Forum Moderators: not2easy
"I've been told the best ways to get one-way links is either by writing and publishing articles containing your link, for other webmasters to borrow as free content for their sites, or else by buying links (which gets expensive).
As an affiliate, I would have to become an "authority" or "expert" on a subject that pertains to features of my products I'm selling, in order to be able to write effective articles about them. I'm not trained nor am I an expert in these areas. I could always find articles with re-print rights to post on my site, and add my own link to them below the author's link, but so far I haven't found any decent ones that have much to do with the subject matter of my sites."
The problem:
Needs more content for website, but doesn't know jack about the products...
The answer:
I have written a good many authoritative articles regarding things initially beyond my ken and experience by doing "homework".
This includes buying books, going to the library, reading articles from other sites etc.
If you aren't a good researcher / writer - then you probably need to be looking at hire some writers.
The right college kid could be a goldmine.
As an affiliate, I would have to become an "authority" or "expert" on a subject that pertains to features of my products I'm selling, in order to be able to write effective articles about them.
Can't agree. The amount of information you've probably picked up in building a site (of half way decent quality anyway) is probably enough to get you through a few articles. You don't need to an an expert, you just need to be able to write well and know how to perform a search.
I could always find articles with re-print rights to post on my site, and add my own link to them below the author's link, but so far I haven't found any decent ones that have much to do with the subject matter of my sites
If you really feel you can't (or don't want to) write an article, hire someone as a ghostwriter to write 3 or 4 you can use to promote. My two cents anyway.
Here's another approach you might try:
If you have access to bona fide experts on the product, call them and ask for an interview. Get permission to tape the interview, ask intelligent questions, transcribe the interview, and edit the transcript to make it look clean and logical (this might mean rearrranging some of the material, for instance.) Voila - instant article.
If you can write your way out of a paper bag you can put together an original 1200 word article in an hour to an hour and a half. Break that up into four pieces and you have four pages of search engine fly-paper.
Seriously, you don't need to know jack about the subject to write an article about pretty much any subject.
One problem with second-hand articles with re-print rights is everytime it changes hands, the previous webmaster's link is added to the other past owners, plus the author, so a recycled article could in theory end up with 10,000 homepage links if it changed hands 10,000 times, a bit like a Ponzi scheme.
If I came up with articles of my own to offer as "free content" to other webmasters, the question is how honest are most webmasters about keeping the author's credit & link back to his site? I guess it's all based on the honor system, but then there are a lot of dishonorable people on the net.
...all based on the honor system
You can always try holding a stick over their heads by specifying terms of use, and threatening to file a DMCA at Google to get them banned for copyright infringement if they steal your content without the proper authors credit.
Be sure to include a link to the relevant page at Google.
I highly recommend running the above suggestion past an attorney to make sure it holds water or is not against the law somewhere. When dealing with matters of the law always always always check with an attorney. The above suggestion is offered for entertainment purposes only.
The second you publish *anything* on the web, you run the risk of it being "stolen" - whether you give permission as long as they include a bio line or expressly forbid the content to be copied.
Dishonest webmasters are dishonest webmasters - If they are one to steal content, they'll take it whether you offer it with in exchange for a bio line or not. It is one of the issues faced by a lot of content sites today.
An example is Joe Johnson, President of Widget.com, says "Our product is great."
This way your brand message is fundamental to the structure of the article.
My couple of cents.
To get your creative juices flowing, think in "list" format....If you have access to bona fide experts on the product, call them and ask for an interview. Get permission to tape the interview, ask intelligent questions, transcribe the interview, and edit the transcript to make it look clean and logical (this might mean rearrranging some of the material, for instance.) Voila - instant article.
Great advice and suggestions, thanks very much EileenC.
