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LinkingHow To Get Links Without Asking
Ken McGaffin | Contributing Writer@ Web Pro NewsSending out link requests is a time-consuming business. So wouldn't it be wonderful if other sites linked to you without being asked?
Sound impossible? Well, it can be done and here are ten strategies to prove it. Why not start 2005 by making sure you use them?
In a link building campaign, you have to find target websites in the first place, review them to decide if asking for a link is worthwhile, identify the contact person and send them a customized link request. If you can do all that in 15 minutes per request, you'll be doing very well. On that timing, you'll be able to send out 160 requests in a 40 hour week and with a success rate of say 10%, you'll get 16 links for your efforts.
Perhaps there is a better way to spend those 40 hours.
Sometimes the best way to get links is not to ask for them. That doesn't mean you should sit back, do nothing and wait for links to appear. Spend time creating content and making your site as attractive and easy to link to as possible. There are lots of things you can do to build your link popularity without sending out link requests.
Here are some suggestions:
- Make it clear on your own website that you want links - ask for them
directly and make it easy for people to link by writing the linking code
for them (using keyword phrases in linking text of course). Explain why it
will help: "If you've found this site useful, please link to us so that
others can benefit".
- Play an active part in online discussion groups and forums. Not only
will you learn, but you'll become known and will spot the movers and shakers
- and if your people post good opinions and helpful advice, people will link
to you.
- Publish a regular newsletter and republish the content on your website.
Encourage people to link by asking, "if you've enjoyed this newsletter, you
can link to the permanent version at (insert URL)".
- Publish articles on other websites - ezines, information sites, media
sites, even article banks. This works well. You can find site to submit
articles to by doing a Google search, e.g. -
intitle:"submit an article" business
- this produces over 1,000 results. Spend time looking for niche ezines and
newsletters that serve your market, scan the type of content they
publish and adapt your writing to their style.
- Create an interactive tool. My favourite of old was 'The longevity text'.
You answered about 20 questions and the tool predicted at what age you would
be likely to die. Irresistible - I still remember that my prediction was 83.
The test was designed and published by an insurance company - could they
have been trying to sell me a pension? A little bit of creativity in thinking
about such tools will be time well spent and a good programmer will be able
to create a tool in just a few hours.
- Create great content. (OK, it's an old trick, but it still works) Just
keep publishing great stuff. One of the best at this is search engine marketer
and prolific writer Jill Whalen. Her weekly newsletter from
http://www.highrankings.com
is a model of consistency and genuine value to her many thousands of readers.
- Submit your website to legitimate award sites. Mike Corso's Cool Site of
the Day, http://www.coolsiteoftheday.com
is a must together with any others you can find. You'd be surprised at how
high your chances of success are.
- Praise and link. When you find genuinely useful resources, write a
short, complementary review together with a link. Then publish on your
website and click on it just to make sure it ends up in your target's referrer
logs. Larry Chase of Web Digest for Marketers publishers a monthly newsletter
that reviews about 10 web resources - you'll find it at
http://www.wdfm.com .
A few days later he writes to each reviewed site and allows them to quote
his comments in return for a link.
- Become a source of quotes. Provide sharp, useful, timely quotes for the
media. You can get yourself known and you'll find journalists will seek you
out. Sign up for services such as
http://www.prleads.com ($99 per month)
or the premium priced
http://www.sourc ewire.com (£1,200 per annum).
- Volunteer to become an editor for several directories. You'll be able
to submit reviews of your own sites and you'll have opportunities to get
to know your market better - that inevitably leads to more linking
opportunities. Go beyond the obvious - as well as
http://www.dmoz.org, try
http://www.joeant.com,
http://www.skaffe.com and
http://www.web-beacon.com.
Ken McGaffin provides link building services to established and new launch websites. He is the author of the highly acclaimed 'Linking Matters Report'. You can claim your free copy at http://www.linkingmatters.com.
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