Every Tuesday we pick a vertical market based on the number of votes a market receives at our Vertical Market Poll. This week it is the Sports market.  Based on the voting, this is not sporting goods stores, but sites about sports.  We invite all of you out there to post (in the comments) a specific link building recommendation for the sports market (a good directory, authority website, blog, link search, etc.). If it adds value, we will approve it, give you the credit and a “dofollow” link to your site. However, we will just delete stupid, irrelevant, spammy comments – only truly useful information will be allowed. 

It’s been a rather busy few days here and I have to admit, I am rushing to get this post finished.  But, in a way, those of you looking for sports links may benefit from my hurried approach.  You see rather than thoroughly investigating each resource, and taking the time to coach you on how to go about getting links, I am just going to list some sites that already offer links to sports related websites.  As always, you need good content and a reason for them to link to you.  But if you have it, there are a few gems below — including a PR7 and PR6 site.  So go forth and get your sports sites listed!

http://www.sportslinkscentral.com/

http://sportsvl.com/

http://www.hotsportslinks.com/ 

http://www.sportslink.org/ 

http://www.refdesk.com/sports.html 

http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/ent80.00.00/

Oh and remember one of the best things you can do is ask your friends for links.  Well we have a good friend working on a few sports sites.  So we’re going to share a little link love with him: Sports Scholarships and  Start Young Play Strong.  There you go Chuck! 

Now lets hear from the rest of you. Place your advice for link building for the sports market in the comments below. Those that are accepted will get a nice "dofollow" link from us.

Make sure you sign up for our email or RSS feed so that you are alerted every time a new niche market is covered. Even if we are not focusing on your niche, you just might see a pretty creative idea that will trigger an thought for your market. 

WE NEED VOTES!  Please be sure to vote for your market today!  VOTE HERE

[tags]sports market, sports websites, sports betting, sports links, link building, contextual links [/tags]

Vertical Measures

Every Tuesday we pick a vertical market based on the number of votes a market receives at our Vertical Market Poll. This week it is the Mortgage & Finance market. We invite all of you out there to post (in the comments) a specific link building recommendation for the mortgage market (a good directory, authority website, blog, link search, etc.). If it adds value, we will approve it, give you the credit and a “dofollow” link to your site. However, we will just delete stupid, irrelevant, spammy comments – only truly useful information will be allowed. 

Our recommendations this week center around blogs.  There are really two different links that you can get from other blogs; 1) links from comments, 2) links from the actual posts. 

Blog Commenting – we strongly recommend that you become active with several blogs related to the mortgage and finance industry.  In particular, blogs related to your niche.  If you specialize in FHA loans, then find posts about FHA loans and comment.  Be sure to add real value in you comment.  If you feel like being aggressive, try using your important keyword phrases as your anchor text in your "name" or in the comment itself.  Some bloggers are okay with that, some don’t like it.  It’s up to you on how you proceed.  To find relevant blogs and posts, try using the advanced search feature on Technorati.  Here is an example for "FHA Loans".  Like all link building that is worthwhile, this takes some time, effort and commitment.

Blog Posts – contextual links in the actual blog post are some of the most powerful links you can get.  But how do you get a blogger to write about you and link to you using your anchor text?  Well aside from paying the blogger, a practice frowned on by Google, you might offer to write a guest post.  Using the technique mentioned above to find related blogs, you might write to the blog owner asking if you can place a "guest post" on their site.  Believe me, most bloggers are happy to have someone else provide a guest post for them as long as it is professional and not a sales pitch about any one product or service.  Here is a sample email you might try:

Hi Arnie,
I recently started writing work for mortgage & finance sites as a content writer. I would like to write a guest post related to mortgages or finance on your site if you’re interested in accepting such a post. If you are interested, please let me know and I can send you an article for you to look over.

I will write a good, useful post on any topic specifically for your blog, free of cost. But I will need a by-line to build up my writing portfolio. In addition, there will be a link to my site (www.mysite.com) in the by-line or text. So, it will help all parties concerned.

Please note: I can write any topic that suits the audience of your blog.

Some sample posts written by me:

[list some URLS where the blogger can see your work]

All the above articles were widely read and received numerous links from other bloggers.

Thanks for your time and I am looking forward to your reply.

Thanks,
Vic

If you set aside a few hours per month pursuing both blog comments and blog posts, you will get some excellent links to your mortgage sites.  Now lets hear from the rest of you. Place your advice for link building for the mortgage & finance market in the comments below. Those that are accepted will get a nice "dofollow" link from us.

Make sure you sign up for our email or RSS feed so that you are alerted every time a new niche market is covered. Even if we are not focusing on your niche, you just might see a pretty creative idea that will trigger an thought for your market. 

WE NEED VOTES!  Please be sure to vote for your market today!  VOTE HERE

[tags]mortgage market, finance market, mortgage loans, financial services, mortgage links, link building, contextual links [/tags]

Vertical Measures

Every Tuesday we pick a vertical market based on the number of votes a market receives at our Vertical Market Poll. This week it is the Law Firm market. We invite all of you out there to post (in the comments) a specific link building recommendation for the legal market (a good directory, authority website, blog, link search, etc.). If it adds value, we will approve it, give you the credit and a “dofollow” link to your site. However, we will just delete stupid, irrelevant, spammy comments – only truly useful information will be allowed. 

There was a great post by Rishi on SEOmoz.org this week that gave us the idea for our recommendations below.  In fact, we are just going to grab some of his suggestions (to see them all visit his post), and give examples below.

Look for links from professional affiliations:

What business groups do you belong to? [example: AZIPA]
Who do you refer business to? [example: Notary Bids]
Do you know your regular clients or customers? [example: Fennemore Craig Client List]
Who provides complementary services to you? [example: Your CPA Firm]

Look for links from your personal network: 

Do any of your relatives and friends run businesses? [example: Start Young Play Strong]
What professional groups do you belong to? [example:  State Bar of Arizona]
What local businesses do you have more than casual acquaintances with? [example:  A Phoenix Law Firm Has Friends Here]
Do you belong to any community projects or do any charity work? [example: Arizona Cancer Charities]
Do you have a web profile anywhere? [example: Like a LinkedIn Profile]

OK – there are some really nice opportunities for law firms.  Now lets hear from the rest of you. Place your advice for link building for the law firm market in the comments below. Those that are accepted will get a nice "dofollow" link from us.

Make sure you sign up for our email or RSS feed so that you are alerted every time a new niche market is covered. Even if we are not focusing on your niche, you just might see a pretty creative idea that will trigger an thought for your market. 

WE NEED VOTES!  Please be sure to vote for your market today!  VOTE HERE

[tags] law firms, legal market, law firm niche, legal services, law firm links, link building [/tags]

Vertical Measures