Successful Link Campaigning

First you need a list of sites you want to link to – and request links from. See my previous post, Link Research Tools & Tips.

Now that you know who you’d like to get links from, what’s the best way to go about it?

Let me give you a real case study with my client, Cormark International – an exotic wood supplier for woodworking and woodturning.

Though the company has been in business for over 27 years, their site is relatively new, and they have only recently added a shopping cart for retail woodworking supplies.

They didn’t have many inbound links going for them – so here is what I’ve done:

1. I started by making sure their site and business are listed in all the “big” Local searches. I also did a few quality directory submissions, just to get the ball rolling. Plus I linked to them from my business site under Clients.

2. I researched competitor links and did online searches. I followed the breadcrumb trails. I manually visited and scoped out as many related woodworking sites I could find. Then I whittled down my list. Remember – quality is more important than quantity. In the process, I also uncovered some really great sites that were not linking to any competitors.

3. I built a Resources page for Cormark, and populated it with a couple dozen outbound links to sites that we all agreed were quality resources for Cormark’s site visitors, whether they link back to us or not. For example, I looked for sites that offered guidance, tips, tools, and free woodworking plans. I also looked for woodworkers’ sites offering items for sale that do not compete with Cormark.

4. I checked each desired site for specific information on exchanging links. Some have emails and forms available for that, and I used them. The key point here is – check out who owns the site, and whether they have any specific information regarding requesting links.

One site I found, www.kevinsbrady.net  contains a page amounting to a manifesto on how to request a link the right way – and it is a beautiful example of how link requests should be approached! Please read his page – he explains quite clearly as a site owner how to get through to him, or how to end up in his trash bin

5. The most important way to ensure you actually get some quality links is to do your homework right, find out as much as you can about the other site and the owner, and contact them directly – by name – with a personal letter or email.

6. I am continuing with the link request process, contacting a few sites at a time. There is some “suspicion” that if you suddenly load up your site with 100 inbound links, you’ve taken a frowned-upon shortcut rather than acquire decent, quality inbound links the “natural” way.

Link Campaigning is not the time to take shortcuts! Do it right and you will build up good links to your site. And don’t forget, as a site owner, part of your responsibility is to provide good links of your own to your visitors!

Give them a reason to come back.

Give other sites a good reason to link to you.