Last week I discussed a number of ideas you could use for building more incoming links to your website. If you're still looking for ideas, keep reading. You'll find more inventive link building ideas in this article.
As with the previous article, many of these ideas come from Nick Andrews, writing for Search Engine Journal. In my opinion, the ideas I'll be presenting in this article call for somewhat more creative thinking on your part than the ones I presented in the previous piece. But they can really pay off if you do them correctly.
Have you ever encountered a widget online? A widget is a small, useful application that bloggers can add to their websites. For example, Jaxtr is a widget that lets visitors to a blog call the blog writer's mobile phone, without divulging the writer's phone number. ClockLink is a cute widget that displays the time in various time zones. Daily Painters displays paintings form famous artists. You get the idea.
A widget can be a useful tool or a fun game; it might even provide an information feed. If you create a widget for bloggers to place on their websites, make sure to include a link on the tool that goes back to your site. This way, everyone who places the widget on their site is linking back to you. If you make the widget relevant to your industry, it will appeal most strongly to bloggers within your industry; this almost guarantees that links from those sites will be seen as relevant to yours.
Another interesting idea for attracting links is building an infographic. This is some kind of image that's beautiful, eye-catching, and informational. An infographic can be funny (be sure to click to expand that one), present a topic in context, reach people on an emotional level, and more. Since infographics are designed to be both attractive and informative, they tend to attract links. Use them on your own site, and get the word out about them. Andrews mentioned that there are a number of sites and directories to which you can submit your infographic that will link back to you. One is the Infographics Showcase, but there are others.
Videos are another big link attractor. Keep it short, entertaining, and informative, and visitors will link to it just to share it with their friends.
Everyone loves free stuff, so giving away freebies and coupons is a sure way to attract links. Running a competition with a prize for the winner is another way to get attention, build your brand, and even win links.
Continuing on the theme of giving away free stuff to build links and traffic to your site, if you're an expert in your field, you can make it known that you give out free advice. Solicit questions and answer them on your blog. One veterinarian who is a member of the forums of our sister site, SEO Chat, started a free online service called Ask a Vet. She asked for questions and posted her answers, and saw traffic to her website skyrocket.
Finally, sponsorships and giving to charities can lead to good links. Often, if you help to sponsor an event or contribute to a charity, you may get a link in return. Andrews noted that you may get a link in a “thank you” blog entry or on a specific page. “If not, you can always ask for the link,” he added. “All for a good cause!”
There are lots of other ways to build links, but once again I've run out of time and space. Hopefully, these will be enough to get your creative juices flowing, and you can start brainstorming some link building ideas of your own. Good luck!
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