. In fact, it's been around since the mid-nineties. However, there is conflicting evidence about how much they will improve your traffic. Also, be prepared for inbox flooding; each submission can result in a confirmation email from the FFA site. And most of those emails are full of fun advertisements (read: SPAM). These sites tend to be full of unrelated and often irrelevant links from sites that are merely trying to improve their own search rankings rather than trying to offer valuable content. Therefore, many FFA's and link farms are penalized by the search engines - and presumably, your site could suffer in rankings because of this.
9) Editorial links or interviews. If you are an industry expert, you might be flooded with these requests already. Now here's the advice for the rest of us. You don’t have to be an industry expert to be interviewed for an article – if you’ve done Step #1 correctly. Look through your network and your list of friends. Do any of the people you know have their own sites? If so, contact them and see if they’d be interested in writing about you, your site, your services, or just interviewing you for an upcoming article or blog entry. If you don’t know anyone, go to Step #2 and try to find sites that might be interested in writing or blogging about you. Then contact those sites.
10) Create a site worth visiting. "Wait, Brittany," you might say, "you mean I am actually supposed to keep the visitor in mind when I create my site?" Hey, you, thanks for asking - and the answer is most definitely YES. The internet has changed a lot since the days of Al Gore (ha!) but that part has remained the same, and the search engines all agree. Content is still, and hopefully always will be, king. If you build it, and make it worthwhile with interesting and relevant and useful content, they will come. And maybe, just MAYBE, they'll link to you in return...
Give these tips and tricks a try. Be patient and persistant and you should get some inbound links in no time.