Not all of your links have to be PageRank powerhouses imbedded inside unique content. You can get fistfuls of followed links with ease by submitting information about you, your business, your site, or a piece of content. In this chapter I’ll show you my black book of followed link sources and reveal a few tips on how to increase the odds that your links stick over the long haul.
Blog Aggregators
Blog aggregators organize the best blog content from the web. But what makes them more powerful than most web directories is the fact that they also pull content from your RSS feed, which links back to your content.
You usually have to jump through a hoop or two to get your site accepted. Let’s take the popular AllTop as an example.
First, create a My Alltop account and confirm your email:
Then scroll to the bottom of the homepage and click the “Submissions” button.
Before filling out the form you’ll need two things: the best AllTop category for your blog and your RSS feed URL.
To find the best category, head back to the homepage and search for a keyword that fits your blog like a glove:
The site will show you a list of its categories. Choose the best one from the list.
For most sites (especially WordPress powered sites), your RSS feed is found at yoursite.com/rss.
Which sometimes autoredirects to feedburner (if you use it):
You can put either one of those into your submission form.
Now it’s time to fill in the form. In the comments section, be sure to keep it brief and professional. Try to put in stats that support your site’s popularity.
Here are a few more blog aggregators to consider submitting your blog to:
- http://technorati.com/ (PR8)
- http://www.blogarama.com/ (PR6)
- http://www.bloghub.com/ (PR5)
- http://regator.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.icerocket.com/ (PR6)
1-800 Number Listing Sites
I bet you didn’t know that you can get links just by having a 1-800 number.
Just head over to
- http://inter800.com/ (PR6)
- http://www.internettollfree.com/ (PR4)
And submit your 1-800 number and URL to the directory:
Business Listing Sites
Business listing sites have a ton of PR flowing around their site, and usually encourage you to drop a live link in your profile. In addition to the link love, having your site listed in business-listing sites like this is a strong brand signal for Google (brand signals are becoming a larger part of the algorithm).
Let’s use the popular Manta (PR6) as an example of how to get a link from biz listing sites:
Then fill out the “Tell Us About Your Company” section of the site.
Scroll down below the paid options and click “No Thanks, continue to my profile”:
Fill in some basic details about yourself. Near the website section click “edit”:
Enter your homepage URL under “company website”:
And you’re done.
More followed link business listing sites:
- http://www.crunchbase.com/ (PR7)
- http://activerain.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.bizsugar.com/ (PR6)
- http://www.startupnation.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.kudzu.com (PR6)
- http://www.merchantcircle.com/ (PR8)
- http://www.jayde.com (PR6)
- http://www.yellowbot.com/ (PR7)
- http://www.radiatelocal.com/ (PR7)
- http://biznik.com/ (PR5)
Audio Sharing Sites
Audio sharing sites are one of my favorite sources of followed links. They’re generally not moderated, allow dofollow links and have a ton of domain authority and trust. Even if you don’t run a site about music, you can still get plenty of backlinks from audio sharing sites. Here’s how.
First, you’ll need a piece of music to share. While this isn’t a requirement of every site, it helps round out your profile. And it helps build some internal links to your profile, meaning more authority passed onto your site.
First, head over to http://vocaroo.com/. Click on the “Click to Record” button:
Allow the site to access your computer’s microphone. You can use a professional microphone or headset, but it’s not necessary.
Now’s your time to shine. Belt out one of your favorite tunes or just sing about your niche (I love singing about SEO!).
Once you’ve recorded for at least a minute, hit the “Click to Stop” button:
If you want to review it, hit the “listen” button.
If it sounds good, scroll down and click “Click here to save”:
And save the file as an .mp3.
Save the file.
Find the file and rename it to something you’ll remember.
Now it’s time to turn that .mp3 into some high quality backlinks.
Most audio sharing sites operate the same way: make a profile, upload your audio and drop a followed link. Let’s use PureVolume.com (PR6) as an example.
Head over to http://www.purevolume.com/signup and sign up under the “I’m an Artist” option.
Fill in the information that the site asks for. For extra relevancy action, consider making your artist/group name your target keyword. That will make your page’s URL: purevolume.com/yourkeyword.
And click “Create Artist Account”:
You’ll be redirected to your dashboard. Click on the “Music” tab:
And then “Click here to create an album”.
Name your album and upload the .mp3 that you recorded earlier.
Click “Add Album.”
You can add album information (and album art) if you’d like.
Once you’re done click “Save Changes”:
Go back to your dashboard and click the “edit profile” link.
Fill in some basic information about yourself under the “billboard” section. This content helps make sure you have enough content on the page to get indexed by search engines:
Then hit the “links” tab:
Choose “official website” from the drop down menu:
And enter your target page’s URL:
Head back to your profile page to make sure the content and link posted:
Looks good!
Here are some more audio sharing sites where you can grab some nice followed links:
- http://www.reverbnation.com (PR6)
- http://8tracks.com/ (PR6)
- http://bandcamp.com/ (PR7)
- http://sutros.com/ (PR5)
- http://yourlisten.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.mobypicture.com/ (PR5)
- http://sharemyplaylists.com/ (PR5)
- http://wearehunted.com (PR5)
There are also quite a few podcast directories you can submit to with followed links. They work like audio sharing sites: just upload your audio and get a link in return.
