Get started on where to start looking for backlinks so you can begin to build traffic, get more clients, and sell more products.

Let’s get you started on where to start looking for backlinks so you can begin to build traffic, get more clients, and sell more products.

Getting started

As a coach, you are probably the last person who needs to hear this, but just like any endeavor, it’s good to set  SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timed) goals.

For example, if you aren’t getting any action at your web site because you have very little traffic, then a good goal would be five inquiries a month, six months from now.

The next step is to set aside time to get backlinks. A great start is to commit a measly one hour a week.

Backlinking takes time.

It takes time for you to find places to get backlinks. It takes time for other web sites to set up your backlink. It takes time for search engines to find those links.

Therefore, the next thing to do is set up a spreadsheet to help you keep track of backlink request that have not yet been fulfilled.

The spreadsheet should include:

• The web site you are seeking a link from


• The date you requested the link


• The title and description of the link


• A box to mark of when your link has been set up


• A place to put miscellaneous notes

Your first target – The Open Directory ProjectThe ODP (The Open Directory Project) is a general web directory that catalogs web sites on the Internet.

The ODP is a great place to start your backlinking program for two reasons.

The main reason is that many search engines hold The ODP in high regard – that is, if your web site is listed in The ODP, it must be a legitimate site. This helps your rankings.

Secondly, The ODP has simple, clear submissions guidelines which familiarize you with the process of requesting backlinks from other web sites.

The Open Directory Project is here:www.dmoz.org

There are a lot of other directories and the number grows. To find more popular directories, simply do a search on “top web directories 2006.” 

Take a second to celebrate!

Once you have gotten listed in The Open Directory Project, stop and celebrate!

Up to this point you have:

• Devised a linking plan.


• You have learned about submission policies.


• You broke past a common resistance point: getting started!


• You now have one of the most valuable links you can get.

You have created the core system of building your traffic. All you need to do is “rinse and repeat.”

Next - Coaching-Specific Directories

You may not be aware of them, but there are web directories that are specific to coaches.

For example, www.lifecoachguide.com has listings of life coaches.

By getting listed in coaching-specific directories, your web site will gain higher rankings when people do searches related to coaching.

For example, if you get listed in a life coach directory, then your web site will rank higher for the term “life coach.”

These types of directories are easy to find. Just do a search on “life coach directory.”

Next - Coaching OrganizationsCoachville is a great place for a backlink. Their link section is very easy for search engines to find, and the Coachville’s web site is very popular.

They are, however, making some modifications to their site which may eliminate the search engine value of getting a backlink from Coachville.

A backlink at ICF’s web site is good for possible referrals when someone is using their “Find a Coach” service.

Unfortunately, the ICF’s directory pages don’t give you a backlink that search engines can easily find (at the time of this writing). So your search engine rankings aren’t improved by being listed here. Next - Other Existing Relationships

Many coaches belong to local networking groups like BNI or Chamber of Commerce.

Getting links to your site from these places are valuable because they are often easy to get, they give you more local appeal, and you often have a high degree of control over what goes into your link.

Happy Hunting

The above plan can keep you busy for months.

Over time, your tracking senses will sharpen and you will discover more and more places to seek for backlinks. Jot them down as you go.

You will see an increase in web site traffic and activity in as little as one to two months.

After about six months you’ll be cooking!

Good luck and happy backlinking!

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

 Building Solid Traffic with Backlinks
A web site isn't an ad. No one “peruses” web sites in some “web site newspaper.” In fact, no one will go to your site unless you specifically invite them. A web site actually needs advertising.  You need to build traffic to your site.  There are a lot of great ways to do this and one terrific way is with backlinks. Many coaches put up web sites with the hope of getting clients....

 Article Marketing and Backlinks : Video Tutorial
Article marketing is probably the most effective link building strategy on the World Wide Web. Yet, It is also one that is the most under used. Most marketers just will not do it. Their claims vary, saying I'm no writer, I can't think of anything to say, I'm new and don't know anything! Let's say the reasons above happen to be true. They overlook the obvious alternatives. With everybody and their brother hustling....

 Are You Tired Of Search Engine Marketing?
Getting a decent rank in the major search engines is a long drawn out battle and more often than not, those with the bigger marketing budgets win. What then is the alternative? Viral marketing. Here are some viral marketing tactics that can help you stand out in the cluttered online world, without paying through your nose. Every online marketing plan includes search marketing. Though search marketing is no doubt effective, consider that organic....

 Keys to Creating a Solid Backlink
A solid backlink has three components. By “solid,” I'm referring to a backlink that not only brings you traffic from someone clicking it but also brings the added value of enhancing your search engine rankings. Many times your site will get backlinks without you asking for them. This article doesn't go into those kinds of links. Instead, we focus on the links you can control and specifically request. Additionally, this article doesn't go into....

 The 6 Top Reasons Marketers Should Blog
If there is a downside to blogging, I have yet to find it. The more you learn about blogging, the more there is to like.In fact, here are 6 mouth-watering reasons why every marketer should be blogging:1- Fast Search Engine Spidering and Indexing of Your Site:Did you know that Google owns the most popular blogging platform on the planet? blogger at http://www.blogger.com is used to produce thousands of blogs. Even a complete internet newbie can set up a blog in about 5 minutes at Blogger. And guess who can be counted on to....

