In my previous article, I talked about the general concepts in managing a successful linking campaign. One issue that was left out (intentionally) was how to find those quality sites that make great link partners and how to get them to link to you. The first part of that question is much easier so let’s begin there.
The first step to link building is to get yourself listed on web directories. General search will reveal thousands of them. One good list can be found at http://www.onewaytextlink.com. Directories are a great source for one-way links and can boost your link count fairly quickly.
The most obvious way it to simply dive into the deep end of the search engine pool and start searching for sites related to yours. Of course the sheer number of results is overwhelming and you can waste a lot of time this way. The trick is to narrow your search and this can be done is several ways. One trick is to identify a site in your space that is doing well in the search engines. You can then see who is linking to them and go after those sites for yourself. The easiest way to do this is to go to either Google or Yahoo and type link:wwwthesite.com into the search box. This will give you an incomplete though very helpful listing of sites linking to your example! Go to those sites and get links for yourself!
Also try to expand the scope of “relevancy” for your site. If you are part of a geographic community then consider the Chamber of commerce site, tourist sites, or other local interest blogs.
Another great way to generate links is by doing a press release. These tend to have a cost attached but can be very effective. Usually any story will be picked up by several news sites at the very least. These can also be done often - whenever you have some news?
So how do you convince a site to link to you? The most common way is to engage in link exchanges. While these can help get you off the ground they are generally not that helpful. It would be a much better use of your time to promote your site to the degree that voluntary, one-way links are encouraged.
Some blogs and forums will allow the posting of links in questions and comments. If you decide to use this please me sure that your links are relevant to the discussion at had. This will not only make sure that the moderator doesn’t just delete your post and mark you as a spammer, but also engender you to the community, which will encourage more linking!
Without a doubt, this is perhaps the most difficult aspect of search engine optimization as it takes a lot of work and perseverance. However, it is necessary and the rewards of your labor can be great. Once you have a well linked site, you will notice that more just keep coming in on their own - so don’t despair! and keep plugging away!
