Thursday, October 30, 2008

Link Building: Getting Caught Up in the Numbers

By Julie Johnson

Getting dragged down in the numbers game is not hard to do. Of the many reasons that mass directory submissions continue the link building process, one deals with a logical business process. That process would be the necessity to pinpoint a method that would be able to be consistently measured. Three good quality, sustainable links are more valuable to a client than fifty minor submissions.

Your client might be happy with the fifty small links at first, but once they realize the difference between those and the three good links, they will not be. Conducting business in this manner is irresponsible. The issue with this type of business conduct is that you are putting the focus on the number of links, regardless of quality, instead of gaining actual results with your links.

There are great variances with free directories, for instance, some may have approval instantly, others withing 3 to 6 months, and still others never. There are also directories that may approve your listing, only to disappear a few months down the line. Make sure you are using better judgment when choosing free directories, and only submit to the ones that have a reputation in accepting links in timely ways, and in limited numbers. Be sure that the links maintain staying power.

More importantly, make sure to take time to grow relationships on the web, this will result in valuable links for you. When writing emails to webmasters of sites relevant to your industry, make sure they are not spammy, and are personalized. Use your own creativity by exploring more innovative approaches than merely copying and pasting information over and over again.

If you work on links on blogs relevant to your industry, this can multiply for you. Try not to get caught up in the numbers and discover better ways to increase your effectiveness, and your clients will be much more responsive. - 15254

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