Backlinking is important for two reasons. One: Having legitimate backlinks helps boost your organic SEO rankings on Google. Two: Backlinks are opportunities to reach new customers. If you\’re new to backlinking, or if you’re looking for new ways to reach customers, consider these options.
- Directories: Most directories have free listing options, but be sure to double-check what you\’re signing up for. Listing your company is usually fairly self-explanatory. Some of these could take a few weeks or months to show up, so make sure you follow up. General directories are good, but it\’s also a good idea to try to find directories specific to your industry.
- Forums: This is where you’ll find enthusiasts, so be sure what you’re sharing is useful and useable. Stay away from comments like: Check out our site! And just slapping a link on it. Be thoughtful about it. If you have a great blog post that is going to help customers in their buying process, share it. This is a great way to repurpose content. Bookmark these sites and visit them frequently. Keep your ear to the ground — your customers live in places like this.
- Partners: Ask your partners to trade links. One of our clients has a great customer profile section on its website. Consider writing a blog post that highlights a customer. Send them a link to the post, and ask them to share it on their site. It’s a win-win. Human-to-Human (or as it’s quickly becoming known, H2H) is the future of digital marketing.
Do not just post links to your site on any site you can find because that will not reflect well in Google\’s eyes. Backlinking can take some time, but it\’s time well spent if you go about it the right way.