What Links Can You Point at Your Web Site?

I mentioned this before, but I’ll remind you of it again. I don’t link trade to get backlinks. Yes, every so often, someone asks to link trade with me, and I put them in my blogroll. But as a matter of course, I don’t actively pursue it. It’s too much work for a type of link search engines don’t respect all that much anymore.

However, I still have to have a linking theory, and it’s not magic or wishful thinking. It’s just that I trade something besides a reciprocal link to get a link pointed at my site. This sort of arrangement holds the potential of giving me more high-quality or targeted backlinks with less work.

So then, what links can you point at your web site that doesn’t require a link trade to get? Here’s a list of the common, and not quite so obvious, things you could do.

• Articles: Put a resource box at the bottom of a good article, then let anyone use it. This is a long-standing ‘trade content for backlinks’ tactic.
• Viral Reports: I’ve written, and put up for distribution, three viral reports as of this posting with links pointing at all sorts of things that are useful to me. Others can take those reports, rebrand them with their affiliate links, then use them as bonuses for their own purposes. In the process, they use their distribution power to put my links in front of people I might not otherwise reach. This is the larger-scale version of the article marketing theory, and another thing that’s been in use for some time.
• Videos: Ever heard of YouTube? Know what happens if you produce a video and it goes viral? Any link you happen to display in that video could be seen by millions. Video marketing is becoming a trend in Internet marketing lately, and if you know how to make videos, it’s time to looked into making one that can work for you.
• WordPress Templates: Ever programmed one of these from scratch? You could make one for anyone’s use, and include your link in the footer.
• Put them in your products: If you sell something to someone, why stop there? If that product is related to some other site you have, why not mention it? Information products are especially useful in this regard, and can include links pointed at affiliate programs or your other sites.
• Offline methods: Put your site names on business cards, letterhead, and other offline products if you have offline businesses. If you’re printing them anyway, put that expense to more use by promoting your sites too.

Do you have your own favorite backlinking method? Feel free to comment.