So you’ve just created your first website. You want to get eyes on it, but the site is brand new and Google, Bing, etc probably don’t know its there. How do you get backlinks to your website?
The very first thing I tell people to do is make sure your website is optimized for the kinds of searches you want to be found in. This is really important because your content needs to actually be related to these searches for engines to even put you in results. Once you have a handle on this, you will have better results down the line so this is really important.
The next step would be to get indexed. Let Google and Bing know that your site is up. This is really easy to do. Sign up for accounts with both Google Webmaster Tools and Bing Webmaster Tools. Follow the steps on these sites. It might seem like a bit of work, but you do it once and you’re ready. When you’re submitting a site, follow the directions for verification. I would also recommend that you submit “site maps” to these services. A site map is a file that contains code telling search engines about all of the pages, images, video and content on your website. This file needs to be stored on the server so when you update it will tell the search engines that there’s new stuff. If you’re using WordPress, I’d use the Yoast SEO plugin because it will automate this whole process for you. If you’re not using WordPress – check available plugins and see if something exists. If not you’ll need to use a site map creator and manually save the content when you post it.
Wait a few days and you can see if your site is indexed. In Google this is really easy, just type site:yoursite.com into the search field on Google – obviously replace yoursite with your actual URL. This will return all of the possible search results from your website. Wait times vary, but this usually happens within a day or two of submitting via the webmaster tools. If there’s a problem, log back into your webmaster tools and see if there are any errors.
The next thing I would do is sign up for social media accounts. Get a Twitter account just for your site – its a great way to promote your content as you put it out and you can back link from Twitter. Do the same by creating a Facebook page for your site. Do this with any other relevant social networks as well. This is great because you get a backlink to your website and an easy way to reach people interested in what you’re doing with your site. Remember to post all of your content when you create it. Yes this takes time, but its totally worth it. I launch new shows for my photography podcast every Sunday. I spend about 30 minutes making sure I’ve got it posted to social networks. That’s 30 minutes AFTER all of the hard work it took to make the episode but its worth the effort. People will share your posts as you become popular and this gets more traffic to your site. Remember to link everything to your site – you want the traffic there and not to YouTube or Soundcloud or whatever content you create. Embed it to a page and share it. You’ll get traffic and search engines will likely take this into consideration on search results.
Anther great way to get links is by making content for sites like YouTube, Soundcloud, Slide-share and other sites. Creating good content is important and Google will reward this. Plus you’re creating content that’s in a smaller pool than Google. Always put a link back to your site and people can find you. The search engines will reward this.
And finally I would start networking. You need to get online and participate with other people. Find forum websites in the same niche as your website. Make sure there is a link in your “signature” and participate in the discussions. This will get real people interested in your website and it will also get you backlinks for search engines. Leave comments on major blogs the same way.
One final word – particularly about the forums and blogs. You need to do your homework and choose these wisely. Its really easy to spam blogs and even forums. The search engines know this and are always catching up. Its safe to say that if you’re posting to something with low quality content or tons of spam comments – it won’t help your site and it will waste your time.
Pick good sites and participate in good discussions. Always be thinking, “If I were Google what would I see as good links”. This sounds so basic, but its the truth. Every year Google and Bing tweak their search algorythms to weed out poor quality. You see people who spam and get rewarded – they always fade off the next year.
Get out there, share your website and participate in good discussions. Make great content. You’ll get noticed. It just takes a little time.