SEO Lessons: Link Building

05/01/10 posted by Liz Niland

While our first two installments of search engine optimisation tips - SEO Lessons: Quality Content and SEO Lessons: Using Keywords - have focused mostly on what needs to be present on your website, this article will focus on something that needs to be off your website. Known as an “off-page” factor, incoming links to a page in your website from other websites are an important part of your search engine ranking.

Just like many aspects of search engine optimisation, this kind of linking is something that some websites are able to achieve naturally. A large and well known news provider, for example, may find that many smaller blogs and other news sites link back to them without any action on the part of the authority (the linked-to site). All is not lost for lesser known, smaller, or newer websites though. There are a few ways of improving your website’s incoming links. These include incorporating a blog, approaching related or similar companies for link placement and seeking out online directories for listings.

Firstly, having a blog or regularly updated news page on your website is an effective way of not only keeping your site’s content fresh and interesting, but also laying the foundations for natural linking to take place. This is particularly valuable when integrated with social media efforts - attract the right Twitter or Facebook followers, for example, and when you promote a new blog entry through a tweet or status update, you may well see your article spread across the internet - just like that large news provider we mentioned earlier.

Secondly, If you are happy to potentially spend a little cash, negotiating with a related or similar company for link placement on their website can have a positive SEO effect if done correctly. If you sell women’s shoes, you may wish to approach a women’s clothing website for a link to a specific page on your website - preferably with your selected keyword as the linked text. Approaching an irrelevant company, such as a restaurant for example, won’t help. Search engine spiders might be robots but they’re still smart enough to see through cheap tricks!

Thirdly, online directories, particularly those relevant to your field or business location, are a good place to obtain a listing. Many of these directories are free but be sure to read the fine print and be wary of directories requiring link exchange - if you don’t want their company mentioned on your website, you can probably find something that will better benefit your website.