Tag Archives: hostgator

The Basics Of Domain Redirects

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Hosting

The post The Basics Of Domain Redirects appeared first on HostGator Blog . The Basics Of Domain Redirects Domain redirects have a variety of purposes. If you’ve moved your website to a new domain, or have changed the URL structure of some of your pages, then it’s time to utilize a domain redirect. Knowing how to redirect a domain to another can be a very valuable skill in your webmaster toolbox. Below you’ll learn what a domain redirect actually is, the types of redirects you have available, why you’d want to use one, and finally how to implement a domain redirect. What Is a Domain Redirect? When a domain redirect is in place the web browser will direct one domain name to another. For example, if you type in the domain name relentless.com in your browser you’ll be redirected to Amazon.com . Domain redirects can be implemented for a wide variety of reasons. Perhaps you changed your brand name and you’re redirecting an entire domain name to a new site, or, you’ve updated your link structure and want to redirect any existing traffic to the updated URL. Let’s look at the example of HostGator.com. We have the main domain name, but you could also pick up domains that are common misspellings or variations, like HstGator.com, or Hostgator.net (Try typing either of these in. You’ll note they both redirect to HostGator). Then, your new domains to the main domain name. Or, you could even purchase an domain name that’s related to your niche to be redirected to your site, like what Neil Patel has recently done with Kissmetrics . Redirects are used to inform the servers that the content has moved from one URL to another one. If you want to send traffic from an existing domain name, or pass on the existing domain authority, then you’re going to need to setup a domain redirect. Redirects can also be put into place if you have any existing 404 pages, or older pieces of content that are no longer relevant. Instead of visitors landing on a non-existent page you can redirect that traffic to a related page on your site. For example, eCommerce stores can use redirects to direct users to similar products, once they no longer carry a certain product. Instead of the user landing on a 404 page , they’ll be sent to a page that has products similar to the one they were looking for.   Types of Domain Redirects There are a few different types of domain redirections you’ll want to be aware of. The 301 redirect is the kind you’ll probably be using most often, but there are a few others you might use sparingly.   1. 301 Redirect A 301 redirect is the most common type of redirect. This type of redirect will pass almost all of the existing link equity of the domain, so it’s commonly used for SEO purposes. This is the type of redirect you should be using, both on a page, and domain basis. In most cases it’s the best redirect fit for the job.   2. 302 Redirect Why use a 302 redirect when a 301 will do? 302 redirects are very rarely used and don’t serve much of a purpose. There are instances where a 302 redirect will be treated in the same light as a 301 redirect, but it’s almost always recommended to use a 301 redirect. A 302 redirect will let the search engines and browsers know that the page has moved temporarily . This could have use if you’re planning on changing the page back to the original URL, but most often, this style of redirect is rare.   3. Meta Refresh A meta refresh is a redirect that’s executed on a page level, instead of the traditional server level. These redirects are slower and not used very often, as they won’t pass on any existing page authority. You’ve probably seen these used before when you land on a page and you see a message that says, “This page has moved, if you’re not redirected in 5 seconds, please click here.” This type of redirect isn’t used very often as it doesn’t pass much link equity, and it creates a poor user experience. Chances are your visitors don’t want to wait five seconds for you to redirect them to the proper page.   What Kind of Domain Redirect Should I Use? The most common reason domain redirects are used is to preserve the SEO value of an existing site and pass it onto a new site or domain. Let’s look at the following scenario: You need to redirect a URL to a new domain permanently. That way whenever a user types in ilovedogs.com they’ll be taken to ilovecats.com . You’ll have a few different types of redirects you can use, but the type of redirect you’ll be using most often is the 301 redirect. This type of redirect will let both the web browser and the servers know that the site has been permanently moved. This lets the search engines know that the pages on that domain have not only changed location, but the original content (that picked up the rankings and links) is now over at the new URL. That way any link juice and authority that domain had previously picked up will be passed onto the new site. If you’re doing this for purely SEO purposes, keep in mind that this process can take some time. The indexing and replacement of the new page will depend on how often the search engine bots visit the page. Overall, using a url redirection on a page basis will take less time than redirecting an entire domain. Spammers have abused the process of 301 redirects in the past, so the search engine bots will take longer to verify that an entire domain has indeed moved. You do have other options of redirecting a domain, including 302 redirects and meta refreshes, however, these aren’t recommended. Especially, if your goal is to pass on the existing value of the site on to a new domain.   