A good link-building strategy is a crucial factor in achieving SEO success for your business website.
It sounds good — but what exactly is link-building?
Put simply, it’s the process of attracting traffic to your website by establishing relevant inbound links or backlinks to help you achieve higher search engine rankings.
The Daily Business Post asked Shane Curtin, managing director of Vroom Digital for his tips on harnessing your existing business relationships to build links with a minimal amount of effort.
…..
1. Testimonials
If you leave a testimonial on the website of a supplier or service provider, they’ll usually provide a link back to your site, Curtin said.
“This can be expanded to restaurants and other venues you may have visited as part of a work outing or activities you have taken part in,” he said.
2. Guest blogging
Consider offering to contribute content to a business partner’s blog. It’s easy to include a link back to your website in your author bio or at the end of the page.
“The benefits of guest blogging stretch well beyond humble link building,” Curtin said. “When done effectively you can reach out to a new audience and establish yourself as an authority in your field, not to mention driving referral traffic directly to your site.”
3. Linking out
Whether you’re working with a new marketing company, a design company or a new supplier, write about it and link out from your site to the parties involved.
“You get what you give when it comes to online marketing so by linking out you make it much easier to convince others to link back,” Curtin said.
4. Case studies
Service providers and suppliers love to provide case studies of happy clients and partners, so offer to be part of a case study and use the opportunity to link back to your site.
5. Business organisations, events and sponsorships
Are you a member of any business organisations or networking groups?
If you are, Curtin said, you could most likely ask them to list your business information on their website, including a link to your own site.
The same point goes for any business-related events you might be speaking at. Always check to see if you can be listed as a speaker on the event website.
Likewise, if your business sponsors any charities or a local sports team, you should be able to ask them to list your information on their site, including links back to your own.
“Consider link building as networking online with your audience. If you’re creating or sharing a link, it should be because you value the relationship — and search engines attribute authority to websites with strong link portfolios,” Curtin said.
by Danielle Ryan
