Now more than ever, you have to be careful about what you do if you're planning on building links for your site. If you go about it the wrong way, it'll end up hurting your business more than helping it. In fact, Google could suddenly choose not to list your site at all in the search results. This is called being de-indexed.
Google tells you some of the specific things you should not do in regards to SEO, but they certainly don't offer much help with regard to how you can acquire backlinks safely; specifically, the kind of backlinks they like to see.
The aim of this post is to provide a guide for you to do just that: to help you think a little outside the box and get away from traditional link-building and the quantity over quality mindset (e.g., commenting on blogs, writing and publishing articles on multiple sites, leaving forum signatures all over the Internet, using press releases strictly for backlinks, and so forth. Press releases are great, but only if you use them the right way!).
Without further ado, let's open our minds to some backlink tactics:
Provide a useful tool to customers and readers
One link-building tactic that can drive a healthy amount of traffic to your site and encourage people to link to you for years to come is to develop something that helps your readers. There are cheaper ways of doing this, and more expensive ones. Your best bet is to have something developed specifically for your site. Here are some examples:
- An interactive map that allows users to add their info, tips, locations, etc. There are all kinds of ways this could be used. Be creative.
- If you're a photographer, you could include a lightweight app that lets your readers/customers alter their photos and apply various effects.
- If you're a real estate agent, you could develop a calculator that helps your readers figure out when would be the best time to buy or sell their house.
- If you own a salon, you could build an app that lets potential customers see what they would look like with a new haircut or style.
Of course, you aren't required to spend a lot of money on development (though it will usually get you better results). There are several online tools that can help you out.
Link Bait with Infogr.am
For interactive infographics, you can check out infogr.am. It's free and very simple to use. The site offers several templates you can use, and you can modify the colors and sections to your liking.
While this tool doesn't create infographics per se, it's still pretty cool. If you can come up with an engaging idea for ranking something related to your business, then you can consider using Ranker.com to create a list. Your visitors can add to it, reorder things, etc. If you come with the right idea, this type of link bait can prove to have considerable SEO benefits and gain some quick attention.
Charities, donations and gifts
Charities and non-profits often have a donation, sponsorship, or thank-you page where they publish links to contributors. Look around and see if there are any local organizations that relate in some way to your business or your target audience.
Conclusion
Link bait is as powerful of a strategy in 2013 as it was several years ago. Questions like "How can I provide a great service or piece of content and receive a link at the same time?" should be running through your mind; providing a useful tool, raising a charity, and spreading infographics is just scratching the surface!
Creativity is golden, especially when it comes to standing out-and that's exactly what you want to do. You want readers to keep coming back. You want others to recognize you and link to you.
Do you have any other link building tactics you'd like to share? Leave them in the comments below!