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Jun. 25, 2007 at 10:24am Eastern by Debra O. Mastaler

Don't Put All Your Links In One Basket

We recently redesigned our kitchen and hired a contractor to oversee the project. My husband argued as the primary user of this space, I should be the one to coordinate its design and the people doing the work. I'm not sure if he had resigned himself to the inevitable or just wanted a way out of appliance shopping, but regardless, the task of finding a contractor fell to me.

I started my search with my brother who owns a paint company. He highly recommended a man he had partnered with on a Parade of Homes event. The saleswoman in the appliance store recommended the same contractor and when I saw the contractor quoted for a story in the newspaper, I decided he was obviously the one to call.

While my story highlights an offline situation, the story line is universal. My brother, the saleswoman and the newspaper interview were all powerful testimonials freely given as a result of the contractor's stellar reputation and savvy self promotion skills. The contractor knew in addition to traditional advertising, he needed to win over the people who had potential to refer high-end business. It's also a good way to remind us why you shouldn't depend on one marketing approach when building your business.

Doing one thing at a time will get you one link at a time

In link building we hear a lot of people recommend against using the same anchor text over and over, and to avoid the use of a single link tactic as our exclusive promotion. This makes sense from an algorithmic and marketing standpoint, if you put effort behind only one thing you get only one thing in return.

Instead of doing one link building campaign at a time, try to initiate multiple activities. Doing so helps to establish your business as preeminent in your industry and build critical mass. It will put you in front of a wider range of potential customers and their referral sources.

If you continually market through multiple activities, people will see, hear and read about you and your products at every turn. Your chance of attracting inbound links increases and you build brand awareness. Get several methods going at once taking note which provides the best results and has maximum impact. Develop a plan that keeps you:

In personal contact with your customer base. Create a special event or program exclusive to your current customer base in exchange for a link.

In touch with the people who recommend you by providing samples and product codes to the gatekeepers in exchange for a link.

In front of influential media contacts by developing an onsite media center and inviting the press to an exclusive sneak peek. "Leak" information and stories to them first before issuing public press release.

Active in your community. Find the forums, associations, discussion lists and social networking sites that host your demographic and get involved. Sponsor special events, promotions and conference handbooks in exchange for links.

As you develop your campaigns, keep in mind this fundamental marketing rule:

The measure of a successful marketing campaign is the extent to which it reaches at the lowest possible cost the greatest number of people who can and will buy your product or service.

Debra Mastaler offers link training and custom link building campaigns through her Williamsburg Virginia based firm Alliance-Link. She is also the author of the link building blog The Link Spiel. The Link Week column appears on Mondays at Search Engine Land.

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