Link building using forums and blogs

So you’ve got the site, you’ve picked your keywords, now what do you do?

Link building is an important part of SEO, Google and the other search engines see each link to your site as a vote for your site. However not all votes are equal.
The figures aren’t exact but to give you the idea, if you think of it in these terms,

    • you submit your site to one of the many free directories 1 vote
    • Adding a signature to your profile and using it to reply in forums 1 vote
    • making a comment on someone’s blog 1 vote

Adding comments to a blog or forum in your niche for example if you sell children’s clothes then a clothing or parenting forum would give you a higher value link, than one on web design. 2votes

Getting links from sites with higher PR (Page rank; a value given to each webpage within a site by Google, which is largely based upon the number and quality of backlinks a webpage has.) also give more votes. 2/3votes+

Where to put the link.
The linked itself can be entered in your text, for example if the forum post says “help everyone I’m looking for someone who does accounts in Worcester” then here’s a good chance to plug your business, if you’re an accountant in or near Worcester, if you’re a hypnotherapist in Hampshire not the best time to mention it. However a lot of forums allow you the chance of adding a signature that gets posted at the bottom of each reply you make. So make the most of this adding your website, to your signature, then you can focus on the job of finding interesting things to say that will make curious people click on your link, to find out more about this person.

With blogs it is pretty similar, most blogs encourage comments at the end of page. Depending on how the blog is created will determine the appearance of the comment box. On mine under you’ll find a bigger box to add the comment under which is some drop down options on how to sign, you can use your Google id or the easiest way is to chose name/URL option.

which opens another box in the name, you can add whatever name you want, and then add your web address in the URL line.

Be aware some blogs allow your web address to show as soon as the comment is published (like mine), others you may have to contribute a few times before it shows, this is to deter spamming programs adding rubbish to the blog while still adding URLs.
The comments to this blog are monitored, this means that, although I would love it for you to leave me a comment, it won’t appear straight away, I have to go in an approve each comment, these allows me the control to stop any spam before it is listed.

The most time consuming part will be setting up your profile and signature, then just as you have a spare few mins log in, check for new messages you can reply to, new blog articles you read and comment on, each comment / reply is a vote for your site.
You can pay people to do Link Building for you on a much bigger scale, but why not give it a go yourself, as they say,

“every little helps”

So why not leave me a comment about what you think about this post, or the blog in general and help your business at the same time?

Avatar for Pippa Haines Pippas Web

I am Pippa and I have run Pippas Web - web design for small businesses for 13 years. I help small business owners find their bit of cyberspace. I provide the technical know-how, so they can get back to running their business. If you like what I write in my blogs, you can sign up to my newsletter for more tips straight to your door. All list members get a copy of "How to get your business seen online in 2021".