For most small businesses getting a steady stream of enquiries through their website is crucial. That ultimately means getting onto the first page of Google’s search results. Although there’s no guaranteed way of doing this good quality content and backlinks can certainly help.
Backlinks are simply links back to your website from other people’s websites.
Improving credibility
Backlinks tell search engines that your website is important helping to improve your site’s credibility. Place them on good quality websites that are related to what you do.
Backlinks from large, reliable and trusted websites are the most valuable kind. Websites near the top of Google are likely to be high quality.
So let’s look at some common types of backlinks and how to get them.
- Natural links are by far the most valuable. This is where someone links to your website simply because you’ve got great content on it. To get natural links, write useful articles on your website and share them through social media. If they’re interesting enough people will share them and start to link to your content.
- Online directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages and Freeindex are great if you’re a local business. Set up a company profile, add a description of your business and then link it back to your website.
- If you’re an expert in your field you could offer to write posts for other websites and blogs. Contact the site owner and share some examples of your writing. Who knows they may commission you to write for them?
- Add links to your site in forum posts or comments, just make sure the link is accompanied by something helpful. You might comment on a LinkedIn post and then link to a blog post that helps to solve a problem.
Writing your link
When it comes to writing your link pay attention to the anchor text. Don’t just write a link that says ‘read here’ or ‘click here’. Ideally, you should include one or two of your main keywords in your link’s anchor text.
For example ‘Interior design solutions’ would work well as a link. It tells the search engines very clearly what kind of site the link will go to. If you add a location ‘Interior design solutions in Stockport’ it can go some way to helping with local searches.
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I love to work with businesses who have a positive impact on the world and see the value of great design. If you need some help with a web design or branding project I’d love to hear from you.
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