Off page SEO (link building)

Why link building

Search engines also use inbound links to a website to gauge its popularity and importance. Moz.com, a renowned search engine optimisation community says that links indicate endorsement from other websites, thus giving the receiving website greater credibility.

Since links are an important factor to search engines, it comes as no surprise that growing the quality and number of links to your website will enhance your online popularity and thus improve your search engine rankings. This is also super helpful to improve your local search listings.

Links are the online version of word-of-mouth.

Link building is one of the most important elements of SEO, therefore, if you’re not planning on doing it yourself it is important you outsource it to a professional as part of your SEO strategy.

Penguin and Hummingbird

In the early days, search engine optimisation used to be all about link building. The more links you had to your website, the better it would rank.  Over the past few years, Google has conducted numerous updates to its ranking formula (algorithm).  In April 2012, Google released the Penguin update which “for the first time” aggressively penalised low quality link building tactics towards websites. Basically, it targets spam sites. If you were playing by the rules your rankings shouldn’t have been affected.

In September 2013 Google released a new algorithm (ranking formula) known as Hummingbird, which aimed to deliver better and more personalised search results to the searcher. Google mentioned then that Hummingbird was the biggest algorithm change in 12 years.

Strong backlinks are still very important but aren’t enough. The focus should be on content.

(Then in April 2015 Google announced a change to preference mobile friendly website in their search rankings, making it very important that you check and ensure your website is mobile friendly.)

How do I check who links to my site?

The very first thing to do when it comes to assessing your links is to check who is already linking to your website. A simple way to do this is to use Ubersuggest as well, and click on the backlinks menu. Make sure you also check who links to your competitors ;).

How to get people to link to your website

The first focus when building links should be on writing informative website content (and not building links!). Great content will attract great links. If the content is not worth linking to, you can try as hard as you want, but no one will link to you. Content is key.

Unfortunately, many amateur search engine optimisation companies will still focus all their efforts on acquiring links without first looking at the bulls-eye: the content. Since Google’s Penguin search algorithm update, non-quality links can actually demote your website on search engines so it is important that if you’re working with a search engine optimisation (SEO) company, you select a reputable one.

What content will attract links

To get quality links you need to create quality content. But what does quality content mean in this day and age, and where should that content reside?

When talking SEO, it is important to understand that by content doesn’t refer to the standard pages of your website but the articles that get published regularly on your blog and other online mediums.

Imagine you were a restaurant, content strategies that would work to attract quality links would be:

• How to articles: blog fortnightly about how to cook a healthy meal in less than 30 min.
• YouTube videos: short videos on the ‘behind the scenes’ of your restaurant
• Interviewing experts and influencers: interviewing local chefs, local suppliers, patrons and transcribing it on a blog and/or videos and/or podcasts
• Guest bloggers: ask for other bloggers to write content on your behalf (e.g. review your restaurant).

Stay away from malicious online directories

There is a number of powerful directories which can positively influence your search engine positions.  However, there are also many dubious online directories.

The purpose of directories is to group information in categories that a user can browse when searching for something specific. People have soon realised that having their website listed in a directory creates an inbound link to their site, thus possibly providing a positive “vote” for their website and improving their search engine rankings. This has given ideas to many web-savvy entrepreneurs and directories started to flourish. There are now millions of directories on the web and it is difficult to sort the good directories from the ones whose priority is not to help humans find relevant websites but to make money by selling links that may improve search engine rankings.

Google, Bing and Yahoo! and other search engines are well aware of these practices and have recently started removing malicious directories from their search engine rankings.

Stay away from directories that:

• Offer to increase your site’s rankings
• Offer you a premium membership with even more links
• Offer you the possibility to put hyperlinks in your keywords
• Talk to you using web jargon, which confirms their intention of helping search engines and not the end user

Getting the links you are owed

Business name links

OpenSiteExplorer.org will show you which sites link to you. However, there are many other people or businesses that might have mentioned your business name online but who haven’t linked to you using a hyperlink. Google your business name to find these webpages. Pick this low hanging fruit first. Contact them and ask if they could kindly put a hyperlink on the article in order to allow the reader to access your site for further reference.

In the tourism industry especially there is a large chance that your business has been reviewed in a media release (travel magazine, local or national newspaper, other). Dig for your name and business name on search engines and contact the editors!

Customers, suppliers, industry contacts

Now think about:

• Your past clients
• People who you know
• Existing or past connections through a client, through a friend
• Suppliers
• Associations you are a member of
• Charities you regularly donate to
• Universities you collaborate(d) with
• Regional councils you are part of

Go through your entire existing supplier list and do the same for your customers. There is a significant chance that your past customers own a business that is related to your main offer or to another service you provide to your clients. As mentioned above, they could already have written about you but they might not have created a hyperlink.

