May 11, 2009
Link Building Strategies for Small Business
When it comes to link-building, big businesses certainly hold a number of advantages over small businesses. Big businesses have big budgets and brand awareness at their disposal while the little guys have to fend for themselves with bare-bones budgets. Big businesses don’t have to try too hard to attract links either since they are already well-known in their respective markets.
Nevertheless, just because your budget is limited does not mean that your links have to be. It’s possible for small businesses to build awesome links without breaking bank although it requires a significant investment of time.
Cover the Basics
The basics of link-building that all small businesses must cover include getting listed in related directories, industry verticals, and local business organizations. Determine which sites are at the top in your industry and try to get a link on them by writing articles for them or offering them something other product/service in return. You can use a tool such as backlinkwatch.com to find out which sites are linking to your competitors and perhaps determine how your competitors are getting those links so you can do the same thing.
Another effective way to build links is through submitting online press releases whenever you have a newsworthy announcement to make. The key is to accumulate quality backlinks. It doesn’t take an excessive amount of quality backlinks to achieve good rankings as long as you aren’t in a highly competitive niche.
Make Your Site Link-Worthy
If your site is purely commercial, you may have trouble attracting links. If this is the case, you can develop a strategy that will allow you to publish content that is apart from the commercial area of your site or you can try creating a separate site altogether. It is much easier to attract links to a section of your website that does more than just sell a product or service. Some great tools to create for the purpose of attracting links include blogs, wikis, industry news sites, and review sites. In the case you take the long road and create a different site, once the site builds up some link equity, you can advertise your main website there or link back to it.
Take some time to think about what you can do to make your site link-worthy. Offer something that sets you apart from your competitors. Think about the problems and needs your customers may have and try to provide solutions. Remember to give other websites a good reason to link back to you. One thing you could do is write favorable reviews of businesses that are not your direct competitors in order to attract attention to your site and perhaps score some links in return.
One of the advantages small businesses have over big businesses in regards to link-building is the fact that they can get the ball rolling a lot more quickly. Big businesses have to deal with a lot of red tape before they can make changes or start new projects. Small businesses typically only have a couple decision makers on board so they can put decisions into motion quickly. Acting swiftly certainly has its advantages in online PR, particularly if it would be of advantage to your business to break relevant news and trends before your competitors.
Offer Freebies
People love free stuff and a tried and true method of building links is through hosting giveaways. Whether you give away a blog template, e-report, or widget, make sure to include a link back to your site in every giveaway. Giving away free stuff has the potential to attract massive amounts of traffic to your website in addition to building your links. You can also head over to deals websites to give away coupons and drop your link.
Another easy way to get great links through giving is by donating to charity. Not only will you be doing your part to make the world a better place, having links on well-known charity websites will definitely improve your ranking. You could also provide a service to a charity organization rather than make a donation. Charity organizations are often in need of services such as web design, marketing, and writing.
These are just a sampling of the several things you can do when building links for your small business’ website. A small budget doesn’t have to equal small results. You can get big results if you stand out from your competitors and dedicate the time and effort necessary to building quality links.
Nevertheless, just because your budget is limited does not mean that your links have to be. It’s possible for small businesses to build awesome links without breaking bank although it requires a significant investment of time.
Cover the Basics
The basics of link-building that all small businesses must cover include getting listed in related directories, industry verticals, and local business organizations. Determine which sites are at the top in your industry and try to get a link on them by writing articles for them or offering them something other product/service in return. You can use a tool such as backlinkwatch.com to find out which sites are linking to your competitors and perhaps determine how your competitors are getting those links so you can do the same thing.
Another effective way to build links is through submitting online press releases whenever you have a newsworthy announcement to make. The key is to accumulate quality backlinks. It doesn’t take an excessive amount of quality backlinks to achieve good rankings as long as you aren’t in a highly competitive niche.
Make Your Site Link-Worthy
If your site is purely commercial, you may have trouble attracting links. If this is the case, you can develop a strategy that will allow you to publish content that is apart from the commercial area of your site or you can try creating a separate site altogether. It is much easier to attract links to a section of your website that does more than just sell a product or service. Some great tools to create for the purpose of attracting links include blogs, wikis, industry news sites, and review sites. In the case you take the long road and create a different site, once the site builds up some link equity, you can advertise your main website there or link back to it.
Take some time to think about what you can do to make your site link-worthy. Offer something that sets you apart from your competitors. Think about the problems and needs your customers may have and try to provide solutions. Remember to give other websites a good reason to link back to you. One thing you could do is write favorable reviews of businesses that are not your direct competitors in order to attract attention to your site and perhaps score some links in return.
One of the advantages small businesses have over big businesses in regards to link-building is the fact that they can get the ball rolling a lot more quickly. Big businesses have to deal with a lot of red tape before they can make changes or start new projects. Small businesses typically only have a couple decision makers on board so they can put decisions into motion quickly. Acting swiftly certainly has its advantages in online PR, particularly if it would be of advantage to your business to break relevant news and trends before your competitors.
Offer Freebies
People love free stuff and a tried and true method of building links is through hosting giveaways. Whether you give away a blog template, e-report, or widget, make sure to include a link back to your site in every giveaway. Giving away free stuff has the potential to attract massive amounts of traffic to your website in addition to building your links. You can also head over to deals websites to give away coupons and drop your link.
Another easy way to get great links through giving is by donating to charity. Not only will you be doing your part to make the world a better place, having links on well-known charity websites will definitely improve your ranking. You could also provide a service to a charity organization rather than make a donation. Charity organizations are often in need of services such as web design, marketing, and writing.
These are just a sampling of the several things you can do when building links for your small business’ website. A small budget doesn’t have to equal small results. You can get big results if you stand out from your competitors and dedicate the time and effort necessary to building quality links.
Labels: link_building, seo_services
