If content is king, then backlinks are the supreme ruler of the universe because without them, no one will ever see your content. If you have a new website and you are trying to get traffic, the proper backlink strategy is a must and you have to get links from diverse places.
Too many people only include 1 type of link (i.e. only article directories or only profile links) in their promotional activities and, while these may work for a while, in the long run you will not be able to sustain your rankings or traffic unless you get links from different types of places. Towards that end, here are 6 types of backlinks that any new site must endeavor to obtain.
1. Social Bookmarking Sites
Personally, I feel that links from these sites are just about useless for SEO purposes, however there is some talk that google looks for your site to be bookmarked as it indicates that people like it. So, it is in your best interest to choose a few social bookmarking sites where you can bookmark but also get others to bookmark, digg, like or whatever your site too.
2. Article Distribution
Article distribution is great for backlinks because you can control the anchor text. So, if you want to rank for “blue widgets” you can be sure to use that as anchor text in your resource box. Not only that but, if you write a good article, you can actually get traffic to your website from the people that read the article and like what you have to say.
A 3rd benefit of submitting your article to article directories is that other people might come along and syndicate your article on their blog thus giving you even more backlinks and a wider audience.
3. Press Releases
Distributing press releases can give you great backlinks. Of course, you should have something newsworthy to say, but just launching your website can be big news. Also, offering a new service, a free report or some kind of calculator or other software on your site that visitors can use could also apply.
4. Blog Commenting
Blog commenting can be a good way to get backlinks and traffic. They key is to leave a good relevant comment that adds to the conversation, otherwise you probably won’t get your comment approved. If you want “link juice” for your comment, you will need to make sure the blog is using “do follow” links.
5. RSS Feeds
Submitting your RSS feed to the various RSS directories can be a great way to get backlinks on autopilot. Since your feed is dynamic, every time you make a new post, you get instant backlinks from these directories. Not only that, but other people can put your feed on their sites for more exposure and backlinks.
6. Guest Blogging
Here, I have saved the best for last because I truly believe that guest blogging will give you the highest quality backlinks and it’s all because of two words “editorial discretion”. You see, in order to get a post published on a blog in your industry, a human has to approve it. The search engines know this so naturally that link is more valuable than one from an article directory or rss feed that you can easily get on your own.
Leaving a guest post on a blog is a great way to get traffic directly from the blog too! Of course, you need to write a high quality post and most blogs require your post to be unique and of substantial content and words. No fluff here – really great content wins the race!
These are just 6 places that you should consider getting links to your blog from. There are actually many other places and you should strive to deploy a diverse and robust linking strategy if you want your website to grow and increase traffic and, hopefully, sales!
Guest author Lee Dobbins is a full time internet marketer that specializes in website development and promotion. Visit WebsitePromotionBlueprint.com for more on how to get targeted traffic to your blog and don’t forget to sign up for her FREE 10 Step Link Building Process ebook and spreadsheet that will help you organize your link building efforts and start a flood of traffic to your website.