8 Ways to Build Links. . . And Why it Matters!</h1> <article> <h1>8 Ways to Build Links. . . And Why it Matters!</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:00:49 GMT</p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Ever wondered how Google® and other search engines find all the Web sites that are out there? They use software programs called search engine “spiders.” The job of the search engine spider is to crawl the Web in search of content. Spiders love traveling across links, indexing and ranking Web sites as they go. Their rankings drive the listings seen on search engine results pages. For this reason, it is critical that you take time to establish link relationships, building both outbound and inbound links to your site. Equally important to helping your rankings, is that the more links you have sprinkled around the Web, the greater your chances will be to attract more visitors. For organizations, like volunteer-led non-profits, link building can be one of the most effective and least expensive ways to boost rankings and ultimately traffic to your Web site.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Here are eight ways you can build links:</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">1.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Turn to online directories</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. While it can take some time to research the many types of directories available to you on the Internet, directories are one of the easiest ways to establish links to your site. Some options to consider: your local Chamber of Commerce; Better Business Bureau; <a target="_blank" href="http://www.thinklocal.com/Listing-Information.aspx">local business listings</a> (yellow page listings); association and industry specific directories. Any site that lists non-profit organizations similar to yours is a potential directory listing. Once you find them, don’t hesitate to send an email to request that your site be listed as well.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">2.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Submit articles</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. Many Web sites are in constant need of “free” content, particularly content written by experts in a field. Take some time to think about all that you know and have learned about your industry or your cause, as well as how you can help buyers, visitors, and members of your target market. (If you feel you do not have the expertise to write an article, look to your membership or constituency base to find experts.) Brainstorm a list of topic ideas, then draft an article or two. They do not need to be long, three to four paragraphs will do. Be sure to include links to your site at the end of the article and the name of your business or non-profit organization. With drafts in hand, begin to approach sites that you think could benefit from posting your articles. The good news is that once an article is posted, other sites will typically pick it up so that your exposure will expand dramatically.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">3.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Create a blog</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. A blog, short for Web Log, is like an online journal where you can write about areas of expertise and let visitors discuss and comment on your entries. Spiders love blogs even more than they like articles. Blog entries are similar to articles, in terms of size and focus. Often they have a more personal, opinion-oriented approach. So if you believe that you can write a few entries each week (or that members of your staff or membership base can contribute content), consider becoming a blogger. Again, always insert links to other pages on your site where applicable throughout each post.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">4.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Become a blog commenter</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. If you are unsure as to whether or not you can become a full-fledged blogger, consider instead visiting other peoples’ blogs and posting comments. When you do, check to see if the blog’s comment policy allows users to leave a link as part of their signature. If it does, be sure to insert yours. If you can leave engaging, thoughtful, relevant, and insightful comments, it’s likely you will be able to attract interest to your site from the blog’s followers. (To note: some blogs feature a “no follow tag” which tells the search engine spiders not to follow any outbound links in their comments section. No follow tags affect spiders and search engines, but do not prevent users from following a link to another site. So even though you won’t get search engine traffic from sites with “no follow tags,” you will be able to get human visitors who follow the link.)</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">5.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Put your Web site address on everything</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. Just as you would do if you wrote an article or a blog post, you should put your Web site address on your business cards, in your email signature, on any correspondence you send, and on any promotional or membership materials you create. The more you promote and expose your Web site address to other people, the more visitors you will be inviting to your site.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">6.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Ask to have your site featured</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. Any time you see a Web site that lists organizations like yours or any company or vendor that you work with that has a Web site can be a potential link for your site. First, investigate if they link to other sites; then don’t be afraid to ask if they will feature your link. Just be careful how you ask. You don’t want to do a mass email request because that can damage your reputation. Instead, be discerning and understand that you are in search of quality link relationships.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">7.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Be wary of link building farms and reciprocal links</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. There are a lot of companies on the Web that offer “link building farms” – you may either pay them to find links, or join an exchange of sites that provide reciprocal links to each other. Many people use link buying services, but there are risks associated with such farms in that they can actually cause you to lose rankings. Spiders are smart! They are looking for genuine link relationships, not just pages with laundry lists of unrelated links. If they sense that links are bogus with no intended relationship, they will count that against your site when it comes to rankings. Similarly, be careful of reciprocal links. Reciprocal links (in essence, “I’ll link to your site and you can link to mine”) need to be topically relevant and need to make sense. So, for example if I have an association site for female lawyers who work from home and you have a site that sells plumbing equipment, there is little foundation for a reciprocal link relationship.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">8.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Avoid “links” pages</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. Just as you want to be wary of unrelated link lists, you should also avoid having your site added to another site’s “links” page. These can also be frowned upon by spiders. </span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Every type of link should appear and be woven naturally into a site’s content. Google’s advice for link building is to pursue it as if the search engines don’t exist. In other words, build links that will be useful and purposeful to your users, members, and constituents, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal;">not</i> merely to capture the attention of search engine spiders.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Once you’ve sprinkled your links across the Internet, be sure that whenever you take down or move a page on your site, that you, or your Web site designer, do a “301 redirect” to automatically forward (or redirect) traffic from the old page to the new one. The 301 redirect can help you to control the flow of traffic. It can be tricky to do and complicated, but it is worth it–especially after you’ve invested time in building link relationships. (If you are unclear as to how to create a 301 redirect, consult a Web programmer.) For redirects, you will still get credit from the search engine spiders for that original link as well as for the redirected page. Most important, you will avoid upsetting or losing visitors who are unable to reach your site because of broken links and dead pages. . . and you’ll maintain the integrity of the links you’ve worked so hard to build.</span></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> </main></body></html>