How To Build Links – The Basics

Despite being in the era of personalization and geo-location in search, one of the most important factors of developing and securing top search engine positions are the number of inbound links pointing to your site. Exactly, it’s not about internal linking structure, keyword density, or the presence or absence of meta tags – it’s about getting websites to link to yours. While those mentioned are still important, they are not the ones that will get you ranking high on the SERPs. So how do you plan and organize your link building campaign?

Link building hasn’t really changed much over the past and it probably won’t, any sooner either. It involves getting other Web sites to link to your site. Having the right mindset and a little bit of creativity, is what will separate the high-rankers from the low or non-rankers at all.

In the eyes of search engines, what matters most are both the quality and quantity of recommendations (links) your website receives. It’s not about making sure your site is worth a link, but rather, it’s about going out and getting them. Once you understand this concept, we are now ready to look at a few basic link building tactics, that you can (or should) deploy.

Write and Submit Press Releases Regularly: You very well might have the next big thing since Google or that next amazing product that will leave iPhone to the dust, however, if no one knows about it then you’re pretty much hiding it in a bunker. One way to spread the word is through the use of press releases. If you are not yet familiar with this concept, either Google it, or stay tuned for my next post which will run you through the basics of writing and submitting press releases.

If you already know what I am talking about, then build a working list of established media outlets and bloggers, and grab their attention (politely) through every means possible, including on social networks (e.g. broadcasting on BlogCatalog). Make it a point to send out press releases regularly, to your list directly via email or using free services such as Free Press Release, FPRCenter, or PRLog.org. Once you get the attention, sites will start linking to yours naturally.

Become a Guest Blogger: One of the easiest ways to get attention on the blogosphere, regardless of the niche you are in, is to work for free:). I know that this idea might go against every single rule in your book, but the value of doing something (which in itself is extremely valuable) for someone else works, and it works very well indeed. Being a guest blogger has the opportunity to build a viable relationship with an audience that is not their own. Pursue to be a guest blogger a few times, if only to test the waters. Identify blogs which you think your message can be valuable to and offer to share your expertise in exchange for a link or even some form of advertising. Take the idea of guest blogging by going one step further and recruit your own guest bloggers – you’ll be amazed at what kind of promotional effort people can put in on your behalf.

HINT: Guest Bloggers Wanted Here! If you are interested, just drop me a short note and we’ll take it from there.

Share Your Insights Through Commenting: One of my favorite activities is writing comments on blogs that I find interesting, while hopping around the blogosphere. While the traffic that commenting sends is not the best for providing conversions, the benefit of course is that you are identified as a participant in a conversation, which positively impacts your future link building prospects. If by chance the blog you leave a comment on uses “follow” links instead of “no-follow” links, all the better for your link building efforts.

A suggestion to everyone. Commenting, when done properly, is a powerful tactic not only to build links, drive traffic but most importantly gain credibility. Do not SPAM and please leave meaning comments. Remember that if it is the first time you are leaving a comment on someone’s blog, the owner will most likely have their flags waving all over the place and verify if your comment is useful or not. If you get tagged as a “blah” commenter, you will never get a comment approved on that blog again. Great info, nice post, thanks for sharing, thumbs up, and the sorts are NOT comments. Take me as an example, I only approve this kind of Tweets from someone who already has given their support or meaningful comment before on my blog.

Create Authority Documents and Share Socially: An authority document is one that people look to for guidance on a) how to do something, b) how to do something better, or c) Tutorials. As I said before, having something great will not drive people automatically to your site on its own merit. You must share that information through an active network of friends and colleagues to make it stick in the Web’s sphere of influence. This is one of the reasons why I make it a point to spend time on social sites such as BlogCatalog, and micro-blogging communities like Twitter and social networks like Facebook. These are opportunities where one can share their ideas and their content. Remember that authority does not happen overnight. Develop one good authority document each month and, build out your social profile and share your content on social networks as much as possible.

Do you have any other link building ideas? Please do share them with us.