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The Ultimate Link Building Strategy For Industrial & Manufacturing Web Sites
Posted by B2B on: 2006-06-07 08:30:36
By Conrad Bailey
I assume you probably already know the advantages and benefits of increasing the number of inbound links to your site. In fact, I cannot overemphasize the importance of having an appropriate link building program in place. After all, the more links you have pointing to your site, the higher your PR (page rank) and link popularity will be, and as a result, the more traffic you'll generate. Consequently, the maximum benefit you'll get from search engines. But that's all obvious stuff, right? Well, believe it or not even those that know the benefits of link building are getting nowhere with their efforts. And I'll tell you why... If you are serious about increasing traffic, you must stop thinking about page rank, at the least for the moment, and put your efforts into generating traffic first... preferably ongoing traffic. Okay, so you believe page rank is vital to increase the number of times your site shows in the SERPS for your keywords? Yes, that is true, but you can lose that ranking as fast as it came, and of course, including the traffic that resulted from it. So really, what's more important, page rank? Or traffic?
Search Engines (Big Or Small) Owe You Nothing - Zilch!
It never fails to amaze me how many online marketers complain about the unpredictable up and down traffic they get from Yahoo, Google and other search engines. These people ignorantly believe that search engine are responsible to index their site and re-crawl their content regularly. All at no cost of course. Just visit any popular webmaster forum and you'll here the complaints, whining and threats that I find absolutely ridiculous. Of course their argument is due to their belief that search engines need fresh content to continue to build their infinite database. Yes, all that may be true but don't think for a second search engines won't decrease your rankings or drop your site entirely from their index for any number of reasons - or even no legitimate reason at all. Sometimes it just happens and frankly, like I said, they owe you nothing so why people complain is beyond me. The point is, manufacturers and industrial suppliers that rely on search engines for most of their traffic will never have a solid grasp on the market they wish to penetrate further online. That includes those that rely upon natural search traffic as well as those that get most of their traffic, and sometimes reluctantly, from pay-per-click programs. Thus, you must generate traffic from alternative sources. Ideally your goal is to eventually get most of your traffic from sites other than the big three; Google, Yahoo and MSN.
Relevant Link Building For Industrial Websites
One of the best advantages of promoting an industrial website is the literally unlimited number of Web sites available as potential traffic generators. Finding these sites is not difficult at all, there are numerous directories to find millions of manufacturers and industrial suppliers, including the one I'm currently managing, IndustrialLeaders.com, where you can find a vast number of potential link sources involved in the industrial marketplace. But before you start looking for these sites, you'll want to know precisely, the exact kind of companies you wish to target. Right down to the types of products and services they sell and/or specialize in. The key is to look for sites that are non-competitive to yours but target the same type of industrial or technical buyers that your company does. For instance, a manufacturer of gears for industrial machinery may look for sites that sell industrial machinery bearings. Another example would be a producer of water treatment systems seeking out sites that sell water treatment chemicals. There are endless possibilities. Basically, the whole idea is to develop strategic alliances with Web sites that jointly serve the needs of your target market. Focus on sites that have a nice synergy with your own. This ensures the traffic you generate will be of the most highly targeted and pre-qualified
So You Found A Site You Want A Link From, Now What?
First of all, don't send them an email and ask for a link, that's the last thing you want to do! Webmasters of industrial sites get tons of link requests daily via email, so yours, no matter how well written will usually get trashed without even a reply. Those that do reply are usually in more need of a link than you are/ Personally, I don't trade links with sites that have a 'links page' of some kind. I don't want my site to be associated with a links page. I don't see any value in it and neither does Google, and rightfully so. The people who have a reciprocal links page wrongly believe quantity is more important than quality when it comes to links. Therefore, they trade links with practically everyone that looks relevant to their market. However, relevant or not, it's never a good idea to trade links with sites that place you on a 'links page' because for the most part you'll get very little if any traffic of PR value from it.
The Perfect Link Is Just A Phone Call Away
When you find the perfect site to feature your link, give the webmaster a phone call and introduce yourself. A phone call (unlike email) gives you the opportunity to develop a true relationship that could turn into a long lasting cooperation that will results in mutual benefits for years to come. So believe me, it's well worth your time to pick up the phone and make that personal touch that an email can absolutely never do. That is, at least not yet. When you get him or her on the phone, get to the point and explain why you are calling. You should expect him to be hesitant, even a little suspicious of your intentions at first. So make him aware of the mutual benefits you're offering in terms of traffic and exposure, if only he was willing to trade links. Explain the jointly targeted audience you are reaching and how the reciprocal link will benefit everyone involved.
We Don't Trade Links
When you call potential link partners, you will often get all kinds of objections for a variety of reasons. But don't despair, if they object its almost always because they don't see the benefits.. If that's the case, and it usually is, you'll want to up the ante.
If your site lacks the traffic and/or page rank a potential link partner wants, the best way to overcome that is to offer a special incentive. Tell him this: "If I find for you a relevant link partner or perhaps several partners with similar traffic and page rank as your site, would you then, in appreciation, kindly offer me a link. I have learned a lot of people will take you up on such an offer. After all, they have nothing to lose.
Some Last Words
Of course, every link arrangement you develop will be different, some more so than others. You'll need to decide on exactly where the links will be displayed on each other's page, whether a text link or graphical image (e.g. logo) is preferred, as well as other preferences that may need to be discussed. In any case, partnerships like this can bring a steady stream of traffic to your site for many years. So you no longer have to rely exclusively on search engines for traffic. The final result? Increased traffic. Growing sales opportunities. Stronger Internet presence. Deeper penetration in your target market. Lasting friendships.
About the author:
About The Author:
Conrad Bailey is co-founder and vice president of www.IndustrialLeaders.com, an Industrial Supply Trade Portal for engineers and other industrial and technical professionals. Qualified manufacturers and distributors worldwide are welcome to list their company and website on the network free-of-charge
at: http://www.WorldwideIndustrialMarketplace.com/free_listing.html
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