How to Properly Approach Link Building and Ad Networks

BY Rachel Cagle
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Is your client having issues with their online visibility? It may be time to work on ad networks and link building. What are these? 

Ad Networks

An advertising network (ad networks for short) are defined by MarketingTerms​.com as, "A network representing many websites in selling advertising, allowing advertising buyers to reach broad audiences relatively easily through run-​of-​category and run-​of-​network buys." You can develop ad networks for each client through the use of effective link building.

Link Building

Moz defines Link building as, "the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own." “Link building can help boost content visibility via other websites and in the search results,” says George Nguyen, writing for Search Engine Land. However, link building is an effort you need to thoroughly prepare for.

First things first, you have to create content for your clients that is worth linking to. Effective link building means that the content you’re trying to highlight for consumers who click on your link is valuable to them. You can determine what that valuable content should be based on what your client wants to achieve. Your client’s site and the third-​party site should have something in common. If your client runs a funeral home, you probably don’t want to link their content to websites featuring baby products. Sites that have nothing to do with your client's products or services have no place in their ad networks.

Additionally, when planning the valuable content you want to spotlight in your client's ad networks, consider using content pages that show off your client’s expertise in their field. If your link building tactics consist of linking lower-​value promotional content or one of your client's product pages, “they may come across as paid links,” says Nguyen, “which may also discourage users from clicking through.”

You also need to vet the site you plan on link building your client's content with. Click on a few of the other links they feature on their site. Are they spam or do they lead to low-​quality sites? If so, the consumers who visit this page will probably assume, based on previous experience, that your client’s link is also something they shouldn’t click on. The same thing goes for the site you want to link your client's content to itself. Is it well made and full of good information? If not, you should probably consider more reputable sites when adding to your client's ad networks. Remember that Google will penalize any site that they believe has links to low-​quality sites.

If your client isn’t sure that link building is the right marketing tactic for them, reassure them with data from their target audience’s profile on AdMall by SalesFuel. Use the data on the marketing tab in this report to show them what percentage of their target audience has clicked on text link ads on websites and how much more likely their customers are to do so than other consumers. Reliable data may be the reassurance your clients need to invest in link building.


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