Businesses, especially new businesses with a small budget, have a hard time justifying link building. You might, and I say might very lightly, be able to start generating leads affordably with pay-per-click advertising.
Every business is different, with some having very affordable pay-per-click rates.
But over time, a business will start to realize that organic traffic that they don’t have to pay for is much more economical. Enter link building. Indeed, link building remains the cornerstone of any search engine optimization strategy.
To get started, QuickSprout has a great, advanced link building resource to help you get started.
So, what are the lesser-known link opportunities for businesses? That’s what we’re going to find out.
1. Sponsorships Work Great
Sponsorships are a great link building opportunity, and they normally work out to be a very affordable, beneficial link. If you’ve ever done guest posting, this is sort of the same methodology.
You’ll:
- Research potential sponsorships in your area
- Reach out to the potential sponsorship candidates
- Wait to hear back
Sports teams are the go-to option, and for good reason: sponsors help pay for their equipment and costs.
A prime example of this is a company offering mainline camera inspection. They have an “our partners” section on their website that links to a Rugby Club. This does a few things:
- Provides a local boost to the company’s reputation.
- Offers a link to their “good will” in the local area.
When you visit the Rugby team’s site, they also promote the plumbing company and all of their sponsors.
It’s a mutual benefit for everyone involved that extends further than just search engine rankings.
2. Scholarship Links
If you have the money to offer scholarships, do it. You can offer these scholarships locally to build up your brand’s reputation and give back to the community. Scholarships can lead to link opportunities from a variety of sources, including:
- Local schools
- Scholarship directories
You’ll want to make a scholarship page on your website, too. The idea is to use this form of generosity to gain a few, very high value links back to your site. You can also alert news outlets in your area local papers of the scholarship.
You will be surprised by how much free publicity a scholarship can bring to your business.
Scholarships may be a bit costly to offer, but even $500 can help a student pay for their schooling. Sometimes, you have to give a little to get something back.
3. Testimonial Giving to Other Businesses
Say you’re a landscaper, and you offer your business to other businesses. Well, maybe you also work with an accountant who handles all of your books. Accountants are there to help you keep your business afloat.
And if you have a good experience, you can offer to give the accountant a testimonial.
You can even just shoot this over in an email and provide your testimonial to them. Make sure that you have a signature with your business’s website link, too. When I have done this in the past, a lot of businesses will post this testimonial on their website and use the link in your signature to link to your website.
These aren’t keyword-rich links, but they’re powerful, free links that businesses can start leveraging today.
Yes, you still have a lot of work to do in a competitive industry.
But these three tips can help you a lot.
Once you’ve done the basics, it’s time to take a look at your competitors and try to replicate what they’re doing to get links.
Moz has a Whiteboard Friday article that outlines exactly how you can start looking for your competitor’s links, replicate those links and start seeing some impressive results for the effort you put in.
