Tag Archives: seo

Webmastering

Popular and easy ways to get backlinks

Lately, more and more webmasters are discussing about different ways for getting backlinks to their websites while anyone is aware that a certain website will rank higher on search engines only if a lot of quality backlinks are pointing to it, as votes. Although there is a great debate in webmasters’ world whether certain links are worthy or not, this article will show you some methods of gaining a few good links. Remember, this is not for spamming but for building links gradually, sharing useful thoughts and participating in the community related to your niche.

First we should talk a little about the importance of nofollow links. Though less people consider these links important, they must be a part of anyone’s link building campaign while it will look more natural in search engines’ eyes. Second, even though nofollow does not pass PR, we all know the page rank is less important these days and anything that can help our rankings is way better than a higher PR.

Let’s first start with blog comments. The opinions on this subject vary from people that do not trust in links from blog comments to those that rely on blog comments for their whole link building campaign. Blog comments are not only good for links but also if one shares thoughtful comments that contribute to a post the chances of becoming an authority in his niche is higher. Related to blog comments, another great debate is whether .edu and .gov links carry more weight than regular .com and others. While Matt Cutts claims Google values .edu and .gov links as regular links, it is better to have its than not. Going further, finding related .edu blogs that you can make a comment on is easier when using advanced Google queries like site :.edu « niche » blog like for example site :.edu golf clubs blog. But again, do not spam your link on those blogs but only share what you think on that subject and bring value to the post you comment on.

Another great way for gaining links and exposure are RSS Feed Directories. Whenever a blog post is added a new link in added also in the Feed Directories you have listed your feed to. Moreover, there are even social networks that allow adding feeds, such as MyBlogLog, Squidoo and so on. There are literally thousands of Feed Directories available, easy find for anyone doing a Google search.

Social bookmarking is also a good method for gaining links and getting a new website indexed quite fast. Moreover, creating a mind-blowing post that gets thousands of diggs for example will get you not only a handful of new visitors but also the desired backlinks.

Press releases and article marketing, although they will not get so many value links its cannot be left aside while it is all about exposure. More than that, a well written press release that catches media attention could get syndicated in thousands of other places, meaning not only thousands of links but also visitors interested to find more about your company/services/blog.

Link Baiting is like any webmaster’s Nirvana, is what SEO gurus promote and what Matt Cutts says is best for getting quality links. A great method for creating link bait is by creating a contest or a giveaway, let’s say person that gets the most re-tweets wins the prize. You will get an incredible exposure in the online communities.

Of course there are many other ways of getting backlinks however these are quite popular among webmasters nowadays and also they are not so time consuming as let’s say creating a detailed report about something related to your niche that gets links while it worth that. That does not mean one should not use each and any methods available while diversity is best when doing a link building campaign.

Webmastering

5 popular methods to create a link building strategy

As for any business, link building could mean nothing with the right strategy to apply and to become a success.Whatever you would try in an aleatory way, might be lucky and succeed, but most of the times without a plan all the link building efforts will fail.

Here are some lines on which a person could create a whole link building strategy.

First, we have my favourite, the competition check. Best tools for finding what your competition does for links are Yahoo’s siteexplorer and SEO SpyGlass. Just by checking their URL you will discover a lot of interesting thing about how they approach their link building campaign. Are they buying links, exchanging or submitting to directories? Do they comment on blogs? Are they more into article marketing? How many press releases have they released? These are just some questions for which you will get answers by doing this check.

Second, there is the keyword research. One of the best ways to find gaps and cover them by ranking your long tailed keywords on Google’s top page. There are several tools that can be used for keyword research, choosing which one to use strictly depends on each and anyone’s taste. Obviously, see who ranks better for a keyword, analyze their on-page SEO and go back to first method and check their link building efforts.

Here comes the next strategy, and this is strictly related to whether you are looking to promote your services/products on local market or international. There are literally hundreds of local directories or local classifieds websites that allow placing a link in company’s profile, or even if they do not, a free listing is always good while you cannot have too much exposure when it comes to online. Do not forget about important listings like the ones in Yellow Pages, Thomson Local, Google Places (now Maps) and so on.

The non-commercial and authority websites strategy it is more difficult than the ones above while although you get a lot of exposure and link juice from this kind of websites, it is harder to get into their pages. The best method to approach would be to offer something they need, usually well-documented articles, research papers and so on. Let’s say you are in the “furniture” business. With just a search for “furniture associations” and “furniture organisations” you have some interesting results that could become a great place for a link. Being in the same niche, strictly related to what you are offering and having a great authority in furniture industry makes those links a goldmine for your business. The examples could continue, but you probably got the point.

Last, but not least, is the link bait. The link bait is the most popular link building method among link builders while it is considered a great way to gather natural links. It actually means creating something that can be talked about and, in the end, linked. From just a contest that spreads through blogging networks to even writing something bad about a company/well-known person, a successful link bait will always attract traffic, fans, links and, why not, haters.

Although these strategies are very time consuming and sometimes require a medium-large budget – if you do not have the necessary time to do it yourself – you cannot go wrong with its. Are there any other strategies that I missed and should I have written about? Share your thoughts below.