How to get Free Backlinks

Backlinks or the links that point to your web site are critical for ranking well in the search engines. Each backlink (or BL) is a citation for your site. Each citation is a vote in your favor.

To get backlinks there are a few strategies that I use that can work for any web site. I’m pretty lazy about getting backlinks so these techniques are not only free, but easy to do as well.

Have Something worth Linking To

This can be quality content, an authoritative article, a useful tool, or an amusement. Killer content will generate quality, relevant backlinks. The down-side is it takes time!

Free Directories

Free directories are plentiful. While many have started charging for a listing I have not seen the value in this as almost none of these sites actually drive traffic your way. To find free directories search for "free directory listing". You may want to get more specific by adding your keyword to the search string "free keyword directory listing".

The ultimate free directory is the Open Directory Project, aka the ODP aka DMOZ. DMOZ is a human edited directory and is highly valued by Google. Also, a listing in DMOZ means a lot of “bonus” backlinks because the directory is free to use. Webmasters will use all or part of the DMOZ directory in their sites. This often translates to hundreds of free backlinks for one submission!

Don’t submit a site to DMOZ until it is complete. DMOZ has high standards for inclusion. Incomplete sites won’t be listed. Some categories have long lists of sites waiting for review. Be patient. Be sure to follow their guidelines when submitting your site. It will do you no good finally be reviewed and then denied because you skipped something. The idea here is quality.

Search for Free Listings

Type "free keyword listing" in your favorite search engine and look at all the results! You can also type "keyword +add url" or "keyword +submit". This will bring a list of sites that focus in your keyword and are looking for more sites to list.

The "+" means it must be included in the results. As you get the hang of this you will change your search string to adapt to your needs. Usually I use: keyword1 keyword2 +submit OR "add url" -dmoz -"open directory project". This removes a lot of duplicate sites from the results. If I notice common themes between duplicates I will remove those as well with the "-" operator.

Shop Your Competition

Use the search engines to determine what links your competitors have received. In Google type "link: domain.com -site: domain.com". In Yahoo! type "link:http://domain.com" note the difference in syntax. Yahoo! requires no space between the link: operator and domain name. Yahoo! also requires the http:// part with the domain. For MSN type "link:domain.com" (again, no space).

Each search engine will display somewhat different results. It seems Yahoo! usually displays the most comprehensive list. Google deliberately hides some of the links they have indexed.

Anyway, once you have your list, start visiting the sites that link to your competition. See if you can get your site listed there as well. Some sites have a site submission form. Other sites need to be approached through email. Some will want money. And some just won't go for it at all.

Ask!

There is nothing wrong with requesting a link from a web site. If you do this, be polite and professional. Show why your site is worthy of being linked to and how it benefits the site you are requesting the link from.

Don’t forget to request links from your vendors and customers!

The Power of RSS and Free Press

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. You can use RSS to broadcast announcements and press releases. Many blogs use RSS as well. There are plenty of free RSS generators online. Just write up a press release and run it through the generator. That will create an RSS feed that can be submitted to RSS aggregators. One of my favorite places to start submitting feeds is http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm but you can also search for keyword related RSS aggregators like you would for directories "keyword rss aggregators +submit".

Not everyone accepts RSS (yet). You can also submit your press release at www.prweb.com for free. You get better service if you pay a little, but I’ve always been content with the free service. Don’t just stop with PRWeb’s service, though. Submit your press release directly to industry publications and industry hubs.

With RSS and press releases you can gain a lot of topic-related backlinks in a short period of time. You can also get backlinks from respected news site like CNN. Expect some of these links to be temporary. News is only as fresh as the latest story, after all. But some of the sites that publish news also keep archives which can help you a lot over time.

You can also post press releases and other announcements at www.blogger.com. Setting up an account is free and posting is easy.

Writing Articles

You can also write and submit articles. The terms of someone using your material includes full credit of authorship including a link back to your own site.

Writing is not for everyone and may be more time-consuming than the other tips mentioned here. The benefit of getting your work on someone else’s site should drive traffic to you and enhance your reputation as an expert.

Publish on quality sites. Avoid scraper sites based on Adsense and affiliate revenue. Be as on-topic as possible.

Put it in Your Signature

Include your URL in your signature for message boards, forums, and email (you may be amazed how many emails end up online).

Set Up Mini Sites

Creating mini sites that have a very tight focus can help you. I’ve done this on a couple occasions and the key to making this work is monitor the time you put into it – don’t put more in than it’s worth. You will also need to get links to these sites to give them some power.

Free hosting is an option but I highly recommend purchasing a unique domain name and some cheap hosting (all right this on isn’t quite free). All told the cost can be less than $100 and if you set up Adsense or a similar program you can quickly offset these expenses.

Not all Backlinks are Equal!

Sites linking to you that are relevant to your content get extra weight in the power of their "vote". Finding sites related to your site is better than "ordinary" links. And the more of an authority the referring site is, the more powerful their links are!

Links age well. The older a link is to you, the more powerful it becomes. Unfortunately the way age is determined by the search engines is when they first find the link - and that could take months! So you are better off getting backlinks sooner than later.

Finally, links that are within the text content of a page are more valuable than "floating" links or even directory links. If you can get your keyword as the link, that’s better still.

Reciprocal Links

Many sites, including directories, will ask for a reciprocal link. Most of these will demand you put your link up first before they'll even consider linking back to you.

Personally I don't like to reciprocate links. It weakens the power of the vote by showing collusion. Many web masters don't mind reciprocating links, and a reciprocal link is better than no link at all. Some web masters include their reciprocal links on a "links" or "resources" page.

The choice is yours, but with so many free links out there just waiting for you to get them I really don't see the point.

A word of caution: links to your site will almost always help some. Links out of your site can hurt you if you link to a "bad neighborhood". The search engines will consider you a supporter of the bad site, since you "voted" for it! Make sure a site is listed in the search engines before linking to it. Look at the topics the site covers. If anything makes you uncomfortable, don't link to the site.

Beware of PR

Don’t get links just for PageRank. PR is specific to Google only and doesn’t affect the search engine results pages. PR is also difficult to calculate accurately. The information Google posts is always months out of date. Also a high PR site will not help you as much as relevant backlinks.

Link Schemes

Link farms, link rings, link exchanges and other gimmicks are designed to artificially inflate your rank on the search engine results pages and are expressly forbidden in the webmaster guidelines at all three major search engines. Google in particular has been getting better at detecting these schemes and penalizing sites for participating in them.

I don’t use these programs and rank very well without them. The risk of getting caught for a bump in the SERPs isn’t worth any long-term penalties.

Final Tips

• The quantity and quality of backlinks you have can make or break your site.
• Incoming links don’t hurt and usually help.
• Links from related sites are better than ordinary links.
• Links from authority sites are better than ordinary links.
• Older links are better than new ones.
• One-way links are better than reciprocal links.
• Your competition has probably already done a lot of hard work finding sites that are easy to get links from.
• The worst thing that can happen when asking for a link is a rude rejection.
• RSS and Press Releases can get you quick bumps in the search engines.
• Writing articles can get you quality backlinks and enhance your reputation.
• There are plenty of sites out there willing to post your link for free.
• Time is your biggest expense when getting backlinks – think marathon, not sprint.