How to Implement a Domain Redirect Setting up a redirect is probably something you’ll have to do as your site grows. Luckily, with the help of the bundled tools within cPanel setting up a redirect isn’t too technical of a process. Below you’ll learn how to setup a 301 redirect from within the HostGator cPanel: First you’ll need to login to your cPanel. Once inside, find the link called Redirects . On the next screen you’ll choose the type of redirect and what link or domain you want to redirect. Once you’re done click ‘ Add ’ and your new redirect is now in place. Hopefully, you have a better understanding of what a domain redirect is, when you’ll want to use one, and how to setup your first redirect. If you’re interested in purchasing a domain name you can do that right within HostGator. Or, if you want to transfer over an older domain name you can do that too! Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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Your 7 Step Guide To Website Maintenance

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Hosting

The post Your 7 Step Guide To Website Maintenance appeared first on HostGator Blog . Your 7 Step Guide To Website Maintenance Websites aren’t something you create once and then you’re done. You need to continue caring for them and do ongoing website maintenance to ensure they continue to do the job you need them to do. Once you’ve built your website and it’s up and running, make note of a few main web maintenance tasks that you need to remember to do moving forward. To help you out, we’ve organized these tasks by how often you should perform them: yearly, quarterly, monthly, or weekly. Annual Website Maintenance Tasks 1. Perform User Testing. You worked hard to build a website that’s intuitive to users and drives the kind of actions you want them to take. Frustratingly, the way people use the web frequently changes. A website design that felt natural and intuitive in 1998 wouldn’t work for users today. To make sure that your website continues to make intuitive sense for users and work well on all devices people view it on (including those you can’t anticipate now – who knows what people will be using in 2-3 years), mark a time on the calendar to set usability testing once a year. Bring in people that aren’t associated with your business or brand who can give fresh eyes to browsing your website. Make sure your testing includes all browsers and device types visitors may use so you get the full picture. And create a maintenance schedule for making any updates your testing determines are necessary – it’s not worth much if you don’t turn the insights you learn into action.   Quarterly Website Maintenance Tasks 2. Make Test Purchases. As far as eCommerce website features go, the most important type of functionality on your website is the purchasing function. If it stops working, or even if it’s glitchy for any reason, you could lose out big on profits until you catch the problem and fix it. So at least once every couple of months, have someone in the company make a few test purchases to see how the process works. Have them do this on different devices and in different browsers so you can figure out if there are any snags in the process that only happen in some cases and not others. If there’s anything about the process that isn’t seamless, you’ll want to find out and update it ASAP.   3. Test Out All the Forms on Your Website. If your website includes any contact form plugins you want visitors to fill out, you want to be confident these all work properly as well. At the same time that you make your test purchases, go through the process of filling out all the forms on the website. In this case too, make sure you try them on all the devices and browsers your visitors might use. If any of your forms aren’t working right, you could be missing out on valuable leads, so make sure you catch the problem sooner rather than later.   4. Fix Any Broken Links. Every time someone clicks on a link that leads to a 404 page , it’s disappointing. When that dead link is on your website, it makes your business look bad and leads people away from the page you want them to be on, which is why you need to perform preventative maintenance.  No matter what you do, you’ll end up with broken links on your website from time to time as other websites you link to move or die or change domains. You may not be able to avoid them completely, but you can make sure they don’t stay on your website long by making it part of your regular website maintenance. Every few months, check for broken links and either remove them or replace them with updated links. Finding broken links is actually easier than you might think. There are a lot of free tools available that automatically check websites for broken links, such as Google Search Console (which offers plenty of other useful features to boot). Because these tools make the process so simple, you should easily be able to fix any broken links you find quickly. Monthly Website Maintenance Tasks 5. Check for Security Updates. You hear about high-profile security breaches all the time and you can only assume that there are even more low-profile ones you never hear about. Securing your website from hackers   has to be a major priority for anyone that runs a website – and it’s even more important for eCommerce businesses who deal with customer’s private data.  