One of the most important aspects of marketing and promoting a website or blog is attracting inbound links. A great deal of effort goes into creating quality links. But before these link building attempts can truly be successful, your site or blog will need to be ready. Here are some tips to making your website more linkable:
Content.
Of course, the most important aspect of drawing links is the content. Typically when others link to you they are doing so because there is something on their site that they consider to be useful, interesting, funny, or entertaining. Without good content it will be hard to draw links regardless of the other factors involved.
Link To Others.
Especially with blogs, linking out can be a very effective way to also draw inbound links. Some of those people that you link out to will probably return the favor. If your blog is new or not very well known you will have the best results if you link out to other small blogs. A link will mean a lot to these bloggers, but A-listers get so many links that they are unlikely to really notice and link back to you.
By linking out from your website or blog you show others that you are willing to share some of your traffic with them and that you find value in what they have to offer. Some people may not think much of this, but this type of approach will be appreciated by many, and they’ll be more willing to also link to you.
Get to know other website owners and bloggers.
Don’t underestimate the importance of networking. There are probably hundreds of other bloggers that cover topics related to yours, and most are looking for mutually beneficial relationships. There are plenty of ways to get to know others. You can comment on other blogs, send an email, visit forums, or use social media just to name a few.
Be Friendly.
Bloggers link to those who they like. Sure, content is very important, but relationships are important too. I know this is true because I’m an example. Each weekend I publish a post of links, and every week there are links to a handful of other bloggers that I consider to be friends. Part of the mentality of linking out is wanting to help someone else, and of course we all want to help people that we like more than people that we don’t know of don’t like. Be friendly and willing to help others and you’ll find that more people will want to help you too.
Be the first to publish news.
This is easier said than done, but it can be very effective. Look at some of the websites and blogs that focus on current events and news. TechCrunch draws loads of inbound links, thanks in part to consistently breaking new stories.
Comment On Blogs.
Some bloggers, including me, try to give links to those readers who comment regularly. If you regularly read some of these blogs be sure to comment whenever possible as it will help you to easily get some new inbound links.
Thank people when they link to you.
Everyone appreciates a thank you. If a lot of blogs are linking to you it may not be possible to thank them all, but most of us don’t have this problem. Every week my links post gets several comments for others thanking me for linking to them, and I do notice. If people know that you appreciate the link and that you’re likely to stop by and leave a comment, they’ll be more interested in linking to you again in the future.
Be active on social media.
One of the best ways to draw new links is to maximize the potential of social media sites. Pages that are popular on these sites frequently draw a lot of links as a result. Get to know social media and learn how you can use it to promote your content.
Give something of value.
If your website or blog offers something of value for free to visitors, others will be interested in linking to you. E-books and other downloadable products are good options since they are easy and cheap to distribute.
Be Unique.
In order to draw inbound links something about your website has to grab their attention and make them want to tell others about you. It’s very difficult to do this if your website or blog is just like everyone else’s. Stand out and you’ll have a much better chance of getting other people to be interested.
