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Would you like links with that copy?

Posted by Michael Martinez on April 16, 2007 in Link Building

Xenite.Org received another link request this weekend. Actually, we received two and I’m still thinking about one of them. But the other request was doomed from the start. Someone sent us a press release.

There are no pages on Xenite.Org that ask people to submit press releases to us. We are not a press release distribution service. But I would say that easily 1/3 to 1/2 of all the link requests that manage to get past our link request filters are in the form of press releases.

I think Xenite has published maybe 3 press releases that we didn’t write in the past 10 years. On the other hand, we have freely linked out to thousands of Web sites. We have written small articles, long articles, multiple articles about many, many Web sites.

Most of those sites did absolutely nothing to get those links, except to create content we felt was worth linking to. I’m pretty sure I’m not the lone voice in the wilderness on this issue. I could swear that a lot of people have been saying pretty much the same thing for some time now: create good copy that other people will want to link to.

Now, the real problem here for anyone who doesn’t have a network of Web sites to kickstart a new site is that creating all the great copy in the world doesn’t help much if no one knows it’s there. So how do you get the word out?

That question is answered maybe 100 times a day in SEO and Web marketing forums across the globe. Now maybe I would not agree with most of the advice people give, or maybe I would. I don’t know. But what I do know is that as soon as you send me your press release, you have wasted your one and only chance to get that precious value-passing link from me.

Let’s briefly recap the list of things not to do when you are building links for that site no one knows about:

• Do not email generic link requests to every Webmaster you can find. That includes sending press releases to people who don’t distribute press releases.
• Do not register in every forum you can find so you can post a single announcement about your great site and then leave forever.
• Do not waste your time creating profiles in forums and social media sites where you can embed links in the profiles.
• Do not run around to dozens of blogs and say “great post!” and leave a link.

In short, if you think of an idea for creating links to your site, don’t do it. You don’t know enough about link building if you’re going to do something that you would not want people to do to you. Are you a press release distribution service? Will you mind if I send you badly written press releases that announce nothing of interest to anyone? I get plenty of them. What are you going to do with all that duplicate copy besides hit DELETE?

If you want a link from me, give me something of value. Don’t give it to anyone else. If you’re not willing to give me value for value, you won’t get a link. And here’s a clue: people who think a link-for-a-link is value-for-value don’t know enough about link building to be doing it.

Exchanging links with your friends, relatives, co-workers, and people you meet in bars at conferences is fine. That’s called networking. Signing up with a few directories that actually have working editorial crews is fine, too. That’s called link building. But you exhaust legitimate sources of obvious links pretty quickly, and most people don’t know what to do next.

The next step, it has always seemed to me, should be obvious. But it escapes so many Web promoters I guess maybe I must just be a freaking genius. Still, here’s the secret: give something to people without asking for a link. Give me a car. Give me a boat. Buy me dinner. Tell me how to fix that stupid script that keeps crashing my server. Design new graphics for my Web site. Tell me about the security hole in my back door.

Except for the car and boat, many people have given me plenty of value through the years. I’ve linked to them and never had a problem doing so. Lots of people have linked back to me, too. I’ve submitted tips to news and rumor sites that provide credit for sources. You got a hot tip? Share it with the world. Go find the biggest, busiest news and rumor site that uses tips like yours and give it to them — exclusively.

If there is one thing I absolutely hate it’s to find out I’m on some whizbang PR firm’s distribution list. They’ve gone out and found 15 fan sites whose help the major studio wants in promoting a movie. So all 15 sites get the same news. Whoopee. Maybe the little guys will scarf up the news because they are building out their content, but in case you ain’t noticed, I got plenty of content.

One movie studio gave me access to a publicity kit that no other Webmaster ever thought to ask for. I built a Web site about their upcoming movie. Now, years later, after the movie has played out its DvD sales, I still get plenty of traffic from that fan site. The movie may still be earning sales because of me. I don’t know. But I’m actively promoting someone else’s movie just because they gave me content that no one else had to work with.

Value gets you all the links in the world. Honest, true, legitimate, unique value. If you’re running an eCommerce site, you can offer value to Webmasters. Can you afford a discounted price only for Webmasters who link to you? How about a merchandise gift for every Webmaster who sends you 100 paying customers? Be original. Think outside the affiliate program model.

Give links away on your own site. Write feature reviews. Interview other Web site operators. Do something for the other guy instead of asking him to do something for you. Be different. Be bold. Be the resource that other people want to link to.

You deserve to be linkless if you sit there and say, “Yeah, but my site doesn’t offer that kind of content.”

There’s no reason not to. Absolutely none.

If you’re the SEO consultant who cannot get the client to commit to creating content about other sites, you can still do it for the client. Build a new site that you control, go out there and build relationships with other sites, and then give your client some links. There is nothing wrong with that. If in your opinion the client site is worth a link or two from your site, who is going to stop you?

You don’t have to use AJAX to create great content (in fact, I’m one of those people who heads the other way when I see an Ajax site start hogging my computer resources). You don’t have to embed flash on every page to create content people want to visit.

Xenite.Org has been insulted by many technowhiz people who say it’s ugly and boring, but the average visitor reads 4 pages of ugly and boring content on Xenite. How many pages on your site do they turn? Some visitors hang around for 9 click-throughs on Xenite. And I’m not talking about our forums.

If you know six people in an industry where their experience and opinions mean something, you’ve got six interviews waiting to be conducted. That’s six potential links — possibly more if they are popular — you’ll get just for creating copy for yourself.

See how that works? You increase your copy, your internal linkage, and voila! other people link to you. It’s not the latest formula in search engine optimization — it’s just the way Web content gets linked to.

One way you can launch a new site and garner a lot of links as you build out the content is to set up a schedule for contacting influencers and involving them in your campaign. Use their knowledge and experience to help you. Ask for case studies. Ask for interviews. Invite them to participate in IRC events (be sure you invite other people so they’ll have an audience).

Another way you can launch a new site and garner a lot of links is to give away free content to influencers. I don’t mean the same whitewashed cookie-cutter content you’d give to free distribution services. I mean create useful, meaningful, relevant, unique content for each influencer. Design it around the other person’s needs. Offer it and be honest about why you’re doing it: you’re launching a new service or site and you want to build relationships.

Some people may turn you down. It happens. I may turn you down. But I won’t close the door on you forever. Not if you give me value.

That’s what sets your site above all the rest, after all: the value you create for other people. Where you create that value is up to you, but if you’re feeling link-thin, consider giving away some of the value you bring to the Web community. Give us a reason not only to notice you but also to care that you exist.