Link Building

[the goat]

It seems that most common link building practices are going by the wayside as of late. Everyone is down on directories, google doesn't credit forum signatures and now I hear that reciprocal links are worthless.

I used to put aside a little bit of time everyday to work on link building. I would submit my sites to a few directories and send out some personal emails to a few sites that I thought would be interested in link exchanges. Of course I always felt that the time I spent on forums was helping too. (they still seem to on yahoo, but not google)

So lately I have found myself not paying attention to link building since the last thing I want to do is waste time on a futile strategy.

I am wondering if anyone has any link building techniques they care to share with the board? I am under the impression that pretty much the only thing left is to concentrate on content and traffic and hope that the links just come naturally. Does this sound about right?

[billbenson]

I rely heavily on adwords and don't do to much link building although I should. Having said that, I know a lot of webmasters who develop a network of industry related webmaster friends to do exchanges with. It's easier to do in certain markets than others. For me, I sell construction equipment. It's hard to find a construction equipment webmaster forum to make contacts.

IMO, the only link of value is a relevant content one way link.

The other problem is so many webmasters still think the links you mentioned; directory, recip, forum, etc have value. Not only do you have the problem of finding a group of sites you would like to get into a linking network, but you have to have webmasters that aren't using yesterdays strategies. Hard to do.

Like I said, I really haven't tried that hard, but your strategy of building good content pages that people want to link to is probably easier than hunting for decent linking partners.

Originally Posted by the goat

I am under the impression that pretty much the only thing left is to concentrate on content and traffic and hope that the links just come naturally. Does this sound about right?

[theGypsy]

Ok, for starters, I have never done recips... not for a few years at least. That dog was beaten down a while ago...

As for directories, that is part of what is considered foundational link building ( as is article directory subs). While not as valuable, it can be done with effect by hitting the higher quality locales.... so it can still be part of a link building campaign.

Forum sigs (and blog commenting) is also not a major player... if you're on a related forum/blog... great, drop them; but it isn't a seek and destroy tactic... merely coincidental.

I would also consider some competitive analysis... look at your core target terms and the top sites in the SERPs to see where they have gotten links from. This always gives some great ideas... once again, only the higher quality opportunities.

Beyond that, it depends on the market, business model (website type) and more as far as what one should do when developing a link building campaign.

I also like to occasionally look at the various methods of link baiting for new ideas... I had a post a while back on Link bait ideas and have a bunch of links to link building tools and resources which also might come in handy (all free tools etc..)

Social media marketing programs are often good for finding links (exposure) that you may not find elsewhere... but I would get a better idea of how to run one first... doing SMM as a standalone link building tactic, is not a good idea....

..but once again, each situation will differ.

BTW, I am almost finished my 'SEO Handbook; Link builders edition' if you PM me I shall put you on my list of peeps getting advanced copies (free of course...)

[vangogh]

Pretty much everything Dave said.

I'll certainly add sites to a few directories, though I think the majority aren't worth a lot of time. A few of the better generals and then some searching to find the more specific topical directories.

I don't do recips though I suppose I engage in the modern equivalent of relationship building. The relationships aren't specifically built for links, but if you make freinds with people who own sites related to yours you'll end up with some links without having to ask for them.

Similar for social media. I'm not one to generally push my own content, though I meet other people who are happy to do so without me having to ask. Likewise I'll help promote their content without them having to ask.

Speaking of content I think the best way to get links is to create content worthy of getting linked to. So many people seem to skip this part. Creating linkworthy content isn't easy, but it's worth the time. If you have truly good content and give it a push it'll start pulling its own links.

[the goat]

Wow great info and great links Gypsy, thank you for such a detailed response. That should keep me busy for a while.

Originally Posted by vangogh

Speaking of content I think the best way to get links is to create content worthy of getting linked to. So many people seem to skip this part. Creating linkworthy content isn't easy, but it's worth the time. If you have truly good content and give it a push it'll start pulling its own links.

That's pretty much what I have been banking on lately, I have been using the time I usually used to build links and focused on content, and being more active in some social networks as per your advice. Thanks again for that.

[vangogh]

Glad to help. I do think you need to give your content a push, particularly in the beginning. Waiting around for it to be discovered doesn't work either unless your content is so good that it can't help but be found.

Still I think the best investment most people can make is in themselves. If you keep making improvements to your site, your content, etc it will pay off.

[orion_joel]

Maybe correct me if i am wrong but, while the main objective of link building would be for search results, would you not also be trying to get links in places that people are likely to click on them.

So while a link in your signature at a forum may not be much use for the search engine results, what happens for someone searches for a specific topic you wrote on the forum about it shows up in the search results, then they follow your sig link to find out more. While i would expect this is going to provide less traffic then search engines might, what is the goal to get more visitors or to get better search results or both. So while search results may not get a big impact from forum posts, other things can result from them.

[the goat]

I have gone back and forth on that very thing orion_joel. My problem is that my sites aren't based on coding, design or internet marketing. My posts have no worth to my customers, but if someone googles one of my sites they might get one of my posts on this forum.

Now let's say the post that they get is me asking how I can multiply my clickthroughs in order to maximize my efforts at monetizing my site. That would turn them off. My sites are info first and product reviews and links second.

I always end up removing my sites links from my signature because the last thing I want is for my users to realize that I am luring them in just to try and make money off of them.

I feel like the small amount of value I get from the links in my signature are not worth someone googling my site and ending up reading about how I don't think that sig links are worth it to my bottom line.

[vangogh]

I think links are about a lot more than just search engines. I guess Dave and I answered in the perspective of SEOs, but links are advertising. I can tell you that for years forums have been among the top drivers of traffic to my site.

Of course it's not just the links themselves that lead to the traffic, but the fact that I actively participate. If I stopped posting the traffic would all but stop regardless of how many sig links I had.

I also think when trying to decide what is a good link it can help to take search engines out of the equation. Pretend search engines don't exist and then ask yourself if a certain link is still something you want. If you still do then it's probably a good link in the eyes of search engines. Even if it's not you won't care.

I'd be very happy if the New York Times decided to link to me even if they nofollowed the link and it provided no search engine benefit. People still click links. Businesses used links to market themselves before search and they would continue to use links to market themselves if search engines disappeared.

[orion_joel]

the goat, that may be true for this forum, i do not know what you business actually is but i would assume that if you found a site that had similar content that complemented your product or information, then you may find that the idea of sig links is different. Int hat case you would be posting as an expert and more then likely not asking about how you get more people to click on your links and such. Then your links would actually be worth considerably more to you because people would read your post, see you know a lot about the topic, and then want to know more.

I can totally understand the point that you are coming from in that the value of a link here for you may be worth nothing and in some respect's be a negative. However as i said i think that this depends a lot of the business and the relevance to your business.