Ever since Google Post-Panda / Post-Penguin updates have seen the light of the day, scores of articles have appeared on the web, advising businesses about how to build links anew. Most of these articles carry the right message that gives stress on referral value of links, as compared to, for argument’s sake, SEO value of links. The concept revolves round the fact that if one pursues links that are based on predictable referral value, the horror of spammy link profile seldom raises its ugly head. Nevertheless, all these balmy talks refer only to big businesses and may prove detrimental to the interests of smaller units who number most in the country.

Actual State Of Affairs

To be precise, these link building articles have mostly been created by SEOs that work with large companies or corporations that have to their credit well known brands, established websites, sound relationships, along with fabulous marketing resources to pursue links with high referral value (say the Washington Post). But small businesses or startups hardly have any of those advantages and so can never think of pursuing such sort of links.

As a matter of fact, this type of ‘big business’ SEO counseling will not only prove unreal but also alarming for small businesses. Take the case of Brian Bigshot, the Fortune 500 SEO and Gabriel Greenhorn, the small business owner. For Brian, a campaign to get links on a set of smaller websites may prove risky than it used to be and so he follows the advice and pursues links from high profile websites, which in turn sends substantial referral traffic for his client. Additionally, Brian leverages his contacts with major bloggers while collaborating with his client’s PR firm for obtaining press coverage for his client. Needless to say, this involves  lots of dollars but are well compensated as his client will reap double or triple the money in terms of revenue based on the relevant campaign.

But for Gabriel Greenhorn, who is his own SEO, the situation is quite crucial.”How am I going to get links from newspaper sites”, he wails. His company is a startup, his website is raw and his brand has just been christened. In his case, the advice to pursue links from high profile websites would be suicidal. Why; there are many legitimate small website out there  … sites that are no good for Brian’s client to be targeted in a link building campaign. But for Greenhorn, these sites are perfect for link building. Moreover, he is not involving himself in any blackhat SEO affair by way of pursuing links from small yet legitimate websites. What’s more, he is working with sites that are almost on the same level as his own and so there can be nothing wrong with it.

A Few Tried And True Link Building Techniques For Small Businesses

• For a startup, Guest Posting is still one of the best bets. You have got the knack while there are plenty of legitimate websites who are looking for amazing content from effective persons like you. All that you are supposed to do is to put a small ‘About the author’ section at the end of the guest article with a link to your site. However, check the quality of the content which must be of very high order to impress your readers about your bona fide.
• Pen down reviews of products or services that you use for solving problems is another big way to obtain links. Also, let the company whose product you are reviewing know beforehand about your intentions because there is every likelihood of its getting promoted via social media by them.
• Build up your credibility online as an expert.  This will help you and your business to become the leaders in the space.  Much like SEJ has become a leader in the search marketing space over time…you must do the same thing and establish your credibility online.

Conclusion

If you’re a small business owner, don’t ever forget that quality matters most.  If you’re putting up crap, you are going to get crap.  Put up amazing posts and build quality backlinks to your site and Google will reward you for your efforts. Remember, it’s all about user experience. If you’re putting up something great; it will create a great user experience.