How to get inbound links without a marketing budget?

[codegal]

I wish I could ignore Google and just build quality content and then have visitors come to me, but that does not seem to be the reality for me. How the heck do I get links with no marketing budget now that Google frowns upon...

-reciprocal links
-guest posting
-buying text links (although I really can't afford this to a degree to make a difference)
-putting links in blog comments
-submitting to free directories

What am I supposed to do? It got so bad that I looked at a site for black hat SEO but even there you need a marketing budget for their churn and burn technique. I know I need real help if I went there.

And this is the biggest question I have. Do links from pr 0 sites count for something? If they do. I have hope, but I bet they're not worth getting.

But even if you have a marketing budget, how do you get links that are not paid for? If you have no natural links you won't get found on Google. If you don't get found on Google you won't get natural links. And again I could have sworn Google frowned upon paying for links. How the hell do they do it. I know of several sites that are in my niche that have been on top for years and I have no I idea how they stay there. These are very big companies that have deep pockets. How do they do it without paying for links?

[aristotle]

If you have no natural links you won't get found on Google. If you don't get found on Google you won't get natural links.

What you're saying is that Google has basically shut the door on people in your situation. For somone like you, If you want exposure for your site in Google, it's a tough road unless you have money to spend on Adwords.

[netmeg]

You might get some ideas in the Link Building forum here [webmasterworld.com...]

But basically you have to do or say something link-worthy. If your niche doesn't lend itself to that, and is reasonably competitive, then it can be pretty tough.

But I do have B2B ecommerce clients, small businesses, who rank for their products without much of a link profile. They do it by being the authority in their niche (and by using other channels than organic search to get the word out - direct mail catalogs and flyers, email, press releases, social, sponsoring local events, etc etc) So it can be done.

[Jez123]

sponsoring local events

Is that effective Netmeg?

I thought that G frowned upon press releases now too? I suppose if you have something legitimate to announce, with nofollow links, there is no harm?

[netmeg]

Depends on the niche, but if you are sponsoring local events or charities, you can sometimes get links from local press or media sites, partner sites, and even municipal government sites.

As far as the press releases - I'm not talking about the *links* in press releases as much as just getting your name out there and generating some buzz. If you want links, it helps to have buzz.

[piatkow]

It depends a lot on the niche that you are in but if you have a real physical business there is a lot that you can do to promote your site with old school marketing and PR without even thinking about the web.

[McMohan]

codegal, you may not have budget, but you must have time? Write interesting articles related to your niche, distribute them to blogs as guest posts. Make sure those blogs are in good standing with Google.

Contrary to what one might say or what Matt might have told early this year, quality guest posts work. Don't do the mistake of optimizing your backlink text to include exact match keywords and you should be fine.

[nomis5]

I'm not sure that inbound links are worth as much as many believe nowadays. I ignore trying to get them completely.

When I look at my stats and the SERPS there is a clear correlation between how long people stay on a page (and to some degree the site) and how high a page appears in the SERPS.

There appears to be no correlation, for my site, between position in the SERPS and the amount and or quality of inbound links.

Having said that my sites don't sell much at all and are basically informational. But then again, I can compete very well for a page aimed at the query "comparison of widgets", where widgets are highly saleable items, compared to the myriad of sites with massive lists of inbound links who are trying to sell the widgets. Time spent on the page / site seems to win hands down compared to inbound links even in that situation.

[roshaoar]

I have been and am in this position with a marketing budget of zero on a site I launched this time last year.

The way that I have succeeded is writing a superb 200 page website full of unique and useful information that cannot be found anywhere else, which is constructed in the way that Google likes it (blazingly fast, rich snippet markup, good SEO html, sitemaps), and which was a webby nominee last year. The site is now a niche leader and gets 100s of unique Google visitors a day. I do not ask for links since people already frequently post links to the site on forums and blogs anyway because the site is very good.

This is not at all bragging but the point is simply this, if your content is really good enough then people will cite you as a reference.

[goodroi]

You need to have some creativity and imagination. If you don't have either then you need to spend money on Adwords. Actually you shouldn't even spend money on Adowrds because you won't be creative enough to create good ad copy. Get creative or hire someone that does have creativity & imagination.

I have worked on very boring websites in niches that don't freely link out. I've been able to successfully generate links in almost all situations. It's not easy but it can be done so don't give up.

Personally I focus more on how to develop new traffic sources from inbound links and less about how to generate links to increase pagerank. These links aren't free because it costs time & money to come up with good ideas and implement them. Adding original content to your website that no one else has covered before takes resources. Developing an online tool that does something new will cost you good resources. Inventing a new product/service that is worthy of a press release takes resources.

Working on something that provides a real value to your market will lead to more traffic and links to your site.

[netmeg]

Personally (and maybe this is just me) if I don't have a pretty good idea ahead of time how I'm going to market a site (and the wherewithal to do it) I probably won't launch it until I do.

[ronin]

I know this will be little comfort, codegal, because Google can wait several years for a solution to turn up, whereas you can't, but...

