Build Incoming Links to Your Website

Would you like your website or blog to appear higher in the search results of Google and other search engines? One way is to have lots of incoming links from other sources.

The more places on the Web that point to your site, the more “popular” you are considered by search engines, and the higher you will be listed in search results.

Here are 7 ways to build incoming links:

1. Post comments on other people’s blogs. In your post, include a link back to your own blog or website. 15 comments = 15 more links pointing to you.
   
2. Post comments on news sites, and include a link to your site. BONUS: The journalists who write news stories read every comment. If they like yours, they may contact you for input on a future news story.
   
3. Write articles and submit them to article banks such as EzineArticles.com or GoArticles.com. You’ll be asked for several keywords or key phrases that describe the content of your article – e.g., shyness, overcome shyness, conversation starter, social confidence.  When someone types any of those keywords into Google, your article will come up in the search results.
   
4. When you post relevant content on social networking sites (Facebook, Linkedin, etc.) add a link back to your website.
   
5. Ask colleagues in non-competing fields to exchange links. On your website you place a link to theirs, and vice versa.
   
6. Make a Youtube video (2 minutes or less) on a topic of interest. It need not be you talking into the camera; it can be a slideshow with background music. On the first and last slides have a link to your website.
   
7. Get listed in therapist directories such as PsychologyToday.com or GoodTherapy.org. These directories will submit your name, location and other keywords to the search engines.

Tips for creating links:

• Give some thought to which page on your site that you want people to go. It won’t always be your main URL e.g., mywebsite.com. If your goal is to send people to an internal page, such as the “about me” page, make it easy for them. Have your link point to that exact page, e.g., mywebsite.com/aboutme.


• Use contextual links. These are actual words and phrases that link to a specific webpage. The most common phrase is click here, but there are much better ones. For example, let’s say you wrote an article on stress management. At the end of your article you might say, “See my website for more tips on how to manage stress.” Your link is not “my website;” it’s “how to manage stress.”
  
  This will help Google and other search engines recognize that “how to manage stress” is an important key phrase in your website. Later, when other people search the web for “how to manage stress” your site will already be identified as very relevant to that phrase, and will rank higher in the search results.

Get more mileage from your community presentations

One of the best ways to market your practice is to give presentations to local community groups. But for all the work you put into the preparation, wouldn’t it be nice to reach more than a few dozen people?

You can, if you take the content of your workshop and “repurpose” it into different formats for different audiences.

Let’s say you gave a presentation to a group of parents about communicating with their teens, and that you distributed a handout. You can repurpose the content of both your presentation and your handout:

• Take your handout and create a tips sheet for your clients. You may have to condense your ideas so that they fit on one page. If you have too much content for one page, create several tips sheets, each covering one sub-topic. 

• From the notes from your presentation, write an article – or a series of articles, depending on how much you covered in the presentation. Your articles should be no longer than 500 words. Post them online at your website or blog, or distribute them via email. You can also post them on article banks such as ezinearticles.com, where others can use your article in their own newsletters or blogs (with full credit to you.)

• Make video recordings of segments of your presentation and post them on youtube. They should be no longer than 3-5 minutes each.  If you covered 7 points in your presentation, make 7 individual videos.

• Make an audio recording of your presentation, using an inexpensive microphone connected to your computer. Using the free software, audacity, you can record, edit, and even add music to your recording. Post the mp3 file as a download on your website. Or put it on CD. For just $1 apiece at kunaki.com, you can create professional-looking CDs and jewel cases.

These are just a few ways to get more mileage from your presentations. Please share how you have repurposed (or intend to repurpose) your content. Post your comment below.

SEO - Boost your search engine rankings

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about how to get your website noticed by search engines - So that when people search the Web, your site has a better chance of appearing near the top.

The principle is simple. Most search engines pay attention to fresh content that doesn't look like spam.

They do this via a series of complex algorithms that rank websites on different dimensions. But each search engine does it differently. That's why, if you run the same search on Google and Yahoo, you won't get exactly the same results.

However, all search engines look for these factors:

• Content - Original content that is not repetitive. Google and other search engines don't rank spelling and grammar, but they do tend to dismiss websites that have very little content, or that have the same words repeated over and over throughout the website.
  
