Do I need backlinks?

[YNWA]

Hi,

My theory is yes I do. But the problem I have is a small budget and competitors who have a big one.

My problem is we have a small number of external links and linking root domains.

My profile from a domain analysis read like this in March and then May...

External Followed Links - Mar 103 | May 257
Total External Links ------- Mar 114 | May 276

Total Links ------------------- Mar 5,577 | May 24,425

Followed Linking Root Domains - Mar 24 | May 47
Total Linking Root Domains ------- Mar 30 | May 55

As you can see, progrss is being made considering I do this part time for a family website. But what I need is a big bump in these numbers as my 3 compeitors are pulling in silly numbers such as 308, 7000 and 45000 external followed links.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to compete with this realisticy without spending a fortune? I am putting the time and effort in so anything you guys can do to help the better.

I am using twitter and facebook quite a bit, and seen growth on Twitter go from 40 to 1,350 followers over 7 months. Visits to the site over 7 months have gone up 50% as well.

However sales are still looking about 10-15% up on previous year.

I need more links coming into the site don't I? And what is the most important part of the Domain Analysis, what shoudl I want to increase first and foremost?

Any ideas?

Cheers

Will

[BryanCasson]

Unfortunately, this is common with smaller (low budget) companies. There is no way to compete when it comes to the number of links you receive, however, you can control the quality of the links you receive. Getting a few high quality links PR6 PR7 PR8 PR9 etc will be more valuable than 10 0000 PR2 links.

I also suggest you write high quality content, as fresh, trendy content can outrank high pagerank. High quality content is more likely to develop natural links that are not so spammy.

[YNWA]

Thanks.

When I say small budget, we have a smaller one than competitors but if needed we could spend approx £500 p/m on doing a SEO Backlink campaign. But would need to know if this is the main thing we should target.

Also when you say PR, often when gaining links, the root domain is high PR but the page your article ends up on is low PR.

Does this matter? And how do you get a high PR article/link on the main domain that will last?

Often blog posts stay on the main domain front page for a week then they ae archived are they not?

[Matt-Williamson]

A website needs links like a car needs fuel when it comes to search engine ranking, however as Bryan has pointed out it is important to focus on quality rather than quantity. I just thought I would add some information on link building that may give you some ideas -

http://www.seomoz.org/q/drowning-in-a-sea-of-link-building-advice

 - I would read all the responses as there are some ideas in there that might help you..

In regards to social media it sounds like your followers are increasing, however how are you finding your interaction with authority figures/ influencers as these relationships will help gain exposure - you might even be able to persuade them to produce a guest post for you if you decide to go down the blog route on your website.

[W3designer]

What you are doing is correct a gradual link building is far better and provides a long lasting result in search engines compared to using black hat techniques.

Concentrate on building links from websites that are relevant to your business, Sites with HIGH Page Rank, and also include alt tags where possible for target keyword.

Quality content containing your target keyword with use of keywords in your H1 tags and good internal link building within your site is also a plus side in SEO.

In terms of increasing conversions have a good 'call to action' on your main landing pages.

hope this helps

[YNWA]

Hi thanks.

Interaction is good I think. I am having decent chatter with customer base and also receiving followers, tweets, retweets and recommendations from football players, dj's, musicians, local celebs, actors, tv/media personalities etc.. so i feel I am getting our name out there.

I will continue what I am doing and take a look at your link, looks useful.

Thanks again.