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Why No One is Linking to Your Website
by David James, BethesdaEmediaMarketing.com
Search for anything using Google or Bing today – nearly instantly, the search engine will compare your search term against billions of web pages and present you with eerily accurate results. Your results will even be ranked in terms of relevancy, so that the best matches appear first.
Well… not always. Search engines don’t always get it right; non-relevant pages often slip through into search results, and sometimes you still need to wade through a lot of information before you find what you are looking for.
One of the main criteria search engines use today to determine the relevancy of your site is by determining how many other websites link to you. Think of a link to your site as a vote; the more votes you accumulate, the higher your site will rank in search engine results.
Getting links today, in some ways, is more art than science. There are tons of reasons people will provide links to your website, but there are also a few way-to-common reasons they won’t.
No Compelling Content
This is the most common and obvious reason a site won’t link to you. Sure, you have the minimum requirements – product pages, about us, some promotional copy, maybe even a company history. But that’s not truly compelling content, at least not in the context of link building.
Almost every commercial website is trying to sell something. They tend to have product descriptions, shipping guarantees, and privacy policies – think of these as credits in a movie. Every movie has them, but no one pays for a ticket just to watch the credits. And that’s why no one wants to link to your marketing collateral.
In the end, you need content that is likable to be linkable. Anything that is compelling, useful, or exciting is far more likely to attract links than product pages. This also means becoming part of your niche’s community.
Innovating original, compelling content is hard, but it’s also OK to say something unoriginal if you’re saying in your own voice. Your perspective is unique!
You Don’t Really Exist Yet
Maybe you’ve got tons of original, exciting content on your website but you still aren’t getting linked to. Does anyone know you exist? It’s a common problem among sites with great content but poor linkage.
Getting your website noticed online is like trying to catch someone’s attention in a big crowd. Without the online equivalent of a flare gun or megaphone it can be almost impossible to get noticed.
Website owners are increasingly turning to social media to make connections and gain exposure for their web sites. To build links to your website, take advantage of the massive traffic that social networks generate and build a following of people who take notice when you have something to say.
Building your following won’t happen fast and it’s not always an easy process. But there’s nothing mysterious about it; there’s a lot of great advice out there on how to get more Facebook friends and build your Twitter following.
In addition to leveraging social media, posting useful stuff on other people’s blogs is a great method to get brand exposure. Positioning yourself alongside someone else’s readership gives you the chance to introduce your ideas and website to a new group of people.
Back in the day, when you wanted to build links you would email people one at a time. It still works – just don’t be guy that starts spamming generic pleas for links. A softer, more personal approach works better – demonstrate a shared interest with the people your writing and you’ll find this technique extremely effective.
Technically Speaking…
Great! Now you’ve spiffed up your content and social media is putting a lot of eyes on your site each day. But you still find yourself linkless – what’s up here?
The next likely culprit is that your site is throwing errors at your visitors. Error messages, messy code, slow loading pages, broken links, and even pop-ups can be deterrents to potential linkers. People today have near zero patience for technical issues – and often assume a technically incompetent site contains incompetent content, as well.
Having a technically efficient site – one without error messages and speedy load times – is a foundation layer of effective SEO. Reducing your load times, cleaning up your code, and doing away with broken links is a great way help to turn visitors into linkers.
Make a Good First Impression
Sometimes visitors will get the wrong impression of your site even if you have great content and zero technical issues. The design and appearance of your site can be particularly influential in determining if someone will link to you or not.
Does this mean you have to spend thousands of dollars on a flashy new design? Not necessarily – but you should avoid some things, like eye-burning backgrounds, flashing text, and disruptive audio and video.
But what’s even worse than having a site that looks like it was designed when Netscape was the browser of choice is having a site that confuses visitors. If users can’t easily know who you are and what you do, you’ve already put them off balance.
Providing a link today is like publicly voting for your site. Most webmasters don’t want to risk their own credibility by linking to a site that’s somewhere between sketchy and offensive. Having a clear, organized message will help convince people your site is worth a link.
A Final Note
When your link building hits a wall – and it will – it’s natural to assume the problem is “the other guy” and not you. A healthy dose of online introspection is required from time to time.
Try looking at your site through the eyes of a potential linker – is the content stellar? Is it easy to find things? Is the site itself attractive?
If you can honestly say “yes” to these questions, relax – building a quality collection of links takes time. Take a deep breath, then pour yourself another cup of coffee and get back at it.
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