These days, a lot of link building and related SEO endeavours are conducted on the social platform. Social networking sites have hit the world by storm, so why not take advantage of them? If you get immersed in the scene you’ll soon find yourself with more backlinks than you ever thought possible.
It needn’t take long either, and you’ll often be able to fit in SEO link building efforts when you’re getting on with your daily life. If you’re a fan of a particular site, blog or forum (ideally one that’s related to your own business) then don’t be afraid to post replies to comments or even to start discussions. If you give something back to the reader and provide value in this way then you can add your link and people will be encouraged to click.
You can do this in the body of the post itself or in your signature – whatever works best for you. Some moderators frown on such activities, but if you’re not spamming and are actually providing something for the other readers then no-one should mind that you plug yourself a little. Just do it subtly!
Digg is another great tool that should never be overlooked. You should already know the benefits of keeping your site/blog regularly updated, but if you have a particularly interesting article then make sure to post it to Digg with your link embedded. If fellow readers like what they see they’ll be more likely to visit your site, and voila, another SEO link building endeavour a success.
However, there is one caveat to using social sites to forge backlinks. Some sites don’t like giving you the chance to bump up your own website through theirs and will automatically set any links you post as no follow, meaning that search engines will skip it and it won’t count as a successful backlink. Always check with the individual site, and if necessary change your code accordingly.
Despite this one fault, social networking can still be a great way to get links. Above all, it comes down to providing value. If you can provide information, advice or even just a few helpful tips and suggestions then you’ll be able to legitimately insert your link and people won’t bat an eyelid. Better still, if you become known for providing value then you’ll get more traffic simply through reputation, as if you’re giving such valuable information away for free then people will wonder what else they can find on your site.
As you can see, it really does pay to get immersed in the social scene. Doing so will see your backlinks soar and your link building endeavours will quickly come to fruition, and for most people it’s one of the most enjoyable forms of SEO going. But, if you’d rather not spend the time, why not get a link building company to do it for you? They’ll be just as able to do the social thing and can do it to great effect. So, whether it’s you doing it or someone else, always make sure to have the social scene at the forefront of your link building ideas and you can’t go far wrong.