link building strategies

Top 5 quick link-building tips In these post-Penguin times the mere mention of the phrase ‘link-building’ is enough to send the majority of site owners running for cover but in actual fact, there’s really nothing to be scared of. There’s no denying that link-building is still very much an integral part of SEO – and it’s a good bet it’s going to be remain this way for a while to come – so it’s time to stop hiding from sneaky animal-themed updates and get back on the link-building wagon. Of course it goes without saying that following the controversial Penguin update, link-building is now trickier than ever but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Yep, it’s still possible to build up a healthy link profile that will impress the boffins at Google and drive valuable traffic to your website. How? Here are our top 5 quick link-building tips to ease you back in gently. 1. Take a look at your competitors’ links: Using tools like Open Site Explorer to examine your competitors’ links is a good place to start when it comes creating a link strategy. To be in with a chance of beating your competitors, you need to know what links they have and how powerful they are – this way you can try to bag the same links and then once you’ve done that you can go on to bag even more powerful, alternative links to help you power ahead. 2. Go for relevant links:Forget the phrase ‘the more the merrier’ – when it comes to link-building these days it’s all about quality over quantity. There’s no denying that link-building can be an extremely lengthy process so it’s important to make the links that you do acquire count. If you think directories are the answer, go for niche, sector-specific directories that are relevant to your particular industry – these will hold much more weight than free general, all-purpose directories.3. Create something worth linking to (and make it easy to share!): Yep, when it comes to link-building, it’s near-on impossible to get something for nothing. People aren’t just going to link to your site if you have a good domain name – but they will link to your site if you have kick-ass content that blows your competitors out of the water. Spending time creating quality content is a must in this day and age, as is promoting it and making it easy to promote – by adding a few social bookmark plug-ins to the bottom of your page you’re actually encouraging your visitors to share your content and the easier you make it, the more likely they are to do it! 4. Use your contacts: Been in the industry for years and know everyone whose anyone in the business? Then now’s the time to use your contacts! From suppliers and freelancers to past and present clients, there’s a good chance you’ve got a contact list as long as your right arm (and your left one for that matter!) so it’s time to reach out and use your contacts to their full potential. Ask for a link to your site, blog or product/service page – remember, you’ll never know if you don’t ask, and the worst they can say is ‘no’! 5. Use key words in your internal links: When you think about link-building it can be easy to place the focus on external links and turn a blind eye to internal links but this is a dangerous tactic! To make sure you’re really covering all bases you need to take a close look at your internal links, particularly the anchor text you’re using to link pages together. Make sure you’re using key words in your anchor text rather than phrases like ‘click here’ – this will help to strengthen to SEO of the page you’re linking to and the SEO of the whole site overall.