Create Authority Content
Create pieces of content, like articles, guides, tutorials, how-to’s, etc., relevant to your industry, that are better than any other content on the web on that topic. Contact sites linking to similar content and let them know what you’ve created.
Make Your Content Available For Others To Use
Add a line above/below your best content stating that others can republish the content so long as they credit you (via a link) as the source of it.
Find Out Who Has Copied Your Text
Search on Google for sentences from multiple pages of your site in quotation marks (i.e. “sentence from site”) to see if any sites are using text from your site without your permission. If they are, tell them they can continue to use it so long as they credit you (via a link) as the source of it.
Update Outdated Content
Search for outdated content about your industry or local area. Offer to update the contact in return for being credited (via a link) for the update, or create a new version of it for your own site and contact those linking to the outdated content to let them know about the new version of it.
Replicate Your Competitors’ Best Content
Assess who is linking to your competitors, what content they’re linking to, and why they’re linking to it. If it’s content you can reproduce to a higher standard, do so and then contact those linking to your competitors to let them know about your new content.
Purchase Content From Other Websites
Search for content on industry relevant sites that has attracted multiple links to it. Contact the site owners to ask if you can purchase the content from them. Republish the content on your site and have the site owners 301 redirect the url on their site to the new url on your site.
Create Content For Other Websites
Contact companies and bloggers with relevant (but non-competing) sites and ask to publish content on their sites. Within the content, include a link back to your site. You could write a tutorial, answer FAQs, share research, etc.
Write For Local Blogs/Newspapers/Magazines
Whether it be your knowledge of your industry, your local area or something else, share it other people via an article or column in a local resource. You’ll be allowed a byline at the start or end of the article which you can use to link to your site.
Create Local Resources/Guides
Create content that’s helpful to your local community. For example, free wi-fi areas, family friendly restaurants, things to do for free, etc. Contact locally relevant sites and institutions (newspapers, libraries, etc.) to let them know what you’ve created.
Distribute Press Releases
Write press releases to share news and opinions about your business and developments in your industry. Send them to local newspapers and industry relevant sites and blogs.
Find Out Who Has Copied Your Images
Use Google’s reverse image search to see if any sites are using images from your site without your permission. If they are, tell them they can continue to use them so long as they credit you (via a link) as the source of them.
Supply Photos To Other Websites
Take good quality photos of anything related to your business. Contact similar businesses to yours, that operate in a different, non-competing location, to say they can use your images on their site so long as they credit you (via a link) as the source of them.
Create And Distribute Videos
People are more likely to link to videos than written content. As well as publishing them on your site to attract links, also upload them to video sharing sites, with a link back to your site.
Create And Distribute Statistics/Charts/Graphs/Infographics
People are more likely to link to these types of content than written content. As well as publishing them on your site to attract links, you can let others embed them on their own sites so long as they credit you (via a link) as the source of it.
Leverage Existing Business Relationships
Contact businesses who you’re buying products/services from, and whose products/services you’re selling. If you’re making money for them, ask for them to link to your site. If they’re making money for you, offer to exchange links.
Provide Testimonials/Reviews
Contact small businesses (photographers, designers, contractors, cleaners, electricians, caterers, etc.) that you’ve bought services from in the past year and offer them a testimonial or review for their site in return for them linking back to your site at the end of it.
Exchange Links With Others
Contact businesses selling products or services that compliment your own and propose linking to each other sites. Ideally, you should exchange links via a blog post rather than a ‘links’ or ‘partners’ page.
Feature Influential People
Contact people with influence in your industry or local area, and either pay them to write a blog post for your site or interview them and publish the transcript on your site. Publicise the new content where they have influence and ask them to do the same.
Join Associations/Organisations
Become a member of any associations and organisations that are relevant to your local area or industry. Most of these have an online directory of their members where you can list your business’s details and include a link back to your site.
Comment And Post On Blogs And Forums
Comment on blogs and forums related to your industry or location. On most blogs, when you leave a comment, your name doubles up as a link back to your site, and on most forums, you’re given a signature area that you can use to link back to your site.
Search For Unlinked Mentions
Search on Google for your business’s name, your business’s logo (reverse image search), and the names of important people associated with your business. Contact sites that have mentioned you but not included a link to your site.
Create Profiles On Social Websites
Lots of social sites allow you to create a profile page, and from that page you can include a link back to your site. Use knowem.com to find social sites to sign-up for.
Create Profiles On Business Listing Websites
Lots of business listing sites allow you to create a profile page for your business, and from that page, if you pay a fee, you can normally include a link back to your site. Click here to view a list of sites to sign-up for.
Offer Discounts To Certain Groups Of People
Offer discounts to parents/seniors/students/teachers/nurses. Contact sites that those groups visit, and also local institutions (newspapers, libraries, etc.), and ask if they can mention the discount on their site with a link to your site.
Offer Discounts Or Bonus Items To Customers
Offer discounts or bonus items to customers who own a site in return for them linking to your site from theirs. Offer the discount on a sliding scale, based on how relevant and authorative their website is.
Sign Up With Coupon Websites
Lots of coupon sites, where you list discounts or special offers on your products/services, allow you to link back to your site from the page where your coupon(s) are listed. Search on Google for ‘coupon websites’ to find coupon sites to sign-up for.
Sponsor Someone Or Something In Your Area
There are lots of sponsorship options – charities, shelters, teams, clubs, events, etc. – to choose from. After making a donation, ask them to mention you on their blog or sponsors page and they’ll generally be happy to do so.
Run Competitions
Run a weekly or monthly competition in which those who enter can win a voucher for your products/services. Contact locally relevant sites and institutions (newspapers, libraries, etc.) and ask if they can mention, with a link, the competition on their site.