Easy Free Links to Your Website
If your website has been around for a while, it’s likely that you have changed some pages around over the years, if this is the case, it’s highly likely that there are a few free backlinks to be had for very little effort and no cost whatsoever! By following this process, I recently added over 200 backlinks to a clients website, the site itself was very focused on a particular niche, so I was able to point them all to a specific page we were working on, this action alone took them from page 3 in Google UK, straight in at the bottom of the first page, it took about 15 minutes.
Process for gaining Free Links
First off, you must have a Google search console account, if you don’t already, go and set one up, as it will come in handy for other things too. Second, you must be able to edit and upload your htaccess file on your web server, so you will also need a text editor, I use crimson editor usually and then upload via ftp.
Open up your GoogleSearch Console account first, then go to diagnostics / crawl errors then within web, click not found. You will see pages listed which no longer exist on your website but have links pointing to them from elsewhere on the web. If your site has been crawled but you don’t see any listed, this will not work for you.
Provided you do have some old pages listed, they will have numbers to the right, if you click on them it will show you all the external links already pointing to a page of your website, which no longer exists.
Open up your text editor next and load the local copy of your htaccess file (if it’s not already in the web folder, you may need to download it from your site, or possibly create it if you haven’t already done so). Now add the following line of text exactly as it is below but changing the web locations, so the first one is the page which no loner exists, the second is where you want it to point to, one line for each of your old url’s.
redirect 301 /myoldpage.html http://www.websitename/newpage.htm
Make sure you leave a blank line between each entry.
Those links which were previously pointing to a page on the web which no longer existed, now point to a page on your website. Oh, and did I mention, you now know how to do a 301 redirect too!
Or of course, if you would rather let us do this and many other aspects of SEO to your website, please do get in touch.
4 more places to find free backlinks
Before you read further: BE WARNED! The following are old techniques which if used wrong, or to excess will probably do your website more harm than good in the long run. That being said, used carefully, they could help to give you a diverse link profile and therefore be beneficial. I believe the key is to use them sparingly and make sure they’re relevant, in other words, use them as if you were using them fo the intended purpose and consider the links they provide to be a bonus.
- Blog Commenting Sites
One of the easiest ways to find free backlink lists is by searching for blog commenting sites on the internet. These are websites that allow you to leave comments on blog posts, and often include a link back to your website in your comment.
To find blog commenting sites, simply search for “blog commenting sites” in Google, and you’ll find plenty of lists that have been compiled by other bloggers and digital marketers. You can also use tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush to find blog commenting sites in your niche that have high domain authority and traffic.
- Web 2.0 Sites
Web 2.0 sites are websites that allow you to create and publish content for free, and often allow you to include links back to your own website in your content. Examples of web 2.0 sites include WordPress, Tumblr, and Blogger.
To find web 2.0 sites, simply search for “web 2.0 sites” in Google, and you’ll find plenty of lists that have been compiled by other bloggers and digital marketers. You can also use tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush to find web 2.0 sites in your niche that have high domain authority and traffic.
- Social Bookmarking Sites
Social bookmarking sites are websites that allow you to bookmark and share links to your own content, as well as other websites that you find interesting or useful. Examples of social bookmarking sites include Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
To find social bookmarking sites, simply search for “social bookmarking sites” in Google, and you’ll find plenty of lists that have been compiled by other bloggers and digital marketers. You can also use tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush to find social bookmarking sites in your niche that have high domain authority and traffic.
- Business Directories
Business directories are websites that allow you to submit your business to their listings, some could be specific to your industry or geographical area and offer free backlinks. Even if they don’t offer a link they will list your NAP info (Name address and phone number) so if you truly believe they are relevant, that can only be a good thing.
On the other hand, many directories are junk! If you have any doubt about submitting to them it’s probably best not to.
Does this work for a new site too?
Nope, only a site that’s been around for a while, would have these kind of orphaned links