How To Build Links Using Articles, Blogs And Directories
Topics: link building, Article Marketing, Link Building Services, directories
With all the talk about link building, in my summation there are only a handful of ways to truly build value for your website that won’t get you penalized from search engines.
When you think about it, the only reason to link build is search engines, if they didn’t exist, then the competitive basis of being first or in the top 10 for that matter would not matter. However, since it does, then there are a few strategies that are known for producing consistent results worth noting.
Blogging your way to the top
In case you don’t know what a blog is, you are more than likely reading one now. Blogs (abbreviated from Web-Logs) are a wonderful tool that allow you to share your innermost thoughts about a subject with readers from diverse backgrounds.
In addition they are more than just an editorial tool, they are a website development tool, a social networking tool as well as a search engine optimization tool with a plethora of implications.
The way it works is, if a blog is hosted on your server within your site, then every time you post a page, you are adding a page to your website.
This is great as it allows you to deep link (link to pages in your root directory or sub directories) to provide valuable life support to pages that may be sinking in the SERPs (search engine result pages) or just need a great third party referral to give them a boost.
Every time you deep link, your entire site gets a lift, since sub directories are oftentimes seen as different sites that your root folder of your website. This means that strategic cross linking can benefit both i.e. linking from your blog to your other folders or vice versa.
The main thing to consider when writing a blog is moderate keyword density which essentially breaks down to (if you want to rank for a term, put it on your pages at least 4-6 times for every 800-1000 words).
Although keyword density is another subject entirely, the point is keep on topic and use header tags or headlines when applicable to assist the overall keyword proximity. Once you write your post, use your main keywords in the title to get the most impact from search engines, since the title tag is your life preserver if a search happens to fly overhead and drop a line.
Think of it like a beacon or homing signal, but the more words you use, the less potent they become as the ranking potential is spread out amongst the words. From there, add your tags, using the strongest keywords, publish it and off you go.
Articles and Article Marketing
Articles are essentially like excellent third party endorsements. They are a win / win situation for both parties since the site hosting it appears as an authority (from the fresh and relevant content) and your website gets a link back their site from the author’s bio, resource box.
Article marketing is just one tier of an overall marketing strategy, however it provides search engine visibility and links.
Make sure to use your main keywords in the anchor text of the resource box when mentioning your company or services and get an added boost from the back link as most articles are syndicated throughout the web and can continue to provide value for weeks or months after they are created.
Online Web Directories
Web directories have seen better days and are now under scrutiny from search engines as glorified link farms. As the shift from quality was monetized into paying for premier listings, the quality slid for most directories and anyone and everyone with a few bucks was granted access to a link.
As a result search engines have applied filters to offset the value that links pass from directories to eliminate people from gaming links (abusing the system) in an attempt to to inflate link popularity.
Don’t get me wrong, although they have seen better days, this does not and should not preclude you from using them, just be aware if your motive is to gain a preferential advantage, your better off sticking to quality content on your website and building links between themed sites, which leads us to the next point.
Contextual Advertising from On Topic Sites or Blogs
You would think that no such penalty would exist for sites that are seeking out other websites with similar content and strategically creating an alliance for the betterment of each other.
In the past that was considered reciprocal linking, it also has fallen under the scrutiny of search engine algorithms due to abuse in the past. A new form of link development emerged called contextual advertising or contextual link building.
Contextual link building is in essence, the use of writing on topic information and in the midst of the paragraph, thesis, article etc. Doing a little name dropping to give the site your link is pointed at a boost.
An example of this would be to drop a line about one of my favorite SEO Blogs like so and pass on a bit of link love to the recipient. But the point being, this method of link development is bar far on of the most effective mechanisms available for websites struggling to find methods to build links ethically.
The difference between ethical blogging and unethical blogging is one has value the other does not. It doesn’t take a genius to decipher if a blog or link is on topic, contextual and useful vs. inflated, self serving or just plain spam.
Last but not least, let’s discuss:
One Way Permanent Links or Paid Links.
Without debating if you should or should not purchase links, barter or just plain call the person up, build a relationship and work out some type of agreement. Let’s just say that this method is one of the most effective methods for gaining high page rank links with targeted anchor text directed toward your website.
In a nutshell, this can dramatically impact your search engine placement and skyrocket your site into the limelight granted that it is done tactfully and not too fast.
Ethically it is challenged by white hat SEO and is definitely somewhere in a gray area of link building. But with so many of the other traditional alternatives drying up, many websites are turning to paid links as an alternative.
My only suggestion, if your going to aim at all, aim high, be tactful, don’t build links too fast using any of the methods outlined above, otherwise you may not even be able to find your own site using your company name (otherwise known as banned).
