A successful link building
campaign can increase your online reputation and boost your search
engine rankings. The bigger the number of quality websites linking back
to your domain, the more you'll be visible to consumers who are looking
for your goods and services. Here are some basic do's and don'ts of
good link building.
Do
1. Link to related websites
Focus
your energies on acquiring links to websites that are in related
industries and that market to an audience that's similar to yours. This
will increase the chances of having visitors to those sites actually
click on your link.
2. Use of web directories
Posting a
profile on popular web directories is one of the oldest ways to build
links, but it works, so submit your link to as many relevant web
directories as you can. There are free as well as paid directories.
3. Check your competitors' links
Look
at your competitors' websites and check out what sites are linking to
them. Contact these sites and ask if they'll link to your site as well.
It might or might not work. Just send them a simple, professional email
and see if they say yes.
4. Publish articles
This one can't
be stressed enough. Publishing good, compelling articles is one of the
best ways of getting organic links. If your articles offer good
content, people will link to them on their sites or social media
profiles without you having to ask them to do so. You may wish to
contact an SEO affiliate program for help with this.
5. Participate in forum discussions
Sign
up for forums on popular websites related to your industry and
participate actively (i.e. constructively) in the discussions. Include
a link in your signature.
Don't
1. Spam articles
If
the articles you post are just spam, meaning excuses to imbed your
links and keywords, they will (a) not be very appealing to readers and
(b) they will decrease your online credibility and search engine
rankings.
2. Spam Forum Posts
Don't spam forums with links.
Unless you are participating in discussions, don't post at all.
Spamming will just get you banned and will do nothing for your link
building efforts.
3. Link to unrelated sites
Don't link to sites that are not relevant to your industry. You will not get any relevant traffic to your site that way.
4. Sound desperate
Never
sound desperate when asking for a link. Send webmasters professional
and straightforward requests via email and wait for their response.
Don't keep sending them emails asking them to respond, as this will
only prove annoying.
Ryan Frank is a 23 year writer and blogger living in San Diego, CA.