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Building Your Brand One Link at a Time

Tina Samuels

June 12, 2013

When trying to build your brand, getting links to your website or blog is one of the major avenues to getting noticed. But, how do you get these links?

There are ways to generate a ton of links, this usually involves buying the links or having people place guest posts on random blogs. Some website owners believe that the more links out there, the better. At one time this was true.

Search engines would pick up on all of the incoming links and boom – your website with hundreds of blogs pointing to you would show up at the top of the first search results. Due to people buying so many links or placing their site on link farms, search engine companies began using new algorithms to discount all of the junk links.

Today your site needs quality links from quality sites. Most people agree that organic links are the best.

Organic Links

Organic links are those that are built by people linking to your website without being asked. You've probably created your own organic links to your favorite websites.

Do you use social media? If so, think of a time when you have shared a link. That's organic link building!

Any time a link is shared because someone wants to share it, finds the webpage informational, funny, or just enjoys your product – that's an organic share. These are the types of links you want. They're the cornerstone of good brand building through links.

Like most brand builders, you're probably wondering what it takes to get these organic links.

The truth is – hard work and quality work. Provide the people coming to your site with good information they can use.

Don't be shy in sharing your expertise, even if people choose not to use your product or service right away, they'll remember that you taught them something. Those people will share your link and you will gain traffic and sales or clients.

Quality content is important, even the most useful content can be hard to read if not written well. Don't post articles or blog posts that are riddled with mistakes. Carefully proof your material or hire a professional. Most professional writers are familiar with SEO practices and will strive to create SEO centered content for organic links. Your success means they'll continue to have a job,

Guest Posting

While many bloggers are familiar with the scam of people wanting to place guest posts full of junk links on private blogs, you can still look for guest posting opportunities.

You'll need to let the blogger know that you want to offer genuine advice or information – not an artfully crafted full page ad. Nothing is more annoying to bloggers than to receive a guest post full of fluff and linkbacks.

You should always write a unique article tailored to the blog you plan to guest post. While your host blogger may allow several links in your post, be polite. Place only one in your post and one in your bio if your receive one. Most blog owners will edit in a link to your site by hyperlinking your name.

Get Involved

You can create more links by getting involved with people online that use your type of service or product. Join a forum or message board and talk to these people. Get to know them, offer advice if they need it, and share your knowledge.

People are impressed by others who share their expertise without expecting anything in return.

This type of Good Samaritan behavior (helping others without compensation) can lead to a lot of inbound links. You may not even know about the links until someone mentions how they found you. 

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