What the Heck is SEO? Series Post 7: Link Building Strategies

10 Sure-Fire Ways to Build Quality Links to Your Website or Blog

In my last two posts in this series, we talked about the critical imortance of both links and keywords.

But once you're aware of the importance of those two things, the next question is always, So where am I supposed to get all these links from? The purpose of this post is to give you some ideas in that regard!

"Where am I supposed to get all these links from?"

Getting a link to your website can be as simple as finding a cool website or blog related to yours, emailing the owner, blogger, or webmaster, and asking "Hey, would you consider linking to my site?". Obviously, when you're just starting out with your off-page SEO and link building efforts, this can be a daunting task. And the fact is, link building is a tedious, time-consuming pain-in-the neck . But it is absolutely essential to success!

"Link building is a tedious, time-consuming pain-in-the neck . But it is absolutely essential to success!"

So where should you start? Below, I've outlined some sources of links that you may or may not be aware of, roughly in order from lower quality but easier to get to hard to get, but very high quality (I'll be talking more about link quality in an upcoming post on Page Rank):

1. Friends and contacts in your field - If you have a business with a website, chances are you have a few friends, relatives, or business associates who also have websites or blogs. Drop them a line (or better yet, call them) and ask nicely for a link! A few potential sources of quality websites in this category that come to mind are:

• Suppliers - If you sell widgets, and you buy all of your widget parts from Widget Warehouse, why not ask them for a link? After all, the more widgets you sell, the more widget parts you'll buy from them!
• Customers - Do you have a few regular customers who want to see you continue to succeed so you can continue to serve their needs? Do they have a website? There you go.
• Partners - If you install drywall, but your buddy Joe always does the framing first, and your pal Steve usually does the painting afterwards - why aren't your websites all linked up so you can share the love?

2. Online forums and communities - Are you active in any online message boards or forums in your industry? Many of these will allow you to put a link in your signature. These are not high quality links, but they couldn't be easier to get. (Note: Please do not join a forum just for the sake of link building - this is called spam and everyone hates it. Rather, join, engage, and be an active participant in these communities. You might actually learn something or make a connection that pays huge dividends. That is the point - the links are secondary.)

3. Competitors in another market - One of the Catch-22's of link-building is you need links from sites that are related to yours, but if the site is related to yours, that often means they are a competitor and aren't likely to want to help you with SEO! Ahh, but what about the competitor in another market? If you sell used cars in Tampa, why not get links from used car dealers in California and Nebraska and Massachussetts...you get the idea!

4. People who linked to your competitors - Now we're getting down to the nitty gritty. Did you know that with just a little effort, you can get a list of all the web pages that have linked to a particular website? One of my favorite tools for this is Wordtracker's Link Builder software (affiliate link - note that they have a 7-day free trial!). You just put in the URL of a website, and bam - you've got a list of all the sites that linked to them. Chances are if they were willing to link to your competition, they can be convinced to link to you as well!

5. Directories - There are millions of directories on the internet. From huge, multi-disciplinary directories such as internet yellow pages to narrow theme-specific directories such as this directory of dog poop scoopers (trust me, if there is a directory for pooper scoopers, there is probably a directory related to your industry as well!).

Directories range from free sites where you just submit your site and it shows up in a day or two, to paid services with different levels of service and exposure based on your membership level. These can be excellent places to get links.

No mention of directories would be complete without a mention of the big three. DMOZ, The Yahoo Directory, and Best of the Web (BOTW) are all large, widely respected directories that search engines have traditionally given lots of weight to*. [I also like NoMoz.org, but opionions vary on how much respect it gets from the major search engines]. These range from free but nearly impossible to get listed in (DMOZ) to very expensive but quick and easy to get listed in (Yahoo).

*Search engines have traditionally given substantial weight to links from established directories for the simple reason that search engines are robots. Conversely, well-run directories are edited by human beings, who at a minimum should ensure that your website is 1) legitimate and 2) listed in the appopriate catagory in their directory. So if the Yahoo Directory lists your site under the category Small Businesses > US > Florida > Tampa Bay > Pinellas County > Home Repair > Plumbing, Google and Bing safely assume that your website is in fact about a Plumber in Pinellas county, Florida. The concept is the same for smaller directories.

6. Chambers of Commerce - Many small business owners are members of their local Chamber of Commerce. But many of these business owners fail to take the logical next step of ensuring their business information and website are listed in the Chamber's online membership directory. Much like internet directories, Google and Bing give a lot of weight to links from Chambers of Commerce. It is almost always worth the extra time and/or additional cost to ensure a link to your website is included with your chamber listing.

7. Press Releases - Assuming you have something of interest to say about your business (a new product or service launch, a new location opening, an award you recently won, an upcoming event you are hosting or sponsoring, etc.), press releases can be an incredibly effective way to get links to your site as well as traffic. A well-written and properly distributed press release can get you mentioned in places such as Yahoo News, Google News, and industry-specific blogs and websites, and can even result in coverage of your news or event by local meda outlets. Check out my press release page for more inofrmation.

8. Blogs and Websites in Your Field - Well, duh! This kind of goes without saying at this point, but you might be surprised at how many bloggers and webmasters maintain a "Blog Roll" and/or a "Links Section" and will happily link to websites or blogs that they feel are of interest to their readers - don't be afraid to ask!

10. Guest Posting - As a small business owner, you have expert advice and experience in your industry that has value. Often, the best way to share that advice is by blogging. If you don't already have a blog of your own, start one.  And once you do, and have spent some time and energy building up the content and readership of your own blog, the next step is to look for opportunities to guest post on other blogs.

"Guest Posting is the holy grail of link-building."

Guest Posting is the holy grail of link-building. By writing a post for a respected blog in your industry, you not only get the customary link back to your own website or blog, but you also get traffic (via said link) to your site from a respected blog in your industry. And the owner of the blog gets free content that keeps readers engaged and interested in their own blog. It truly is a win-win if done correctly. One of the best resources I can offer on how to do it correctly is this e-book on Guest Blogging.

This concludes my rundown of the top ten places to get links to your website. Do you have an 11th? Or a question about how to go about asking for a link? Feel free to leave a comment below!

And stay tuned for my next post about the Top 10 Places Not to Get Links From!

By the way, have you joined The Nifty 150 yet?