Congratulations! You are the proud owner of a new Website for your business or non-profit group. Now what? Just because you spent thousands of dollars (sometimes) on creating this great looking, content rich Website doesn’t mean you will instantly garner the attention you want.
You need much more than just a Website to get traffic online, appear within the top pages of the search engines and make money or get sponsors. You need to have an ethical
link building campaign. Content and one way links are the keys to success online.
Link building, you ask? Yes, link building. It’s like giving a free ticket to everyone to come visit your Website and purchase your products or services or get information. You want people to find you online, right? Ok, here are a few ways to get those links coming to you and their advantages, as suggested by the trusted folks at Search Engine Watch.
1. Link internally. Always start with your Website first. Have you seen Websites that have a phrase underlined or in bold that links to another page on their Website? Yes, those are called internal links. Search engines like those and it helps increase your page rank, for those who still think that this is valuable.
Here’s an example of a Website with internal link building:
Jack Levy Sales If you have any questions about our inventory of wholesale novelties merchandise and licensed products or are having difficulty placing an order for our novelties and gifts using the order cart, please call us. Remember, you can still fax, email or call in your order for wholesale novelties merchandise and licensed products if you prefer.
2. Submit to free search engine friendly link directories. This is where we differ in opinion with SEW. We see the increased value of link building and search results with continous submissions to link directories. It’s not a “field of dreams” with link building; you must do it every month and follow the stated guidelines. Don’t overdue it and be diligent. Assign someone else to do it for you if necessary, as long as they do it ethically. (See note at bottom regarding black/white hat tactics for link building.)
3. Paid and reciprocal links. Remember that free ticket I was talking about earlier? Well, paid links are like offering a ticket to people, except they have to pay for it or they have to give you a ticket in return to their store. The dilemna? Is that ticket (link) really that valuable and would you want to buy something from that other store? For example, if you are an automotive parts retailer and you want to have one page on your Website with links to all the business and car dealers that you sell to – that would be great because you are helping to promote those businesses as well. Of course you would want the favor returned by seeing a link to your Website on those businesses and car dealerships as well, but what if they don’t reciprocate? See my point? If you decide to do this, ensure these links are valuable to your industry and purpose and you get back what you put out there.
4. Get .Gov/.Edu extensions. According to Search Engine Watch, “these are the holy grail of links and have a massive impact on increasing Website rank.” Whew! If we only we could get more of these links, whether you’re endorsing a political candidate or you’re sponsoring a school, this would be a great way to see your site rise up in the ranks in the search engines. However, don’t do it if it goes against your moral convictions or political opinions.
5. Linking social media networks. If you have a Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, FriendFeed or any other social network that you use to market your business or non-profit (no personal accounts please), these are the goldmine in a link building campaign. Since most of these social networks are now indexed by the search engines, you have the Indy 500 of providing links to masses of people for free! Whether you share a bit.ly, ow.ly or long link to your Website or one of your inside pages, you have the potential of doing this on a daily or hourly basis! Just don’t overdo it with sales or junk, people will unfriend you and you’ll lose your reputation online. (Not what you want for link building successful)
6. Entice visitors – give them hook, line and sinker. Also referred to as link baiting, it’s a method of providing really great content, tools, a freebie, a coupon or something that has real value to your customers and visitors. It should be so great, that an audience would share it with others. Think of those billboard signs “Free coffee with fill up” or my favorite from Payless shoes, “BOGO” (buy one get one 1/2 off). Change your tactic often enough that people will bookmark your site and have a reason to come back.
7. Extra, Extra, Read All About Me! Newspaper readership may be diminishing, but news is not. Submit a press release to online PR sites such as PR Newswire or PR Web to generate more one way links. Creating a new Website is news, so is hosting an event or food drive or hiring a new employee. Always ensure your press release is newsworthy and useful. If done so with properly, press releases will be picked up by a variety of news sources across many regions and this will increase your link building strategy online.
**A note about black hat and white hat link building strategies. Remember the Wicked Witch of the West? She’s the black hat in link building. Just because you can do something easier, doesn’t mean it’s better in the realm of the search engines. And Glenda, the good witch, she’s the white hat in link building. Follow the rules, do it consistently and be ethical about how you do it and you’ll get a higher rank in Google and other search engines.**
What should you do now? Make a list of all the places you want to link to, develop a link building strategy, assign a team or SEO firm to help you with your link building campaign and get started!
