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Home::Online Promotion
Linking: Viral Advertising is a Good Virus
Author : Kathryn Beach
You've built your website. I don't think I need to explain to
you that you won't get anywhere with your online business if no
one ever sees it. So traffic is what you're looking for.
Ideally, targeted traffic. What's that, you ask.
Targeted traffic is people who know what they're looking for
and have been led to believe that they'll find it on your
website. How did they hear about you? Word of mouth? An ad
on another website? Search engines? An ezine ad, safelist email,
traffic exchange splash page?
Let's take one of those, search engines, and talk about it for a
bit. Let's face it, that's the starting point for a lot of
people looking for information online. But how far do they
search? Here's what I usually do when I'm looking for something.
Like yesterday...sigh...I spent hours looking for the driver,
then the image editing software, for my scanner.
Adventures with Search Engines
I typed something into the search box. I looked at the first
page of answers to my query. Not much was useful, but I did pick
up on a few more targeted terms to type into the search box.
Back and forth I went for a couple hours until I finally found
what I was looking for.
Not my idea of a good time.
But ultimately I achieved my goal, once I had found the highly
refined search terms I needed. For example, I didn't know to use
"image editing software" when I started my search, but figured
it out as I went along. And trust me, I didn't go much past the
first page of any query during my hours of searching.
Your website needs those highly targeted keywords, so
that when someone types them into a search engine, they find a
listing for your website and it's one of those "Eureka! I've
found it!" moments for them.
But even if you've got the keywords, how do you get your website
into that first search page on Google or Yahoo! or AOL?
One way is called back linking, one of many online
versions of word-of-mouth advertising. Some website already
esteemed by the search engines for the same keywords as yours
recommends your website as a good place to go for more info.
Google or whoever sees that link, visits your site, and decides
that yes, your site IS an excellent place for more info on image
editing software, or whatever. Your site then "rises" in esteem
in the search engine world.
So if your site is about image editing software, your url
appears on other sites about that same topic, or related to it
strongly, such as sites about scanners or cameras. These related
sites tell their visitors that your site is a good place to go
for their image editing software needs.
I'll Scratch Your Back If You Scratch Mine
How do they do this? They don't have to actually say anything,
although testimonials carry a lot of weight. You can exchange
links with them; "I'll put a link to your site on mine if you do
the same." Hence the name, reciprocal linking.
It's a time-consuming process, finding the most appropriate
sites, communicating, posting the link to your site, checking to
make sure they post your link, but it's worth it because it
works if you've picked good sites. It doesn't work if you link
to a site about used cars or baby showers if your site is about
image software.
The best way to find targeted sites to link with is to type this
into a search engine: "your site's keywords" "link to us". Or
variations on that, "your site's keywords" "add your link". Or
use related keywords. Use your imagination here. In the image
editing example, the keywords you use can relate to uses for
your software, such as "scanner software" or "photograph editing
software". But be sure to include the " ", that's what will make
your search the most targeted by using those exact phrases
within the parentheses.
There are programs and software that make linking easier.
There's a website where you can sign up, enter your keywords and
site description, and then receive emails notifying you when
there is another site or site with the same keywords as yours.
You log in and there's a simple way to visit these sites and
send automatic emails asking them if they would like to link
with you. The service is free, the site is called Value
Exchange.
Once a link to your site is on another website, it's there for
good (barring unforeseen circumstances, such as you not
upholding your end of the deal, or vice versa). People will
continue to see that link for years to come. So will the search
engines. They will continue to return to your site as long as
the content is still relevant, and as long as you continue to
add new content. The search engines love new and unique. Which
is why, for example, you will continue to find new articles such
as this one on my website. :^)
Besides reciprocal linking, there's one-way linking, also called
back linking, such as when a website uses this article
and it includes the resource box at the end with my link or
links in it. Sweet, this is the best kind of link, a trade of
free website content for a link back. My name gets a bit of
branding, I get a link back, and the website owner gets fresh
content for his or her site. And even more so than a static link
on a website, this one is truly viral, as this article gets
passed around forever, reaching more and more people every day.
So that's linking in a nutshell. There are other methods of word
of mouth online promotion, but that's for another article
another day. Here's a hint of things to come, though. There's a
new fun way to get around Google and the others that's just
starting to spread, it's a way to create your own search engine
and it's called tagging. Yes it's fun, you run around the 'net
saying "you've been tagged". More on that another time.
Till then, have fun linking and watching your search engine
ranking soar!
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