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Where does a small business go to begin their link building campaign?
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5 Answers
There are a million ways to build links, but every business is different. Not knowing what specific business we are talking about, here are some generic places to start:
1. Friends & Family. If your business is worth a damn, they'll eventually be asking you for discounts or hook-ups, so don't be bashful about asking everyone you know with a website to link to you.
2. Directories. Pay for placements in Yahoo, Best of the Web, and Business.com. Try to submit to DMOZ. And then look for smaller directories in your line of business (these may be things like Chamber of Commerce, Associations, etc. Don't worry about all the thousands of crappy directories out there. Just use the ones above and anything that passes your gut check on whether they are valuable to your industry or not.
3. Guest Blogging. Plenty of blog owners are tired of writing or looking for complimentary content. In exchange, you'll get links back to your site...in the by-line, within the content, or both. Try http://www.myblogguest.com or reach out to bloggers in your industry. Also a great way to exhibit "social proof" for your brand by leaching off the authority of others.
4. Article Marketing & Link Wheels. Google those. Still works.
5. External linkbuilding firm. Lots of them exist, but their aren't many good ones. If you find one that works, guard them like the family jewels.
6. Paid links. Everything in moderation...
@Brian...re: "...Don't worry about all the thousands of crappy directories out there...." spot-on!
If only more clients would follow that advice....and btw, up here in Canada both my own blog at www.canuckseo.com and Dev's great blog over at www.poweredbysearch.com offer up more Canuck citations too!
Jim
Thank you both for the information. The business is a freelance graphic design business.
For local businesses, the following local directories are a great place to start, especially if the search engines return local results for the queries that your customer are search for providers of your service. They include the following:
1.) Google Places
2.) YellowPages.com
3.) Bing Local
4.) Yahoo! Local
There are many other good ones like Manta, City Search, Angies List, Insider Pages and many, many more, but if you start with the 4 I recommend, you will be off to a great start with 4 high value links and 4 listings to be found in the search engines.
Google places will let you upload 10 images and 5 videos for free. All 4 local directories are free to list and many firms can create/claim them for you for a fee that is less than a Yellow Pages print listing. These local listings become like free, online, perpetual advertising for life :-)
Also, if you are a member of BBB, they offer members a link to your website that is viewed very favorably by Google and Bing. Any professional organizations like the Chamber of Commerce or Business and Professional Associations often offer links as well which are generally viewed by the search engines as high value.
Hope this helps.
I created this model Stephanie to share some ideas with my associates and clients;
http://www.businesshyperlink.com/EBP20.jpg
On my website I created and Associates page that allows me to feature the websites of my associates to give them more exposure and I highly recommend this;
http://www.expertbusinesspresentations.com
My favorite platforms for connecting with other professionals are;
1. LinkedIn
2. WordPress Blog
3. Merchant Circle
4. Twitter
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