Attracting links to a site can be a tough job, as link building has become an incredibly important part of the SEO mix, and more of a challenge as search engines are discrediting link brokers. Organic linking still has its place in the SEO mix because the art of building a natural link can be time consuming and at times frustrating.
Recently I helped my wife launch a new fitness site, and by doing so I’ve been testing some of the most basic linking techniques and theories. What has astonished me is that even though her site is only 2 weeks old, she is receiving a lot of positive feedback and links from sites she has emailed, asking for a link. Is it still possible to blindly email someone asking for a link and receive it? Yes, it can be, especially if your site is Link Worthy!
So, how does one go about making a site linkable? Here are some tips that will assist you in your link building.
1. Presentation : First impressions mean a lot, even online. The way you present you site means a lot to the person who may be linking to you, because by linking, they are making a warm introduction for you to their site audience, which includes search bots. If your website looks like it was thrown together overnight, or may spam the hell out of the people they will send to you … chances are they’re not going to send a link your way.
This does not mean that you have to have a million dollar website to attract links. Look at DailySEOTip for example, we wanted this blog to be barebones, and that’s what it is. But the barebones approach serves a purpose because this site is about information and sharing. What’s your site about and how well does it represent your business?
2. Personality : One reason I think my wife’s site has had such a high positive response rate in linking requests is because the site has personality. Since her site is a blog, her photo and personal info is on the site, and her photo is on all of her posts. This gives the reader of the blog a sense of warmth, like they really know the person.
Not only does the blog reader feel like they know the person, but also does the recipient of the email. If you’re sending out an email link request, please make sure you send the email from a web address associated with the site or company (especially if you represent a big brand). The reader of the email, if they click to the site, should instantly associate the site with the person who sent the mail, making it more difficult to say no.
Not only blogs need to have personality. A lot of business sites will feature the CEO of the business, the guy from your commercials or an employee of the month. How about an image on the homepage or about us section that says “Meet Our Team” (check out this Google search for “our team” for some ideas) and shows a group photo of your employees?
Who represents your site or business? By adding a personal feature to the site itself, the site speaks to the potential linker on a human level.
3. Interactivity : Giving people something to do on your website will get them interested and active on the site. Sure, blogs are inherently interactive, with commenting, polls, tagging, voting and other tools to get the reader, or potential linker, involved.
Look at DailySEOTip.com as an example. Our goal here is to have robust comment conversation that will impact the visitor to our site the first time they glance over the blog. Personally, I know everytime I visit ShoeMoney’s blog or TechCrunch, the first criteria I look at to judge the value of one of their news stories or blog posts is the commenting and interactivity; and most of the blog entries on these sites attract hundreds of comments.
Make your site more interactive by giving your visitors a way to contact you or leave feedback, include polls to gather info on your visitors, use quizzes or tools to get readers or potential customers involved. The potential linker will also get involved, probably like what they see, and there is a higher chance that they will link to you or respond to your email.
4. Accountability : Sure, you may have personality but are you accountable for your site? Can you be reached? Having a contact information page, an about us section and an address which matches your email information (always use a sig in your email when asking for a link) are basic pillars of an organically grown website, but you would be surprised how many businesses or online publications overlook these simple steps.
Be sure that your site is listed on your LinkedIn profile or your Facebook account. This way the end user, who you’re asking for a link from, can see that you’re serious about your site and they won’t be linking to a dead page, a redirect or worst of all, a splog after a year or so.
5. Are they in good company (current inbound links) : A smart publisher is going to check out a little bit about the site history and inbound linking before making the final decision on linking over to you. For this reason, I suggest taking the time and resources to build some nice inbound links via directories like Yahoo or Best of the Web before going on an all out aggressive link building campaign.
Once these links are established and the publisher you have contacted checks your backlinks, they will be impressed that you are listed in these major resources and this also shows that you’re serious about your linking and linking for the longterm.