One of the most important website maintenance practices you should plan on for security is checking that all your platforms, plug-ins, and scripts are up to date . Usually when developers release updates for these, it’s to improve the security or patch up a vulnerability they’ve found. Don’t procrastinate making those updates, or you could be putting your website and visitors needlessly at risk.   6. Regularly Back Up Your Site. It’s happened to all of us: you work on a project all day long, and then something goes wrong with your computer and you lose your entire project. If this has happened to you, you probably got really good at staying on top of your computer backups to save you from future trouble. If you’re not careful though, the same thing could happen to your website. If a hacker does somehow get through, they could wipe you out in one fell swoop. But if you have a current backup solution, fixing the problem will be much easier. You can invest in a backup system like Codeguard ,  to save you the work of treating this as a separate website maintenance step. If you don’t though, make sure you put it on the calendar to create an updated backup of your website at least once a month.   Weekly Website Maintenance Tasks 7. Review Your Key Metrics. Google Analytics provides a ton of useful information about how people are finding and using your website. Make sure your website is accomplishing what you want it to and figure out what about it’s working well and what still needs improvements by logging in to check your analytics at least once a week. Some businesses will benefit from checking it more often than that, and brand new businesses can expect traffic to be slow to start, but it’s important to keep an eye on your website’s growth and success as you go. Google Analytics is the best place to do that and a crucial resource for finding ways to improve.   Don’t Skimp on Website Maintenance Just like car or home maintenance, website maintenance is crucial. But it’s important and can save you time, money, and unnecessary trouble in the long run. Get these website maintenance steps on your calendar and stick with them. Your website will thank you! Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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How To Backup A WordPress Site Without A Plugin

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Hosting

The post How To Backup A WordPress Site Without A Plugin appeared first on HostGator Blog . How To Backup A WordPress Site Without A Plugin You know that backing up your website is incredibly important. By regularly backing up your site you have a fail-safe in place in case your site is hacked, or you need to restore your site to a previous version. Without a backup system in place, you run the risk of losing all of your hard work. Still, you might not want to use a plugin to backup your WordPress site . If you prefer to create manual backups, you can be sure it’s backing up the right way. Below you’ll learn the pros and cons of using a WordPress backup plugin. Then we’ll show you how to backup your WordPress site without a plugin. The Disadvantages of Using a WordPress Backup Plugin There are tons of WordPress backup plugins out there. These plugins are generally pretty simple to use and can be quickly configured to run automated website backups. For most WordPress site owners using one of these backup plugins will be more than enough. Still, there are some reasons you might want to stay away from a WordPress backup plugin and instead pursue an alternative approach.   1. You Want to Minimize Plugin Use With multiple thousands of plugins available, it can be tempting to install as many plugins as possible. Even though some are incredibly useful, it’s important to take a minimalist approach to utilize WordPress plugins. The more plugins you have on your site the slower your site will perform , and you have an increased chance of a plugin conflict taking down your site, or a compromised plugin creating a security hole in your site.   2. You Want a Customized Backup Approach Although WordPress backup plugins can be useful they tend to have a basic backup approach. This is especially true for free backup plugins. This isn’t always a bad thing if you have a very simple website, but as your site grows more complex you might want more control over what aspects of your site you’ll back up.   3. You Want to Enhance Site Security A lot of WordPress users are rightly concerned with the  security of their WordPress site . In an effort to minimize the number of third-party plugins and programs that have access to your data, you might choose to conduct backups yourself. That way you’re solely responsible for your website’s data and the secure storage of your backups. Since WordPress plugins have been prone to hacking, by controlling your own backups you improve your levels of security. If you want to avoid using a WordPress backup plugin, keep reading to learn how to do it.   