Offer Something Useful When Building Links

By David Leonhardt
Expert Author
Article Date: 2009-04-17

Have you ever been hard at work, doing what you do, and suddenly got struck by the immortal question - "What would Bugs Bunny do?" Me too. All the time. Well, if you are doing link-building, you are in luck, because here is what Bugs Bunny would do:

"What's up, Doc?"

Bugs Bunny always introduces himself in way that leaves an opening for the other party to offer something useful. Such as a reciprocal link. Be friendly. Be informal. Be in the situation. Nobody pays attention to cut-and-paste link-exchange emails any more. Find a way to make yours both unique and personal.

"Carrots are divine… You get a dozen for a dime, It's maaaa-gic!"

Link exchanges might be long, hard, boring work, but carrots are a totally different matter. For starters, they are orange. SEO carrots are often called "link bait" or "viral content". If you have fun putting together useful, cool, different information, you have carrots - and carrots are maaaa-gic.

"I know this defies the law of gravity, but I never studied law!"

You will hear many people tell you how SEO is "supposed" to work and how link-building is supposed to work. But there is no diploma for SEO; like politics, SEO is "the art of the possible". SEO doesn't always make sense. But if defying the law of gravity works, run with it (or float with it).

"I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque!"

On the other hand, if your tactics are not working, go back and do things another way. With link-building, a shortcut is not always a shortcut. And any automation - or anything that bears a pattern that could appear to be like automation - means that you definitely turned the wrong way at Albuquerque.

"The rabbit is considered a kind and intelligent creature in Cambodian culture."

Know your audience. If you are seeking links from real estate agents, you might need different tactics than if you are seeking links from home renovators. If you are seeking links from local websites, foreign websites, national websites…each website owner has a different motivation for possibly giving you a link. Your success rate will be highest if you understand your audience.

"Of course you realize, this means war!"

You may have noticed that Bugs doesn't pussyfoot around. Link-building is an arms race of sorts. The good news is that you don't have to be the one with the most weapons. You can win the war with the smartest weapons. Thank carrots (see carrots reference above).

"Oh well, maybe I can shine it up and use it for an ashtray."

That's right, everything has a use. So you got a low-quality link. Perhaps the page is PR0. Perhaps there are 150 links on the page. Perhaps your link is at the end, or has no anchor text, or goes to your "contact us" page. A low-quality link is better than none. Shine it up and use it for an ashtray.

"I don't ask questions. I just have fun!"

If you are having fun, that alone is good. Job satisfaction is so important. Link-building can be frustrating and tiring and stressful. Find ways to make it fun and you'll win part of the battle just there. Bugs advises that all emails asking for a link begin with "What's up Doc?" Sounds good to me.

So get back into your rabbit hole and put to use all the fine advice that the world's most famous rabbit can offer you to make link-building more fun and more successful.

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About the Author:
David Leonhardt is a Canada-based SEO and viral marketing consultant. He operates in English, French and Spanish, providing custom SEO programs for clients aiming to be top players in their niches.

http://www.seo-writer.com/blog/