Like anything, use moderation, create a nice mixture of editorial links, directories, one way links from authority sites (by writing articles about them, making contact, or befriending the webmasters wholeheartedly) and you could be on the receiving side of a boost in the SERPs.
Jeffrey L. Smith is an seasoned search engine optimization strategist and founder of SEO Design Solutions Website Design Company in Chicago. For more information about optimization services or SEO articles visit www.seodesignsolutions.com
Previous Articles Highlighter:
Top 5 Reasons You Should Market Online (1)
From article marketing to blogging, ezines to press releases, there are several ways to get your name out there and attract consumers to your site. 5) Less Time Consuming Because most online marketing methods are automated, it requires very little of your time and effort.
Winning The Internet Marketing Game? Forget It (2)
In the internet marketing game, you're going to be dedicated to success if you stand half a chance of winning. Competition is at its peak on the internet. Nobody can set you out even though there is less chances of winning.
A Guide To Selecting The Right Search Engine Optimisation Company (3)
Rankings however will eventually come and improve the profits for your business. Internet marketing expert Thomas Pretty looks into what factors should be considered when selecting a search engine optimisation company.
How To Impress Potential Business Investors (4)
Showing enthusiasm for the product or service will indicate to the investors that you believe in your product and are willing to stake your future on the future of the company you are trying to create.
Generating Legitimate Business Leads (5)
Legitimate leads will be interested in what they read and are likely to respond. Using auto-responding and advertisements, you've generated leads without actually using your personal time. Though this kind of lead generation is convenient and simple, it's not necessary very successful and you will often find only one legitimate business lead out of 500 contacts.
How To Get Start With Advertising Your Business (6)
Many corporations, companies and business have taken advantage of this and you can see ads on any web pages you visit. Consumer can go to any search engine and type the keyword relating to what they are looking for and hit search and they will be provided with a huge list from which they can select.
Looking To Make Extra Money On EBay? (7)
Confused? Don't worry. Click the "help" link on eBay's site, then click "Learning Center". The Learning Center is full of helpful animated tutorials that will walk you through the process of registration, step by step.
Why People Give Up On Their Blog (8)
As time goes on, however, many blog site owners face great difficulties that can cause deep frustration to set in. When this annoyance finally arrives and imbedes itself, blog site creators choose to abandon their sites and they become another dead site on the Internet.
Finding Advertisers For Your Niche Websites (9)
Finding Advertisers for a Pay per Click Website Generally speaking, pay per click websites are informational websites which provide content and information relative to the advertisers on the website in an attempt to entice visitors to click on the advertisers links.
Search Engine Advertising - Using Search Engines PPC Advertising To Bring More Business (10)
This will make sure that you are only spending the money to get back quality leads. Lastly, let use touch on how you can utilize a PPC advertising campaign fully so as to generate more leads for your business.
Where To Find Good Stat Analytic Tools (11)
Make sure that you choose a stat analytic tool that provides several tools and helps you to accomplish many different tasks. Simple Language Another important aspect of choosing a good stat analytic tool is whether or not it reports the web site's information in language that is simple to understand.
Ways To Kick Start An Internet Marketing Project (12)
Appealing to Your Targeted Visitors: If you can't appeal to a visitor, you can translate this failure into a lost sale (whether from a service, product, or other revenue-capturing source).
Ways That You Can Increase Search Engine Traffic To Your Blog (13)
The fact and reality is that many of online users go to big search engines each day in order to search for information on web sites and blogs. If you want to increase your own blog site's popularity, then you must increase search engine traffic to your blog.
What Is A Blog Carnival And Why Should I Use It? (14)
If you are serious about using blog carnivals then you will try your hardest. Why They Are So Beneficial If you consider the whole purpose of blog carnivals is to help promote others than it would seem simple to figure it out.
Long Tail Keywords- What Are They And How Are They Tracked? (15)
Many web site owners are using keywords in their published content to attract the attention of people who use major search engines to find specific information. This is a great method to use, but it is beginning to lose its effectiveness because of all the people that are using the same keywords in their own web sites.
Use Video Marketing To Create Free Web Site Traffic (16)
Make an awesome video and you could really explode your business! There are hundreds of video sites on the internet,so finding a place to post them will not be difficult.
How Do You Use An Anchor Text (17)
Probably the most crucial aspect that web site creators need to understand is the importance of a site's content and what is published on it. The quality and effectiveness of a web site's content will determine if the online business is recognized by large search engines and therefore increase its amount of traffic flow.
Where To Get Ideas For Your Blog (18)
There are so many different ideas to try and generate new topics for your blog. If you really put forth an honest effort and try a few of these out you will see a big difference.
Affiliate Marketing: Five Benefits Of Joint Ventures (19)
Besides creating the product itself, there are advertising concerns, Websites to build, distribution issues to address, and the matter of actually selling the product. For many marketers, the entire process can be overwhelming, as it often comprises simply too many things for one person to do.
