Best Link Building Strategies You Haven't Yet Tried

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Link building is every online marketer's nemesis, if not a time consumer. And as long as algorithms continue to place more emphasis on incoming links, it will stay a necessary evil. That said, here are a list of link building strategies that will help you get the most return for your time. It's true some of these concepts aren't new. But I guarantee you'll find a few you haven't yet tried.

Link Building Strategy #1 - Create Viral Lists

By creating content other people want to link to naturally, you not only increase your incoming links, but diversify your traffic channels.

Create good content. Syndicate it, publish it on your site, and on content sharing networks like Zimbio.com. Ask other's to blog about it, bookmark it and submit it to Digg. (Be sure to create some variance in the copy to avoid duplicate content issues.)

A few "viral list" topics:

1. Any top 100 list relating to your genre.
   
2. Top 10 myths about your industry
   
3. List of experts in your industry
   
4. Top 10 resources for [blank]
   
5. Top 10 Symptoms of [scenario to avoid]
   
6. [number] ways to easily [desired outcome]

Link Building Strategy #2 - Be Straightforward

People are often times more receptive than we anticipate. Link exchanges might be dead, but forthrightness will always be good business. If you want something (like a link) why not just ask?

Here are few ways to be straightforward:

1. Search for your personal or business name online. If a link doesn't appear along side it, email the webmaster to request a hyperlink. This almost always works.
   
2. Ask people to do things for you. A brief explanation of what you want followed by how it will benefit both parties will usually do the trick. As people to bookmark your site, submit it to stumble upon, to publish exclusive content you've written for them.

Link Building Strategy #3 - Target Big Syndicators

If you're not already syndicating content, you're missing out. Feeds allow your links to increase exponentially as others subscribe and publish them. Instead of haphazardly submitting/ syndicating any ol' content, why not try and get it published where, for instance, Google gets its news? AmericanChronical.com is one such source. Try research others.

The point here is to think inside the box. Often times the best solutions are the easiest to come up with and the easiest to execute. What do people want? How can you give it to them? These are questions that will help you come up with your own list of "best link building strategies."

Megan Carruth is an online marketing and business development consultant who has been helping grow small businesses with innovative web strategies since 2005. With an emphasis on ethics and value, Megan founded BizDevMarketing with the vision of empowering business owners with a winning combination of online marketing knowledge and self-sufficiency. Her primary areas of expertise include search engine marketing, social media, content development, blog promotion  and strategic alliances. A musician, she performs with various groups in the Minneapolis /St.Paul area and spends most of her free time reading about topics such as cosmology, alternative medicine and spirituality.

"Helping small businesses make their mark online."
Online Marketing & Business Development Consultant, BizDev Marketing
651.808.0758