Are you part of an association, chamber of commerce, tourism association? Establish contact and ensure you are being linked to from their site. Often all you might need to do is upgrade to the next membership level and you will be provided with a link. Because these organisations are generally themselves a member of more relevant, popular, and larger organisations, the value of their link will be maximised.

Regional partners or cluster

Identify regional partners who could link to you providing they complement your offer.

Do you offer massage therapy services to complement your bed and breakfast accommodation offer? Ask your therapist to link to you. Work out an arrangement if you cannot link to them directly from your website (you wouldn’t want your clients to calculate the mark-up you make from their site!). Think about including the link as part of your contract even.

Think about setting up a meeting with your regional tourism partners to discuss how you could work together to improve both your own and your region’s visibility. Setting up a joint blog for instance is a very simple way to add fresh content that shows clients how they can maximise their experience in your tourism region. Brainstorm ideas offline and find a way to market them in a web environment.

Tourism operators can have very different levels of Internet-readiness but working in clusters is a sustainable way of making positive changes to the online visibility of your region.

Safe, relevant directories

Consider submitting your site to safe, genuine directories. Be prepared to write a compelling description of your business and to wait for up to 6-12 months sometimes for your listing to be reviewed and accepted by the search engines. Your application can, however, be fast-tracked if you pay a certain sum of money.

Try to also identify some niche directories. To find directories, go to Google and search for: allintitle: “the name of your sector” directory.

Avoid dubious travel directories, as the majority are only there to make money by selling links. Their purpose is not to genuinely help the traveller. Think outside the square, what other activities apart from tourism does your business offer? What other sectors do you tap into?

• Arts? Look for specific arts
  niche directories in google: allintitle: arts directory
• Music? google: allintitle: music directory
• Bushwalking? google: allintitle: bushwalking directory
• Adventure? google: allintitle: adventure directory

Local directories

• Google My Business, Bing Local, TrueLocal etc are also directories you should list with.

Blogs and forums

Using other people’s blogs

Identify blogs and forums about your main and secondary industry sectors. Leaving comments on other people’s blogs and participating in forums will not provide link value as such. However, you are going to soon start developing an online profile. Participating in discussions about the development of your industry will also develop your brand and you will soon see new opportunities and contacts develop.

• Start with a search engine and search for blogs relevant to you.

Search for a blog about luxury travel, a blog about bed and breakfasts in Australia, a blog about small tourism businesses, a blog about deep sea fishing, a blog about white water rafting etc.

• When appropriate, leave comments on blog articles. Also make a note of the name and website of other people who left comments. Run their website through the Yahoo! links analyser tool and see if there is a link you haven’t thought about.
• Forums are another way to interact with your industry. Think of them as a lively online discussion group where people ask questions and others help by providing answers. TripAdvisor.com hosts a highly regarded travel forum where you can advise visitors on things to do in your region

The screen capture from TripAdvisor shows a forum page asking if Australia Zoo is worth a detour. A user replied and also mentioned Underwater World at Mooloolaba in their response.

Press releases

Press releases are also a great way of generating interest in your business, especially since they can now be distributed for free online. The link value of the online press release itself can be trivial. However, the press release will be indexed by search engines and increase awareness of your business in the long run.

5. Useful tourism links

1. List of travel related sites or directories

These directories and travel related sites rank well on search engines and you could consider registering with them. They are listed in no specific order. Not all these pass link value to your website and not all of them are free. However, they could provide more exposure to your business online.

• WikiTravel.org
• TripAdvisor.com
• About-Australia.com
• Stayz.com
• Wotif.com
• AdventureTravelTips.com
• Booking.com

Where to find more travel links?

• If you Google or search “travel directory” on Bing you will find many potential websites to link to your site. However, remember to assess each and every one of these website. How many links do they themselves have, are they popular and relevant?
• Local travel directories are also very important. Look for sites within your region that allow you to list your business for example your regional or local destination marketing organisation, local councils and business associations
• In Australia the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) enables tourism operators to have a listing and links from many credible tourism websites
• Also review and assess the inbound links to your competitors’ websites. Are there some relevant links you could get to your own website? To view your own and your competitors’ inbound links visit https://moz.com/link-explorer.

The growing importance of travel blogs and social media platforms

• Travel blogs are hugely popular. Inviting a travel blogger to visit and review your property or restaurant could provide you with a new editorial piece about your business including a link. A popular travel blog is  Y Travel Blog.
• Instagram has also taken off and instagram-enthusiasts organise “instameets” to meet and photograph beautiful things. Follow instagram-enthusiasts on Instagram and consider hosting an instameet with other operators in your region.