Be picky about where you build your links, because publishers are going to be picky about who they link to. If your backlinks are all Guestbooks, Article Spam and Freebie listings, this does not only reflect negatively upon your site in the eyes of Google, but also in the eyes of the publisher who may link to you.
6. Social Proof : One great aspect of blogging and social media is that it is very simple to show off the people who read your blog or visit your website via widgets from MyBlogLog, TwitterCounter, Facebook or Google Friend Connect. These tools lend a sense of value to your site and assist with establishing the site as an authority.
Look at the commenting on DailySEOTip.com for example, next to every comment is an avatar (powered by Gravatar - be sure to register with them to get your face on this site). This helps to show a new reader, or again, potential linker, who reads the site. If your site is a resource on venture capital and your MyBlogLog box shows that Guy Kawasaki recently visited your site, then this uncovers an instant association of value and resource for your site. Publishers are more open to linking to resources that have value 
7. Targeted Resource : Relevance is Key : You may have noticed that I continuously state in this blog post the importance of establishing your site as a resource. Using techniques like adding an expert blog to your business site, a business term glossary or regional resource pages to your site can be worth the effort, especially if you are looking to target specific niche groups or geolocations.
For example, say that your business or organization is looking to attract targeted local oriented links from the Philadelphia area. Let’s take home security systems for example. Sure, your home security business may reside in Pennsylvania, but nothing on your site relays this fact except for the mailing address on your contact us page.
I would suggest adding a section to your site with plenty of information and guides to security and crime in the local area, adding a list of police, fire & rescue contact information per zip code, geotargeted neighborhood watch group information, articles on securing a home & family and post-trauma counseling groups in the Philly area. Now you have a locally targeted resource page that is extremely relevant to your business and incredibly link worthy.
When you approach local publishers, bloggers, family sites .. etc. about building links to your home security business, don’t just ask them to link to your homepage. No! Ask them to read and link to your local home security resource section! This won’t only help with attracting inbound links, but also with local SEO for geotargeted terms.
Oh yeah, now you have something that’s not only linkworthy, but also news worthy so :
- send out a press release to your local newspapers and wires
- then also email the local fire departments
- county commissioners and town government websites
- senior citizen centers and neighborhood associations
- boy scouts, churches and other local organization sites
Chances are you’ll end up getting links from .edu and .gov bodies which your business would not have had a chance to build otherwise.
Wrap-Up
These were some ways to make your business site more link worthy and SEO friendly. The more resourceful, relevant, interactive and personal a site can become, the higher chance that you’ll receive a positive response from any link building campaigns.
What are some method you use to increase your linking probability?
What tips do you suggest for successful link building?
Share them in the tips below and we’ll feature the best ones in a future post on DailySEOTip! Also, don’t forget to leave a comment below and share this post on Twitter, because we DoFollow our comments and you’ll receive some great links
Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk If not, here’s how to turn your site into a Link Magnet! Please Retweet
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reading how to make my site a link magnet http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk
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reading http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk - how to make your site a link magnet.. and here i thought you just needed to rub it against other magnets
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Loren Baker Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
LOL, well, that’s kind of one of the tips
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Ann Smarty Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
OK, this is going to be the SEO tip of the say!
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Retweeting @lorenbaker: Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk If not, here’s how
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RT @LorenBaker Is your site a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk how to turn your site into a Link Magnet!
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Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk If not, here’s how to turn your site into a Link Magnet!
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RT @lorenbaker Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk If not, here?s how to turn your site into a Link Magnet!
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RT @seosmarty RT @lorenbaker Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk Here?s how to turn ur site into a Link Magnet
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RT @seosmarty: RT @lorenbaker Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk << SEOtips is just a great site. Congrats
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RT @lorenbaker Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk If not, here?s how to turn your site into a Link Magnet!
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RT @lorenbaker Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk If not, here?s how to turn your site into a Link Magnet!
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@lorenbaker well so far it’s a great site and A GREAT domain name :)http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk
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7 Ways to Turn Your Site into a Link Magnet http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk
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Double RT@Bloggeries @LorenBaker http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk how to turn your site into a Link Magnet! (Good info.)
