I noticed that there are a lot of posts that may assume too much when it comes to link building. In fact I myself mentally brushed off a lot of valuable information I was sifting through in my quest to know it all and ‘get there already’; in ignorance to be sure. I want to share why link building is so important, in bite-sized pieces.
In many conversations with clients, I feel I am doing a smoke-and-mirrors, you-know-and-I-hate-that-I don’t-know type of presentation. I have their attention and comprehension for a minute, then I get excited and venture too far into geek land. The client gets lost. So. I want to help the light bulb switch to "on". Here are the tips that helped me learn about link building; what it is and how best to start.
- First, what words would best describe your website: reservations agency, custom home builder, recycled materials, medical specialty? All of these words could be keywords.
- Second, are you marketing to any geographic location, or are you targeting your community (‘custom homes carmel, monterey podiatry‘)? These could also be keywords, or geo-targeted keywords.
Maybe you have an idea of where your pages should be showing in search results. Now, how to make that happen. You need to have your chosen "key" words LINK (as in, a keyword or phrase that describes what your page is about is actually a ‘clickable’ word/words) to your page. So, if a reader sees the blue underlined text that says ‘monterey podiatry’ and they click it, they are taken to your web page. This gives you a link for the keyword ‘monterey podiatry’. That tells Google you have a vote for the keyword ‘monterey podiatry’. This is an example of what an SEO service in Monterey would provide (that is an example of a link building tactic).
You need to be in your customers’ search path. It is likely they will be typing in ‘cheap hotels monterey’ and not ‘Mrs. Jane Doe’s Reservations’. The simple answer is to have a way to link the keyword ( or keyword phrase; it’s interchangeable) ‘cheap hotels monterey’ to your chosen web page, whether it is the home page or another page within your website.
Note: Google search results deliver the top web pages, not web sites; an important thing to know. This means you can optimize each page within your website for a few keywords; very attainable.
So, your goal is to have a keyword LINKING to your web page. What you want is a link (the hyperlink; the clickable link that links to another page) containing your chosen keyword (or phrase) linking (meaning when clicked it takes the visitor elsewhere) to your page, in your website. So please, never ever make a hyperlink that simply says ‘click here’ (you do no not want to rank for ‘click here’); the hyperlink needs to be an important keyword.
Every time you link to something, stop and evaluate: Is this something of value for the visitor, or for my website (which in time is value for the visitor, as link building continues)? Also, will the link be taking them to another website page, or another page in your site ( which is good if relevant). For example, if your site is about cheap hotels in Monterey, you could link within an article the keyword (phrase) ‘ocean view rooms’ back to another page on your site that does indeed list hotels/inns/motels/bedandbreakfasts with an ocean view.
Kick it up. This is dead simple. Pick your top keyword. Think (or research; I recommend Google’s Keyword External Tool). The point is, pick keywords that are attainable now. If you are in the travel industry, narrow it down from simply ‘travel’, ‘airfares’ or ‘hotels’. People coming to Monterey will probably add more defining words, For an example we will say ‘monterey hotels’.
The kick: take your keyword to a big site. There are high traffic sites, and I am talking millions of visitiors/month, where you can engage. You Tube is now the 2nd highest visited site (yes, more than Yahoo or MSN). How hard would it be to upload a few pictures, with chosen keywords linking back to your chosen page? It’s NOT hard, and it is free to do. Then, you have a very high ranking site with your keywords linking back to your pages. You. Will. Rank.
More ideas: Rank your keyword in a squidoo lens, hub page, ning, etc. Hyperlink your keyword BACK to your web page. I apologize if it appears I am talking down to you; I am trying to save you the time I wasted when I just didn’t quite grasp the importance of this. If you have a very high-ranking site that has a link back to you with a keyword of your choosing; does it get much better?
