So you have a beautiful website. It's a great tool to attract new business, but only if people can find it. You have to put your great product out there.
No
matter your business, chances are, the web is clogged with potential
competitors. You need to start finding ways to stand out. This means search
engine optimization, and trying to establish as many links back to your website
as possible.
The spreading of back links is a large reason why social
media became such a marketing craze. It’s not only building relationships
(which is still the most important part), but the links back to your website
are also invaluable. Have you written a blog? Do you have a new product, or
offer? Links back to your website for these things help.
Directories
You’ll also want to list your website in as many directories
as you can find. There are plenty of great websites out there that can help you
find great directories to list your website in. There’s no real reason to pay
for directory listings, however. The main purpose is usually to establish the
SEO help, and not always adding website traffic. You can almost always find ways to get that for free.
Link In Your Blog
When you blog about your business, that’s also another great
place to include links back to your website. You can link to pages on your
website, other blogs that you’ve written, and other great sources that you want
people to find. When you link to your own material in your blog, however, it’s
still best to keep an educational tone, and not make a sales pitch.
When you link, you’ll also want to consider the text that
you’re linking. If you can find a way to use keywords in the text, that will
give your website a boost. It’s also more explanatory than “click here.”
Shareability
It’s also a good idea to make sure your content is
shareable. I preferred this button on my website because the buttons were not too intrusive. Yet they were obvious enough that the desired action is obvious. Sharing is the social networking version of links. While you won’t
get a bump in Google simply for putting buttons on your site (like you would a
link), it makes it easier to spread your content through Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn, etc.
Good advice, but I'm not sure that posting to directories offers much value anymore. I think that the Google Panda update devalued the benefits of directory links
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy, thanks for commenting. There's no question that social media has made it easier to get backlinks, and Panda took away the ranking power of "content farms." I think there's probably still some value in seeking out directories with a high page rank. I wouldn't make it your number one SEO objective, but I think it still offers some benefit.
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