How to Backup Your WordPress Site Without a Plugin As we reviewed above, even though using a WordPress backup plugin might be easier, it still might not be the best choice for every kind of site owner. Below you’ll learn how you can backup your site without the help of a WordPress plugin.   1. Do a Manual Backup A manual backup might sound difficult to do. However, you can create your own manual backups from directly within your hosting control panel. The steps below are for HostGator customers . To do this navigate to your cPanel, and find the tool called ‘Backup Wizard’ . Run the tool and you’ll have an entire backup of your site. You can also use this tool to restore your site to a previous version as well. If you don’t want to use the built-in backup wizard and prefer to find and download your site’s files yourself, then follow the steps below: Open file manager.  Locate the tool called ‘File Manager’ within cPanel. Find your site’s directory and download your backup.  Locate your WordPress site’s files. They should be under a directory called ‘public_html’ . Once you’ve found your site click ‘Select All’.  Then select ‘Compress’ . You can also chose the type of backup you’ll save, and where you want to save your backup. Download your WordPress database.  You’re not quite done yet! Now, we’ll need to download your WordPress database as well. To do this locate ‘phpMyAdmin’ within your cPanel dashboard.  With this tool open, select ‘Databases’ from the navigation bar. Then locate the database that’s associated with your WordPress installation. Open up that database and click the ‘Export’ tab on the top window. Save this file in the same location as your other backups. Keep in mind that beyond storing backups on your local computer, you may want to upload your backups to a cloud storage tool like Dropbox too. That way if one of your backups is compromised you know you’ll be covered. Make sure you regularly complete these backups as well. After all, there’s no point restoring from a previous backup if it’s a few years old.   2. Backup Your Site via FTP The second approach to backing up your site is using FTP. This is probably the least frequently used approach, as it’s more technical. But, some users prefer working via an FTP connection. If that sounds like you, then follow the steps below: Open up FileZilla Connect to your site Locate your site’s files Download and save When you open up FileZilla you may need to show hidden files. There are certain WordPress files that are hidden by default that you’ll need to include in your backup. To do this navigate to Server> Force showing hidden files . Once you’ve downloaded and safely stored your backup you’ll also need to download your WordPress database. To do this you’ll need to login to your cPanel and follow the steps for phpMyAdmin above.   What’s the Best Approach for Your WordPress Site? Hopefully, you have a better understanding of the different approaches you can take to backup your WordPress site. If the entire backup process is too much for you, then consider using WordPress managed hosting . This style of hosting will fully manage, backup, optimize, and secure your WordPress site. Keep in mind the method you use isn’t as important as having a regular backup schedule. If a problem occurs with your site you want to be equipped to restore your site to a previous version. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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5 Tips to Get More Guest Blog Posts for Your Site

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Hosting

The post 5 Tips to Get More Guest Blog Posts for Your Site appeared first on HostGator Blog . 5 Tips to Get More Guest Blog Posts for Your Site By accepting guest posts, your brand draws new attention to your site. Guest posting adds a variety of content to your blog and helps you develop meaningful relationships with bloggers. It is also an avenue to drive traffic and keep your readers engaged. “In an era where reputation is everything, it’s incredibly useful to build a network of trusted writers to verify each other’s legitimacy in a given field…When a guest author posts on your site, the author is implicitly agreeing that you’re an authoritative source,” states Forbes contributor Jayson DeMers . Are you ready to get more guest blog posts? Here are five tips to get you started.   1. Write a Guest Blog Page Information is important in our society of technology. Knowing about opportunities empowers people to take action. Your company can attract more guest bloggers by merely announcing your interest. Start by writing a guest blog page. You’ll want to include all your guidelines for submitting a post. State the desired topics, word count, sources, and other standards. Don’t shy away from giving writers every crucial detail. By doing so, you set expectations for your content. Bloggers will appreciate the value you place on high-quality writing. It makes getting their blog post accepted a badge of honor, rather than an item to complete on a long to-do list. In some instances, it may be helpful to include the entire submission process. Check out this  example from Entrepreneur  below. You’ll want to convey to writers the benefits of guest blogging on your site. Will they get featured in your exclusive email list? Or will they receive a small financial reward? Be sure to list all the advantages on your guest blog page. And of course, it wouldn’t hurt to mention all the notable bloggers who’ve already published on your site. This social proof will persuade bloggers to send in their submissions. Be honest and specific on your guest blog page. It’s the first step to receiving superb content from writers.   