Backlink building tools usually mean reciprocal links, sometimes frowned upon by the Web 2.0 generation of SEOs but still having their place as Aaron Wall I remember mentioned. Mix them up with other strategies, build steadily, and above all focus on your visitors first and make sure links are targeted and useful to real people, that’s what Google likes.
Vexcom’s Atlanta SEO blog lists a decent tool over at webconfs.com, two I personally like are:
http://seopen.com/seopen-tools/link-development-tool.php
http://www.soloseo.com/tools/linkSearch.html
Take your pick. The Seopen one lists all queries directly giving you that immediate rosy glow of being confronted with lots of willing link partners.
The Soloseo one looks neat and you can see every individual search for finding reciprocal link pages, eg. keyphrase +”add site”, keyphrase +”add link”, keyphrase +”add site”, keyphrase +”add URL” and so on which gained fame around 2004 in a seminal post at WebmasterWorld. (Hah, I knew the year without checking).
Yes it’s that old. I used to build site directories, positioning them as a genuine resource for visitors as well as just a links page and would gladly mix up reciprocal links with freely given non-reciprocal links to improve the quality of the directory. Worked well and it still does, just make sure to get some more recent strategies in your toolbox also and go and learn some SMO at the same time :).
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Karen Andrews 09.05.09 at 2:35 am
excellent post.. you are right: searching for “add link keyword” or similar such as “suggest link/resource / keyword” is a great way to find low hanging fruit.
What about http://LinksManager.com? all of their users also publish custom suggest link forms. I’ve been using them for years and I find they provide more control over my linking decisions than the tools you mentioned above.
seocialize 09.05.09 at 12:41 pm
Hi Karen,
Thanks for stopping by, out of habit I’ve always found my own links, especially if you have a personal interest in the niche it’s rewarding enough to find good sites and get in touch and while searching for sites and email addresses can be tedious the ability to talk shop with a related webmaster has more interest than a templated link exchange mail. That’s the luxury of managing your own site though, educating clients can be a gradual process and if they come encumbered with preconceptions of x-number of PRx links/month such services may be a worthwhile bridging tool.
Seeing as I haven’t been to the LinksManager site in so long I checked it out again and very almost signed up for the demo account, but in the end it was a no go. Am I really going to be able to find sites targeted specifically to my niche, by which I mean something more than “Internet Services” or even “Search Engine Optimization”? Unlikely. If not it will be generic SEO sites, and I can find them anywhere. And am I going to be able to establish a relationship with the site I’m potentially linking to? Again unlikely, it’s going to be more a reciprocal link rather than real reciprocity. And finally there are non-family-friendly link categories so I closed the site.
Another way to get links is simply post a message on DigitalPoint forums and get some blogroll or link exchanges that way, as of posting half the ones in my blogroll I got in a few days that way, it’s a good way to get off the ground. And I got to see some decent websites and meet some interesting people too.
By the way, would you like to exchange links?
Best,
Jeremy
Karen Andrews 09.08.09 at 9:56 pm
you may be misinformed about what linksmanager does.. it doesnt “find links” … it facilitates receiving link requests and then storing them in a pending queue allowing me to act on what comes in through my customized suggest link form. kinda like social networking “will you be my friend?” .. linksmanager lets me decide who I will and will not link to.
I manage link building campaigns for my girlfriends who sell jewelry from home so that would not be a relavant link to your site. I dont have a website yet for my business but that is in the works. will get in touch with you once my site goes live this Fall.