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RT @lorenbaker How to turn your site into a link magnet http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk
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RT Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk If not, here?s how to turn your sit.. http://tinyurl.com/agopyw
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Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk If not, here?s how to turn your site into a Link Magnet!
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Does your site come with a Link Magnet? http://tinyurl.com/bpztdk If not, here?s how to turn your site into a Link Magnet! Please Retweet
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I especially have found that the second way (personality) is key to getting links. There are a lot of human robots out there, and people tend to respond very positively when they encounter someone who actually does more than sit in a corner swatting at flies.
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Loren Baker Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
It’s like making friends with real people
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Those are great tips. One thing that I think might help is to link out to trusted domains and relevant websites from your site. So, when potential link partners visit your site, they will find that you are serious and picky to who you link to. Like you mentioned, they may take a look at your incoming links, but they might also take a look at the outgoing links.
Latam SEO’s last incredible blog post..Set Geographical Target in Google Webmaster Tools
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Loren Baker Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Very good point, thanks Latam!
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Great post Loren. This has reminded me that I need to work on my layout. That said anyone reading this if you’re in the business send me a note. Been looking to redo the “look” of bloggeries for a while.
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Loren Baker Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
I would suggest checking out the layout of Blogged.com, I think they do a really good job there.
Bloggeries is definitely a great project. Taking it to the next design level should cement it as a major blog directory
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Hey Loren,
Great post.
Gyutae Park’s last incredible blog post..The Best Product For Bloggers to Promote? Their Wordpress Themes, Duh!
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Gyutae Park Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Becoming a link magnet is really all about branding. If you provide value in the form of usefulness, entertainment, etc people will naturally link to you. The 7 ways you listed here are pretty much great ways of accomplishing this.
Another tip I’d add… ask! Sure you might want to be a “magnet” but sometimes you have to force the issue.
Gyutae Park’s last incredible blog post..The Best Product For Bloggers to Promote? Their Wordpress Themes, Duh!
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Loren Baker Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Thanks Gyutae! I’ve really enjoyed what you’ve been doing at Winning the Web and hope to have DailySEOTip ranked on your list someday soon
Any other tips for Link Magnetizing a site or blog?
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7 Effective Ways to Turn Your Site into a Link Magnet.
Hasan Saleem’s last incredible blog post..Future Health Technology Trends!
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I really think the two most important things to focus on are 1) production value (the design and look of your site) and 2) linkworthy content. If you have those two things, then it’s pretty easy to solicit links using email and contact forms.
Web Hosting FAQ’s last incredible blog post..9 Tips for Building Site Traffic with Video Marketing
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There is definitely an art to capturing links. Great post Loren.
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Excellent points Loren. This really helps.
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I rarely read long posts but this one made me read it from top to bottom.
Excellent post Loren.
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Hi There,
Thanks for the nice article. You have covered many essential aspects for turning your site into link magnet.
I think following 2 tips can be used for increasing link probability to your site.
(a)Daily adding new and interesting content to your site or blog.
(b)Remember if you have good/unique content on your site or blog people will link to your site.
With Best Regards
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Loren Baker Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Yes! Those tips work, especially with attracting and building RSS subscribers. I think these tips are the mission of Daily SEO Tip
Thanks, LB
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Loren-
Great post! This is a really good outline and checklist that SEO’s and social media individuals should follow. Well done! Do you think repurposing good content into different mediums would be a good idea? For example, taking this post and turning into a PPT and posting on Slide Share?
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Loren Baker Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Great point Victoria, YES! YES I do as long as there are no dup content issues. This is a great idea for a blog post!
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superb article!! loved it!
Raju’s last incredible blog post..[Twitter Tip] 2 Ways to Add Twitter Counter to Your Blog
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Great post, Loren, and of course it starts with content. Without that all the rest is for naught.
Barry Welford’s last incredible blog post..A Good Solid Bank You Can Trust
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Loren Baker Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Good point Barry, and content comes in many forms doesn’t it?
