I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve received link requests that are variously inept, ridiculous, or worst of all, generated by some idiot link exchange software. I’ve also heard people agonize at SES conferences over how difficult the link building process can be.
But link building isn’t difficult, really, when done with common sense, and, more importantly, with the right human touch.
Over at Search Engine Guide, Jennifer Laycock has a great article about someone who approached her for a link—and did it the right way. She writes:
A few weeks ago, I received an email from a reader of my pet project site, The Lactivist. The reader wrote to compliment me on a particular blog post and made mention of her own experience on the subject. I responded with some additional thoughts of my own. She responded back and made mention of a product that she sells that addresses the issue we were discussing. She offered to send me one of the products if I would be interested in reviewing it.She build a bridge to a relationship and THEN she approached the link building aspect. Smart lady.
Jennifer then goes on to list the eight things this woman did properly in Link Building As Relationship Building – A Great Example
Related Topics: Link Building: General
Some webdesigners are just as smart when asking me to review their new html or css books on css3.info, i always love it when done right!
Building links is like building business relationships. You can use techniques like direct mail or purchase leads, but the best way to build a business relationship is to engage in the relationship before the business. When there is a win/win approach, why wouldn’t they want to return the favor?