Link Building Helps to Save Money and Build Network

No. This is not the same tips and stories about effective link building. But these are the latest top 10 tips which I feel has evolved and changed as history passed by. I have come up with this post now as, I feel that building links ourselves is far much better than giving it to an agency to do it. So, here the tips that will explain in more detail:

1. You need to be more interested in links on basis of merit and not their numbers: As you already have your main keyword handy, type the keyword in Google search box and check for the top 3 or 5 sites which are your competitors. For example say www.competitor.com is the website which is ranked #1. Now try to see on which websites this competitor is listed on. Now search for link:www.competitor.com and links:www.competitor.com in Google. You will get a list of sites were this competitor is listed. Analyze the sites and see if they are relevant to your business and check if you can request them to provide you a link. This is tedious but it helps. Be sure that the partner website should not be a link farm else, it will not add any value. Good links are live votes. So be very conscious while selecting link partners.


2. You can only know what to lay focus on as you know your site specific needs: Once you have the list of websites with whom you can request for links, start submitting your sites to those websites and/or send an email to them. Let the anchor text has your main keyword. Have the description different for the websites as far as possible. See if the website content is in synergy with your website. You know your business very well. So, you are the right judge to identify the websites and the description that has to be used.


3. Home is not always sweet: It is not necessary that you have to get links only for the home page. But, you can get links for inner pages as well, if you think the content of the inner page has more synergy with the partner website rather than the home page.


4. Slow and steady wins the race here too: Get only 3 or 4 links per week. Not more. If the link building activities is outsourced then the service provider will only try to get as many links possible in a short span to finish the project. This can be penalized by Google.


5. Articles do matter: Best way is to write good articles with original content created by you. With a link or two linking to the related information on your website. And submit to websites which take article submissions.


6. Commenting on Blogs to get the link. Selfish? Subscribe to good blogs which is related to your business. Read the posts on these blogs regularly. Apart from just learning more about your business, you will find an “opportunity” to comment on the posts on these blogs with a link back to your website. Yes. Opportunity in quotes. Don’t go on submitting comments on blogs using the usual dialogue, “I like your post. Also read more about this on my website”. This will not help and will be deleted by the author. Better use a meaning full and real comment and provide your authentic feedback and share your ideas too along with the relevant link to your website.


7. Participating in Discussions and Forums: Identify good forums and register yourself. Participate in the discussions and make your voice heard. Have a link to your website in the signature.


8. Answering to questions too helps: Answer questions on social networking websites like LinkedIn, Facebook…etc. You are not only increasing your business network here but you will also learn the questions which the people have pertaining to your interest but, you can also provide a link back to your websites in your answers if it is relevant to do so. You will also open more business avenues through networking.


9. Ever wondered a tweet can be heard aloud: Yes. Tweet and many people will hear it. Use Twitter.com and have people following you. Put up a status related to your business with a link back. This may not help for building links for Google but will make people visit your website and may help in long run. May be a follower will like your website and will provide a link back to you. You can try FriendFeed as well.


10. Provide attractive bookmarks to readers to allow them to mark the page if they want to return back later: Returning visitors matter a lot. As in business it goes – To find a new customer takes more effort than getting business from an existing customer. So, provide easy to use and free to use tools to bookmark your websites. Make them easy to use and share sites like Digg, Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Mixx…etc. Also, use RSS to provide the people know about the updates on your websites.

So, if you do the link building activities yourself, you are not only saving thousands of dollars during this recession period, you are learning more about your business and increasing your network. Who knows after visiting those websites and blogs, you may come up with a novel idea to expand your business. Doing this, you are not only building quality links for your website, but you are building business network and planning for new business strategies for the future which is worth the time-spend.