Writing, videos, slideshows, flash movies, secret photos …
Content doesn’t have to be SEO friendly to attract links
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Great tips for delineating “Link Magnet” best practices.
Daily SEO Tip could be an ideal case study or lesson for someone to follow. And many thumbs up for http://personaltrainerz.com/ as well. That site is pure awesomeness!
Your point about Presentation is so key! It’s important to choose the right theme, to ensure it’s widget-ready, that CSS can easily be modified. (I made the mistake of paying for a theme that is a nightmare to modify, no documentation, and one in which the developer held out a carrot of “soon to be” widget-ready, etc.)
Doing it right the first time increases magnetism. As a few have shared, however, it’s not too late to incorporate Loren’s tips to make it link-worthy & news-worthy.
Dana Lookadoo’s last incredible blog post..Universal Search Optimization Chart - Rules of the Game
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Start blogging and share your advice. It creare link magnets when readers find your posts are good enough to share with!
Mercy Livi’s last incredible blog post..L K Advani Follow Obama Style Online Marketing Campaign
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Good going. I guess the key is to find the right audience. Then, showing your value to them, turns out that your site is link worthy.
Frank Marcel’s last incredible blog post..Piores Erros de SEO
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Great tips, Loren. I plan to incorporate many of these ideas in my link building strategies. Thanks!
Michelle’s last incredible blog post..Social Media Continues to Grow in Popularity
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Wow, your first tip is HUGE, Loren! Does it mean I should get something the same length for the next week?
Love the topic and the post. What also makes a blog popular is unique attitude, unique ideas and unique style. That makes the blog stand out and catches the eye and thus increases the chance for being linked to!
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Loren Baker Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Yep Ann, your post has to be twice as long
Of course it’s not the size that matters, but how you work it that counts. Not all tips on DailySEOTip have to be 4 pages long. One beautiful thing about this blog is that the best content comes from our amazing readers; in the comments and discussion. I’m loving this project.
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Great tips, Loren. I plan to incorporate many of these ideas in my link building. Thanks!
Dawid Ryba’s last incredible blog post..This Year Goals
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Great tips, Loren… i will definitely add this in my favourites
Thanks !
Erdal Gul’s last incredible blog post..Google AdWords Offers Advice Low Traffic Keywords
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THe biggest thing to make your site a link magnet is quality content, on a regular basis. Unique content, not in SEO terms, but as in being about a unique topic, or covering something in demand that nobody has done before is a good way to get links.
Jason Green’s last incredible blog post..Blog Classroom Shocking Stats | Anik Singal & Rosalind Gardner as Blogging Mentors?
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Dude great tip!
Sujan Patel’s last incredible blog post..Top Paying Adsense Keywords Video
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I would say unusual content will get you links. The more out there the better. People are fascinated by the mysterious.
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wow, i never thought i would be asking the local fire dept for links…
Cape Town Hotels’s last incredible blog post..7th Heaven
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Loren Baker Reply:
February 13th, 2009 at 4:59 am
Do you have a wine resource section of your site? Cape wines are incredible!
Interview wineries and vineyards, feature them in a massive wine resource on the site, get free wine and get links from their wine websites (and local news outlets via a PR campaign) back to your Cape Wines resource
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Good quality advice here - I’ll be bookmarking this to chow to clients in the future.
AndyW’s last incredible blog post..Review of SEO Positions’ DoFollow Blog Finder
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Thanks for the great tips - definitely food for thought. I think we sometimes get blindsided working on our sites and forget that without traffic we’re just a lonely little spot on the Internet!
Clare Swindlehurst’s last incredible blog post..Google Adsense: How Much Money You Can Make and URL Channels Explanation
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“Targeted Resource:Relevance is Key” this hits it right on the head. If you can provide a relevant resource you will attract links you will recieve links. We have used in past e-letters to remind our visitors of certain resources and each time have picked up at least one additonal link. One thing we have also found surprising is what passes for a relevant resource.
