Link Marketing for Drop Shipping Retailers
SEW EXPERTS: PROMOTION & LINK BUILDING By Justilien Gaspard, Search Engine Watch, Jun 11, 2009
Columns | Contact Justilien | Biography
It can be challenging to develop links for drop shipping sites. This is especially true when all these sites are selling the exact same products.
The perfume marketplace is a good example of this. Most of these sites even look almost the same. How is a drop shipper to get noticed and develop links?
For those not familiar with drop shipping, it's a program where the distributor or manufacturer handles all the inventory and shipping for the site owner, even to the point of inserting custom sales flyers in packages. This allows the site owner to focus on customer service and marketing.
Most people have ordered from such sites without ever knowing it. They include just about everything that can be mass produced -- from vitamins, to wall fountains, to B2B products.
Be Different
Finding a unique angle to separate your site from the rest of the pack is the key to link development. Create some noteworthy content that will get people to link to your site and then promote it.
Get Noticed
Having content that's the same as everyone else's won't get your site noticed. Everyone is creating blogs and article sections. Most of these are filled with cheap SEO content or blogs that are abandoned after a few months.
The key here is to do research to find out what people are most likely to link to. This can be started with keyword research to find out what people are searching for daily. If you don't subscribe to a keyword service, try SEOBook's free keyword research tool.
Research some of the basic single-term keywords for your industry. Then look for words that imply people are looking for help or resources about those topics. These could include terms such as "how to," "make," "fix," "help," "instructions," "repair," and "build." Those terms will give you a starting point for creating remarkable content.
Create Noteworthy Content
Hundreds of thousands of pages already rank for "help" terms. Your content needs to be different. The good news: most of these pages are simple text pages created for SEO purposes.
How do you beat these simple text pages? Create content that will help the end user and separate your content from everyone else. These include interactive tools, step-by-step illustrated instructions, or videos.
Sure it's more costly than rewriting content like everyone else is doing. Yet the payoff from links can only be measured by the revenue that can be generated with top rankings.
When brainstorming ways to develop this content in a unique way, constantly ask: "Will people bookmark this? Will people e-mail this to friends? Will this spread on social networks?"
Promotions
Once you create this content, it needs to be promoted. This is often the most overlooked aspect of link marketing.
The easiest way to promote this type of content is by targeting a specific audience in social media, forums, newsletters, and blogs. If the content is truly unique, these people will naturally spread it to others.
Word of mouth marketing will help propel this content and get it noticed. That will lead to more links.
The most overlooked promotional methods in link marketing are traditional marketing techniques that have been used forever in the offline world. It's an excellent way to get people to take notice of your site and build awareness. It's also a cost effective way to get in front of the right audience.
Want to learn more about traditional techniques and link marketing? Check out Debra Mastaler's link building secrets.
Link marketing for drop shipping sites is very difficult in competitive fields. Yet it's possible to beat out the competition and gain top rankings with the right approach. The key is to be unique and not settle for run-of-the-mill content. Good link building is just good marketing.
Submissions are now open for the 2009 Search Engine Watch Awards. Enter your company or campaign before July 17, 2009. Winners will be announced at SES San Jose.
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Biography
Justilien Gaspard is an independent consultant that provides custom link building, seo consulting and link training. His area of focus is organic search. He has spoken at Search Engine Strategies conference (SES), authored 3 advanced search optimization courses for Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization's (SEMPO) Learning Institute and runs a link building blog. He has worked and consulted on link development campaigns that included Fortune 500, top online retailers and small to medium size businesses in competitive fields.
Article Archives by Justilien Gaspard:
» Link Marketing for Drop Shipping Retailers - June 11, 2009
» Promoting Your Blog - May 28, 2009
» Create Something Newsworthy, Part 3 -- Promotions - May 14, 2009
» Create Something Newsworthy, Part 2 -- Testing - April 30, 2009
» Create Something Newsworthy -- Branding, Marketing, Links - April 16, 2009
» Increase Online Visibility for Sales and Links - April 2, 2009
» More Articles by Justilien Gaspard
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