 WordPress 2.3 Simple Upgrade Tutorial
The recent release of WordPress 2.3 with new features and database changes begs the question, how should a webmaster plan and then implement the enhancement. Any upgrade that involves database changes should be undertaken carefully, and preparation is key to a successful enchance. Typically, most webmasters install custom themes and extra plugins, and of course they upload extra files such as images to their /wp-content/uploads folder. All of these files need to be backed up and stored off server prior to undertaking the enhancement process. The database itself also needs to be backed....

 How to Cold Call with Integrity
The way we've always wanted to do cold calling! You probably never tell potential clients your real goal in calling them, but you don't need to. They're already aware, because we're all sensitive when the phone rings and it turns out to be someone we don't know. In the old traditional training, we learned the latest techniques for making a sale. We talk to “prospects” rather than with people. And we “guide” conversations along rather than letting them unfold naturally. The way we do this sometimes might even....

 Article Plagiarism: the Next Internet Rippoff?
Content is King! shout the search engines. That's what the search engines love. We also love the non-reciprocal links that we get for our websites when our articles are published on other peoples' sites with our resource boxes dutifully appended below them. To create a well written article takes time and effort. We have to get everything right: it has to be of relevance to the reader in that subject field; it has to be well researched; all spelling, punctuation and grammar must be correction; it has to be a genuine contribution to that particular area of specialization, and....

 Google algorithm tweak spooks website owners around the world
In the brave new world of online media, fortunes can be won and lost on the whim of Google's key search algorithm. And when, without warning, Google tweaked that mathematical formula this week, there was panic on the world wide web. Swarms of bloggers and webmasters of major sites like Washingtonpost.com, Forbes.com, Engadget.com and SFGate.com noticed a downgrading in their PageRank, Google's measure of a web page's value. A site's PageRank impacts not only its ranking in Google search results but also the price it can charge advertisers. A drop in ranking can have....

 Marketing Tip: Avoid Direct Competition
All kinds of businesses have competitors. So, uniqueness is important to include in marketing your brand. Newsletter expert Glenn Harrington refers to Coke and Pepsi in this brief article. Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola have been engaged in direct competition for over100 years, which is about 99 years too long. Originally marketed as health tonics, the two products are very similar, cost about the same, cater to the same market, and have never established any meaningful product differentiation. Such protracted, intense competition would be very, very costly to most businesses in....

 Web Templates For The Home and Hobbyist
A lot of individuals, clubs, and organizations would like to share their interests or group mission with others, but to present it on the Internet would mean learning the complicated language that goes with programming, or else hiring a professional designer. Since this isn't something that's in most non-profit or personal budgets, the best alternative, is free web templates. Teams, associations, schools, and just the person with an interesting hobby, can now show the world what they can do, with no more than a web template, and a basic....

 How To Get Guaranteed Traffic With Overlooked And Little Used Methods
To Get Guaranteed Traffic With Overlooked And Little Used Methods by: Evonne Llewellyn Traffic. We all know that without it our sites will sit there lost in cyberspace. Gathering nothing more than the occasional spider crawling across lonely electronic cobwebs. If you've been around the e-business scene, for at least a few months, you're familiar with the typical and common methods of site promotion. You've taken the right steps. Submitted your site by hand to the *oh-so-powerful* TOP 10 search engines and directories. Now, it's a waiting game to see if you get listed or if you have to try submitting again. You've learned the....

 Why Pay for Directory Links?
For one moment, let's take a look at how a search engine spider spends its life. It endlessly crawls the Internet, looking to not only discover new content, but to also find related topics, fresh information and to also somehow apply all of that knowledge together in order to algorithimically produce the most relevent result.So, as the search spider continues to find your site listed in the same category through-out the web, (for this example we'll use "Software") it makes it easier for the spider to categorize your site. This partially explains why you may see some sites that appear....

 How to Know if Your Website is KILLING Your Business
Learn why your website might not be living up to its full potential... Just because you build it, and they come... doesn't mean they'll stay. So you've got Google adwords, banner ads, co-registration and joint venture deals, postcards, print ads, radio commercials, your mother-in-law and everyone else you can bribe, cajole and threaten, driving traffic to your website. Yes! You're an absolute genius at driving traffic to your website.  You're getting a gazillion hits and unique page impressions—every minute! You've got so much traffic, tying up so much bandwidth, that Al Gore is thinking of producing a new movie about....

 10 Web Design Tips For A Professional Looking Niche Web Site
Web site design is a critical element in niche marketing. If you want to build your reputation as a Professional in your niche, you need to project a professional image from the moment your visitors reach your web site. Like it or not, first impressions count and no more so than on the Internet. Your web site is the only way that visitors can judge you and your product. Give them the wrong impression, make it hard for them to find the information they're after and chances are they will....

Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.problogtips.com/how-to-hunt-for-big-game-backlinks/2182/trackback/

Posted by Jaron in the catagory of... General Interest