Link building in 2019 is still a very necessary chore that needs to be done by every site owner. WHY? Google still uses and evaluates in-bound links to a site as an indicator of “popularity” and “relevance”. In my experience, having amazing content on its own is great, and it will get you ranked (probably well), but it will not get you to the coveted top three in Google Search Engine Results Page (SERPS).

A good analogy is to pretend you have an amazing restaurant. You make the best food ever. Your restaurants interior design is amazing. The best ever. The problem is no one knows it but you. You need to get people into your restaurant to taste your food… and hopefully post or blog about it on social media. When this occurs, you start to build a “buzz”. You draw attention. People are “linking” to your restaurant. Google takes notice! And this is the goal! To get Google to take notice.

In this analogy, we used a restaurant. But, it can be any business… plumber, pool cleaning service, doctors office, lawyer, etc. You need to come to the realization that your business is most likely not the only one offering the same services you are in your town or city. But you do need to set your site apart from the others.

After your site is FULLY optimized (hopefully by a Search Engine Optimization professional), you then need to work on “Link Building”, or getting external sites and pages to link to your page.

How Do You Build Links For Your Site

• ASK FOR THEM! It’s fairly easy, but often overlooked. Many businesses work with suppliers and vendors, and these entities have websites of their own. Because you are a client of theirs, sometimes it’s as simple as asking for them to link to your site.
• BE AN EXPERT! There are many sites that are looking for experts in their respected fields. If you are a lawyer, AVVO is a good example. Yahoo Answers is another. Seek out one of these sites, and get comfortable with how it operates. It’s a good idea to read the rules as well. But, then jump in and see if you can contribute by answering questions specific to your industry. When you do, most sites allow you to provide a link back to your site.
• PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORIES! There are many professional business directories. AngiesList, HomeAdvisor, AVVO, MedLine are few. Many are free, some have small annual fees. Get your business added to these directories. There are always a space to include a URL back to your site. Don’t stop with one. I recommend finding several of these business directories and getting added to each. Look into joining a local Chamber of Commerce, and getting listed in their business directory with a link back to your site.
• GOOGLE MY BUSINESS! Either claim and/or add your business listing with Google My Business. Adding your URL also insures that Google will come “crawl” (visit) your site. This will help with the search result. It’s also a great way to be included in what Google calls the “Local 6-Pack” (more on this in another post).

Hopefully the above ideas will help you with some very actionable things you can do to get some new, quality inbound links to your site. My personal opinion is that you really cannot have too many good links. So, work the above ideas, and see how they work for you. You will be surprised how many business owners do not know to do these small things. In addition to the links you are building for your business, often times by participating in the actions outlined above, you are also establishing yourself as an “expert” in your field, which almost always will help generate new business for you! Most of the above ideas are also pretty much free to do, and come at no cost. Just some time, effort and determination.

Of course, it’s not easy to find the time to do these things AND run a business, which is why many business owners turn to an agency to help run their online marketing efforts. If this is you, please feel free to contact our team at High Level SEO today for a no obligation analysis of your business’ website and online presence.