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If you have a web site that no one can find via Google, does it even exist?

Internet Marketing

Get more search power through links

Earning links can boost your online presence

By Dino Cattaneo

By now most of you know that more and more consumers research online before they buy, and search engines are their tools of choice. This trend is too huge for any agency to ignore. We have to accept that sites like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing are part of our culture and they're part of how people shop for insurance.

So let me pose this question: If you have a Web site that no one can find via Google, does it even exist? The answer is yes, but maybe not for long. Your agency needs to be online, and it needs to be found online. A site at the top of the first page of the search results has a higher chance of winning new business than a site at the bottom.

You've probably heard of search engine optimization (SEO) and that it's supposed to help your site get more traffic. What you might not know is that out of the more than one trillion searches in Google every year, phrases like "life insurance" and "car insurance" are among the most competitive. On a national level, it can be hard to rank well for these terms. On a local level, it's easier. But it's never a walk in the park when you're on your own.

To get a boost in your online presence, you should hire an expert who can help. Does that mean you should ignore search engines and do nothing on your own? Absolutely not! There is plenty you can do, as long as you don't get bogged down with details.

Links drive your online presence

When we talk about search engines in the United States, we're mostly talking about Google—it has more than 65% of the market. Vast resources are invested to make sure Google delivers the best search results. It uses a huge number of criteria to rank Web sites,  and those criteria change constantly.  They change so often and so quickly that trying to keep up can feel like running on a treadmill that only goes faster. Only a full-time specialist can keep pace. However, there are several factors that have been vital to search rankings since the beginning. Knowing them will help you focus on the most important parts of SEO without getting buried by the details. Links are one of the best factors you can concentrate on.

In their most basic form, links are the blue, underlined text you see all over the Web. When you click a link, it takes you from one page to another. The new page can either be on the same Web site or a different one. The best links are the ones that point to your Web site from other Web sites. They are called "backlinks."

Google's founders started using "link popularity" to rank Web sites back in 1996 when they were students at Stanford. Early on, a page simply ranked higher when it had more links pointing to it from other sites. Over time, this grew more complicated. But links have remained one of the most important factors in boosting a site's online presence.

How to get links

You shouldn't go wild trying to get more backlinks. Google is smart and has invested manpower and technology to sniff out Web sites that try to manipulate its results. It gets better at finding these sites every year. You can pay a heavy price if you're caught "cheating." Cheating can be anything from buying links to setting up a phony Web site to link back to you. Any underhanded way you can think of to get more links, Google already knows about it, so don't bother.

Instead, here are a few legitimate ways to get more links to your Web site:

Ask your network. Your business contacts are good sources for links. You can ask the chamber of commerce and any professional organizations you belong to if they will link to your site. Local charities, business partners, and anyone in your network who has a Web site related to insurance is also a great source.

Guest writing. Local Web sites and blogs always need more content. Reach out and ask if you can contribute an article. Pitch a few ideas, send a post, and ask them to link back to your site in return.

For example, you could write a guest blog about proper home maintenance that could also lower homeowners insurance claims for your local Patch.com site. Or you could reach out to an industry publication such as Transport Topics with a post about risk management or trucking insurance.

PR. Local news organizations don't accept contributed material often, but they're usually open to pitches or ideas for articles. Check if the news Web sites in your area link to the people they interview. If they do, cook up a few great ideas and pitch them to the editor. One good way to get on their radar is to follow the news for a month or so and offer new information on a hot topic.

You can also write and distribute press releases that could get picked up by news organizations all over the country. By posting your PR on their site, that's a backlink. Just make sure you include links to your site in the press release. And make sure you work with a credible PR distribution partner. Yes, this usually means paying for them to distribute your PR, but it's worth it.

Great content. The best way to get links to your Web site on a regular basis is to consistently publish helpful or interesting material. Whether you publish blog posts, videos, podcasts, or something else, great content is the safest way to earn a steady stream of backlinks.

Social networks. If you have an audience on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, these networks are like megaphones for your content. They attract more attention and spread your message to more people who can link to you.

Keep it simple

You can earn some really awesome links by dedicating a little time to these strategies. Remember … don't get bogged down by all the info out there about link building. Not all of it is legitimate or effective. Some of it may earn links from bad sources, which might improve your online presence, but for how long? Google constantly updates its algorithm. The wrong tactics could earn a "penalty" from Google, which could lower your presence from page-1 to page-50. It happens!

Instead, focus on the fundamentals of SEO. Publish great content and encourage partners to link to your site. If you stay honest and think long term, you will be more successful at boosting your online presence, for sure.

The author

Dino Cattaneo is the digital marketing officer at Astonish, which was recently ranked 267th on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the United States.

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