10 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Incoming Links to Your E-commerce Site

10 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Incoming Links to Your E-Commerce Site 

1. Start a Blog - Blogs are great for search engine visibility, and anecdotally are more likely to get incoming links from other sources. In addition, you can create a blog either within your Web site or at another URL to feature different products and link to them on your e-commerce site.
2. Get Links from Other Bloggers - Chances are there's already a large number of bloggers who blog about your niche or have a following of your best prospects. Where appropriate, send a sample of your product and invite a review, good or bad. Even a bad review can generate incoming links to your site for search engine benefit.
   
   To get the most out of this tactic, read these bloggers posts for a while to get a better understanding of what they're writing about, and even participate by leaving appropriate, intelligent comments on their blog.
3. Directories - Although links from directories (think Yahoo or LookSmart) no longer carry the weight they used to, for sites without a lot of links they're a great way to get started.
   
   Choose from a variety of directories, including general information directories like Yahoo and vertical or specialty directories focus on your products or industry, or target your audience. To find vertical directories check out the Web Directories database.
4. Squidoo - You didn't think I was going to leave off Squidoo, did you? By creating a Squidoo lens you can establish your expertise while creating incoming links to your e-commerce site. (You can also generate some passive income on your Squidoo lenses...bonus!)
5. Hubpages - You can never have too many quality incoming links. Hubpages is a lot like Squidoo, where you can build Hubs (instead of lenses) with text, audio, video and more. Like Squidoo, there's also passive revenue opportunities. You must create 3 hubs before your links lose the "nofollow" tags.
6. Article Marketing - Similar to creating Hubs or Lenses, you write short articles (500 - 1,000 words) and submit them through an article distribution company like iSnare or a>. For a small fee they will distribute the article to hundreds or even thousands of Web editors who run Web sites and ezines. In lieu of payment, you get to include a call-to-action and links back to your site below the article. One article I wrote generated over 900 incoming links to my site!
7. Social Media - Social media is a broad term that often covers Web sites made of user-generated content. Most social media sites add "nofollow" tags to all links, meaning that no link juice is passed to your Web site. However, many people who participate in social media have other publishing platforms like blogs. Social media can often have a very positive indirect benefit to your linking strategy.
8. Professional memberships / Chambers of Commerce / Business Associations - Many groups that you already belong to will have a Web site and include a listing and a link as a member benefit.
9. Discussion Forums - Find discussion forums where your best customers and prospects are hanging out. Listen to the questions that are being asked, and where appropriate, respond to them, but not in a pushy, sales-y way. Just try and create value. In your responses you can include a "signature" that can include links back to your site.
10. Review Sites - Get satisfied customers to write reviews and recommendations on review sites like Yelp or ePinions. Often these type of sites will allow the reviewer to create links to your store or product.