If content is king, then linking is the queen that shares his throne. We have all heard about adding content to your site to give the search engines fodder to consume. But the secret to luring the search engines is the links to your site. Today's search engines look very carefully and critically at who is linking to you, and what it is that they are saying about you. A link from a leader in your industry carries a lot of weight and means that your site is important. Two links from industry leaders means your site is even more important. 100 links from random web sites, from industries you are not even related with, means almost nothing. Thus, getting links is only the start; the important thing is getting good links from quality web sites.
Why do links matter?
Since the arrival of Google and their PageRank, search engines have put a lot of weight on links to a site. There used to be simple ways to get good rankings: Meta tags, titles, keyword density, etc? Today, things have become more complex, with search engines now using a very complicated algorithm that involves:
To use a rather appetizing analogy, these new criteria are added to the stew that is your site, along with the quality and quantity of the content. Left to simmer on the worldwide web, this stew is then eaten up by the search engines depending on how well your site matches the aforementioned criteria. Put differently, the king and queen must join together to turn your site into a number one result.
How do we get links?
It all starts with content. No one will link to you unless you offer quality information about a particular subject. If you are in real estate, you must offer information about the area you sell. If someone wants to buy in your area, first s/he will want to learn about it, so you will need to have good resources about that area. The next step is to find new sites that would benefit from your site's information; new sites whose clients would potentially buy your real estate. For example, one of our clients (www.monlac.com) sells real estate in the Laurentians area of Quebec. Their site has content on activities in Quebec and the nearby Laurentian mountains. Thus, we will be soliciting links from web sites such as the nearby water parks and ski hills, nearby towns, lake and boating associations, and local construction web sites to name just a few. To these web sites, not only will linking to www.monlac.com make their customers happier, but it is in their best interest that the site sells real estate since it brings in more business for them.
How do you solicit links?
To solicit sites you have to use a lot of elbow grease. Send out personalized emails to these sites. Don't send out mass emails or spam. Be friendly, and point out the benefits of linking to your site. If you are lucky, maybe 1 in 3 emails will get a response. It is frustrating and discouraging, but keep your spirits up. Many times a site is perfect but they don't ever update it, so your site won't get the link in because nothing ever changes on the solicited site. Don't waste too much time on sites that haven't been updated in years. It is also important to follow up. Until you get a flat out denial, keep saying "Hi", and keep it personal. Keep track of who you have contacted and what you have written or said because you have to make it seem like they are the only person you are contacting. As soon as they get a sniff that you are sending out a mass email, or that you are using the exact same approach with other sites, you will probably lose their respect - and their business!
Do not forget to submit to the directories such as the Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.org), because getting listed here counts for a lot in all the big search engines. Take your time and choose the right category to submit to. Also, read about how they want their descriptions and titles written, and write them that way. These are the keys to getting into the directories.
Soliciting links is a very time-consuming (and frustrating) venture, but it is essential to getting good rankings in the search engines. It takes a lot of patience and a lot of time. Getting your first link is like getting your first sale. It is just as hard - and just as satisfying.
Good luck,
About The Author
Shawn Campbell is an enthusiastic player in the ecommerce marketplace, and co-founded Red Carpet Web Promotion, Inc. (www.monlac.com). He has been researching and developing marketing strategies to achieve more prominent listings in search engine results since 1998. Shawn is one of the earliest pioneers in the search engine optimization field. Contact: www.monlac.com
executive chauffeured services Bradford .. Madison to Airport carWhether you are an affiliate marketer, a website designer or... Read More
Traffic Exchanges. What are they? How do they work? What... Read More
This day 4 of "Free Traffic Course" is devoted to... Read More
Five tips to effectively schedule your content.In order to get... Read More
Viral Marketing DefinedIt is allowing others to giveaway and use... Read More
(Continued from Using Traffic Exchange Programs Part 2)Hello again!In the... Read More
Many websites have great ideas, excellent content, brilliant deals and... Read More
All too often I find site owners are confused (or... Read More
PageRank (PR) is Google's way of measuring the quality and... Read More
In the old days of the internet, links were the... Read More
It's a strange world, this place we call the internet.... Read More
1. Make all or part of your site into a... Read More
Have you spent a lot of money on advertising with... Read More
Why would you pay for advertising if you could just... Read More
I am not a web designer or search engine optimizer,... Read More
Some of the best advertising available online would be getting... Read More
If you agree that traffic is the true currency of... Read More
OK boys and girls. Today we're having a pop quiz.I... Read More
To increase web site traffic, you first need determination, a... Read More
Webmasters understand that quality and relevant inbound links can increase... Read More
You can create more traffic for you and your business... Read More
Did you know that according to alexa, www.eBay.com is ranked... Read More
I bet you already knew this.The two largest problems that... Read More
Just imagine ... your website having high PageRank and a... Read More
There are two types of tools I sometime use to... Read More
O'Hare Chicago prom limo ..The keyword marketing guide to a linking strategy that packs... Read More
Nowadays, we have created numerous methods so as to bring... Read More
To increase web site traffic, you first need determination, a... Read More
1. Make all or part of your site into a... Read More
Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this topic outlined some... Read More
The future of online business rest in one word: traffic.... Read More
PageRank (PR) is Google's way of measuring the quality and... Read More
As a home business, one of the ways you probably... Read More
Part 27. Ezine Ads - create an ad for your... Read More
Traffic exchanges are everywhere. A traffic exchange is a clever... Read More
It's about time someone let the cat out of the... Read More
The number one problem new website owners have is, "How... Read More
Have you spent a lot of money on advertising with... Read More
The importance of link popularity is widely known and many... Read More
You have a website, beautiful in design and unique in... Read More
Not so long ago I had read an article about... Read More
3 years ago when I started trying to make money... Read More
>When many of my clients first come to me for... Read More
Traffic. We all know that without it our sites will... Read More
This is part two of an article series which will... Read More
Most webmasters keep their prized web traffic generating systems to... Read More
It official Yahoo has dropped Google and will be using... Read More
The one thing that any new Webmaster hears when searching... Read More
If you've been on the internet very long at all,... Read More
The desire of every webmaster and in fact anybody with... Read More
Traffic Building |