Network Marketers already face an uphill battle online. A growing sense of skepticism toward the world’s most effect form of marketing and business finds itself regularly under attack for little or no reason. It’s true, some Multi Level Marketing manufacturers were later proven to be illegal scams. But 99% of MLMs remain honest businesses that bring wonderful products to customers and full-time jobs to those in need.
But for whatever dogmatic reasons, not everyone wants to be linked to a Network Marketer, which can make it very difficult for you to gather inbound links to your Network Marketing blog. After all, for someone to naturally link to your blog, they have to be interested in in your Network Marketing blog in some way.
Well, it’s time to squelch this struggle and get more inbound links to your Network Marketing blog.
What is an inbound link?
Simply put by Webopedia, “(an inbound link or) backlink is a hyperlink that links from a Web page, back to your own Web page or Web site … these links are important in determining the popularity or importance of your Web site. Some search engines, including Google will consider Web sites with more inbound links more relevant in search results pages.”
If you need any more definitions of SEO-related terms used throughout this article, turn to this article from Site Dart Hosting.
Why do I need inbound links to my Network Marketing blog?
One of the most successful SEO firms in the world, Hubspot, explained why inbound links are so important to your Network Marketing blog back in 2011.
“First, (inbound links) are an opportunity to receive referral traffic from another website. An inbound link from a blog is an avenue for that blog’s readers to visit you. But depending on the amount of traffic that blog or website receives, the link may send a low volume of traffic.”
Of course, sending readers to your Network Marketing blog can indeed be valuable, but it rarely actually does deter traffic as much as it does what Hubspot went on to describe …
“Inbound links are the currency of the internet, and a website rich with inbound links will naturally rank better in search engines. Great! So should you haphazardly link to yourself in random directories, plead to your grandma to link to you from her cat photo blog, and call it a day? No. All inbound links are not treated equally. Instead, you should focus on getting good, healthy inbound links from authoritative sources.”
You don’t necessarily need a tool to tell you if a link is good or bad. But you do certainly need links. Start Small Marketing added a good description to why your Network Marketing blog needs inbound links: “Websites with the most inbound links will show higher on search engines, thus improving the website’s SEO. Think of it as a popularity contest between websites: The site with the more inbound links wins and ranks higher on search engines. If another website or blog links to you, readers will be exposed to your website. Each link adds a bit more “link juice”, as the experts would say. The more credible you look to search engines, the better you’ll rank. The more credible the websites that link back to you are, the more power you’ll get from that link.”
When it comes to applying inbound links to your Network Marketing blog specifically, there are a few decent blogs and vlogs with good ideas, like this article from Beniah Marshall or this video from Marco Abanico. MLM digital expert Jake Oliver advises that your blog or Network Marketing web site will gain popularity among the Network Marketing industry if you first provide outbound links on your site or blog to other Network Marketers.
“There are many reasons why you should provide outbound links to other websites, including the fact that you’re able to establish relationships with fellow network marketers. It’s also an important internet marketing strategy because increasing traffic to other websites shows that you’re a true expert. Your readers will have the opportunity to get more information about your business industry, and they will see you as someone who knows what he or she is talking about. When it comes to MLM secrets, inbound links are another great strategy meant to increase traffic to your site. Inbound links, also known as back links, are vital for SEO. For effective internet marketing that will increase your rank, make sure you provide quality back links.”
So now that you know that you need to acquire inbound links from other web sites to your Network Marketing blog, how on earth do you accomplish it? It truly is a challenge that many large companies hire entire departments of employees to do full time.
Shout Out Studio listed 25 ways to acquire inbound links for your site. I would like to dive into 3 of those 25, the three that I am most familiar with and that I believe are the most successful and ethical for creating inbound links to your Network Marketing blog.
1. Trade links
A very common way to acquire an inbound link is to trade with another web site owner. You link a keyword on your site that points to theirs, and they do the same for you. I have personally done this many times and found great success with it. On your Network Marketing blog, one or two traded inbound links could boost your blog’s Google ranking to the top immediately.
So how do you go about trading links? Here is what Business Creator Pro instructs …
“The general process begins when the site owner identifies a site which he or she would like to trade links with. Generally, these sites should be relevant to the topic of your site, or at least have a section dedicated to the topic of your site. Trading links with huge numbers of unrelated sites will actually hurt your search engine rankings in most cases. Also, usually it is a good idea to look for well-ranked sites to trade links with. The importance of a well-ranked site’s link to your site in search engine algorithms will be greater than those of not so well ranked sites.
