Inbound Links for E-Commerce Site

[NetPhr3ak]

Since many sites in my niche (e-commerce site: body jewelry, tattoo supplies) are e-commerce/direct competitors of mine, I'm having a really hard time getting quality inbound links from relevant/related sites (that aren't link pages). Has anyone experienced similar problems with their projects? If so, can you please offer me some advice? I look forward to your response. Thanks!

[Dubbya]

You might consider trading links with similar sites on the other side of the world. They'll be totally related to your site, and if they're well established, highly beneficial.

I've done this myself, with some success. Since I don't ship outside my country, I'm not perceived as a threat to their bottom line, nor are they to mine.

Another thing that you might consider would be partnering with one or two competitors to write articles and distribute them to niche sites, making sure to include links to each other's sites.

Just take turns doing one or two articles a month and see how it goes. It takes some trust and a degree of commitment but can really work well if the articles get featured somewhere.

Blog like a fiend! I'd think that your clientele would have a ton of questions that you might be able to answer. Join and participate in some niche forums, so much the better if they let you post a link in your forum signature.

.02

[dean]

Maybe you need to think outside the niche a little bit, but still be relevant. Who uses the product? Body jewelry and tattoo supplies, I'd look into sites for bikers, movie star wannabes, soccer moms or SEO specialists. Who links to your competitors?

[SemAdvance]

Thinking further outside the box... how many body piercing / tattoo shops in the bricks and mortar business have links??

Most of the organic SERPs are crowded with content based sites littered with Ads.

Where in the Paid Ads section, one typically finds e-comm merchants, who realize business online is transacted no differently than business offline.

I mean a quick look around any stores, banks, car dealers, real estate agency, dry cleaner, etc in your neighborhood, and you will notice none have a silly toolbar on their walls...

;->

Easiest way to get links however is to put out link bait....

Peace!

[incrediblehelp]

Do you have a blog?

[Webnauts]

Another good shot could be to search for relevant to your site niche directories and submit your site there.

[Janna122003]

Originally Posted by NetPhr3ak

Since many sites in my niche (e-commerce site: body jewelry, tattoo supplies) are e-commerce/direct competitors of mine, I'm having a really hard time getting quality inbound links from relevant/related sites (that aren't link pages). Has anyone experienced similar problems with their projects? If so, can you please offer me some advice? I look forward to your response. Thanks!

You can post on fashion forums or jewelry forums since your site has jewelry.

[inertia]

I reckon there's a wealth of opportunities for you out there in the social media market. Setup a facebook/myspace and start groups called "i love tattoos" (or "isn't body jewellery great" - you get the picture!). The good thing about this is that the users will build content for you and if you do well enough you will raise your profile to the point of people linking to you without you even knowing!

You could also create vids and get them on youtube. Maybe create a vid of your mate getting his balls tattooed or something equally attractive to the young online community! Remember the "will it blend" vids? Well how about the "will it tat" series? I'm not saying you should go out and tattoo cats or anything but there is a huge variety of vids you can do!

Hit the tattoo forums but not with the idea of generating links or business just think purely about helping, advising, and asking. Business and links will happen naturally if you do that.

Write articles and blogs which are genuinely interesting/provoking/controversial/funny etc etc.... and they will generate links! Especially if you tell everyone in the "i love tattoos" group on facebook to check it out. Are you starting to see the possibilities???

Sign up for Google alerts and get alerts on all your keywords sent to you everyday. That will give you plenty of places to drop comments on articles and blogs.

Or.... pay me and ill do it for you! (am i allowed to say that?!)

[NetPhr3ak]

Hello everybody!

Wow, what a great response. Thank you all for your feedback! Everyone had a lot of great ideas. Hopefully you'll share a few more once I give a clearer overview of my situation.

Just so you know, anything mentioned in this post is meant aggressively. Sometimes when I ask questions or make statements people think I'm disagreeing with them, so please don't take it that way. I'm just making sure I'm properly informed.

A few more details about bodyempire.com:

Problem 1: Authority Links
My site is four/five years old. I do have inbound links from other sites throughout the world, however they're not from authority sites (PR5+). Excluding direct competitors, very few authority sites exist in the tattoo, body jewelry industry.

JANNA12203 I thought my site would be penalized for having inbound links from unrelated sites (fashion sites, bikers sites, etc.)? I've been told that having links from sites that aren't directly related to my keywords, etc will hurt my rankings (SEMPO Certification). I could be misinformed, has anyone else been told that?