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I agree with your tips, and I have implemented most for many clients. Since 2001, my company has provided broad-range wholesale Internet services, and we had a very significant market share in the wholesale dial-up business. In 2008, after multiple large vendors showing strains, we decided to exit the dial-up industry and focus more on other strengths (hosting, development, ecomm, SEO). In some of our years in business, it made more sense to be “big”, which has an ugly impersonal feel. We have also had to remain the geeks behind the geeks, and thus largely white-labeled. Since mid-2008, we have had a greatly renewed personal message, and even included a “Chairman’s Blog” with links to recent blogs by the Chairman. It fits us much better. People used to trust companies more than people, and that is not so true today. People like people, and they always will … now they are learning to trust them the way they used to trust corporations.
Mark Aaron Murnahan’s last incredible blog post..Propensity Marketing and Database Aggregators
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Thank you for some new ideas.
Loren, why don’t you use cool favicon for your hot blog?
Sphinn.Ru’s last incredible blog post..SEO ? ?????????? ????????????
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section about “Relevance is Key” very useful, but its harder to implement
then also email the local fire departments
county commissioners and town government websites
senior citizen centers and neighborhood associations
boy scouts, churches and other local organization sites
specially when your business is not related to any or most of the Government departments.
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Great post because it shows the importance of your professionalism, integrity and ethics as they are perceived by your visitors.
Potential linking partners are visitors first so you are courting them as much, if not more, than the standard visitor.
Point 7 on relevancy is so true. Every time I receive a link request I visit their links page to see if everything is related to the site’s target audience or if every niche under the sun is allowed. Off topic links have me running for the exit.
Jerry
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Good review. I think following 2 tips can be used for increasing link probability to your site.
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My additional comment goes to “content relevancy”usually blogger “write there blog relevant with there passion to blog,but what if blogger turn there future content base on “long tail relevancy>is this good idea as well to recruit more link back and SEO friendly?
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An in depth post an a easy to say but difficult to do subject. Presentation is an interesting subject all on it’s own.
Recently a friend added a banner to a single page on his 10 year old website. Sales dropped 50% overnight, he took the banner off and sales returned to their normal level.
He, and I, learnt two important lessons, Appearance counts for trustworthiness (is that a word?) and you don’t know which pages actually drive sales.
Brent the Debt Relief guy’s last incredible blog post..Are we repeating the Japanese mistake?
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Honestly, its very useful review.
thx
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Thank you for your article.
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Lots of interesting info, always struggling to get links… thats why I read this blog.
Particularly like the info on Gravatar. I’ve always wondered how people get a photo on the comment.
I’ll sign up… good for me, not so good if you have to look at my pic!
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I wanna be a link magnet!!! Thanks for the 7 tips.. I think that being social proof can help some…but I really think that the personalized part of the post is pretty much on the money.
Shaun
Shaun Judy’s last incredible blog post..Reasons I Love Twitter…
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Am I missing something or does your wife’s “About” page http://personaltrainerz.com/ really still have the template information that comes with a wordpres theme?
“This is an example of a WordPress page, you could edit this to put information about yourself or your site so readers know where you are coming from. You can create as many pages like this one or sub-pages as you like and manage all of your content inside of WordPress.”
Also she doesn’t have a picture of herself or her team. In fact there is nothing personal about this site.It could actually be good if it did the things you suggested.
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Thanks wonderful
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nicenice post, very informative, it gives me some new ideas to promote
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Yes, you are right, I do the same way on my website:
Computer Repair Toronto
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I would say unusual content will get you links. The more out there the better. People are fascinated by the mysterious.
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Very interesting tips.
I dont have a blog yet but I will try to setup one and implement these tips.
Thanks.
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good post also thought it was quite funny being about links with the linkmaker using the post for a link back! good is good seo I guess
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Hi everibody, I just want to emphasize the good work on this blog, has excellent views and a clear vision of what you are looking for.
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