Building Links
Over and over people ask me what is the best way to drive their online business and I always reply link building. After telling this to more business managers than I can remember, I can count the number who followed up on the advice on one hand. Link building is simple and fundamental but boring and lacking glamour.
If you asked me the name of a good mechanic, I'd refer you to Peninsula Automotive. The owner Mike has taken care of my family for years and I trust him. His shop isn't the quickest in terms of turn around time, but he does quality work at a very reasonable price. Given my recommendation, there is a very good chance you'd give him a try. Links are very similar: they are online recommendations. One site says "give this site a try, it provides quality service/products/information."
The benefits of links are enormous. Let’s make a very conservative estimate. Let’s say you can pursue links and obtain one every hour. On average each link is responsible for generating only one new customer a year for five years. Each new customer will bring the company $50 in profit over her lifetime. So, for the one hour you spent generating the link you created $250 in profit. In addition to generating $250 in profit, the link helps your site in the free listings of search engines and puts your brand in front of more potential customers.