2. Give Guest Bloggers Credit Online communities rely on developing quality relationships with individuals. It’s an ongoing give-and-take bond amongst content creators. So, it’s vital that your business shows goodwill too. “Bloggers make up a large percentage of conversations happening on the Internet, especially on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. They can be tremendously influential. Which makes them good friends to have,” says best-selling author Jeff Goins . For writers, giving credit is one of the simplest things your site can do. Set up your blog to add multiple authors, and then ask bloggers to submit a short bio with their post. Providing a bio section is also beneficial to the reader. If they enjoy the post, they may want to read more of the person’s content elsewhere. Plus, it adds humanity to the words. Readers will know that an article wasn’t just pumped out from a content mill; someone actually took deliberate action to write a post to inform or entertain the reader. Get creative when showcasing your guest bloggers. You can invite them to a Slack community that matches their interests. Or refer bloggers to other brands seeking professional writing services. Guest blogging is all about highlighting other people’s expertise. By giving credit, you show your company’s appreciation and become a business ally.   3. Add a Guest Post Submission Form When you’re seeking guest posts, managing the entire process can become difficult. You have to promote an open call, draft a guest page, and sift through all the submissions. Depending on your brand’s popularity, you may receive a high volume of guest post pitches. And if you’re receiving them all by email that will flood your inbox. Creating a submission form is one solution to this issue. It’s a convenient way to organize all the pitches. Form tools, like SurveyMonkey and Typeform, let you build custom fields and export data into spreadsheets. CoSchedule  uses a Google form to capture its submissions. They even require guest bloggers to fill out specific information. When crafting your form, you’ll want to ask for links to relevant writing samples and why the blogger wants to publish on your site. It helps to get a sense of the person behind the words. Remember to keep the form short by limiting your questions. More blogger details mean more unnecessary work. Don’t bog down your team by accepting guest post pitches via email. You can create a unique submission form to make the process easier.   4. Pay Traffic Bonuses Money is a motivator for many bloggers. If your site wants to attract the best writers, you may consider offering a few financial incentives. If the blogger is doing more than just writing, like following specific SEO requirements or adding the content to WordPress, it’s a signal to pay the guest blogger. Susan Gunelius , president & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., gives her perspective: “The more you expect a blogger to do, the more you can expect to pay that blogger to charge you to write for your business blog. The reason is simple: the more the blogger has to do, the longer it takes her to complete the project, and she should be compensated adequately for her time.” Financial rewards can take many shapes and forms. You can start with paying traffic bonuses to writers who exceed a particular session goal. Decide how you will track the traffic, maybe a custom URL . Then, the blogger and you can monitor the results on a designated dashboard on Google Analytics. With any financial agreement, you’ll want to draft a contract and speak with an attorney. It will save you the hassle if any problems arise in the future. Sometimes guest bloggers will need more than just exposure. You can up the ante by offering writers a monetary bonus.   5. Promote Guest Posts Guest posting means nothing if no one gets to read the work. That’s why it’s so essential to promote your blog posts as much as possible. Depending on your business industry, how you publicize your content will vary. You may need to talk about the post in a community forum or syndicate posts on other brand sites. It may even be beneficial to enlist the help of an influencer . Well-known industry leaders can instantly spark people’s curiosity and drive traffic to the content. And don’t forget the power of social media. From Facebook to Instagram, your brand can use these channels to lure in more eyeballs on your guest posts. See below how Prisync promotes on Twitter.   