  
• Relevance: Think about keywords that people might search on in order to find your website. Use these keywords in the title and the body of your website, but don't over-use them - otherwise the search engine may assume that you are "stuffing" keywords just to artificially boost your ranking.
  
  
• Outgoing Links - Links should be related to the content. If they're not, the search engines will consider them random and spammy.
  
  
• Incoming Links - If a lot sites link to yours, search engines view your website as "popular" and give you higher ranking.
  
  
• Metatags - These are the words that define the title of your website and describe what your content is about. Metatags are like keywords, and should match the keywords that your potential audience would probably type into the search engine.
  
  For example, if your website is about overcoming shyness, your metatags might be: overcoming shyness, getting over shyness, social confidence, .... etc.
  
  You access your metatags on the actual files that are stored on your website's host. If you have a blog you can access the metatags from your blog's control panel or dashboard.
  

Each search engine gives different ranking to the above factors. Also, their algorithms change frequently. Thus, what was #1, 2 and 3 yesterday could be different today or tomorrow.

For more specifics on how to optimize your site for search engines, see their individual guidelines:
Google
Yahoo
Ask
Bing

More info is at SEOMoz.org.
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Interpret and comment on news reports

Get ideas for your articles and presentations from news reports. Build your credibility by commenting on them and providing your own expert interpretations.

Since these topics are already being reported in the media, you have a good chance of reaching potential audiences who are tuned in.

How to keep abreast of news in your area of expertise:

• Set up email alerts. Both Google and Yahoo will send you headlines of news stories that contain your designated keywords.
  
  
• Subscribe to feeds of major news outlets such as New York Times, CNN, FoxNews, etc. Look for the little RSS symbol: You'll need an RSS reader - Google Reader will work just fine.
  
  
• Search Google News and Yahoo News. Also search Topix, which aggregates news stories from 50,000 sources.
  
  
• Browse scientific news sites, press releases and blogs. Some of these include SciSeek, SciCentral, Newswise, Technorati and PRWeb.

-- Pauline

p.s. Join my monthly Q&A calls, where I will answer your questions about marketing. Get more info here.

Tools to test your articles' readability level

How user-friendly is your writing? If you are writing for the public, you know that it's wise to avoid using professional jargon.

Other factors are also important, especially when writing online:

• Make your paragraphs short - they are easier to read when they don't exceed 5 lines.
• Use headings, sub-headings and bullets - makes your content jump out at the reader
• Keep sentences brief, but vary the length and structure, so that your article doesn't read like a grade-school primer.
• Write in a conversational tone - speak to your reader.
• Write at a level that is easy for most people to understand - from 12-year-olds to your grandmother.

You can test the readability level of your articles. Microsoft Word has this built in.

There are also online tools, available here. Simply copy your text, paste it into the box, and you'll get instant feedback on several readability dimensions.

Pauline

p.s. Join my monthly Q&A calls, where I will answer your questions about marketing. Get more info here.

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5 ways to position yourself as an expert

If you have specialized knowledge and experience to help others, then you are an expert.

HERE ARE 5 WAYS TO PROMOTE YOUR EXPERTISE:

1. Give talks and lectures in your community. Even if you don't get paid, you are building your reputation as an expert - which can generate business for you in the future.
   


2. When you give a presentation, pass around a sign-up sheet for people to write in their names and email addresses. Then follow up by sending them your e-newsletter, tips or other helpful information.


3. Get someone to interview you, asking you questions about your area of expertise, and record the interview. All the better if the other person has some name recognition in your field or in your community. Place the recording on your website.
   


4. Write articles. Here's a link to several of my blog posts on tips for writing articles.
   


5. Under your signature add one or two tag lines - not only showing your professional designation, but also promoting your expertise. Thus, your signature on emails and letters might look something like this:

John Doe, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
...Helping couples fall in love again

Jane Smith, CPA
Public Accountant
Family business expert

Why position yourself as an expert? These days, with fewer consumer dollars to go around, more people will turn to experts, in order to get the most value for their investment.

Get more visible online, so that people can find YOU and learn more about how you can help them.

I've removed the guesswork for you, in my step-by-step home-study course, Market With Authority: Build Credibility and Professional Name Recognition on the Web.

-- Pauline