Free Content as a linking strategy
Increase your site traffic with zero effort reciprocal links
28th November 2001
Ron Knowlton, a well known e-marketing expert offers some advice on how to generate reciprocal links to your website (which will also increase your page ranking in major search engines) by creating and giving away free content.
One day I was surfing the internet and suddenly came upon one of my articles — there on someone else’s web site!
This is not the first time this has happened! But it got me thinking.
It was not long ago that I started writing articles and sending them out, but ever since then something almost magical has occurred.
I’ve started to see a tremendous increase in traffic to my web site!
And the reason for that is simple, really. My articles are finding their way on to heavily-trafficked web sites!
And not just that, but think of the multiplication factor as the articles spread to even more web sites! The process is on-going.
I’m not saying this to brag. It’s just something that’s started happening lately that has me almost giddy with excitement.
The truth is that a lot of my traffic is coming from these articles!
It hit me the other day as I was looking through my web site statistics.
What a great linking strategy!
Here’s the process and how it works:
1) Send out articles that you’ve written.
2) Then they are reprinted in newsletters or on web sites.
3) People read the articles.
4) Then they click on the link to your site at the end of the article.
5) And suddenly you have traffic coming in!
And it’s all free advertising! I paid nothing for it!
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m sure trading reciprocal links can work. But I didn’t have to trade for these links.
My articles were added and the link to my site was automatic. I didn’t have to link back at all to get these great links!
Now, had I followed the normal procedure (the one nearly all of the internet marketing experts are recommending) I would:
1) write a simple email to each webmaster of each site where I want a link back to my site.
2) Offer a link in return from my site.
Chances are the webmasters at these sites either would:
1) ignore my email, or
2) turn me down flat, or
3) send me a copy of their advertising rates.
What really are the chances of getting the kind of results I want from this method?
Think about it — these webmasters are not in business to give traffic away to others.
They’re in business to make money. And you make money by attracting targeted traffic to your web site and offering something these visitors really want or need!
What advantage is it to you as a webmaster to give traffic away to a site that receives considerably less traffic than yours?
And that’s the magic of my articles! It completely turns this around!
With my articles I give these webmasters something of value that they want and need — free content.
They can in turn use the articles to attract visitors to their sites (or as material in their newsletters — providing valuable content for their readers).
I, in turn, get what I really want — additional traffic to my web site — meaning more subscribers to my ezine and additional $$$ in my pocket!
That’s what I would call a win-win situation all the way around!