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Ways to Build
Your Sites Link Popularity
Eventually I
suspect the search engines will move away from links as
a measure of how popular your site is, but as of this writing
links are still king. The tips below are ways to help build
up quality links to your site.
Building Natural
Links to Your Site
1. Make sure
your content is link worthy. Good sites with unique
content really do get natural links. Try to find topics,
or at least angles of topics, that have not already been
covered extensively on the Internet. Here are some ideas:
- Take a class
and write about your experience.
- Buy a nice
camera and develop an online tutorial with pictures.
- Interview
an expert in your field.
- Write book
reviews on the newest book in your field.
- Go to conference
and post your notes online.
2. Try buying
pay per click advertising. The more exposure you can
get for your site, the more people will see your site and
the more chance you have of obtaining natural links.
3. Participate
in forums related to your topic and put your link in your
signature. While most search engines have discounted
forum links, popular forums can still bring in traffic which
just may turn into natural links. Follow the forum guidelines
and make genuine contributions. The best forums are those
that are very specific to your sites topic. For example,
if you have a site on where to find parts to restore antique
Ford automobiles, you are going to get more visitors, from
a site on restoring old Fords than you would from a site
on automobiles in general.
4. If you
have an informational site, write extensively on how to
solve common problems related to your topic. It increases
your chances of getting linked to from advice and how to
sites.
5. When starting
out with new sites, don't go after any super competitive
terms. Go after niche terms and two to four word phrases.
You can often rank on these kinds of terms without having
a lot of links.
6. Buy ads
in related site's newsletters. Some sites keep old copies
of their newsletter archived online, so besides the initial
traffic burst when the newsletter is distributed, they will
also give you an online link. Even if you don't get an online
link, by exposing your site to targeted newsletter readers
you may pick up some additional visitors who may give you
unsolicited links.
7. Create
a resource library in your office with background material
for your syndicated articles. Personally, I love to
collect books. When we pass a book sale, my kids tell my
husband to speed up so they don't have to wait while I shop
for books. I have crates of books and articles stored all
over the house sorted by topic area. When I need to write
articles for one of my sites, I just pull out the appropriate
crates.
8. Watch the
flashing monkeys and the pop ups. People may not link
to your site if it seems overly commercial. An abundance
of ads may mean more money in the short term, but in the
long term you may not get a lot of natural links, especially
links from coveted .gov and .edu sites.
9. Have other
people who can give objective opinions review your site
to make sure it is a high quality site. Don't ask your mom,
spouse or kids because they can't really be objective. I've
noticed that sometimes it is hard for people to be realistic
about the quality of their own sites, like all of the people
on American Idol who think they can sing but really can't.
Try to find a Simon Cowell of the Internet world to review
your web site for you and pay attention to his advice.
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