What Everybody Ought to Know About Link Building

Links are crucial to online business. If you have links, you’ll get traffic – from the link and from search engines. If you don’t have links, well, you won’t get traffic. But there’s one thing many people seem to forget about link building.

It takes time.

In link building, the rich get richer. Sites with many links get links more easily than sites with a low number of links. (I’m talking about quality links, because those are what really count in Google.)

If you have many links, you’ll rank well on Google. The Linkerati, or the people that give out links, use Google often. Guess who they will be linking to. The sites with a lot of links, because they’ll be on page one. If you’re on page 20 on Google, it will be hard to get links. The Linkerati can’t find you.

So, a new site faces a catch-22. It needs links to get on the front page of Google, but the sites on the front page are getting most of the links.

You can get on the front page. But you have to be patient. Depending on the competitiveness of your niche, it could take months or even years to rank for good keywords.

It takes time.

The sites with a lot of links are usually older sites. Many of the webmasters of these sites have been in game for a while. Because of their long term approach, they have had a chance to build many connections with other webmasters. Many of these other webmasters have sites with a lot of links, too. Not only that, but they are friends with other webmasters who also have well-linked sites. Do see where I’m going?

There’s a ripple effect. Stay in the game long enough and you’ll get to know the big players. And these big players know other big players who know other big players. And so on. Pretty soon, you’re part of a network of webmasters where links flow freely and traffic gets shared.

But how do you build a webmaster network like this?

It takes time.

Some of you are probably saying, what about social media sites? Isn’t that the shortcut to traffic and links? Yes, it is the best way to build links in my opinion. By marketing in high traffic social media sites, you can get a lot of exposure which will lead to links.

But even in social media marketing, the rich get richer. Let me explain. To use social media effectively, you need friends. Guess which webmasters get a lot of traffic from social media. Those with a lot of friends. Friends give the votes, stumbles, and diggs you need to get noticed.

That begs the question. How do you build online friendships?

It takes time.

Branding will get you links just because people become familiar with your site, logo, design, content, and even marketing activities. But you can’t rush branding your site.

It takes time.

I don’t have a lot of practical tips in this post. But please don’t miss the point.

It takes time.

When you have this mindset, you’ll be able to outlast the many distracted webmasters who are always looking for a quick fix. These webmasters work on a different site every three months instead of sticking to one site for the long term. They change their link building strategy every three weeks instead of sticking to a proven strategy for the long term. They’re always looking for a shortcut. And they are so distracted with finding a shortcut that they waste valuable time that could’ve been spent adding value to their site. Every month, they buy the newest ebook with the “new secret method” of building links. The problem is they need to learn this secret to have a more realistic view of online business:

It takes time.

Be patient. Pick a niche you’re passionate about so you’ll have something to write about for a long time. Also, by being passionate about your niche, you’ll enjoy your work even in the low traffic days. I like what a famous blogger once said, “I would blog even if no one read my blog.” I think Scoble said that. You don’t have to go that far, but the point is clear. If no one is reading your blog, you need motivation to continue. And what’s better motivation than the enjoyment of writing about something you’re interested in. Also, you’ll be more motivated to promote your site. In the long term, people will consistently follow and link to someone who’s passionate.

So, ask yourself these two questions:

• Do I like to write?
• Do I like to write about my niche?

Think of online business like offline business. Invest a lot up front while being patient. The big monetary rewards are definitely long term. I remember over two years ago when Yaro didn’t make much money from his blog. When he first started, he didn’t focus too much on monetization. He spend much of his time producing quality regular content and promoting his site. He commented on other blogs and even used pay per click to drive traffic to his site. He networked with people like Darren Rowse and Brian Clark when they weren’t as big as they are now. (Hmmm. There’s a tip there. Find someone who’s getting big and build a relationship with them before they get famous and become hard to befriend.)

Now, over two years later, he makes $4000 a month while blogging less than 10 hours a week.

Too many people want to make a lot of money without doing much work. They don’t realize that

it takes a lot of focused hard work
for an extended period of time
to get to the point
where you make a lot of money without doing much work.