Thursday, January 27, 2011

Simple Ways to Build Links that Have Authority and Great Anchor Text


Anchor text and domain authority are crucial elements of the link building process. Often the types of links you'll be able to build will force you to sacrifice one or the other. You can create an info graphic that gets a lot of unique, authoritative domains to link at your site with suboptimal anchor text, or you might be able to use some article or press release directory submission sites to get great anchor text from low-value link sources.

Ideally you would do both at the same time, and get great links from authoritative sources with exactly the anchor text you want. The following is a list of four simple ways to build links that have authority and great anchor text.


1. Guest Posts

Guest posts are probably the most powerful example of how you can get a link on an authoritative domain (and even on an authoritative page) with precisely the anchor text you want. The process is also a very "pure" way to build links as you're giving something (a piece of content) in exchange for the link. This also often means that:

• You can get your content hosted on a powerful domain

• That the domain will have its own syndication and will attract its own links

• And that you'll be permitted to create a link with great anchor text

Not every blog will allow you to use exactly the anchor text you want, but using services and tools like My Blog Guest and the Ontolo link building tool set you'll be able to find a lot of great targets, and you can then vet which are a bit more liberal with guest posting anchor text than others.


2. Testimonials

We've talked about using testimonials to get great links before, and it's a tactic that's definitely deserving of a spot on this list. This is another example of nepotistic link opportunities that can often offer you a great link on a trusted site, and like guest posts you're trading something (your testimonial) for the link. Here are some good examples of the types of vendors who could make sense here:

• Contractors – We’ve worked with two freelance copy writers on the MadeUpCompany.com site and other marketing collateral. They have their own sites where they promote their services. We reached out to them and offered testimonials in exchange for a link.

• Consultants – Are you using a specialist who consults on some aspect of the company or other? Are they doing good work? Do they have a website? Offer them a testimonial!

• Hardware Providers – If you’ve bought a product from a company, you could take a second to shoot them an email saying you’re happy with it and would love to give them a testimonial for the site.

• Customers You Think Would Help – If there’s someone who’s very enthusiastic about our offering and you think that they wouldn’t mind linking to us from their site, this might be an opportunity.


3. Target Keywords in Your Meatier Content

The Free Keyword Tool drives a significant amount of traffic not only because it's a great utility, but also because the tool's name includes a high-volume keyword and the tool itself ranks highly for that term. By naming your cornerstone content strategically, you can attract quality links interested in pointing to your great content or free tools and get the ideal anchor text to those sources. Sometimes this means sacrificing somewhat on the link-baity title front, but it can pay dividends if the links you do attract contain exactly the anchor text you're after.


4. Internal Links

Internal linking is one of the most overlooked means of getting targeted links from trusted pages (your own domain!). It's not as sexy as "link baits" but it can be just as powerful in helping you to actually rank, drive traffic, and increase leads and sales.

Finally, the bottom line is that tactics that allow you to develop quality links with targeted anchor text is an outstanding opportunity to accomplish two things with one tactic and build links that will last regardless of which way the Google algorithms blow.

1 comment:

  1. I am awfully happy and relaxed too that I find this blog. I was searching for the matter discussed in blog post. If you have some more blogs on the topic please share those as well. Thanks a lot for sharing such useful information.
    Peter Zmijewski

    ReplyDelete