Finding a suitable link prospect is a complex task for webmasters in terms of their link building tactics. Link building strategies used to be a prominent weapon a couple of years back. The SEO process now is no more a method of building hundreds of links overnight. These methods are completely off track, useless, and may even affect a website's rank, resulting in its continuous downfall. Whether you are a business owner, a blogger, or a webmaster, you need to be aware of the continuous Google updates. This helps you to drive your website’s SEO into the right direction.

According to Rand Fishkin (The Wizard of Moz)

"So I am not saying that all of the links building tactics of yore are gone. There are certainly some that still exist. I mean, directory stuff, there could be some curated lists that still make sense. But, by and large, Google is trying to end the practice of link building and renew the practice of link earning. I think that's why you see so many SEOs embracing content marketing, and I think this shift is going to happen even more heavily over the next 6 to 12 months. So if you get ahead of the curve now, you're going to be in a good place next year."

The year 2013 has brought many SEO myths than can be easily found all over the Internet, and they need to be focused upon.

People have kept talking about the link earning processes for a long time. However, things cannot be predicted before they begin. Years ago, building links was considered as one of the productive methods to achieve search results. However, the current scenario for gaining links has been completely changed and is one of the toughest parts of your link building tactics.

The link earning process is not as easy as it may seem. It depends on how you make an approach to the respective person.

Let’s take a quick look at steps to consider for links :

Step 1: Your purpose should be clear

My own experience would explain this point clearly thus making it more interesting.

I just created an infographic for one of our clients and we distributed it over different channels by using its embed code. It was amazing to see infographic going viral and being shared by many real users via different social media platforms.

Our Next step, which is very important:

We just setup Google alerts for the key terms included in the title and you won't believe the data from those results. A few people used our embed code and we asked them to put the reference link in their site appropriately. That material is owned by us and we contacted all of them who used that infographic, whether as a promotion technique or as a source.

Purpose: Our main objective is to demonstrate more easier and natural methods to earn the links, without manipulating anything for them.

Sum up: Just define the purpose and go through with it

Step 2: Communication is core part and shouldn't be taken lightly

When you are in link earning process then communication part is already integrated with it. There are many factors to be considered when you communicate with other person. Some of the ways include Email, voice/non voice chat etc. Based upon my level of experience, I have figured out some crucial factors that could play a vital role while communicating with a person. Let's take a look.

How can I present myself as an authentic person?

Here you go. Check out the below graph. You will get the idea.

1: Contact the right person: I just love this point. Approaching a genuine person for the links, your 50% work will be done for sure. Let me share my experience with this point.

I wanted a resource link for one of the niche blogs and found many contacts on that blog. I just shoot an email in a casual way to that blogger to assign me the right person. I got the reply as- “thanks for contacting us and here you go with the next process. Email id is karen@******.com”

It makes your process smoother for sure in terms of link earning!

2: Maintain Your flow: This is concerned when you are in the mid-level of the communication part. From this point I have learned that flow is a key factor. It helps you to reply to the person in a timely manner, thus showing how quick and active you are. Further, it indirectly shows your sincerity and genuineness for the link earning process.

If you are quick with a proper reply then your chances to get approval in link earning becomes higher. I tried to implement the same method to use in my link earning process.

PS: Be a quick person to reply for each query and make them easy to maintain the flow of your communication!

3: Do Final Conclusion: This is something yummy for you at the last.

In overall communication process if you get YES from the end prospects, then it feels amazing and it is worth your efforts at the end. Make a final draft for the overall communication part and send it over.

Everyone wants a positive conclusion for their link earning process. So, through my experience, I will suggest to consider and utilize the above factors when you do a communication to earn links for your site.

PS: The impact wouldn't be negative if you take these factors lightly. It just creates more distance from you and your link.

Step 3: Be a trust resource and reap the benefits

Being a resource is an added feature to earn links for your campaign.

I have analyzed many things while asking for links. When we include our trusted link, we get maximum positive responses from the end perspective. Well, there are number of ways by which you can show you are a trusted resource. Just take a look at some of them below.

Google+ Contributor page: You can store all contributed valuable links in your Google+ Profile page and you can send them as one of the trusted resources.

Industry Certification: There are many certifications running in the marketplace. It varies industry wise and makes a great impact. It will help to recognize you as a trusted person. Some of such certifications include Google Adwords, Analytics and many more.

Top Contributor: As a contributor, you can also cater your masterstroke to earn excellent links. Some of the best examples to contribute are SEOmoz, Google discussion, yahoo answers and many more. This will help to prove out your activeness in the Internet world.

Content Sample links: If you have an inclination in terms of source link with the content itself then try to use your sample content published links. There may be some bonus waiting for you. Try to make a transparent deal which makes sense. :)

Portfolio: This is a common way to make your approach. A complete portfolio helps them to build/develop a trust upon you in terms of link earning.

Summary: You can try and execute the above factors properly while you are in the process of link earning. These factors just take you more closer helping to target your links, so grab their benefits. We have experienced the same by using them.

Step 4: The Big Step: Gaining the link and the upcoming procedure

This is the final step. You finally get the link where you want it. Well, this is not the end, it is just another step of your process. Gianluca Fiorelli, one of my favorites and a great author at SEOmoz.

This is true. Your task isn't over even after you are done with earning the links. There are still some major aspects which need to be followed, where promotion plays a vital role. If it’s not viral then all your efforts may prove out worthless.

Provide maximum social signals. This also adds up to the real value of those links. Explain its need and importance which would be more helpful to others as well. This will result in gaining better end results which is very important for your campaign.

Small Tip: Every link matters. Just make a positive approach to promote them well…!

We recently earn the Link from “Digital Marketing Monthly iPad Magazine

Let’s take a small tour that how we got the link exactly.

We published one post in the blog section of our own site called Blurbpoint.com, here is the link.

We got an email from Digital Marketing Monthly iPad Magazine regarding our article.

They wanted to publish our article post in their upcoming edition which was related to Panda/Penguin edition. After receiving their email, we contacted them to know about their offerings and were amazed when they informed us about their wish to add out the post as one of the authors in their book.

You can see it in the below image:

You would be able to view the publishers like Kyle Marvin, Kristi Hines, Jim Lodico which are quite famous in the Internet marketing industry. We are also one of them and get links from their edition.

Benefits: By adding out post in their edition, we got a chance to go viral along with the subscribers of that edition. You can also check out the published link here. This online magazine is meant only to work upon ipads and can be downloaded easily by the ipad users. So, through this way we earned this link and are gaining benefits since then. There are many other ways through which you can add up more assets for your Internet marketing campaign.

One more thing I want to share

Recently I read the best blog related to link earning by Jon Cooper.  He got 52 responses from high profile SEO experts about the most creative ways to get a link. I must say after reading the post you are sure to get at least 52 ways to earn links. Jon not only got excellent responses but was also mentioned by 52 SEO experts via his post. You can see the social mentions as well and imagine how it goes viral.
This is also one of the ways to earn link and Jon did a fantastic job here.

Final Outcomes:

I hope this post turns out to be helpful to the people for their link earning process. It’s my own experience and I would further also like others to share their views, ideas and experiences of link earning process.

I would honestly love to receive your comments, thoughts and other feedback.