Are Creating Free WordPress and Joomla Themes a good link building strategy?

[Juratovic]

Hello Everyone,

I have been analyzing various link building strategies recently. One tactic that always seems to come up is to give stuff away. I wanted to get everyones thoughts on creating Wordpress and Joomla Themes, then giving them away as a link building strategy? The goal would be to create some stellar themes, then place our website link in the footer with some text that would read "Wordpress Theme by Pete Juratovic" and Pete Juratovic would point to my website.

Is this a good tactic, or would this look like spam? If spam, why? Why would this tactic be any different then creating a great infographic as a link building stratedgy?

Pete

[Vahe.Arabian]

Pete,

If other people are using it, it means they are crediting your work. Just make sure to promote your themes on authority design sites rather than distributing to dozens of lower quality sites.

Same things goes for infographics and a link building strategy.

Thanks,

Vahe

[Juratovic]

Hi Vahe,

Thank you for the repsonse. Do you have any references on what a good quality theme site may be?

Thank you,

Pete

[RyanKent]

Why would this tactic be any different then creating a great infographic as a link building strategy?

If you created an infographic as a link building strategy, you would presumably receive a single link in content for the infographic. You may or may not have the infographic itself as an image link to your site.

If you create a CMS theme, you would receive a footer link. Footer links are the least visible and lowest valued link.

Also consider with the infographic someone is choosing to provide a link to your site based on your great graphic work. With a theme link, many of those using the software are not voluntarily providing the link. They may wish to remove the link but keep it based on your copyright. Google is pretty good about understanding such differences.

The main focus I would suggest is quality. If your site is related to Joomla or WP, such as if you develop websites using those solutions, then creating a theme is relevant to your site. If you make a high quality theme, it is representative of the quality of your work as well. It can be a solid idea. Hopefully your theme becomes the subject of "Best Joomla Themes" articles. If such is the case, your theme can generate a lot of usage and links. On the other hand, if you just kick out an average theme you wont likely see much benefit.

[Vahe.Arabian]

Ryan I agree with you, however unless you have creative commons for your infographic, this will be scraped on most sites with no link pointing back to the website.

It all comes back to whether your site is authoritative enough to be considered as the original source by search engines. Both methods are voluntarily link placements from the website owner. It's about how you manage those relationships.

[Vahe.Arabian]

Pete,

To be honest I don't have specific example. You can look at specific CSS, HTML  or Wordpress (PSD) Theme galleries. You can also search for these galleries by conducting specific queries i.e. "submit theme".

One thing I would check before you submit your themes, is to ensure these sites have strict submission guidelines, particularly submitting original themes/contents. You should also track these links on a regular basis.

Hope this helps,

Vahe

[RyanKent]

I agree with you Vahe. Either method is subject to theft and dishonesty. The theme can have the link removed and the infographic may be offered without a link.

[RyanKent]

There is a huge variety of themes. Themes for each CMS, themes for real estate sites or themes for e-commerce, etc.

A fantastic general Joomla theme which I love is: themeforest.net/item/blackstudios-creative-joomla-15-template/full_screen_preview/129204

The designer has a 5 star rating with this theme, promptly replies to questions, and the theme was showcased on the front page of the theme site.

[SaforwebDesign]

Have you think about develope any simple joomla's module/plugin? A link to your website from JED will be so relevant...

Infographics are a very good natural way to do link building, because a lot of sites are going to link to you in a natural way.

Share a good theme in VERY RELEVANT sites is a good option too... A lot of sites downloading yout theme is an important factor that Google loves. If anyone is downloading your files is becauser your files are interesting, and Google wants people finds RELEVANT INFORMATION.

I hope it can help you