A Link Building Stimulus Plan

With the economy the way it is, we’re getting a lot of inquires from people asking for package programs. They’re willing to cut back on the number of link building techniques they contract for, but not the quality of the links secured. Because of the volume of requests we were getting, I decided to look for a way to trim a couple of tried and true link building programs without sacrificing quality or effectiveness. One of the programs we tweaked and have seen dramatic results in is our directory submission program.

More is good

Typically, when we think about directory submission programs, sites like the DMOZ, Yahoo! Directory, Best of the Web, and Ezilon come to mind. There are about 20 general directories operating and ranked within the search indexes, here’s a short list of some of them:

• Joe Ant
• Massive Links
• GoGuides
• Rubberstamped
• Greenstalk
• Business
• Aviva

Tip: Many of these directories now accept articles and/or blogs as well, so be sure to look for additional link and article distribution opportunities.

If your site is accepted, you’ll get one link (which usually points to your home page).  This 1:1 link ratio isn’t bad, but it’s not great if your goal is to increase your inbound link counts. Securing directory links is still worth it in my opinion, but you have an opportunity to do a great deal more simply by using the elements found on your site instead of your site as a whole.

Many more is better

These days, most websites come with traditional and Web 2.0 type “elements” as a way to attract attention, entertain and educate visitors. Elements can be sections of your site, departments, offers, visuals and add-ons. They’re attention-getters, used to engage visitors and make your site “sticky”.

Here’s 18 element examples commonly found on websites:

1. Affiliate programs
2. Blog
3. Video
4. Contests
5. Forums
6. ebooks
7. Newsletters
8. Wikis
9. Topical niche
10. Coupons
11. Articles
12. Free shipping offers
13. Podcasts
14. Downloads
15. Employment center
16. Photos
17. Tutorials
18. RSS

Each element has a score of directories behind them.  For example, here’s

• a  list of coupons directories (10)

• a list of blog and RSS directories (150)

• a list of podcast directories (10).

If your site is in the pet industry, there are dog directories and cat directories. There are tutorial directories and about 20 good general article directories. If we add up the directories behind the elements I provided examples for, there are over 205 niche directories to add your web pages to. Keep in mind, I only touched on six of the 18 elements here!

As a bonus, all of the niche directories allow deep linking since most of the elements listed can be found on interior pages within a site. This is golden for getting link popularity into your core pages and not just the homepage.

So how do you find all these niche directories?  You can start with a little utility searching (keyword + directory). Also, browse through the directories as you find them and search the directory categories; it’s common practice for directory owners to add their sites to other niche directories as a way to build backlinks.

When you’re building links, it’s important to look at everything as an opportunity. Every element of your site has potential to be used, shared, and linked to. By using the niche directories to promote your elements, you’ve grown your backlink profile and gotten deep links from a wide variety of sources. Now instead of having just 20 links pointing at your home page, you’ll have hundreds. I think it’s safe to say that’s a stimulus plan worth implementing!