The end of the SEO series is nearing…
For those who have missed the previous posts, here’s a bulleted list of what’s been covered:
Link building – that will be the focus of this post. You already know why it’s important. So, let’s look at where to get the links from & how to get them!
Who links to me already?
Before you begin your link building quest, it may be useful to know which sites already link to you.
Use Google Webmaster tools to discover this. That way, you won’t waste your time duplicating links.
So, where do I get links from?
This section will highlight some places you can proactively build links to your website.
1) Authority sites
Remember from last time, authority sites are those with high page rank.
Links from these sites are pivotal to a successful SEO. Your page rank is determined from the page rank of those linking to you – the higher your page rank, the higher you’ll ultimately appear in search results (along with other factors of course!).
2) Directories
There are thousands and thousands of these, so it’s important to be objective whilst selecting which you want to appear in.
Focus on the most relevant ones; sector-specific or local.
3) Forums
Again, focus on those specific to your area of expertise.
Forums are about helping people and offering advice.
Not only can this be a great way to get your name out there as an industry expert, but links back to your site can help with your SEO too!
4) Blogs
As ever, focus should be placed upon those blogs relevant to your industry.
Blogs can be a great way to increase links to your site and give you exposure from a site related to your product/service offering.
And, how do I get these links?
Submission:
This will primarily be for the directories. Remember to ensure you have submitted your company website to the right category here… It can often be confusing so it’s worth making sure!
Contacting:
Probably the most effort out of all ways to link build BUT when put relative to the quality of the links you can achieve through this process – it can be way worth the extra effort!
To finish off…
Another tip to help you build links before you go:
Creating link bait is a great tactic for getting links without having to proactively hunt them down yourself.
In a nutshell, it involves trying to get other sites to link to you because they want to, based on your site content. Examples of this may be including informational hooks, humorous content and useful tools, such as the free Bradford Factor tool on the e-days site.
Together with all other posts in this series, I hope this gets you well on your way to achieve higher rankings in SERP’s. Good luck with your SEO efforts!