In very simple terms Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a numbers game. More back links you have more traffic you will get, both referral traffic and search engine traffic. But not all links are created equal. One quality link from an authority source can be more powerful than 100 sub standard links. But getting quality editorial links is not an easy task and in this article I will show you 3 unique ways to get some quality links.
1. Help a Reporter
If not the best then definitely one of the good ways to get high quality back links from leading publications. This is a great way to get back links from industry leading blogs like ReadWriteWeb, Inc, Mashable, InformationWeek etc. A link from a quality resource like that can bring lots of traffic and boost your search engine rankings as well.
The best thing is there are sites dedicated to connect reporters with information sources. My favorite site is Help a Reporter because you can subscribe to categories and also because you get two email everyday summarizing the queries. Most of the time I delete these mails because I can’t contribute to the queries, but if an opportunity comes where I can contribute I do so quickly.
Most bloggers and webmasters ignore this thinking they have nothing to contribute, but they are hugely mistaken. As mentioned in the site, everybody’s an expert on something. Try your luck with them, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
2. Give Testimonials
Another great way to get quality back links and a good constant source of traffic as well. If you use a product and love it then send write a testimonial mentioning how awesome there product is. There is a good chance you will be features in their customer testimonial page or in success stories page. Most product websites acquire high page rank and customer testimonial page is one of the frequently visited pages as well. So naturally you get traffic and a high quality link.
Although it’s good to wax lyrical about the service or the software it’s important to mention how it helped you as well. Customer looking for testimonials and reviews want to know it solves the problem. Website owners are aware of this and they usually include testimonials that mention the problem solving part.
3. Sponsor Competitions
The quality of the link varies according to the contest hosting blog, but it is a good way to get traffic and build your brand. There are hundreds of contests held on websites and obviously you can’t sponsor them all. You need to pick them carefully depending on your objective.
If you’re looking to build links then it’s good to join contests where participants need to create a blog post linking to contest sponsors. If 10 people participated that means you get 10 back links. Again the quality of the back links may vary, so you have to consider your return of investment.
If you want to get notified about the new competitions happening around the web you simple need to create a Google alert for it. You can specify keywords to find the blog contests targeted for your niche.
Mentioned above are some unique ways to build quality links. I have had great success with them and there’s no reason why you can’t have the same success. Any questions? The comments section awaits.