Linking Strategies
Boosting your PageRank through backlinks
Google & co use so many factors to rank your website. You may have tried pay-per-click, taken care of your keyword density and honed your web copy. But you’ll only make it to the top of the search page if you support these efforts with a focused links campaign.
A link to your site works on 2 levels. It drives in traffic (obviously) and acts as a vote of confidence, positioning you as a trusted authority. The search engines like this kind of validation – as long as the link source is relevant to your business, it's the best way to boost your PageRank.
First steps in your link-building campaign
Use your own keywords in Google & co to review the top 30 search results. Many will be your competitors, but you’ll also find services that complement your own. Submit or swap links with these sites – they’re already trusted by the search engines so their "vote" carries some weight.
Find industry and location-specific online directories. Many of these will add your link twice – by sector and by location. But if there’s a charge, remember linking is about volume and quality – it’s unlikely that a single link will make a huge difference to your ranking. (That doesn’t mean you should ignore paid directories – but only pay for inclusion if you think it will be a direct source of referrals).
Get links from web pages that are read by your target audience. It doesn’t matter if the page doesn’t rank highly in searches, as long as your prospects have discovered it.
Ask your resellers and distributors to link to your site. Most should be happy to oblige, especially if you have reports and other information that will help their customers make a buying decision.