April 11th, 2010 by Dan

Search engine optimization services today offer a whole range of link building products. In recent times, you may have noticed that internet searches don’t just throw up textual results. You get videos and images as well. SEO link building is about making all aspects of your site linkable, not just the text. One of the best ways is to use SMO, or social media optimization, and embed links on social media sites that you know will be of interest to your client demographic.

Making your site linkable is the most difficult part of social media optimization, as you have to create content that’s appealing and accessible to users, and is easily located. A good search engine optimization company will usually suggest a “Digg this,” “Follow us on Twitter” or “add to Delicious” type button on your website and RSS feed. Making bookmarking and tagging easy for your visitors are recognised ways to attain a positive online reputation. It increases readership and encourages users to submit content for your site. It also gives you exposure among the social media community.

To run a successful SEO link building campaign using social networking, your site needs to have linkbait appeal. This means coming up with something unique and appealing enough to a) be acceptable for submission to the social media site/s you’ve chosen and b) get linked to. If you don’t entice people to click your link and then link to your site, you will slip down the rankings and disappear off the radar, or the equivalent of getting knocked down to page 10 on the Google rankings.

If you have a “dry” or mundane product, you may wonder how you can possibly come up with enticing linkbait. It’s true that paper hand towels or plastic storage bins aren’t exactly earth movers in the interest stakes, but there are ways you can up the ante. You can use quirky graphics, a humorous facts page or create a Flash game around your product.

In 2008, a company ran a 5-day online study in which volunteers had to come up with innovative new ways to market a product. It included writing blogs from a space alien encountering the product for the first time, and outlining a movie in which the product was the star. Some truly inspirational ideas were fielded, and everyone enjoyed the experience. Lots of new friends were made, many of whom stayed in touch. It was a kind of social media experiment in a way. The product? Disposable tissues.

Your link building strategies don’t have to be built around catchy videos or flashy games. A more formal, factual approach works just as well, especially if you supply a B2B product or service. You could, for example, write an in-depth “How to” article, create an instructional video, build a resource list or create a new software tool connected to your area of expertise. This will help people on your network gain valuable new information; the best SEO tools you can have are ones where you are seen to be helping others rather than just yourself.

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