So it’s time for a reality check: the days where you were limited to shopping at Bettie Joe’s Toy Mart or Al’s Superstore for your son’s favorite action figures have long since passed. With the rise of the information age hundreds of businesses and services are a click away from most consumers, which means that if you run a business or website you can’t bank on being “the only place in town” to guarantee traffic anymore. This new age of abundant opportunities means that you’re going to have to offer some quality to bring in the masses, and on the internet that means good content.
So how can you create content that will trump the excellency of your competitors? Here’s a few tips to help you stand apart from the other websites that crowd the world wide web:

1. Update your definition of greatness

That idea you brewed up with your ‘bros’ last weekend may have sounded awesome when you were throwing back cheap tacos at three in the morning, but what are internet users really looking for? Do your research so you can sport some credibility in the content you write. In other words, know your topic! Users can recognize someone who knows what they’re talking about as opposed to some hack who threw together a blog post in a few minutes.

Excellent content sticks with people, and nothing makes your content sticky like information that people can act upon. Remember how quickly you zoned out when your professor told you “this part isn’t going to be on the test, but I’m going to cover it anway”? When content contains “actionable information”, the chances that users will retain and share what they find will increase exponentially.

2. Lose your ego

Being awesome doesn’t guarantee that users will come flocking to your site just to bask in its glory- in today’s world promoting your content has become paramount, so if you’ve been sitting around waiting for someone to notice you then you should probably lend an ear (or an eye, rather) to the following:

Market your content BEFORE you write it! Remember how you were salivating in the movie theatre when you finally got to see that awesome sequel you had been waiting for all year? Why were you bursting with anticipation? Someone “teased” you with short clips from the film months prior to build that anticipation! Planning how you will promote your content, including giving your fans/users/consumers a date to expect, will drastically improve the attention your new content gets when you release it. You may even consider consulting the masses by means of survey or contacting major “influencers” in your  specific field to help determine what your new content will be and when to release it, because timing is just as important as getting the word out.

Conclusively…

Notice any reoccurring themes here? Planning and action are key to good content. Users hop on the web so that they can do something: from buying a product to finding a funny video to share, so plan to provide content worthy of their efforts! Make your content easy to access with a look and feel that will have people linking to you from all over the internet!

So we get it: link building is crucial to getting potential customers to our websites, so the more links the better… right? Of course (we won’t deny the benefits of link volume), but Google does not appreciate you leaving your “link children” all over irrelevant web pages simply for the sake of building your authority on their index. In fact, as Google’s search algorithm has changed over the past few years (over 13000 changes and counting) it has become abundantly clear that Google is not only opposed to, but taking an active role against link building simply for the sake of influencing rankings on their index.
“So how will I get Google to acknowledge my precious links? Traffic has to come from somewhere!”
The internet supports little to no exceptions to the principles that govern any good business: success on the internet is about good public relations and a friendly user experience.
Here are a few ideas things to consider when tackling these 3 principles of good link building:

1. Relevance

When you’re checking out the magazine rack at the supermarket, you’re not going to pick up a fashion magazine to find out what’s going on in the gaming world. Link to sites where your target audience is likely to be present, looking for your unique services. For example, as an electronics manufacturer you might submit some of your new products to a popular tech site for a review.

2. Authority

A job reference from the CEO of a prestigious marketing company will definitely have more impact on an application than a reference from your third grade teacher. Google will grant more authority for links from sites that are “experts” or important authorities on the topic of your link. A link from a world renowned shoe corporation to your sock website will grant you more link authority than a link from Bob’s Shoe Repair of Kansas City.

3. Trust

The crime syndicate on your street corner may have a lot of authority in your neighborhood, but when the FBI shows up on the scene you probably don’t want to be associated with any of the crooks. Google also considers how trustworthy the sites are that link to you. This means that links from a “good” site may not be so helpful if they themselves have links with less desirable web pages.

Ultimately, legitimate link building is about meeting user needs. Link authority comes from offering value that will fulfill the intent of potential customers browsing the web, in fact, Google has made it abundantly clear that a “friendly user experience” is the very intent of their efforts. When the user becomes the focus of online marketing efforts, links will always flourish in the lovely “home” we’ve given them.