The best way to understand your customer journey, and how it relates to your checkout flow, is to rely on your analytics Let’s jump in our latest article “How to Understand Your Customer Journey from your #Ecommerce Analytics.” ( via @DivvitHq ) https://t.co/WayaPtyEnk — Prisync (@PrisyncCom) May 25, 2018 Avoid the desire to splatter your guest posts everywhere. Instead, you want to develop a target strategy. If a post discusses the latest baking techniques, find promotional channels around food and cooking. Promotion is a two-way street. Before asking bloggers to promote on their marketing channels, it’s key that you take the initiative. Promote guest posts like any other piece of content. Work with your team to get the most attention from your target audience.   Earn More Guest Post Contributors Guest posting is beneficial for your brand and readers. It opens the doors to new relationships, while giving your consumers a different perspective. Ramp up your guest posts by sharing your blogging guidelines. You can entice contributors to participate with financial rewards. And you’ll want to promote guest posts as much as possible. It’s your turn. Start getting more guest blog posts today. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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10 White-Hat Link-Building Strategies for Local Business

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Hosting

The post 10 White-Hat Link-Building Strategies for Local Business appeared first on HostGator Blog . 10 White-Hat Link-Building Strategies for Local Business When you own a small local business, you have to find the most affordable options for promoting and marketing your brand. Unfortunately, when it comes to SEO, that need can put you at risk. Many of the cheapest SEO companies employ black-hat techniques based around trying to game the system – for example, building hundreds of low-quality links on spammy sites or publishing keyword-stuffed pages that don’t make much sense to humans. While some of those techniques worked in the early days of the internet, search engines have continually updated their algorithms over time to ensure that black-hat techniques not only aren’t rewarded with high rankings, but are now punished with search engine penalties . This is one area of business where cutting corners can have big consequences . You’re a lot better off employing a few white-hat link-building strategies on your own or hiring a legitimate SEO company than taking on the risks that come with black-hat SEO.   10 Link-Building Ideas for Local Businesses Here are ten legitimate link-building strategies that local businesses can benefit from.   1. Partner With Other Local Businesses. A lot of link building is ultimately about relationships. People are much more likely to add a link to your website on theirs if they have a genuine connection to your business. Research other local businesses in your area that do something related to what you do. For instance, if you sell dog treats, that could include pet groomers, dog walkers, veterinarians, and dog trainers. Reach out to the business owners to discuss ways you can help each other out. You could offer referral discounts for customers you recommend to each other or plan events together. Working together with other businesses will lead to natural linking opportunities, along with any other benefits you get from the relationship.   2. Sponsor Local Events or Organizations. In addition to local businesses, start looking into relevant local events and nonprofits that seek out business sponsorships . For event sponsorships, look up conferences, festivals, or professional events in your area and consider which of them are likely to attract people who are potential customers. Any event with a relevant audience of attendees is one that could be a good fit for sponsorship and, in most cases, your sponsorship will come with a link on the event’s website. For nonprofit sponsorships, consider the values your typical customers have and look for nonprofits that are a good match with the message you want to send to them. If you own a health food restaurant, then organizations that focus on improving healthy food access or sustainable food practices would be a natural fit.   3. Join Local Professional Organization with Directories. Most cities have a chamber of commerce and some have a number of different chambers focused on certain business owner demographics (e.g. an LGBTQ chamber of commerce, a Hispanic chamber of commerce, etc.). In addition, you can often find a number of professional organizations specific to certain industries. Identify any relevant professional organizations in your area and see if membership comes with inclusion in a directory. If so, it’s another good way to earn a local link.   4. Host a Charity Drive or Fundraiser. This tip doubles as both a way to do good and a way to earn links. When you work to help a cause other people care about, they have every reason to help spread the word to get more people involved. The nonprofit that you support will help promote it on their own site. Local journalists and bloggers are likely to cover the story as something newsworthy. And any followers of the nonprofit or publications that cover the story may be inspired to share news about it to their own followers as well.   5. Write and Promote Local Content. Content marketing is a big part of white-hat link building because when you create really great content, it gives other websites something worth linking to. A lot of businesses are doing content marketing , which means this tactic can be pretty competitive. But you don’t have to compete with every business in your industry in the search rankings, just those that serve the same local audience you do. Local businesses can therefore often gain some real traction by creating useful content that focuses on local issues. Try to find topics that are relevant both to your business and to the local community. If you own a bike shop, you could write blog posts about the best biking trails in town and provide coverage of local legislation that adds new bike lanes. 