Get Incoming Links to Your Author Website

by Dana Lynn Smith

This post is part of my series on How to Get Traffic to Your Author Website. Today I'm offering ideas for drawing traffic to your site through incoming links from other websites.

How many times have you been reading something on a website and then clicked a link that took you to another site? If you're like me, you probably follow online links virtually every day.

One of the best ways to increase traffic to your own author website is to get as many quality incoming links from other sites as possible. Incoming links draw visitors from other sites, and in many cases they also make your site more attractive in the eyes of the search engines.

To be most valuable for both marketing and search engine optimization, incoming links should come from "relevant" websites – meaning sites that are geared to the target audience of your book and/or related to the theme of your book or website.

Website traffic generated from incoming links is often called "referral traffic" because it's referred from somewhere else.

Here are some ideas for generating incoming links to your author website, along with links to resources where you can learn more about each of these link building tactics.

• Offer guest articles on blogs that cater to your target audience.

• Link to your website from all other sites where you have a profile or presence (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Goodreads, Flickr, discussion forums, etc.)

• Do a virtual book tour. 

• Comment on relevant blogs. 

• Post articles in online newsletters, blog carnivals, article directories, or other websites that accept article submissions.

• Run pay-per-click ads on other websites. Possibilities include Goodreads, Facebook, Google, and websites specifically targeted at your book's audience.

These are just a few of the ways that you can increase traffic to your author website by generating incoming links. Learn more about building website traffic in these articles:

How to Get Traffic to Your Author Website

Author Websites – Getting Search Engine Traffic

 

Comments

[Randall St. Germain]

Thanks for the post. My blog is only about six months old and I need to focus more on incoming links. I need to better understand them too. So overwhelmed sometimes. I'll certainly check out your website for more information.

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Randall, I'm glad you enjoyed the post. I wish you much success with your website and your books!

[Marlene Wynn]

Hi, Dana

I just found your blog, and I love it already! I'm going to have to do some serious reading! I do have a question though: I'm getting ready to self publish my fantasy book and I'm creating a website now. It should be ready to go when I'm at the publishing stage. However, I'm confused as to how to garner "incoming links" from other sites. Do I ask the site owner for the link, or do they find me and post my site link on theirs? I've already put Facebook and Twitter links on my website, but not sure how to get my link out there and get other links on my site. Help!

Thanks for the wonderful information! Have a great day!

Marlene Wynn

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Marlene, congrats on your new book! I'm glad you are enjoying the website. No, I would not rely on others to find you and link to your site. You will need to be proactive. In the article above I have made several suggestions on how to get incoming links. For example, you can locate other blogs that cater to your target audience and offer to do a guest article for them. At the end of the article, you would include an "about the author" paragraph that mentions the name of your book and a link to your website.

You said you have put Facebook and Twitter links on your website, but be sure to list your website in your Facebook and Twitter profiles so your friends/followers can click through to your website.

[James Fouche]

Hi Dana,

Loved the article and thanks for all the help.

I've spiced up my one booksite a number of times (www.jackhanger.com) but I'm having difficulty promoting it from SA.

Any advice?

James Fouche
www.jamesfouche.com

[Dana Lynn Smith]

James, I am glad that you enjoyed the article. Another South African author that I know has told me that she has good success promoting her book in the U.S. market. To get some ideas for promotion, I suggest downloading my free book marketing plan outline at http://CreateYourBookMarketingPlan.com. And there are lots of how-to articles on this page: http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/book_marketing_maven/learn-how-to-market-your-book-and-yourself.html
Good luck with your books!
Dana

[Matthew D. Ryan]

Good info. I just always feel overwhelmed. I'd rather write than haunt the Internet looking for new ways to exploit it. But I got to do both... every writer does.

[Jamie Campbell]

Great article, thank you for the tips.