Link Building Strategies

The purpose of link building is to improve your search engine ranking and attract potential customers. But do not concentrate on link building at the expense of your website. If your site is so unusable that it doesn't convert customers then there is little point in being number 1 in the search engine ranking. On the other hand, there is no point in having a killer site if nobody can find you. As in all thing webby, you need balance.

There are three types of link associated with websites: Internal, Inbound and Outbound.

Internal Links

Internal links are those that link your pages together. A well structured site will have a primary navigation system that doesn't change from page to page. In addition there are usually inline links (within the main content).

For example: on this page the primary navigation is below the logo and is the same on every page. The articles all have an identical navigation list on the right.

Your internal linking strategy is vital if you want to keep your visitors happy - so here are a few navigation tips.

Outbound Links

Outbound links are those that lead to other websites. Many blogs, forums and information sites use outbound links to refer to related material. Other outbound links come from advertising boxes and banners.

Outbound links can take customers away from your website but they do form part of a good link building strategy as long as the links are relevant. Linking from a cooking site to a plumber does nothing for your credibility and the search engines certainly won't be impressed.

I've put most of my outbound links in a resources page. Make sure you provide additional text to provide value, a link without a reason for its existence won't help your ranking.

Inbound Links

Inbound links are those where other websites link to you. These are the absolute best type of link to have if you want to improve your search engine ranking. But there are a whole load of pitfalls to gaining inbound links that can seriously harm your website.

The Natural Link

The crème de la crème of inbound links is from a popular, high ranking site. They are not easy to get but well worth the effort. Building an content-rich site full of material that people want to visit is a sure fire way to get noticed. Make yourself known to the super-site and if they like what they see will link to you. But do not ever self promote:

Hey, just found your site - awesome. I sell watches, www.cheapwatch.com. Link to me and maybe I help you keep time!

It's no better than spam and won't achieve anything.

Far better to let them find you - and they will, just don't expect it to happen overnight. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for some ideas on how to promote your site.

Search Engine Links

The main problem with search engines is that unless you are prepared to spend money on sponsored links you have no automatic right to be listed. But what you can do is provide a helping hand.

Find yourself a niche and promote the keywords that relate to that particular field of interest and you will eventually get visitors via the search engines. Remember though that the more common the keyword the less likely you are to stand out from the crowd.

If your site is sufficiently interesting or informative then natural links will follow - it just takes time.

The name often given to improving your ranking is Search Engine Optimization.

Paid for Links

Next up are the paid links. The most common are those sponsored adverts that have infested many websites and the 'adwords' type link you see in most of the search engine results pages.

Nothing wrong with these types of link - except they are not free and have a very limited value unless your site is useful, informative and delivers what the visitors expects. There is little point in paying for a link unless you have a site that people want to visit.

Note also that paid for links will not necessarily improve you ranking - most of the search engines no longer consider paid-for links during the indexing process. So don't bother with any directory that requires a monthly subscription unless it bring you lots of traffic.

Directory Submission

The next type of inbound link is the directory submission.

Don't rely on most of the free directories to get you lots of traffic. Most of them are rarely visited and are of such low quality that any link is almost worthless. And don't ever link to a directory that demands a reciprocal link (see below).

There are some worthwhile directories. Some require payment for inclusion and some are human edited (so don't expect overnight results).

Things to look out for are listed in this excellent article from SEOmoz.

Reciprocal or Exchange Links

The bottom of the pile is the reciprocal link. This where you swap links with another site. They have zero value. Worse than that, the search engines actively penalize sites that practice link exchanging. Do not swap links. Ever.

Promoting your site.

Lots of ways you can do this.

  • Join forums and write useful posts - you may need to wait a while but you will be able to add your URL to your signature. Warning: many forums don't allow signatures to be indexed.
  • Build a blog. And write interesting/useful/informative articles.
  • Write articles and submit them to article sites (or do it yourself like I do).
  • Issue press releases telling the world what you are doing.
  • Provide educational material that schools and universities can use (for free).
  • Build tools and applications that others find useful.
  • Keep adding fresh content to your site with lots of internal and outbound links.

Summary

The key to a successful link building strategy is to start with a website that people will want to visit again and again. If the site is popular you will soon begin to build up links from around the world. But if you concentrate on the easy options you will languish way down the ranking along with everybody else.

Effective link building is not easy - and the search engines aren't going to give you top slot unless you have earned it.

Resources:

Eric Ward Link Moses: netpost.com

The Ultimate Link Building Guide: copyblogger.com

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