6. Connect with Local Bloggers. Many communities have local bloggers that write about things to do around town or issues relevant to residents. These blogs are often a good opportunity for earning local links. Reach out to see if the blogger is open to a relationship. Maybe they’ll provide a review in exchange for a free visit to your business, or you can set up an affiliate-style arrangement where they make a little money every time one of their readers comes to your business because of hearing about it through the blog. If you can work out an arrangement that you both consider beneficial, they’ll have a good reason to mention you on their blog and you’ll earn a new link.   7. Look for Relevant Round-up Pages. A lot of websites that have a local focus will write round-up posts highlighting the best businesses of different types – think titles like “The Best Brunch Spots in Chicago” or “The Best Coworking Spaces in Austin.” Think of different categories your business could fall into and see if there are any local round-up blog posts you could be a fit for.  For any you find, reach out to the author to see if they’re aware of your business and willing to consider an addition to the list. Don’t expect this strategy to have a huge success rate. The blogger would have to choose to do extra work in order to include your business, and also may not honestly see you as belonging on the “best” list by their standards. But if they are willing to give your business a try and see if you belong, it could earn you both a link and be the start of a relationship with a new local blogger.   8. Write Guest Posts. Guest posting is one of the most common white-hat link building tactics because it provides value both for you and the other website. Instead of asking another stranger with no investment in your business to do the work of adding a link to their website, you’re offering to do something for them that benefits them and their audience. Research the blogs in your industry and in your city to identify ones that are relevant to your business and accept guest posts. Brainstorm topic ideas that are relevant to the blog’s audience while also providing a natural opportunity for you to include a link back your website. Then start pitching. For every blog that accepts your pitch, make sure you write a really good piece and include a link or two to pages on your website where it fits naturally (don’t awkwardly force it in).   9. Do Broken Link Building. Broken link building is another common tactic that combines doing something useful for the website owner at the same time that you ask for a link. The goal here is to find examples of broken links on relevant websites that point to something similar to a page on your website. Then contact the website owner to let them know there’s a broken link on their site and recommend yours as a good replacement.  It’s alerting them to a problem with their website they may not have been aware of while offering an easy solution (that just happens to benefit you). Spotting broken links on the web may sound like an unrealistic undertaking, but a number of subscription SEO tools have features that make that part of the process easier. Once you’ve identified the broken links, it’s just a matter of crafting a solid email that explains why your webpage is a good replacement.   10. Create and Give Out Awards. People love getting awards and are quick to share about it whenever they’re recognized. If you start giving out local awards to individuals or businesses in relevant categories, it’s a good way to get the positive attention of the people you honor who are then likely to share about the award to their own audiences. If you own a local gym, you could create awards for business types your customers are likely to value such as healthy restaurants, natural food stores, or vitamin brands and open up voting to your members. It provides your customers a way to engage and provides you an entry into connecting with the businesses that win (see also, tactic #1). The winning businesses are likely to link back to your awards page and the people who love those businesses may share news of the award as well.   White-Hat Link Building for Your Business A lot of these tactics won’t just earn you links; they’ll help you become a more valuable and appreciated part of your local community. That’s one of the nice things about white-hat tactics – they’re not about being sneaky or taking advantage of weaknesses in the system, they’re all about doing things that are genuinely beneficial for the websites you reach out to, their audience, and your own business all at the same time. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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