How to get links without asking
If you send emails, use Twitter or other social media networks, and have a website of your own, then you can easily implement the following strategies that (surprisingly) a lot of people do not do to get links back to your website. This applies to regular business owners, personal bloggers, and SEOs alike.
Have a great e-mail signature. If you have a website or blog, it should be on your email signature. Think about all of the people you email throughout the day – they may not know that you have a website, and you might not know that they have one. Sending someone even a friendly, helpful email might spark them to want to give you public thanks for your help on their site and they might do so with a link.
You can do this simply by text, or by using a plug-in for your browser called WiseStamp that allows you to create a graphical signature including your social media icons as well as links to your website. It works with Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
Include your link on all social profiles. I know it sounds like common sense, but you’d be surprised how many profiles I come across on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other networks that have a perfect spot for your link that is often empty.
While you can only have your URL on Twitter and Facebook, you can actually include anchor text on LinkedIn. Granted, it’s a redirect link, but the point isn’t to get link juice from your profile – it’s about making sure that if anyone wants to mention you on their website based on your social media connection, they will easily be able to find your link.
Also, it’s not just about the main social networks. Most sites somewhere allow you a link – make sure to check every social network for a spot to put your website. If even one person connects with you and shares your link, it’s worth something.
Create a badge for your site. SEOmoz created a little page with a simple badge and HTML code so that fans of its site can share it. If your site has a lot of great content, or your business has a lot of satisfied customers, it can’t hurt to create a nice graphic for people to use to help promote you.
All of these things seem to be common sense…and they are – but sometimes they simply need to be pointed out again.