For a long time now, guest blogging has been considered a safe and effective way of developing quality backlinks to your site. This has been especially true over the past year, through all the changes Google has been imposing.
Of course, that assumes you’re doing it right. You should be writing top-notch posts that are posted on high-quality sites relevant to your industry or niche. But … will things continue to work this way?
Google has hinted that they’re going to start looking more closely at this. Why? Because lots of people out there are faking guest posts. They really aren’t guest posts. They’re paid posts that offer no real value. People have published the same post, rewritten a hundred different ways, on different blogs all over the internet. And often, those posts are not all that well written to begin with.
They’re posted on any blog that will accept them, or anywhere they can buy a spot for their “article.” Most are low-quality blogs that no one reads. It’s all done merely for the backlink. And Google has recognized that this is going on.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I believe that true guest blogging is in no danger of going away. But it never hurts to broaden your horizons. So here are a few other ways that you can obtain backlinks safely.
Powerful University Links
Do you have a university or college somewhere close to you? If so, do a little digging, and you can probably find a way to get a link from their domain. Most university and other educational sites are authority sites that Google loves. Getting links from them may not be the easiest thing in the world, but it can be well worth it.
First, look and see what kind of student programs are offered at the school. Can your business tie into that industry/topic in any way? If so, you’re in luck. There are a number of ways you could potentially use this.
You could offer to deliver a speech on some area of which you have knowledge for that student organization. Or you might suggest that you could be interviewed for student projects. Very often, students will be doing and submitting their work online, and you could score a link that way.
An even better tactic would be to contact professors and lecturers. Find out what kind of resources are available to their students. Much of the time, there’s a resource page or a similar place where students can get further information and assistance for a particular course.
If there isn’t one, create one on your site that’s suitable for students and let the professor(s) know about it. Just make sure you have a truly helpful resource page with as many other resources and helpful information/links as possible.
Get Involved with Charities
No matter what kind of business you run, chances are pretty good there’s a charity organization that would be relevant. The trick here is to find charities that include a “sponsors” page on their site. This is a special page where they highlight and give thanks to their contributors or donors. If you have given a service or goods to the organization, they might agree to link to your site.
Coupons and Giveaways
Not only does hosting giveaways or offering special deals bring you lots of potential long-term customers, but these strategies can also land you some massive, hands-free backlinks. There are tons of sites that cater to people looking for good deals and giveaways online.
If you plan it right and your event gains momentum, you might not have to do anything else. But if you want to take it a step further, you might be able to promote your event right on these giveaway notification websites.
Rafflecopter is an easy way to hold an event. You simply create a blog post and copy some code into it. You get to decide what the user has to do, whether it’s leaving a comment, liking it on Facebook, or a custom action of your choice. It’s super simple to set up. Bonus benefit? You can get tons of social signals to your site, too! Here’s a contest I came across the other day:
Interestingly enough, you can also flip this around. A lot of times, when there’s an online contest, they want you to leave a comment. If it’s a product, they might want you to tell them what you’d use it for or why you should win it. And guess what? That usually gives you the opportunity to attach your URL to your name on the comment.
Give Your Review or Testimonial
What kind of products or services have you used lately? Just by taking a few minutes to write a testimonial for one of them, you could get a backlink from some pretty high-quality sites. Check their main site to see if they have a testimonials section and if any of the testimonials have links attached to them.
Conclusion
There truly are a million and one ways to get perfectly safe backlinks. It may take a little creativity and a bit of time, but they’re out there! If you need help, contact us. We’ll review your site and craft a suitable link-building plan that’s customized for you.
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About the author
Veronica has been writing online since 2007. She enjoys helping clients with copywriting and content needs, as well helping with SEO campaigns. Her experience ranges from helping small websites succeed with SEO and internet marketing campaigns to writing for Planet Green (Discovery Channel).
