Promotion Tip:
Search For Link Opportunities

by Larisa Thomason,
Senior Web Analyst,
NetMechanic, Inc.

Link popularity is a key component of a top search engine rank. But developing an effective linking strategy isn't easy or quick. Probably the most frequently asked question we receive from webmasters is: "how do I find sites that will link to my site?"

It's actually easier than you think. Just open your favorite search engine and enter the right query!

Search For Invitations

For example, suppose you've just posted your Web site and offer handmade quilts for sale online. After researching your options with Search Engine Power Pack's keyword selection tool, you've decided to target 5 different keyword phrases:

Your goal is to locate related Web sites and contact the webmasters about exchanging links.

But even 5 keyword phrases seem overwhelming when you enter those phrases into Google. The database returns tens of thousands of results. It could take years to evaluate all those sites and contact the webmasters!

You need to narrow the list by identifying those sites most likely to agree to trade links. Fortunately, that's easy to do! Just go back to your search engine and add another search term to your keyword search:

"add a link" + "handmade quilts"

Instead of 31,100 results in Google, you get less than 50. These results are for sites that are actively soliciting links. Sites such as:

Compare these results:

Look For Variations

But you aren't finished yet. Remember that you've only searched for "add a link" invitations specifically. Other Web sites may use slightly different wording:

Here are the results from a Google search for two of the targeted keyword terms in combination with some "add a link" variations:

You probably won't be able to trade links with all these sites. There's a good chance that some are competitors who aren't likely to want to help you promote your products. But still, this is a quick way to identify sites that are likely to give you a link. Reviewing and contacting several hundred sites has to be easier than checking out several thousand!

Look For Related Sites

You can also search on keywords for terms related to your product or service. What are terms that other quilters or people interested in quilting might search on?

Just think. People who are considering making their own baby quilt might stumble across your site and decide to buy from you instead of spending their own time on the project.

Develop Good Content

Although a large number of quality inbound links generates traffic to your site, remember that the quality of your site is just as important.

Use your site to attract two different groups: people hoping to purchase a quilt and people interested in learning about the history of hand quilting and how quilts are made. When that second group visits your site, they'll learn about quilting, see beautiful quilts, and refer their friends.

By turning your site into an "authority site" on quilting, you make other webmasters more likely to want to link to your site. You know you've put together a successful link popularity campaign when other webmasters come to you and ask for links!

Learn more about link popularity and site promotion in some of our previous Webmaster Tips articles and check your own site's link popularity using Search Engine Power Pack:

A link popularity campaign isn't always easy, but it's definitely worth a substantial time investment!