Building Links as an Online RetailerBuilding backlinks (links to a website from another website) is the best way to generate free traffic. Merchants that excel in this facet of marketing are quietly reaping the benefits. These merchants have more channels leading to their website and experience better search engine rankings as result of increased PageRank. Although websites can attract backlinks with little or no work, there are many ways merchants can consciously increase traffic.
Potential customers tend to search for brands and often land on the manufacturer's site to learn more about a specific product. Therefore, many manufacturers' sites receive enormous traffic. It's not uncommon for manufacturers to list a directory of online retailers which consumers can visit to buy their products. Retailers that carry such brands should inquire with the manufacturers to learn how their company may be listed in such a directory. Sometimes manufacturers will ask only that the merchant to have a page listing just that manufacturer's products. If this is the case, it is worth the time to setup such a page because it will lead to a higher conversion rate from those visitors. Even if a manufacturer doesn't have such a directory, it is still a good idea to create such a page. A page containing only products from one manufacture will certainly stand a good chance of ranking high in the search engines for that brand.
Many businesses are also part of non-profit or other social organizations. These might be retail specific or broader in scope such as a chamber of commerce. Most of these organizations will also have websites which include a directory of members. Merchants should make sure that their listing includes a link back to their website.
It is not uncommon for retailers to donate items for silent auctions or other events. These donations might benefit an educational group or a charity. Merchants should consider asking such groups for a simple link in a sponsor area of that group's website. A merchant is not likely to receive a flood of traffic from the site. However, these websites tend to have a high PageRank, which is passed on to increase the merchant's PageRank.
Another way online merchants may drive traffic is by calling upon their satisfied customers. Regardless of industry or customer type, customers are leaving feedback and testimonials online in staggering numbers. Whether this feedback is in an online forum, on a customer's blog, or a vendor's website, it is yet another opportunity for a backlink. Vendors also appreciate testimonials and will often publish them on their website. To add credibility to the testimonial, many companies will naturally put a link back to the website of the person being quoted. Offering testimonials to vendors that offer great service is a great way to thank them and can be a great way to increase PageRank.
Merchants that publish unique content also tend to attract links. Online merchants tend to do this through blogs, product reviews, and company newsletters. Publishing unique content on a regular basis that has value to potential customers will likely attract links.
There are certainly other ways to build links which are not mentioned in this article. To get an idea of how competition is building links, merchants can execute the following queries on both Yahoo and Google: link:www.COMPETITORSDOMAIN.com This query may not show all of a website’s backlinks, but will certainly illustrate the many opportunities to build backlinks.
Many merchants do not place enough value on links. Those that do simply need to look at their non-paid traffic to appreciate their value.
