You can spend a bunch of time prospecting for links, you can ask for links and you can even beg for links, but the most vital link building tip I can give is to CREATE GOOD STUFF. So you’re probably thinking to yourself right now, “What a punk, who does this guy think he is?” Well, hear me out. ‘Create good stuff’ might sound really crazy and simple, and guess what, it is! There is plenty of crap (excuse my French) out there that makes my point clear.
What is the STUFF I am talking about? Well anything that you put online really, your:
- Website
- Blog
- Content
- Comments
- Images
- Videos
- Emails
- Tweets
- Posts
- Hopefully you get the point
Here is what I mean by creating good stuff to help you in your link building efforts:
DESIGN: Your STUFF must be decent looking. Don’t kid yourself with this one. Nobody will link to your website just because your content is amazing; it needs to look like you care a little bit.
CONTENT: Quality is much more important than quantity. The ‘new amazing tool that creates tons of web pages and blog posts automatically’ isn’t the answer to your problems.
EFFORT: People aren’t all stupid, most of us can tell if you gave at least some thought and effort into your STUFF. The reason why tons of people link to Search Engine Journal articles is because they know the content is solid and the writers care about their audience.
UNIQUENESS: Is your STUFF (as I put it) unique and exciting? Or is it just some rehashed stuff from last week or even a year ago?
ENERGY: Samuel Johnson said, “Genius is that energy which collects, combines, amplifies, and animates.” So put a little energy into the STUFF you create.
USEFUL: Don’t just give us your opinion or insights. Give us some steps, tips and strategies that we can implement now.
OPTIMIZED: It is a must to optimize your content so that people can find it. If a potential link friend can’t find your STUFF, then how are they ever going to link to it?
These are just some tips that I look for when linking to STUFF online and I can guarantee that I am not the only one. Of course, the above is not everything, but it is a great start. If we all followed these simple principles, then the internet would not be full of a lot of worthless junk and our link building would be that much easier.
Give me your thoughts below in the comments and let me know if I am crazy.
