Here’s what often happens: a web site owner commissions a website. It’s installed on a webhost. Then he realises he’s going to have to market it. It won’t get business by itself. Unless it offers something highly desirable. Some product that can sell itself by word of mouth alone.
For other sites, there’s SEO: Search Engine Optimisation.
SEO can also, these days include Search Engine Marketing. An SEO consultant is required to to offer help with Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Social Media marketing. It all comes down to attracting more clients to the site.
You start off with a site that focuses on a niche. Then you optimise that site with pages focussing on a range of search terms. So far, so good. Then you want to climb up to the first page of search engine results pages.
One option you come across is backlinks. You get the idea that these links should contain keywords. Keywords are search terms people enter into search engine boxes. The plan is that you will be seen by search engines as an authority for the item you’re marketing.
Now, lots of people, for the past decade or more, have come to the same pass: they want backlinks. Oodles of them. From authority sites. Problem is, everyone who has a popular website knows this. They know backlinks have a financial value. They know that linking out to on-topic, high quality sites is a good idea. They know that linking to cr–py sites is a bad one.
So how can you persuade them to link to you?
Well, for starters, if you do it yourself, it’s extremely time consuming. I recently did that at the request of a customer. It was awful. You see, not every site you try to get a link on will do as you ask. They will ignore your requests. They will reject your submissions. They will even delete your account if you get cheeky.
So, for every 100 sites you submit to, you’ll be doing well if you get 10 links. Eventually. Did I mention it can take 1 week to 6 months for links to be approved? Crikey!
With that in mind, here are some cheap and cheerful ways to get a wodge of half-decent backlinks and increase your site ‘visibility’. Now, you will hear some also-rans prating that you musn’t get too many links too quickly. These are ninnies who 1. Haven’t actually tested that idea themselves or 2. Have done something else to their site, besides getting backlinks too fast and incurred a penalty, for that other trick.
There is one way, I think, that getting backlinks too fast can hurt your site and you know what, I’m not going to tell you it.
Why?
Because it pleases me that my competitors harm themselves by crediting gossip or doing that one thing that will invite Google’s ire. I get very annoyed reading remarks from dunderheads who are reporting rumour, as fact, in forums.
There are too many nincompoops learning the latest wheeze in SEO and spamming the hell out of it. I mean doing really _dumb_ things. Then the owners of the targetted sites get wise to this trick and it becomes useless. Or they just delete their CMS’ database.
Anyhow, here are some simple ways you can get ‘filler’ links to your site:
1. Web directories;
2. Blog comments;
3. Article directories;
4. Social bookmark sites;
5. Your one clever source hardly anyone else knows.
Items 1 – 4 you can get a clever chap like myself to outsource for you. It’s no. 5 that puts the butter on your bread and the sugar in your tea!
Like to hear more? T. O’ Donnell is an SEO Consultant London. Want to hire a web designer from London, Great Britain, too? Give him a call!
