For this tutorial we visit one of the main ways of driving traffic on a long term basis, linking. Google was started in the first place as a research project to analyse links and their value between sites. That remains a fundamental core of how Google works. Links to your site can be obtained in a number of ways. They can be mutual, where you agree to swap links, you can buy them, making banner adverts and Google Adwords a part of this structure, or you can earn them by offering content to other sites in exchange for links back to yours.

Buying links back is covered or will be covered elsewhere in this series. So first a word on exchanging links before we go on to the methods of getting multiple links back in a single exercise, then singly.

Mutual Links

Exchanging links is exactly what the term describes. You put a link on your site to another, then ask the site owner or webmaster of that site to reciprocate. Or, you arrange them in a circular fashion, so A links to B but not to C, B links to C but not to A, and C links to A but not to B. In any event, it is a slow process and relies upon cooperation, trust and a certain amount of checking every so often. You will see on the sample site there is a new section on the navigation called "Other Resources" within which is a recommendation for a specific wedding service, to start the process off. The number of links in there will grow slowly as new approaches are made.

Avoid link exchanges and banner exchanges. The search engines have long been wise to them and many of the less than wholesome practices undertaken by far too many foolish participants. You run a strong risk that, instead of gaining, you get penalised severely, just for joining in.

Multiple One Way (Inward) Links

Far quicker and more effective in the short term is to offer site content to other webmasters. There are literally millions of sites containing news, blogs, articles and information and of these many will offer a link back too your site in return for something worth publishing on theirs. There are several ways to offer content to other people, the most common of which are press releases, articles, and adding comments to blogs and forums. We take a look at press releases first.

Press Releases

You will probably be amazed to learn that just about any business in any industry can dream up a good press release right now. They are issued to the online equivalent of PR (Public Relations) companies, who distribute them onwards to all sorts of web sites looking for content to enhance their own sites, and to the more traditional media including the printed press, technical, special interest and trade magazines and many others, as well as the broadcast media.

This is a good, cheap or free way of getting publicity for your site. It takes time to filter through to end users using the free outlets, so for something genuinely urgent it is worth paying for the PR company to make the extra effort. If it is genuine, earth-shattering news rather than a space filler, it will get through using the free methods.

The structure of a press release is very simple, although it is essential to get the content right.

There is the headline, usually 60 to 80 characters long and which should make it clear what the release is about. Unless your brand is known, do not use it here. The wording should tell the reader whether it would be worth their while at least reading the introductory text, so it should hold clues as to the subject matter covered and which industries or areas of life it is likely to be of interest to.

Next is the introductory text, which must have at least the knub of what it is about and give the reader an incentive to read the rest of the content. Depending upon the agency, you will be restricted to 250 or (more often) 500 characters for this section.

Then there is the content, which allows you to break the story down to its constituent parts and tell it piece by piece.

At the end, you have spaces to enter your contact details for more information and several other mechanical matters, which vary from agency to agency.

Why, then, are press releases attractive as a medium for small businesses to use?

    They are easy and quick for you or a copywriter to compile, hence cheap or free to produce.

    They stay on the PR company's site for several months at least, sometimes for ever.

    They are free or low cost to distribute.

    The PR agencies always link back to your site from the press releases.

    They can get reprinted or quoted on other web sites and you get a link back to your site each time.

    Links back can be very long term or permanent as well as short term.

    All links generated are one way, so are better for you in terms of search engine weighting than mutual links.

    They are capable of generating immediate traffic.

    There is a possibility of free PR in the printed and broadcast media.

    Traffic visiting your site from this source is genuinely interested and may well bookmark you site.

    Traffic visiting your site from this source is genuinely interested and may well buy from you.

Once you find out for yourself how easy and effective it can be, you are free to send releases on new topics as often as you like. You can build up a mailing list of interested recipients from your own industry or trade press and webmasters, prospective customers and anyone else you come across who would be interested in receiving news of what is happening in your business.

Finally on press releases, and this relates to the next topic, articles, too: whilst many of these one way links will be permanent, a large proportion will get buried in other content and so rarely seen once they have been there for a while. There is a constant need to keep pushing content out to compensate for this, even into the longer term.

To help you get started, there are links to several free online press release publishers in the newsletter which accompanies this article. Have you subscribed?

Articles

There are many sites on the web which publish articles. These can be industry or topic specific or general interest. If you are knowledgeable about your subject, and the chances are you would not be in your business if you were not, you can make both yourself and your site a valued resource and reference point for knowledge and information.

This series of tutorials is a possible case in point. Stop watch Web could distribute them as separate articles under different topic headings, to sites which specialise in web site marketing, web design, general internet matters or general interest sites. In fact, we may well do that as a means of publicising our next series of tutorials.

This is a series of articles of a "how to" nature. You could use the history of your industry, how the big players came to be, how you view the future of your industry and what you are doing in preparation. Use your imagination to think up interesting topics and try to write articles on a reasonably regular basis, say one a week or one a month. The idea is to show readers that you know your business, thereby tempting them to visit your site. The publishers are looking for content and you can have a copy on your site, so visitors can bookmark it and refer other readers.

Blogs and Forums

Many of us, as internet users, read blogs, indeed we may write them, and we visit forums on topics of interest to us, or general business forums. These are a valuable source of inwards links and web traffic when people click on those links. When we make a contribution, we ensure our web address is linked from our signature block. It really is that simple. Most forums have a "Profile" section where you can say a little bit about yourself or your business and there is often a specific space in there for editing your forum or blog signature. I am a member of one small business forum which even allows me space to write my own blog. If only I could find the time.

How often have you read the start of a new thread on a forum and thought "That's wrong, I know the answer" or "I could help there" and not bothered? Well that opportunity to display your signature is a very good reason not to ignore your instincts.

Other Sources of Links Inwards

Do you have any other web sites? Are you a member of your trade, industry or professional body? Does your local authority or tourist board have any space on its site for local businesses to advertise their services with a link back? Many do, so please check. Each region and area varies, so you have to do your homework. But these bodies do generate lots of traffic, so they have some to pass on to you and the higher their page rank, the more that rubs off on yours for search engine optimisation pruposes. It is worth the effort.