...if there are sites out there on the web which ought to be in Google's top ten for a given query and they aren't because Google's ranking is based on a metric which is no longer attainable for those sites, that's a problem for Google far more than it is for anyone else.

[EditorialGuy]

I'm not sure that inbound links are worth as much as many believe nowadays.

I think that depends largely on the nature of the links.

We've got thousands of unsolicited inbound links, and most of them are junk. I doubt if we're getting much (if any) benefit from them.

On the other hand, we do get quite a few unsolicited links that are true citations from legitimate, trustworthy, authoritative sites. Our most heavily-cited pages tend to rank extremely high in Google, even for competitive keywords and phrases.

Getting back to the OP's question, the best way to get legitimate links (such as true citations) is fairly simple, in my experience: Be an expert on your topic, build content that has intrinsic value for users, and be patient. Over time, you'll attract links naturally. (This is true for information sites, at least; it's likely to be harder for e-commerce sites.) Public relations can help, too. Instead of looking for links, look for publicity. If you manage to get coverage of your new Widget-to-Whatsit Conversion Tool, your 2015 Something Guide, or your "Where's George Clooney?" Location Map, that coverage is likely to include a link--and if you're lucky, the link won't be nofollowed.

[aristotle]

Well this thread has veered away from the original question, which was how can a site acquire a significant number of natural backlinks if hardly anyone ever sees it.

it could be the greatest, most fantastic website ever created, but if Google doesn't send it any traffic, it's not likely to acquire many natural backlinks any time soon. And until it does, Google probably won't send it any traffic. It's which came first, the chicken or the egg, but in this case neither.

Yes there can be exceptions, such as covering a topic that has little competition, but there aren't many of those left except very obscure topics that few people will ever search for.

Of course, as has been suggested, you can find other ways to get traffic, but that's likely to be a long slow process.

[EditorialGuy]

it could be the greatest, most fantastic website ever created, but if Google doesn't send it any traffic, it's not likely to acquire many natural backlinks any time soon.

Google isn't the only way that people (including site owners, editors, and bloggers) learn about Web sites.

I mentioned public relations, but there are other ways, too, such as social media, special-interest forums, and other forms of networking. (In my sector, site owners and bloggers are more likely to learn about new sites from Facebook groups, forums, and listservs than by stumbling across them in Google.)

And, of course, there are other search engines. Bing or Yahoo may not supply vast quantities of traffic, but we aren't talking about traffic--we're talking about links.

[Kelowna]

Step 1 -- build some buffer sites linking to your site that are free like googles blogs or wp, that sort of thing.
Cost $0

Step 2 -- visit fiverr and blast the $h!T out of them with spam links, just the buffers, not your main site.
Cost $5

This is small scale of what rank and bank sites do all day long, why? because Google loves spam. Every update they do seems to mostly hurt the so-called whitehats and leaves the rest of us off coloured hats alone so we can bank.

Good Luck

[codegal]

Step 1 -- build some buffer sites linking to your site that are free like googles blogs or wp, that sort of thing.
Cost $0

Step 2 -- visit fiverr and blast the $h!T out of them with spam links, just the buffers, not your main site.
Cost $5

I just don't know. Step 1 is easy but step 2 might get the buffer sites hurt and therefore your money site might get hurt. I wish I could be an off-colour hat and get away with it. I sure you have to know what the heck you are doing if you are an off-colour hat or Google will send you up the river.

Anyway thanks anyways. I'll look into what everyone said.

[codegal]

The site I have will be an informational site that has a directory. I wonder if Google will punch me if I require a reciprocal link for everyone that is in my directory.

[7_Driver]

I think REQUIRING a reciprocal link would be pretty risky.

On the other hand, suggesting that if people think the directory is useful to their visitors that you would appreciate a link - should be ok.

Don't give them the anchor text - let them choose that.

You won't get as many links as you would by requiring a link - but some people will link to you if your directory is good.

[codegal]

Thanks 7_Driver

[n0tSEO]

Blog comments.

And not because of the links you might insert in the post (if that's a Wordpress post, usually links in comments are nofollowed, so don't fear Google), but because you get yourself and your site known out there.

I get most of my traffic - and links - thanks to blog comments, and sometimes my comments have been cited in new blog posts, with a link back to my site.

Hope that helps. :)

[Kelowna]

ummm bad move

just because comments are nofollow does not mean they do not count, they do count but pass no pr. this is suicide 101

[Clay_More]

Why bad move?

Topical comments are a big and accepted part of the blog community. Bulk comments are a different creature which could be an issue.

What is pr? ;)

[n0tSEO]

What Clay_More says. ;)

Everybody in any industry comments on others' blogs. You don't have to do it on a large scale, only when it's relevant and you have something to say... otherwise, of course, it's either spam or doesn't contribute much to the discussion.

As for toolbar PageRank, it's pretty much a dead thing, so pretend it doesn't exist. Cutts and Mueller said it's unlikely to be updated again.