How to Get Links Without Asking

Sending out link requests is a time-consuming business. So wouldn't it be wonderful if other sites linked to you without being asked? Sound impossible? Well, it can be done and here are ten strategies to prove it. Why not start 2005 by making sure you use them? In a link building campaign, you have to find target websites in the first place, review them to decide if asking for a link is worthwhile, identify the contact person and send them a customized link request. If you can do all that in 15 minutes per request, you'll be doing very well. On that timing, you'll be able to send out 160 requests in a 40 hour week and with a success rate of say 10%, you'll get 16 links for your efforts. Perhaps there is a better way to spend those 40 hours. Sometimes the best way to get links is not to ask for them. That doesn't mean you should sit back, do nothing and wait for links to appear. Spend time creating content and making your site as attractive and easy to link to as possible. There are lots of things you can do to build your link popularity without sending out link requests. Here are some suggestions: Make it clear on your own website that you want links - ask for them directly and make it easy for people to link by writing the linking code for them (using - this produces over 1,000 results. Spend time looking for niche ezines and newsletters that serve your market, scan the type of content they publish and adapt your writing to their style. Create an interactive tool. My favourite of old was 'The longevity text'. You answered about 20 questions and the tool predicted at what age you would be likely to die. Irresistible - I still remember that my prediction was 83. The test was designed and published by an insurance company - could they have been trying to sell me a pension? A little bit of creativity in thinking about such tools will be time well spent and a good programmer will be able to create a tool in just a few hours. Create great content. (OK, it's an old trick, but it still works) Just keep publishing great stuff. One of the best at this is search engine marketer and prolific writer Jill Whalen. Her weekly newsletter from http://www.coolsiteoftheday.com is a must together with any others you can find. You'd be surprised at how high your chances of success are. Praise and link. When you find genuinely useful resources, write a short, complementary review together with a link. Then publish on your website and click on it just to make sure it ends up in your target's referrer logs. Larry Chase of Web Digest for Marketers publishers a monthly newsletter that reviews about 10 web resources - you'll find it at http://www.prleads.com ($99 per month) or the premium priced http://www.sourc ewire.com (1,200 per annum). Volunteer to become an editor for several directories. You'll be able to submit reviews of your own sites and you'll have opportunities to get to know your market better - that inevitably leads to more linking opportunities. Go beyond the obvious - as well as http://www.joeant.com, http://www.web-beacon.com. Sometimes we can get too wrapped up in sending out link requests. Steeping back and thinking of some creative ways to get people to link without being asked will be time well spent. Ken McGaffin provides link building services to established and new launch websites. He is the author of the highly acclaimed 'Linking Matters Report'. You can claim your free copy at http://www.linkingmatters.com.