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Any website, regardless of the content and the purpose, can benefit from backlinks. Backlinks are found on other websites that link back to your site. With a backlink you are reaching a greater audience and ensuring a better search engine ranking. But this does not mean you need to resort to link begging to find those ever-elusive backlinks.

What is Link Begging?

First of all, let’s define link begging. Link begging is the process of identifying link prospects, usually through competitor backlink analysis, and then contacting each one of those sites and begging for a link. Not only is this needy practice time consuming but it usually only ends in failure. Instead of tarnishing your personal and professional reputation by resorting to link begging, try the following methods to build up your networks and find worthwhile linking partners.

It all begins with good content. You’ve most likely heard it a dozen times already but this is only because it’s true – good content sells. Good content makes friends. Good content brings in excellent backlinks. Once you have established your web site, it’s time to get into the nitty gritty.

Link Building Strategies

The first thing you need to do is research. Make a list of the best blog posts, articles, PDF’s, videos, discussion threads, forums, twitter feeds, Facebook accounts, news sites, conferences and any other social networking sites that are in your niche. Organize them into different groups that will work with your niche. Once you have made the list, you need to sit down and compose a number of emails to the owners of these sites. Explain your site and ask them if they think it’s a good idea to share the audience.

Next, once you start getting responses, ask your prospects to participate in a group interview which will contain several group interview questions. After you get the answers back, reach out to the participants to let them know their interview is live. It’s a good idea to ask them to mention it to their readers and Twitter followers as well. You can also do solo interviews with prospective linkers. If you are attempting the solo interview, make sure that you’re asking new questions that probe into genuine areas of passion for your experts. Do not create a universal interview sheet and expect excellent results. You need to put a lot of attention and care into every single interview.

The main thing to remember when it comes to link building is that you need to form a relationship with your linkers. It is all about networking and finding personal connections with other sites that will benefit everyone in the end. There is no need to resort to link begging – there are a number of creative ways to find links without tarnishing your name.

Want to learn more about the process of link building? Contact us today for more information on how we can improve your business or create your company a web presence that will dominate the search engines and deliver results. Call today at (612) 558-1020 for a free phone consultation.

SEO’s are a dime a dozen these days and, like car salesman and mechanics, it can be hard to know who to trust and who to stay away from. Which SEO’s are promising the world and actually coming up with something and which are guaranteeing you results with nothing to show for it? When you are looking for a SEO, consider the following five questions that can help you decipher the SEO slime balls from the SEO successors.

1) Does your SEO guarantee results – if so, then you might be let down. No matter how skilled a SEO is, it is impossible to 100 percent guarantee something. If a SEO has promised you a certain amount of visitors or a certain amount of money in a time frame, then be weary. Look for a SEO who explains exactly what he is able to do and what his track record has been in the past. Look for a SEO who is willing to set expectations and work within your goals rather than promising the world. In the end, you will only be disappointed.

2) Does your SEO educate you on the process or leave you in the dark? You may not want an eight-week lesson on search engine optimization but it is always a good idea to be informed on how things are going and what is happening. Look for a SEO who is willing to educate you and demonstrate his level of competence in the subject.

3) Is your SEO constantly updating the process? This is a good thing. It may seem like your SEO is a little scatterbrained but the truth of the matter is, the world of search engine algorithms are constantly changing which means a good SEO has to adapt with these changes. Look for a SEO is that up to date on the recent trends and is willing to be flexible with his plans. If your SEO admits that he is not familiar with something in the field, do not automatically fire him. The important thing is that he is willing to learn and push the limits to get results.

4) Does your SEO have references? Make sure you ask for them. The best way to determine if a SEO is worth your business is what his previous clients have thought. Check websites, make phone calls and uncover the truth behind those promises.

5) Finally, does your provide you with a timeframe? The truth of the matter is, search engine optimization is not something you can simply do, forget about and still see results. You need to constantly tweak your design and stay current on the trends. Your SEO should explain what can be done within different time frames – five weeks, five months, five years, etc. so that you understand exactly what you can expect.

Our company have years of experience in SEO and web design. Contact us today for more information on how we can improve your business or create your company a web presence that will dominate the search engines and deliver results. Call today at (612) 558-1020 for a free phone consultation.

SEO is not something that you will learn overnight. Furthermore, you will not see the results of a successful web site right away. It will take time to see the results. However, below are some of the sure-fire ways to turn your website into a SEO success story:

URL Tips

Let’s start with your URL’s. Make sure they are correctly formatted and that they are actually about what your page is about.

For example: www.carsalesguide.com/article_344445_page_index/

is not as effective as

www.carsalesguide.com/all-about-insurance/

for letting the readers know what the article is all about.

You should also look into removing any stop words from your URL’s. These are words such as “I”, “it”, “the” and “what.” They are stop words because Google tends to completely ignore them. When it comes to choosing a URL, think simple.

Meta Descriptions , Page Titles and Headings

Moving on to your Meta descriptions, make sure you are writing concise and focused meta descriptions. This is the tag that goes in the head section of your webpage and relies information about the page that may not be in the title. Meta descriptions are still used by most search engines to describe the content of your page. Stick to concise and accurate meta descriptions for the search engine results.

When it comes to your Headings Tags, you want to follow the three golden rules: 1) don’t skip heading levels. 2) try to have the H1 heading be the first on your page. And 3) use the main keyword on your H1 heading.

You should also always optimize your page titles. What this means is that your important keywords always occur within the first 60 characters of your page title. Make your page titles fresh and interesting, taking into consideration the emotions of your readers.

Images and Sitemaps for Success

Two more things to consider – images and site mapping: When it comes to your page images, make sure you always use the Alt and Title attributes. Alt tages will describe the content of the image to the search engine so your image will actually be found during a search.

As for site mapping, make sure you have one. XML sitemaps are the best as they provide an easy way to inform search engines about new pages on your site and are fairly easy to construct.

Social Media and Backlinks

And finally, never underestimate the power of social media and backlinks. These are incredibly important for your page ranking. Write a blog, join Twitter (and tweet regularly), post comments on other relevant blogs and network your site out there.

One final note – your website is not just about SEO. The most important aspect of any site is the content. You need to ensure that what you are actually saying is worthwhile reading. Be fresh, informative and entertaining to attract a loyal following.

Want to learn more about the tricks and trades of SEO? Contact us today for more information on how we can improve your business or create your company a web presence that will dominate the search engines and deliver results. Call today at (612) 558-1020 for a free phone consultation.