- http://podcastdirectory.com/ (PR6)
- http://www.blubrry.com/ (PR5)
- http://podcast411.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.allpodcasts.com/ (PR6)
- http://www.podcastalley.com/index.php (PR6)
- http://www.podcasting-station.com/index.php (PR4)
- http://applian.com/guide/ (PR3)
- http://dailysplice.com/ (PR4)
Design Galleries
If you have a decent looking website or logo, you can get high PR followed links from design galleries.
First, make sure you’re running a site with a) a completely from-scratch unique theme or b) highly customized free theme. A generic free WordPress design won’t get accepted by most design gallery sites.
The submission process is usually straightforward. Just head to the design gallery’s homepage and look for a submit button. In this example we’ll be using http://bestwebgallery.com/ (PR6).
Fill in details about you and your site.
Choose “submit a site” from the dropdown menu.
In the comments area I’ve found that it helps to write that the site was designed from scratch.
Here are a few more web, CSS and logo design sites that hook you up with followed links.
- http://designshack.net/ (PR6)
- http://www.cssheaven.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.designbombs.com/ (PR5)
- http://makebetterwebsites.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.cssdesignawards.com/ (PR6)
- http://unmatchedstyle.com/ (PR6)
- http://www.webcreme.com/ (PR6)
- http://styleboost.com/ (PR6)
- http://creattica.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.pagecrush.com/ (PR5)
- http://screenfluent.com/ (PR5)
- http://minimalexhibit.com/ (PR4)
- http://www.1pagewebdesign.com/ (PR4)
- http://thedesigninspiration.com/ (PR4)
- http://www.html5arena.com/ (PR3)
- https://www.canva.com/create/logos/ (PR4)
Artist Portfolio Sites
You can still land some high quality, followed backlinks from artist portfolio sites… even if you failed 8th grade art class. Most allow submissions from art of all shapes and sizes, including marketing campaigns and graphic design. Even if your niche is weight loss or insurance, you can get a handful of quality links from portfolio sites.
Let’s use Shownd.com (PR5) to illustrate how it’s done.
Head to their homepage and click the “create a free account” button.
Pick a keyword-rich URL and fill out the rest of the information that the site asks for.
The site will redirect you to your homepage.
Like most portfolio sites, you get a link from shownd.com every time you upload something to your portfolio. The easiest way to display your work is simply to upload a screenshot of your site. You can do that with ease using the Web Screenshots tool.
Head to https://screenshot.guru/ and paste your homepage URL into the field.
Then click on the “Download Image” button.
This will open up the image in your browser. Right click (or ctrl + click on a Mac) and choose “save image as…”
And name the file something you’ll remember.
Head back to shownd.com and hit the “New Project” button.
Fill in your target page’s URL and add a brief description:
Then click “Create”:
Click the “Add Image” button:
And upload the screenshot of your site.
To see your link, click the “View Your Showcase” link.
And look at the image you uploaded:
You can get more followed portfolio links from:
- http://www.behance.net/ (PR7)
- http://foliohd.com/ (PR5)
- http://sortfolio.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.wix.com/ (PR8)
- http://paspartout.com/ (PR4)
- http://hostmyportfolio.com/ (PR2)
- http://www.krop.com/ (PR6)
- http://designrelated.com/ (PR4)
- http://www.glossom.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.ispyart.com/ (PR3)
- http://www.professionalontheweb.com/ (PR5)
- http://shadowness.com/ (PR5)
- http://www.coroflot.com/ (PR6)
Make Your Links Stick
There’s nothing worse than taking the time to create an account, upload a piece of content and drop a link… only to find your page deleted by a moderator a few weeks later. Fortunately, there are a couple of dead-simple ways you can make sure your links stick over the long-term.
Create a Complete Profile
One of the biggest red flags for moderators is a thin profile or member page that only contains bare bones info and a link.
Let’s say you created an account at Shownd and really wanted to keep it active. First, upload a picture of yourself. Look for the “Add your personal thumbnail” area and hit browse.
And choose a picture of yourself.
And click “Upload”.
Next, head back to your About You area and fill in a few more details about yourself:
Next, try to blend into the site. If you run a site about dog training and you’re posting on a site about music you shouldn’t write that you run a dog training site. Instead, go incognito: creatively make your page relevant to your site and theirs.
Let’s say I ran a site about SEO and wanted a link from YourListen.com. When filling out my profile I’d focus on my taste in music, and only casually mention that I do SEO. That way, if a mod ever look at my page, it looks like I’m a member of the community that also happens to run a website about SEO.
In the bio area of your profile, add content that matches the site… while throwing in a few keywords for the search engine spiders:
Find Your Own at Knowem
If you’re hungry for more followed submission links, Knowem is a fantastic resource for you. Knowem compiles business, personal and freelance profile, portfolio and social sites all in one place.
First, head over to http://knowem.com/. Enter your site’s brand name and click “Check It”:
Scroll down and click “CHECK OVER 500 MORE SOCIAL NETWORKS”:
And you’ll be presented with a boatload of potential targets.
However, you do need to manually check each one to see whether or not they allow followed links. In my experience the “Business” and “Community” sections tend to work the best.