How to Build Links and Generate Traffic Using Web 2.0 Tools

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Got your link wheels?

Last year we heard a lot about how to get a high Google ranking in order to monetize traffic from niche keywords.

There are a number of ways to apply these principles.

Here are my handy tips on how to make the most of niche keywords using Web 2.0 tools.

More specifically, I’ll show you how to use website builders to build quick and easy mini sites to drive traffic to your main website or blog.

The Mini Site Approach

1. Build Mini Sites

Create a couple of mini sites around your main project.

Optimize these for frequently searched but low competition keywords to drive search-engine traffic (Market Samurai will help you with that).

These mini sites should link back to your authority website or blog (one way links), as well as any other relevant articles that you have published, for example on blogs or high-quality article directories.

Avoid linking ONLY to your own domain, but instead also link to related resources on other websites that add value to your mini site.

It’s a good idea to target your mini sites to different groups of readers.

For example, if your general project is photography, create separate mini sites for wedding photography, product photography and so on. You can reuse your content across all your sites by spinning and adapting it to suit each particular topic.

Note from Ana: yes, the recent Google Panda update. They are looking for original content. But that mostly applies to RANKING, not necessarily link building. You are not aiming to necessarily have your mini sites rank for something, although it’s always nice; rather it’s all about link building.)

Remember, spinning means you re-write your text so that search engines don’t classify it as duplicate content. Ideally this is done by manually changing the structure and syntax of your text so that it becomes a unique piece of content. You can even recycle videos, images and other artwork that you use with your main project.

Note from Ana: I am not a bit fan of spinning personally. It takes so long, it’s easier to write a new post for me. However, repurposing your content is a different story. This post might shed some light on how to do that as painlessly as possible: Content Recycling: How to Turn Articles into Videos in 5 Minutes

2. Gradually Add Backlinks and Create Content For Your Mini Sites

Link Structure for Mini Sites

Start to build backlinks to your mini sites, but do this over time. They can come from social bookmarking sites, forums, social media sites or YouTube videos – basically anywhere it’s easy.

Continue to add articles to your mini sites over time to ensure they always get fresh content.

Again, spin those articles for your other mini sites too. You can even spin older articles from your main website or blog.

This system usually works best if you reserve a couple of hours, say, once every two months, to carry out your updates.

The Quick Way to Build Your Mini Sites

Website builders make it quick and easy to get your mini sites up and running.

There are many builders on the market, but I recommend Webnode.com and Weebly.com in particular as they offer free website packages with very little advertising. They are extremely easy to use and you can just drag-and-drop your website elements into place.

Weebly and Webnode even allow you to use your own domain for free (although you will have to change some settings on your domain name server).

You can also purchase a domain through Weebly or Webnode, which is a little more expensive but less effort.

Note from Ana: you can also use free blogging platforms like WordPress.com, Blogger.com, etc. It’s much easier to be recognized as an authority site if you build your mini sites through them, since they are authority sites on their own accord.

Advantages of the Mini Site Approach

• Do it well and you get both good backlinks and traffic.
• You have full control over your links, unlike with some article portals and guest posts. This means you can build deep links to website pages that don’t usually get a lot of backlinks. (And you can add more and change them any time you want).
• It’s a quick way to give backlink power to new content on your main website or blog.
• Get additional backlinks from the directory pages of your website builder. Webnode’s directory adds a “nofollow” to their links, but the directory itself gets ranked high in Google so will still send traffic to your mini site.
• Use a domain you own already (particularly if it is an exact keyword match) to fully leverage niche keywords or, of course, buy one if you don’t.

Although this is not a quick-fix way to generate traffic and links, it’s well worth it.

I’ve found it’s a great addition to my other link building strategies such as article marketing and guest posting. And it doesn’t need to take up too much of your time either – once you have the first mini site set up, the rest are easy.

Good luck building your mini sites!