Want to increase the authority of your website? Then you have to build credible, "Google-approved" backlinks, and we want to help you learn how. This presentation offers key ways to build search engine approved backlinks and explains how to market your content for success.

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3. Introduction
Prior to 2013, the big buzz in search engine marketing was all about building backlinks
(links to your website from other websites, also referred to as inbound links or incoming links). As
it turned out, having a large quantity of backlinks was one of the quickest ways to ensure a top
spot on Google’s search engine results pages. Because of this, most SEO firms started flooding
their clients’ websites with backlinks, causing websites to rank well for queries unrelated to the
content of the website. Google has since caught on to these SEO tactics and with their latest
algorithm update (Penguin 2.0), have been slamming webmasters who don’t create natural,
legitimate backlinks.
So how does this affect your website? As the webmaster of your site, you have the ultimate
power and control to create a backlink portfolio that will solidify your website’s credibility to
search engines, while potentially improving your ranking in Google’s search results pages.

4. Why You Need Links
Search engines take many different factors into account when ranking websites in their results
pages. Your link portfolio is one of the many factors that search engines analyze when determining
your website’s authority, and the more quality backlinks you have, the better chance you will rank
well in the search engine results pages.

5. Different Types of Links
Before discussing how to build a strong backlink profile, it’s important to understand the
four primary types of links your website could acquire:
• Internal – An internal link is any link within your website that sends visitors from one of your webpages to another page on
your website. For example, directing visitors from your Cosmetic Dentistry page to your Before and After Gallery via a link within
the page’s content is known as an internal link. These links help create user-friendly navigation by allowing visitors to quickly
access your webpages that discuss similar topics.
While internal links don’t have a significant impact on the strength of your link profile, they can improve your site optimization
by engaging users for a longer period of time, thus increasing the amount of time visitors spend on your site.
• External – External links are links on your website that direct users to completely separate websites. These links allow you
to refer visitors to other sources of helpful, relevant information online. For example, sharing a link to the American Dental
Association’s website is an external link that provides your website visitors to obtain more information about dentistry.
• Inbound – Inbound links are links on other websites that direct visitors over to your site. These types of links are the most
sought after and authoritative, as quality inbound links improve your page authority and impact your ranking on Google’s
search results pages. Inbound links will help your search engine ranking when the linking website has quality content that
relates back to your practice’s website.
• Paid – Paid links are inbound links purchased from a link retailer. While this may seem like a good idea, paid links are not
always quality inbound links and are generally frowned upon. With Google’s latest algorithm, paid links are almost guaranteed
to hurt, rather than help, your search engine ranking.

6. Additional Dangers of Buying Links
Most paid link services sell thousands of links, all of which stem from a
single domain name. When Google’s spiders crawl your website and see
thousands of links coming from the same source, it raises a giant red flag.
A solid backlink portfolio consists of a variety of inbound links from different
websites, each with different page authorities. For example, you want
links from high authority pages that receive a ton of traffic and have many
credible backlinks (like the ADA’s website) and you want backlinks from less
authoritative websites, such as the websites of your network of referring
doctors.
When building backlinks, a general rule of thumb is “quality over quantity.”

7. One of the toughest issues facing search engine marketers and
webmasters today is how to build quality links without getting hit with a
penalty.
Building a solid backlink portfolio takes time and effort; you can use the
following strategies to collect quality inbound links to your website:
How to Get Inbound Links

8. By joining your local chamber and the BBB, you can obtain a high-
authority, quality backlink, simply by asking to claim your listing on their
website. Additionally, some local libraries will also link to your website. When
inquiring, let them know that your website provides educational content.
Join your local Chamber of Commerce
and the Better Business Bureau (BBB)1

