One of the ways you can market your site yourself is by adding backlinks to your site. Backlinks are incoming links to a website or web page. In the search engine optimization (SEO) world, the number of backlinks is one indication of the popularity or importance of that website or page.

How do you do this?

1. Industry sites/directories
Visit industry sites that list businesses. Click around to find out how you can get your website included in their directories. Some may be free and some may have a subscription cost.

2. Associations/accreditations
Find out if any of the associations or organizations you receive accreditation from have an online directory on their websites. Most of them will also give you a logo/icon to add to your site so you can differentiate yourself from the competition.

3. Vendors/suppliers
Do the same for vendors. Call them and ask if they can add a link to your site from theirs. Some may ask that you reciprocate so be prepared to have a “links” or “resources” page on your own site to handle this.

4. Partners/colleagues
If you work with other businesses to complete a project, you may want to consider cross promotions on both of your sites. A “partners” page might be appropriate.

5. Social media
Consider adding your individual or business profile in sites like LinkedIn, FaceBook, MySpace, and Twitter. Some may be more appropriate than others for your type of business.

6. Review/feedback sites
Consider adding your business to review sites such as Yelp.com. They can be a great way to create “buzz” around what you do. However, be aware that users of those sites can post both negative and positive comments, so consider the risk.

7. Get creative
Think outside the box and find other non-competitive sites where it would make sense to add a link to your website. Contact them and inquiry. The worst they can say is “no”.

Increasing the number of backlinks to your site not only makes your site more popular with the search engines… it leverages what those other sites have done in terms of marketing already. The visibility of your website increases and so do the chances of higher traffic, and ultimately, conversion.