The Google Penguin and Panda update to the the search engine algorithm introduced a number of changes and new rules on how small business owners can safely build links to their websites. If you do not follow these new guidelines you risk getting a Google penalty and your website banned from the search engine result pages. This is important stuff so read carefully. It used to be easy to send hundreds of e-mails to another website owners and say if you put a link to my website on your website I will do the same for you. Google saw this as cheating the system so made changes to its software. If it now discovers a two way reciprocal link it ignores them. One way links are good. Two way links are bad.

That means it is now a lot harder to convince other website owners to link to your website. What is in it for them? You are now no longer able to pay them because if you do and Google finds out that results in an immediate penalty and ban for breach of the webmaster guidelines. The answer is to get on the phone and talk to people. Yes you actually have to talk to real people and not just send them an e-mail. Website owners just delete e-mails that mention the word links. In the past they have been bombarded with link requests and it is an instant reaction to click the delete button. You need to carefully choose the websites you want to link to your website. They must be in the same line of business as you otherwise Google will not consider the link relevant. If they are an established company with a website on the first page of Google then they would be a good choice.

A good start would be to ask your suppliers for a one way link. It is in their interest for you to sell more products. The more you sell the more they benefit in sales to your company. That is the angle I have used on the phone and it has worked most of the time. Then think about other companies connected with your line of work but who are not competitors selling the same product or service. For example to get links to my fly fishing shop. I chat to fishing lodges and fisheries. I contact Hotels, holiday house or Bed and Breakfast owners that actively promote their property as being ideal for fishermen. I will also contact fishing clubs. Okay, but what do these non suppliers get in return? You are not going to put a link on your website to them as that would be a two way link which will be ignored by Google and defeat the object of the exercise. Offer to talk about the services they offer on Social Media to your followers.

Now the next safe link building idea will horrify some photographers who make a living out of charging for their photos. I give them away for free. I like photography and use photos on all my websites to make the pages visually more attractive. I also use them in every social media post I send out. I started to receive two or three request a week asking if they could copy and use my photographs. It was nice to be asked as these people could easily copy them without sending me an e-mail. I saw the opportunity to promote my websites. I replied to all these requests by saying yes you can copy any of my photographs on one condition that you acknowledge where you got them from by adding a link. People asking to use my Yellowstone National Park photographs from my www.MooreTravelTips.com website would insert them in a blog, social media post or website article on Yellowstone National Park so therefore the link would be relevant.