9. Complete Directory Submissions
Submitting your website to online directories is one of the most common methods of acquiring backlinks.
While there are thousands of online directories, you still want to be sure you are submitting your listing to quality
sites. We recommend submitting your information to DMoz Directory and Patch.com. Other directories you may
also want to consider include:
• 1-800-Dentist - Patients use 1-800-Dentist to find a provider and review patient feedback.
• Checkdent – Allows patients to search for local providers, ask questions, and view educational videos.
• DentalCenter.com – Submit your practice to allow local patients to research your services and read
patient reviews.
• Dentists.com – Sign up to allow users to search for your practice and make an appointment directly
from the business listing.
• GeoDentist – Add your listing to the site to allow local patients to contact your practice.
• National Directory of Dentists – Find your listing, claim, and optimize it to let patients search for your
services by city or zip code.
• eDentist.com – Upload practice photos, share the services you offer, and let searchers obtain direction to
your practice.
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10. Well-known bloggers are often stretched for time and have difficulty
creating enough content for their sites. Guest blogging enables you to write
and publish an article on their blog site. See if any bloggers in your industry
have guest blogging opportunities, as most guest blog posts link to your
website, giving you a credible backlink while increasing your online exposure.
Write A Guest Blog On Another Site
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11. Publishing articles that highlight innovative services you offer or events
you’re participating in can get picked up by local, national, and global news
sources. Once the articles are published, they can generate thousands of
high quality links to your practice website. Some well-known press release
services include: PRWeb, PitchEngine, PRlog, and Marketwired.
Publish Press Releases
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12. Answer Questions
Question and answer websites (such as Yahoo! Answers and Quora)
allow users from all over the world to seek answers to their questions.
You can offer your expert advice by responding to questions that relate to
your services. By answering these questions, you can build credibility as a
provider, and generate a backlink by letting users know they can find more
information on your website.
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13. Sponsor a local event or charity
When you sponsor a local event or a charity, it’s likely that your practice
will get some sort of PR via newspaper article or online press release.
Additionally, most charities and organizations will list their sponsors and
partners on their website. When making your donation, simply ask if the
organization is willing to provide a link to your practice website.
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14. Fill out your social profiles correctly
Search engines have begun to place a higher emphasis on social
networking activity within their algorithms. Ensuring your social media
profiles include a link to your practice website will show search engines your
social involvement while giving your website another link.
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15. Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
Vocus, a major marketing firm, offers a free service known as Help a
Reporter Out (HARO), that can provide you with big (free) link opportunities.
HARO sends you daily emails, connecting you with local and national news
sources that need help writing their articles. As an expert in your industry,
find reporters seeking your knowledge and get publicity for helping out. It’s
that simple!
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16. Speak at an event
When you volunteer to speak at an event, the organization will often
announce your involvement on their website. Ask the event committee
to link to your practice website so attendees can learn more about your
expertise. It’s a winning situation for both parties.
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17. Most Internet marketing companies or print marketing services want to
share case studies with their prospects, to show just how successful their
services can be. If you’ve achieved marketing success through one of your
partner agencies, ask them if you can volunteer for a case study in exchange
for a backlink.
Volunteer to participate in a case study
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18. If you want high-authority links, sponsor a scholarship. By running
scholarship contests, you can generate links from tons of local colleges and
universities who are willing to advertise your scholarship on their website.
Search the following query in Google to find schools that will provide a
quality do-follow link to your site:
Query 1 - site:.edu “scholarships”
After you’ve found local schools that you want to offer your scholarship
through, contact the administration and request they advertise your
scholarship and link to your website.
Sponsor a scholarship
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19. Often, alumni associations will link to the webpages of their graduates
to highlight what their former students have accomplished. If you are a
member of your alma mater’s alumni association, request that they link to
your website.
Contact your alumni association
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20. Link Anchor Text
When displaying a link online, there are two ways to go about it: a link with
anchor text and a link without. For example:
Link - Visit our blog at www.prosites.com/blog.
Link via anchor text - We would like to invite you to visit our blog.
While both of these links go to the same webpage, the link with anchor text
associates the keyword “blog” with the link. Whether creating internal links
or trying to generate inbound links, use anchor text wherever possible, as
they can help your ranking for anchored keywords/phrases.

21. No Follow vs. Follow Links
When generating links for your website, the inbound links you acquire can
be classified as either no-follow or follow. Follow links are crawled by search
bots and are taken into account when determining the rank of your website.
No follow links are hidden from search bots, thus cannot impact your
website’s authority.
Most search engine marketers prefer to accumulate follow links. While
follow links are important, no-follow links can also improve your search
ranking, as they still drive targeted traffic to your website. Being so, it’s
important to obtain both follow and no follow links.

22. Conclusion
While backlinks don’t have the supreme power to get your website to the top of
search results pages as they once did, they are still a huge factor in search engine
ranking algorithms. Creating a solid network of credible and relative backlinks can prove
to search engines that your website is the best result for your prospective patients’
search queries.
We encourage you to try these backlink strategies and see how they improve your
search ranking.

23. Marketing Your Practice Online
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new patients through professional website design and Internet marketing services.
Want to learn more? Talk to an online marketing expert about your website needs, and
they’ll help you decide what you need to get started. Call us at (888) 932-3644.