After the site to trade links with is located, a link to that site is posted on your site. Sometimes the link would be posted on a different site than the site wishing to get a link back. This produces non-reciprocal links, which weigh heavier in search engines.
After the link is posted, a request is sent that a link back be posted, explaining that if a link back is not created, the original link to the prospects site is likely to be removed. If a link is returned, then the trade is marked as successful and each of the link traders has one more site linking to it. Otherwise a follow up is sent. If the follow up still does not result in a link back, often the link would be removed.”
2. Creating Genuinely Interesting Content
Easily the most difficult thing to do when building a following in the blogosphere, especially as a Network Marketer. There are no how-to guides, no 25 tips, no easy solution for how to create a genuinely interesting blog. But in my experience, the best way to capture attention and gain inbound links is to sound like an expert and create controversy. For example, I wrote an article not too long ago on my patient communication blog about the end of Social Media. I did not exactly predict its end soon, but I did offer my thoughts as to why it might end soon and how it would die. The headline, of course, was “The End of Social Media is Near”. Not only did the headline capture nearly a thousand readers, but the content itself was original, engaging, and thought-provoking. Sure, most people disagreed, but they linked to it and commented on it. That is one great way to create genuinely interesting content that gets inbound links and comments.
3. Guest Post on Another Site
Before you can secure an opportunity to write an article for another site, you have to choose the perfect sites to guest post for. Moz.com writer MacKenzie Fogelson put in some great detailed instructions in this article about how to identify the perfect opportunities to guest blog …
“Success in anything, but especially in guest blogging, starts with identifying goals. What are you trying to accomplish? What are you expecting to gain from it? And, also very significant: How will you measure success? Let’s say I’m looking for blogging opportunities. There are three things that I would like to accomplish:
A) Become part of new communities and build relationships with people outside of Network Marketing.
B) Attract business that is a match for my culture and values.
C) Find new information sources (blogs) where I can learn, teach the team, and better serve our clients.
I would measure success in connections made, qualified leads generated, and new quality blogs to read.”
So now that you’ve identified the blog/site you want to be a guest blogger on, you have to reach out and make that contact. David Risley of the Blog Marketing Academy teaches us how to do that.
“Form a relationship with the blog owner. It is best when you have some common bond with the other blogger. I meet a lot of bloggers at conferences. Even if I don’t have the chance to have an in-depth conversation with them at a conference, the fact that we were both there is a common reality between you. I met Darren Rowse of ProBlogger and talked with him for quite awhile at BlogWorld Expo, and last week I did my first guest post on Problogger. Networking ALWAYS helps.
Just Write It. If you send the blogger an email asking them what they want you to write about, they’re probably going to ignore you. If you have an idea, just write it and send it to them.
Make the guest post some of your best stuff. Do not approach guest posting from the standpoint of saving your best stuff for your own site.
Send the post in an easily digestible format. You want the host blogger to be able to do something as simple as copy and paste and that’s it! Make it EASY to post your guest post.
Include your bio. Most guest posts include a small link and blurb about the blogger which links to his/her blog. Write this yourself and include it with your guest post. (Web Content Writer Pro posted a great article on how to write a killer bio.)
Interact with Commenters. If your guest post is published, you should monitor any comments which are posted in response and respond to questions.” Katie’s Blog Book explains how to interact with commenters tastefully and tactfully.
Gathering inbound links to your Network Marketing blog is crucial for success with your blog. Remember, though, that you don’t just want to find Network Marketing leads, you may also want to branch out and find folks completely new to Network Marketing. As Edison Victorino says, you want as many downlines as you can get.
A quick tip that every new blogger should hear: do not buy inbound links. You’ll only find yourself in trouble, as explained by LyntonWeb.com.
All in all, blogging not only produces a level of credibility Network Marketers need, but it can expose your MLM business to new downlines and endeavors that create connections to a bright future. But your blog will never get discovered or seen by anyone you haven’t met unless you get inbound links to build you Network Marketing blog’s Google search ranking. Rank high on Google, be seen around the world, become an internet sensation and reap the Network Marketing rewards: more downlines, more believers in your leadership, more disciples to your MLM business, and more cash in your wallet.
Best of luck as you follow these ideas and best practices, and of course, happy blogging!