What Makes A Good Ebook? (20)
There is nothing that will ruin the credibility of a written document faster then bad spelling. It makes the reader question the validity of the entire book. The book should be neatly presented.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
Email Marketing Software Empowers Businesses With ECoupons (1)
However that does nor mean smaller online businesses can't employ their own strategic promotions to compete with those of their larger counterparts. With the correct email marketing software any and all small online retailers can put forward a professionally designed email marketing campaign that is as easy as only a few clicks of the mouse and at a cost of less than a penny per target.
Magnetic Messages: The Use Of Magnets In Advertising (2)
And if you are like many consumers, you'll find that even if you don't care about the message you'll find a handy use for them pinning up your kid's finger painting or grocery list.
Staying Power Is 99% Of Marketing Success (3)
Create a plan and a budget and stick to it. Marketers spend a lot of time in planning and budget meetings, rightly so. Without a concrete plan it is easy to miscalculate the amount of money needed for a marketing effort and then to overstep the budget once the campaign is under way.
How To Choose The Right Search Engine Optimisation Company (4)
Before going that route, ask the company to provide you with a number of references. References are a good indicator of a reliable company. Its best not to employ a company that won't supply you any references, and don't take 'confidentiality' as an excuse!
Email Marketing Software Is An Important Ingredient For Restaurants (5)
Once you have successfully put together your establishments contact list (which is an on-going process) you can commence with your creative and marketing juices and run wild as you prepare to launch an email marketing campaign.
Use Articles For The Purpose Of Viral Marketing (6)
Your own affiliate links will need to be included. However, you should consider cloaking them in order to make them less obvious. It is possible to undertake distribution in many ways.
Online Internet Marketing Ideas (7)
The best way to formulate that plan of attack is to first find set of keywords directly related to the website that you are building. For example, a website on slim fast would greatly benefit from keywords like weight loss, diet and diet drink.
How To Choose Best Free Web Hosting (8)
Most of the web host won't give you the possibility to add additional domains to your account. All files are not supported for uploading to the server. Most of the hosts don't allow you to upload compressed zip files for security reasons.
Learn The Basics Or You'll Be Chasing Your Tail Forever (9)
Just go to Google and enter: video tutorial topic (where "topic" is what you want to learn about). If you want to sell a resell rights product, you have to learn how to set up a ClickBank or PayPal account.
Growing Your Online Home Business - Real Traffic And Managing Online Revenue Streams (10)
Are these the visitors you really need to grow your business? Is this targeted traffic consisting of people looking for your product, or is it traffic generated by people just trying to generate clicks for their own websites?
5 FAQs To Show You How To Choose A Good Domain Name (11)
Generally, when people are searching for a domain name, they will usually type in the domain name without the hyphen first. Therefore, instead of visiting your site, they may end up in your competitor site instead.
Creating A Lot Of Great Content For Your Blog (12)
You can then concentrate on other areas of your blog that you like to do and that need more attention. Court is an expert on internet marketing strategy. You can read more of his work by visiting courtneytuttle.com.
Customizing A Template Based Online Storefront (13)
Video is great because it's a popular, attention-getting feature of good websites and yet it's not something that most online businesses are incorporating into their templates. Finally a good online business will clearly tell visitors how this site is different from the competition.
Is Affiliate Marketing Over Saturated? (14)
Perhaps the most important thing you need to do is ensure that people are actually buying what you are selling. Is there demand for your product, can you market in effective ways that you know such as article marketing, AdWords, etc.
Good Ways To Show Appreciation To Commentators On Your Blog (15)
One reason why return messages might have a negative impact on your blog site is because that process wastes a lot of the blog owner's time, especially if you are regulating a very big site.
Good Ways To Improve Your Niche Site Using Images (16)
Most blog sites might appear as a place that is full of words and text that people simply do not want to read. As important as text is to a niche site's success and search engine traffic, there are several other important aspects that must be included into the niche site's design.
Do I Need A Dedicated Server? (17)
Before making your choice to switch to a dedicated server or to stay with a shared server, decide whether or not you can risk any compromises in your website's security.
Web Design Conventions Should Be Followed? (18)
Website identity checks should always be accomplished through a system that relies on user names and passwords. These are just a few of the conventions. There are many others.
It Is Easy To Design Your Own Shirt Online (19)
To consider an example, years ago you could design a shirt only if you were a tailor or a dressmaker. The maximum input that you could provide was verbal and then you would have to leave the rest to the craftsperson and pray that the results are up to your satisfaction.
How To Prepare For A Big Exhibition (20)
Some exhibitions are very well displayed, attracting and impressing visitors. What is most impressive is what people will gain from attending, so be sure to provide them with what they need e.g.
Permalink to How To Build Links Using Articles, Blogs And Directories