Generating Website Traffic – The Power Of Inbound Links

Welcome to the next segment in the “Generating Website Traffic” Series.  In the first segment of this series we addressed the power of content in generating a good flow of traffic to your website.  If you haven’t read that segment you can find it here.

In this segment we are going to talk about Inbound Links and how they assist in generating website traffic. If you don’t already know, Inbound links hold a high level of consideration by the search engines when they are ranking your site.  It is a long-term technique that any website owner should be aware of and master.  The more Inbound links you have, the more likely the site will be given value by Google and such.  There are many reputable ways to obtain Inbound links to your site over time.  I’ll list some of these here and then add some links to further reading at the end.

ARTICLE WRITING

One of the most common ways to build Inbound links is by writing and submitting articles to article submission sites.  Article sites allow you to spotlight your expertise and give readers the valuable content they are seeking.  After you have written your article, be sure to include links to your site in order to offer the reader additional resources on that topic or to find out more about you, the Author.  Even if you are not familiar with this process it is very easy to get started and there are several ways you can create content even if you are not a great writer or hate writing altogether (I’ll leave that for another article).  The most common ways that this provides Inbound links to your site is through the links you include within the articles and on your AUTHOR PAGE (make sure you complete your Author Page for each site).  Commonly, one of the great advantages of submitting articles to these sites that is overlooked is the potential for gaining hundreds more links through the sites Article sharing features.  Most Article Submission sites allow users to copy the articles which reside on their site and use them in their own websites or blogs so long as all of the links from the original article remain in tact.  That means every time someone copies your article to their site or blog YOU GAIN AN ADDITIONAL LINK FROM THEIR SITE!  MEGA BONUS!  There are many Article Submission Sites available to you.  A simple search in Google will reveal a number of these.  You can see my favorites in the LIBT TOOLBOX in our menu.  I also highly recommend to anyone who is getting started in Article writing to download Josh Spaulding’s “Article Marketing Domination”.  This was one of the first eBooks I ever purchased and it is chock full of very helpful information on Article Marketing.  You can get more information about Josh’s product HERE.  I have purchased this myself and yes, I do promote this as part of Josh’s affiliate program but I do believe, personally, that the information Josh has provided here is good quality information and it has helped me a number a ways in my Article Marketing campaign.

FORUMS

Another great way to get your site out to the masses and links back to your site is through Forums.  There are Forums out there for just about every topic. If, for example, you are selling Widgets, search for “Widget Forum” in your favorite search engine and you will most likely find a few that suit you.  When you find a Forum be sure it is active and has very recent posts.  This process will work best on active Forums.  Once you find one that you like, sign up and be sure to add a Signature Box.  Most forums allow you to add a link or two within your signature box.  Here is where you get the link back.  Add your signature box and then make sure you are an active participant n the forum.  Ask questions, answer when you can, and form relationships with the audience.  You will gain Inbound links from the forum by using this technique.

FREEBIES

We all love to get something for free so give the people what they want!  You can create a free report or resource list and offer it as a freebie on your site.  Once you have created your freebie, be sure to add it to your website and direct people where they can find it through social or other marketing methods.  Then, ask them to share the information and Voila! your link is out there fluttering about!

GUEST BLOGGING

Locate Blogs that are within your area of expertise. Aask the owners if they would be interested in allowing you to do a guest blog spot.  You would be surprised how many bloggers will be happy to give you a spot assuming your content is good quality.  It gives them a chance to get more activity to their blog and they don’t have to come up with content that day! =)   Just be sure the blogger will allow you to link back to your site.  This can be a very valuable and long standing Inbound link if placed on a very active site.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Get Social!  Use the Social Networks to promote your sites.  The easiest is probably Twitter.  You can be up and running very quickly and it is the easiest as far as promotion goes.  I have two quick Tutorials on Twitter if you are not familiar with it.  You can find them here and here.  Try out Facebook as well.  Be sure to promote and promote often.  The more you promote the more chances you have of people finding your site.

VIDEOS

I think this is a great way to get Inbound links.  Create a video and submit it to the various Video Sharing sites.  You can do a simple “Product How To” on something you are selling or a tutorial on using a great tool or software product online.  If you are not familiar with how to create and produce videos then I wouldn’t start with this one but you can definitely keep it on the short list for the future.

There are a number of other great ways you can gain Inbound links and you can find loads of information just by searching this term.  Some things for newbies to avoid initially would be LINK SHARING or BUYING LINKS.  There are so many scams out there and until you are familiar with these services you should avoid them.  Search Engines have also learned to ignore many link sharing and sites so it could just turn into a waste of time and money for you anyway.

The ideas listed above are a just a few to get yo started with building your inbound links.  Below I have listed a few more resources for you to continue your research.

A Word From Google On Inbound Links

How to Get Inbound Links from Government and University Sites

Our Stance on Paid Links & Link Ads – Good article on Link Buying at SEOMoz.org

Link exchanges: The poor man’s SEO – CNET Article

If you have a great idea for building Inbound links, please post them in the comments and I will put them in a future article.

More Traffic To You!