Rae Hoffman of surgarrae.com recently posted a very interesting round table discussion on advanced link strategies. Participants included some of the leading lights in the industry. As one would expect, the assembled talent offered thoughtful and valuable advice on various linking strategies and methods. It’s a longish post, so if you only have a few minutes make sure you read the responses to question two:

“In sectors where links are particularly tough to come by (retail, B2B in boring industries, etc.), what are content tactics you’ve taken to appeal to relevant sites in those industries (specific examples would rock)?”

It’s pretty clear that even the most boring companies in the most boring industries can come up with creative content strategies.

While the post is illuminating and helpful for anyone in the SEO/SEM space, it’s the equivalent an advanced seminar for PhD students. If you’re still an undergrad and haven’t yet considered paid links and automated link building strategies, it might be helpful to go back to your core major courses and review a few “traditional,” time-tested link building concepts. These concepts might not be sexy, but they provide a solid link foundation that drives sustainable, and profitable, traffic generation.

Five Traditional Link Building Concepts

1. Add Library Content. Start by adding relevant content to your site, and not just the typical brochure copy. If you’ve been in business for any amount of time, chances are you have more library content than you realize. Build a quick list of content assets you’ve acquired over the years. Do you have case studies, articles, old press releases, and company histories? How about certifications and awards? Do you have a unique solution for a vertical market? Do you have any testimonials from clients? All of these items can be added to your site to give you something worth linking to. This static content provides the foundation for your intrinsic linkability.
2. Add Blog Content. Yes, you need a blog. And it’s not just to implement a me-too strategy. At a minimum, a blog is a content management tool that enables you to post timely information. More importantly, blogs can represent a critical part of your link strategy. Library content has a limited amount of intrinsic linkabiliity, meaning you’ll eventually exhaust your link potential. Blogs, on the other hand, provide a constant source of new link fuel. You don’t need to get terribly creative either. A good blogging strategy doesn’t require you to create a cast of fictitious characters or dream up a funky, blog-based viral strategy. When you land a client or complete a job, blog about it. As you see developments within your industry, blog about them. If, for example, you’re a medical supply company, use your web site to talk about your financing options and those fascinating product specs. But use your blog to talk about changes in Medicare policy and add your view on how the changes create opportunities for your clients.
3. Join the Conversation. Get involved in the daily discussion taking place online. Add your voice and your opinion to the conversation. Set up alerts in Google or Yahoo so you can keep up with the latest developments. Identify the top blogs and discussion groups in your industry and make a point of subscribing to their feeds or just get in the habit of visiting them every day. Post your comments – but make sure your comments really add value to the discussion. You can almost always add your URL to a comment, so give people a reason to find out more about you and your site. Show that you’re an active, knowledgeable participant in the conversation and, over time, you’ll probably start to develop natural links.
4. Engage in Networking. Often overlooked in modern link building strategies, traditional networking can be an extremely effective method of attracting high-quality and meaningful links. Traditional networking includes approaching professional associations, partners, suppliers, clients and colleagues. Stay in touch with former employers. Get involved in local chapters of your industry associations. Expand your network through online and offline networking groups. Explore social networking services such as LinkedIn to expand your traditional networking initiatives. These contacts will normally be the people who know you the best. If you think there’s a natural link opportunity, don’t be shy about asking.
5. Send Press Releases. Press releases have been around for a long time, but there are new techniques and distribution methods you can use to communicate your news to the media. As before, send press releases to announce new products, new partnership and new deals. But now, optimize your press releases to make sure they’re synched with your overall keyword strategy. Increasingly, reporters, analysts, bloggers and webmasters ignore the traditional newswires and search Yahoo! News and Google News for story ideas, research and press releases. So make sure you use an online release service such as PRWeb for distribution. In addition to generating the publicity and buzz associated with traditional press releases, optimized press releases can also be indexed by popular search engines. Once indexed, your releases can make content available to journalists searching for information via search engine reach. They can also directly reach a broad end-user audience and create important opportunities for inbound links.

By design, there’s nothing particularly novel or earth-shattering in any of these recommended concepts. They just represent the basic blocking and tackling you have to do to build the foundation of your link strategy. Once you’ve implemented these concepts and you think you’ve gone as far as possible, then you should start considering some of the advanced strategies.

One word of caution: As the saying goes, the traditional route is simple, but it ain’t easy. There’s a lot of heavy lifting involved. Even if you have a dedicated marketing resource, you’ll find that keeping up can be overwhelming. Try to carve out a few minutes each day and chip away at it. Set a goal for you and your team to add at least one comment a day, one blog entry a week, one press release a month, and so on. Over time, you’ll be surprised how it all adds up.

Popularity: 100% [?]