Getting found on Google
Get Other Websites Talking About You Too
A link from another site helps you get found more than tweaking yours again, here are 3 or 4 easy places to ask for one without a big favor.
You've spent weeks tweaking your website. You changed the cover photo, rewrote the pricing text, moved the contact button higher up the page. And visits keep coming from the same three places as always: people who already knew you, people who searched your exact name, not much else.
The question that actually matters isn't what else to change on your site. It's whether it's worth stepping away from it for a while to get another website to talk about you: your local business association, a supplier, the town paper. A link from outside does something no tweak of your own can do.
Why a link from someone else counts more than a tweak of your own
Google doesn't just read your website. It reads who's talking about you. When a website that isn't yours mentions you with a link, that's a vote of confidence you can't give yourself, no matter how much you polish your text.
A barbershop listed in the directory of its local business association ranks higher in search than that same barbershop rewriting its homepage headline for the sixth time. Not because the headline is bad, but because you wrote that headline. The association's directory was written by someone else, and that's what Google can't manufacture just by reading your site.
This doesn't mean your website is finished. If it still doesn't clearly say what you do, what it costs, and how to reach you, fix that first: nobody is going to mention a website that doesn't explain anything. But if that's already sorted, polishing sentences is the easy part, and also the part that moves the needle least.
- You change something that probably already worked fine
- Only people who already knew you existed see it
- It doesn't add any new voice talking about you
- A site with more history than yours lends you its trust
- You reach people who weren't looking for you, but for whoever mentioned you
- The link stays there for years; you don't need to repeat it every month
Which one to pick: Go after the mention once your site already says the essentials clearly. If that's still missing, fix it first: a link to a half-finished website doesn't bring customers, just visits that bounce.
Where to get one, without asking for a big favor
You don't need to call anyone important. You need to ask where there's already a spot set aside for exactly this.
- 1Your local business association or chamber of commerce
Almost all of them have a business directory on their website, and almost nobody signs up because nobody asks. An email is usually enough. - 2Your suppliers or partners
If you work with someone regularly, many of them have a "who trusts us" or "our dealers" page. Ask if you're listed there. - 3Local press
A neighborhood or small-town newspaper covers openings, moves, stories with a name attached. You don't need to pay, you need to let them know you exist. - 4A client with their own website
If you've done work for another business, ask if they can credit you as the one who did it, with a link to your site.
- You know why a link from someone else counts more than yet another tweak of your own
- You know exactly where to ask: your business association, suppliers, local press, clients with their own website
- You know what to avoid: buying or trading links
- You have the email ready to send today, with your own website linked
Tell us what you do and your site is live this afternoon
Say it in one line, the way you would say it to a customer, and it goes live. Free, no card needed.
Build my site free
