![\"link](\"https:\/\/www.spiffystores.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/link-building.jpg\")
Inbound links (backlinks) are important to the success of your ecommerce site for two reasons:<\/p>\nInbound links (backlinks) are important to the success of your ecommerce site for two reasons:<\/p>\n
1. They bring visitors to your site from all over the web, and<\/p>\n
2. They help push you up search engine rankings<\/p>\n
Google has always considered backlinks when assessing web pages for search engine results. In their eyes, it’s\u00a0a vote for your content; so it\u2019s got to mean it\u2019s pretty good and deserves to be promoted, right?<\/p>\n
But over the years, link building has been abused and search engines have made it tougher to get the kind of links\u00a0you need.<\/p>\n
Gone, thankfully, are the days of buying masses of irrelevant links to get better search rankings (if you\u2019re approached by a company saying they can get you lots of cheap links, run!). That just annoyed everyone.<\/p>\n
Now, the quality and relevance of backlinks are more important than quantity. The ones you want should come from good quality, reputable websites.<\/p>\n
Here are 9 ways you can get these precious links.<\/p>\n
The preferred method.<\/p>\n
1. Create interesting and useful pages on your website, packed full of information and images.<\/strong> 2. Establish and build your social media presence.<\/strong> As well as maintaining a profile on the obvious networks \u2013 Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube \u2013 explore others like StumbleUpon, Tumblr, Delicious and SlideShare and see how you can get involved with those audiences.<\/p>\n 3. Reach out to popular bloggers in your niche.<\/strong> Search online for popular blogs whose audience may be interested in\u00a0your products (use Alltop or google \u201cxxx blogs\u201d). Then send the blogger a short, friendly email introducing yourself and explaining why they’d be interested in featuring it (what’s in it for them). Don\u2019t be salesy, be tempting and compelling!<\/p>\n 4. Try guest blogging.<\/strong> Use with caution and remember the golden rule \u2013 quality and relevance. And don\u2019t buy them. Ever.<\/p>\n 5. Email your suppliers and business partners<\/strong> and ask if they\u2019d be happy to mention you on their website and link back to your store.<\/p>\n 6. List your store in relevant and reputable online directories<\/strong> 7. Look for opportunities to add your business to professional association websites.<\/strong> 8. Check backlinks to your competitors\u2019 sites and see if they could work for you too.<\/strong> 9. Sign up for alerts from online PR sites.<\/strong> OK. I think that\u2019s given you enough to think about for now.<\/p>\n Building backlinks to increase traffic and impress search engine takes time but it\u2019s worthwhile in the long run. Keep chipping away at it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Inbound links (backlinks) are important to the success of your ecommerce site for two reasons: 1. They bring visitors to your site from all over the web, and 2. They help push you up search engine rankings Search engines love … Continue reading
\nA frequently updated blog is great way to provide this kind of content. Read our post explaining how to write good quality posts.<\/a> Make sure each blog post havs social media share buttons so it\u2019s easily spread around.<\/p>\n
\nSocial media is one of the best ways to promote your awesome content<\/a> (see above point) to attract more traffic and natural links.<\/p>\n
\nEarning a mention on a popular blog can bring you instant results. If you have a unique product or piece of content you think their audience would like to hear about, offer to send it to the blogger to consider reviewing or promoting.<\/p>\n
\nWriting unique content that\u2019s published on other blogs is known as guest blogging. It takes more effort than blogger outreach, but can open more doors if your content\u2019s really useful. Again, when you look for popular blogs to approach, ensure your ideas will be relevant to their audience.<\/p>\nCreate them<\/h2>\n
\nAs I mentioned above, search engines got smart to the hundreds of poor quality backlinks coming from free directories and will downgrade or exclude sites that use this tactic. Only list in a handful of authority directories.\u00a0Start with True local (AU), Yellow pages, Dmoz.org<\/a>, Hotfrog and Yahoo! Directory Listings<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nThey may have a member directory, for example.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s handy to know where your competitors are getting link love. There could be some goodies there you can go after. Type the website address you want to check in link checking tools like open site explorer<\/a>. It can be an eye opener!<\/p>\n
\nJournalists looking for sources for their stories often use sites like Sourcebottle<\/a> to find them. Sign up for email alerts and keep an eye out for opportunities to promote your goods or your expertise.<\/p>\n