Search engines always give precedence to websites with plenty of inbound links, and especially to those that don’t have as many outbound or “return” links.
So a good way to help raise your search engine ranking is to increase the number of your inbound links, without giving away return or reciprocal links.
Here are some ways to help you do that:
1. ADD YOUR WEBSITE URL TO A GOOD DIRECTORY
Submitting your website to a variety of directories is a great online marketing strategy. It gives you immediate links which the search engines love. Plus you usually get control of your anchor text (the underlined words), so you can link keywords back to your website which will also increase your ranking. If you have $299, Yahoo will list you in their directory so you can get a powerful traffic jump there. Being a “new” site, you’ll sit at the top of its category. You can also choose a list of about a dozen quality directories and pay the submission fees—we think it’s worth it, or else you’ll be waiting forever to start ranking. Here are some of the better directories. When picking on your own, try to stay away from directories with too much advertising:
There are many local directories all around the country—small town, state or region-wide. There are also many vertical directories, covering specific niches. Find these at
www.ISEDB.com.
2. INTERVIEW AN EXPERT
Interviewing an expert in your field—the industry of your online business—and then publishing the interview on your website (or on your site’s blog) is also a good idea. Besides providing good content, the expert will most probably agree to put a link on his site to the interview on your site, which will give you a link from a trusted site. This holds a ton of weight with the search engines.
3. PUBLISH AN ARTICLE ONLINE
In these crazy days of mass advertising inundation, we have grown to trust advertisements less and less. But one thing we do trust is free information, especially if it is useful and honest. So instead of paying money for an ad, publish a useful article related to your field. Try to get it onto a few popular websites and then get links back to your site.
PRWeb.com,
URLWire.com, and
GoArticles.com will publish a well-written and informative article, so you may want to start there.
4. HELP A NON-PROFIT WEBSITE IN EXCHANGE FOR A LINK FROM THEIR SITE TO YOURS
Here’s your chance to do something good for others who are doing good for others themselves. Not everything in this world is money, and karma has a way of being “instant” sometimes. For example, why not help out—in some way—a non-profit organization. In exchange, ask them for a link to your site. Not sure how you can help? Just think about it. What skills do you have that you can offer a non-profit? Are you a writer? Write an article for them for free. Are you a web designer? Design a page of their website. Can you cook? Do you have any connections that can help them?
5. ASK YOUR COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IF THEY GIVE LINKS TO ALUMNI SITES
Remember how much your college education cost? Sure, you got something useful out of it. But everything was expensive. You often wondered why in their bathrooms they didn’t charge a quarter to open the stalls—like they do in Europe! Well, now is your chance to get something back. Ask your college alumni association to link to your website or just strike up a conversation with the office manager. You’ll be surprised at how many services they provide both on and offline.
6. JOIN USEFUL FORUMS RELATED TO YOUR BUSINESS
This may sound time-consuming, but it’s really not, and it can net you some instant traffic. Contribute some useful comments, strike up a conversation, and show that you are interesting and full of ideas—people will always respond to others who have something intelligent to say. Your signature should include a link back to your site.
7. ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE LOCAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE?
Maybe you should be. Even if you’re not a member, it’s a good idea to know who is in charge. They usually have free events and often membership can mean getting some valuable business. See if they give links to member sites.
8. SIGN UP FOR GOOGLE OR YAHOO ALERTS
Discover which websites link to your competitors, and ask for a link to your site also. This strategy of shadowing your competition is a good one in general. You want to be seen exactly where your competition is being seen. You want to shadow them as much as possible—but you want to do more. Once you’re parallel, then you have to surge ahead and get listed in places they’re not.
9. DO YOU HAVE A BLOG ON YOUR WEBSITE?
If so, then you have a great weapon in your arsenal for getting good website traffic. Not only will a blog help your search engine ranking, but it can also bring some loyal traffic and clients. Syndicate it out and let other sites promote your site Visit
FeedRollPro.com or
RSS-locator.com to list your blog.
10. JOIN SOME SOCIETIES OR ASSOCIATIONS RELEVANT TO YOUR BUSINESS
Many give links to their members. Besides being a good way to meet people and partner with companies that offer complementary services, you can learn and keep up-to-date on the goings-on in your field or industry.
These simple ideas will help you get free inbound links, without giving a link in return. There are plenty more ways that are a bit more complicated and more involved. But once you begin and become more sophisticated as to the intricacies of getting traffic to your site, you’ll have a solid foundation upon which to build.
© All Access Unlimited, LLC. All Rights Reserved. All Access Unlimited provides high conversion web design, action generating copywriting, and results-driven marketing to companies across the world. Building your web presence, expanding and intensifying your content, creating and executing an effective online marketing strategy—these are just a selection of AAU’s services. Coming from traditional design backgrounds, specialized marketing training, and real-life N.Y.C. business experience, AAU can help your organization expand and grow in the American and world markets: .