Problem 2: Getting Around the NoFollow Tag
In addition to requesting links from sites in related industries (bikers, etc) I also tried the social media (myspace, facebook) & blogging route (leaving comments on sites with the following keywords: body jewelry, tattoo supplies). That worked well until the infamous nofollow tag was introduced a few years ago. Has anyone figured out a way to receive back links from legitimate comments. I tried to plug a few in this post, however I doubt it will help since the links are from a web development site.

Thanks again!

[Dubbya]

It's always best to try to obtain IBL's from related pages but you can't control who links to you, so it's unlikely that you'd experience any penalties just because you get IBL's from unrelated sites.

Unless you're buying tons of links or listing in blacklisted link farms, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Keep on fighting the good fight. Even if links receive the "nofollow" attribute, they're still likely to generate some traffic and that's what really matters.

Like I said, post some articles and participate in online forums. You might even consider placing swapping some ads in related sites such as ecommerce sites that cater to bikers, musicians, exotic dancers, etc.

Because there are so many low quality sites in your niche, you're going to have your work cut out for you.

I'd try this:

Make a list of your top 10 competitors. Snag their URL's and find out where their inbound links are coming from and try to get listed there as well.

Use the link operator and their URL in Google to make a manual list and knock them off one by one.

For example, enter this in the Google search box:

"link:http://www.competitorsite.com"

Alternatively, you can use a free program like WebCEO to make these lists quite easily. Enter in your competitors URL's then let the software find sites linking to them.

You'll be able to visit the URL's and look for their link exchange or submission form.

It's extremely time consuming but it does work well.

[nuttakorn]

I think we need to get the link from related site , may be you start from association website, community, information website.

[Janna122003]

Originally Posted by NetPhr3ak

JANNA12203 I thought my site would be penalized for having inbound links from unrelated sites (fashion sites, bikers sites, etc.)? I've been told that having links from sites that aren't directly related to my keywords, etc will hurt my rankings. I could be misinformed, has anyone else been told that?

All links from other site are ok but it's better to get links from related sites because it has high value than unrelated sites. Links from unrelated site would not get you penalized it just don't give high value.

[NetPhr3ak]

Thanks Janna

[Peter (IMC)]

Originally Posted by NetPhr3ak

Since many sites in my niche (e-commerce site: body jewelry, tattoo supplies) are e-commerce/direct competitors of mine, I'm having a really hard time getting quality inbound links from relevant/related sites (that aren't link pages). Has anyone experienced similar problems with their projects? If so, can you please offer me some advice? I look forward to your response. Thanks!

You call your site an ecommerce site, but I wouldn't go that far. It's an online catalog, nothing more. Not trying to be mean or anything, just being honest here. Ask your self, if you had an informative site about this niche, would you link to this website? (be really honest to your self,. )

here's 6 Reasons to Stop buying from the Other Guys!
We're a Customer Service Oriented Company!
No Minimum Order!
1000's of Items IN STOCK!
3 Convenient ways to Order- Phone, Fax, Online!
You can buy directly from the Manufacturer...NO MORE MIDDLEMAN!!!!
Competitive Wholesale Prices!

Why do people buy your products? Because there's no minumum order? Or because you have so many items in stock? You think price really is a determining factor? Oh, the customer can order by phone, fax and even online. The "Other Guys" don't have these options?

Notice also that by using the term "Other Guys" you´re saying something about yourself.

Opps! Did you mean to type Body Jewelry? This is terrible.

Jewelry and especially body jewelry is such an emotional product, but it's presented in such a cold way. Here's some tips:

Go to specialized body jewelry stores and take a look around. Don't pay attention to the jewelry it self but look at how they present their products. The design of the store. Ask to talk to the manager and chances are he will love to tell you about why they do things the way they do. Visit at least 3 stores so you get different perspectives.

Then try to work some ideas into your website.

[seiretto]

Originally Posted by Peter (IMC)

You call your site an ecommerce site, but I wouldn't go that far. It's an online catalog, nothing more.

YES IT IS an ecommerce site! Ecommerce (Definition) is just a sale completed on the Internet and this store can do this.

Originally Posted by NetPhr3ak

sites in related industries (bikers, etc)

Wait a minute, I am a biker (have been for 28 years) and I would not go near any of that stuff, sorry.
In the UK you could target women on the mid-life-crisis... all too often we see middle-aged women having tattoos and piercings.

[Peter (IMC)]

Originally Posted by seiretto

YES IT IS an ecommerce site! Ecommerce (Definition) is just a sale completed on the Internet and this store can do this.

Technically you´re right. But that's not what I meant.

[seiretto]

Originally Posted by Peter (IMC)

But that's not what I meant.

OK, but what did you mean???