Overview
A few clients asked us recently about how we go about ecommerce link building. They had read about all the dangers of doing wrongly, and discovered they also needed them to ensure they could increase their search traffic to their ecommerce sites.
It was all very confusing, and the reason why we decided to create a quick guide to increasing the number of ecommerce backlinks correctly.
Before we go into some great ways below for Ecommerce link building, we need to take a moment to learn more about backlinks in general.
First, why are backlinks important?
Google believes the more quality backlinks you have to your site, the more you are a trustworthy source to send search traffic. Remember the key word here is quality, which leads us to point number two.
Second, link building needs to be do properly. Many search engine marketers used to spam other sites in order to get as many backlinks to their own website as possible.
This continued for years, until Google slammed the brakes on those initiatives with their Google Penguin and Panda algorithm updates. Those updates affected all sites that received links from less than trustworthy sources.
Third, provide others a reason to link to you. Otherwise, you can never get the type of quality links Google needs to drive traffic to your website, and sources need to know why they should link to your site. That is why we need a list of eight impeccable methods for motivating ecommerce backlinks.
8 Impeccable Methods for Ecommerce Link Building
#1 Shareable Surveys
A traditional link building method is to create ridiculously cool content that is super shareable. One example are dynamic surveys. Turns out they can be a goldmine for backlinks as well.
For example, VisualDNA creates visual, easy-to-take personality tests that people can share afterwards on social media. Depending upon the social network, some of these ecommerce links are do follow.
With multiple tests going on social networks, it is a constant source of traffic and links for VisualDNA. Plus, their surveys are so good we mentioned them here on Shout.
#2 Buyer Guide
Another option is to design a buyer’s guide that other websites can use to reference your views on a specific product, brand, or category. Take Australian consumer guide Shop Ethical. Part directory, and part guide to all of the environmental and social ethical companies in the country.
They use ecommerce link building to link out to a number of companies, and in response to that get a lot of media and company mentions. These mentions are the reason behind their page rank of 5.
#3 Best of List
Create a list of the top sites in a specific category. For example, here is a blog post about the top 30 online shopping sites in Australia.
The great thing about these type of lists is that companies wanted to be included. They share the good news about their brilliance throughout social media, blogging, email marketing, and on their website.
If you really want to optimise your success with this strategy, then create a badge with an embed code that the recipients can use to share on their site.
#4 Shareable Videos
A quality video is a great way to increase links back to your site.
For example, this ALAA Australian Labradoodle Grooming Demo video is shared on YouTube and people embed the video to link to their own site to increase traffic.
The only downside to this strategy is that many of the ecommerce links go to YouTube instead of your own site. However, this can possibly increase video traffic to your site.
#5 Video Competitions
Another great way to drive links to your site is with video competitions. Contestants submit videos and then the person with the most votes wins the contest.
WoodChuck Cider recently held a video contest to promote their brand. They had users create short videos that needed to be shared on social media and through blogs to garner the most votes.
The winners received hotel and air fare to Vermont, along with two tickets to CiderStock.
#6 Affiliates
Ecommerce link building more than other websites is all about online sales. Many ecommerce sites have a long list of affiliates ready to promote their product. That is why using your affiliate network for search engine traffic is not only useful, but a brilliant long-term strategy.
For example, one of the largest gaming companies in Australia is IASBET.Com. The company has 239 backlinks coming into the site. Most of them are from affiliates of the betting site.
Because of all the traffic the affiliates generate for the company, the links are relevant to the brand. This makes them natural in the eyes of Google, and golden for additional search traffic.
#7 Product Reviews
A superb way to generate search traffic and qualified buyers at the same time is through product reviews. One note of caution: Use product reviews in moderation. Too many and you might annoy consumers.
However, a good product review not only brings a link back to your site, but potential prospects interested in specific products.
That is the entire basis of sites like Epinions. The opinion website is all about product reviews, and generates lots of traffic and backlinks to websites looking to get their products reviewed.
#8 Manufacturers
Have you asked your manufacturer for backlinks? For example, Beardbrand lists all of their retailers on a specific page on their website to help visitors to their site find the right beard grooming products for their needs.
By doing this they drive traffic to their major purchasers, and help them increase their traffic so they can both get more sales.
Final Thoughts
Driving ecommerce backlinks to your website is important if you want to drive quality search traffic. However, as we mentioned it is not as much about how many links you drive to your site.
Focus on the quality of the links, and using those links for other purposes like affiliate and product review lead generation.
That way, you have the ability to drive more sales through those links and quality search traffic as well. If you still have questions about the best methods for doing this, feel free to give us a SHOUT!
