Sir, Would You Like Fries With Those Links?

Recently in several SEO forums I noticed a number of threads discussing ways to find and build "economical" links. The forum participants wanted to know how they could initiate "safe" reciprocal linking as well as "fast" submissions to free article directories. They reasoned these tactics were worth doing because both linking methods were "economical" and "easy" to use.

I understand some linking techniques can be expensive, tedious to implement and extremely time consuming, but tying your online business success to linking tactics deemed "easy", "fast" and "cheap" seems counter-productive. If you limit your linking to low-cost tactics or look at the practice as "link building" instead of "marketing for links" you're almost guaranteed to fail.

Network Your Way To Links

Bambi Francisco had a column today on the impact Web2.0 is having (or not) on corporate America. Toward the end of the post she made a remark I found encouraging:

At the end of the day, Web 2.0 and social networks are really about networking, communicating and collaborating quickly and efficiently. It's not really changing who we are and how we relate to one another. We all network because we are relational people. (my bold)

How true.

The discussion group and webrings of yesterday have morphed into the social networks and "LinkedIn" type places of today. While the technology has changed, the sense of needing to belong to a community hasn't; we still seek to congregate with others who share the same opinions and have the same ideals.

Use these network and forum sites to your full advantage to help market yourself and collect links. Start by:

- Researching the key players within your network niche for linking and advertising opportunities. Note any publications they're being quoted in and then approach with articles and news materials of your own.

- Listen for trends, watch for growth and be active in ongoing discussions. It's much easier to approach people in the network with business offers if they've heard of you and feel you're credible.

- Ask the forum if they run a newsletter or sister blog and inquire about ad space.

There are networks and forums for just about every industry out there. To get you started, here's a couple of resources that list networks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

and

http://socialsoftware.weblogsinc.com/2005/02/14/home-of-the-social-
networking-services-meta-list/

and a forum directory:

http://directory.big-boards.com/

Tip: If you don't have a forum in your industry - start one. It will go a long way to making your business an authority in the eyes of your clients, constituents and the media! (translation, it will attract a lot of links ;).

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