Free Link Building Kit for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) from WordStream

1. The MadeUpCompany Link Building Kit
This is an “internal link building template”. One best practice for companies hoping to attain high search
rankings is to get company employees to link to your site. This document attempts to give a brief run-
down as to how to go about requesting that your employees link to you.
The main things to note here are that:
• It’s too long – This could be considerably shorter. One reason it’s too long is that, personally, I
would rather have one link from someone who had been properly instructed than ten from
people who have a vague idea of what they should be doing. The potential for seeing four pages
and not reading a word is definitely there, though, so keep that in mind.
• It’s not terribly specific – You could tailor this more to your industry, make it more personal,
expound on the “why bother” portion.
• If you have a large company, stagger who gets this request – The request takes into account
that you want to vary anchor text, but doesn’t take into account that you don’t want 10k links
on the same day, after you’ve had a steady influx of a few dozen a day…if you’re a large
company, keep this in mind and split up your list of recipients so as to have different people link
at different times.
Hi Everyone,
We’d like your help developing inbound links to the MadeUpCompnay website. If you have any
questions, suggestions, or feedback of any other kind regarding this document, or link building in
general, shoot either Joe or Mary an email: joe@MadeUpCompany.com or
mary@MadeUpCompany.com.
Why Bother?
One of the most important sets of factors taken into account by search engines in ranking a Web page in
organic listings is the number, quality, and content of inbound links. Links can also direct visitors to our
website.
For this reason, we’d like to get as many links pointing to MadeUpCompany.com as quickly as possible.
Additionally, we’d like to have these links contain specific anchor text (the highlighted words that link to
the page).
Increased search engine visibility will lead to increased Web traffic, and ultimately more sales and leads
for MadeUpCompany Inc., which is good for everyone. We’d greatly appreciate it if you would take a
few minutes to help the company (and the marketing department) by following the instructions below:
If you have a Web page that is accessible to search engines under your control, please take a few
minutes to edit the content/bio/text of that page so that it links to the MadeUpCompany site.
If you’re not sure of how to link to the site, scroll down to see “How to Link to the Site” section.

2. Here is a list of pages or profiles you may have under your control that you could link to us from:
Links You Control
• Social Networking Profiles – LinkedIn profiles are great for this and offer you three links, and
even personal profiles on Facebook, Myspace, or other social networking sites:
• Social Media Profiles – Don’t “spam” sites like Digg, Sphinn, Reddit, etc., but if you have a
profile there, please mention that you work for us and include some links.
• Forum Profiles – If you’re an active member of an online community and your forum profile
allows for a link, we’d appreciate it if you used it to link to our site! (Again: no need to spam any
forums talking about how great MadeUpCompany is, etc.)
• Bio Pages – If you have a page on your school website, a former company website, or any other
place you might have a brief biography of yourself that you can edit (or ask someone else to)
this would be another great spot.
• Blog Comments – Blogs that allow comments often allow you to have your post titles or user
names link back to a website of choice. If you’re a contributer at any blogs, this would be
another great place to link to MadeUpCompany (of course and again: no spam here, please).
• Personal Blogs or Sites – If you have a hobby blog or a personal blog that you maintain or have
hosted on a site like Blogspot, please link to us from your profile and/or write a quick post
talking about MadeUpCompany (Joe Smith, from sales, has already done this…Thanks Joe!)
Vendors You Work With
Currently, many of you are paying companies for a service or have purchased products in the past. We
would appreciate it if you would reach out to your contact at that company (assuming you are happy
with the product/service) and offer a testimonial.

3. Examples include:
• Contractors – We’ve worked with two freelance copy writers on the MadeUpCompany.com site
and other marketing collateral. They have their own sites where they promote their services.
We reached out to them and offered testimonials in exchange for a link.
• Consultants – Are you using a specialist who consults on some aspect of the company or other?
Are they doing good work? Do they have a website? Offer them a testimonial!
• Hardware providers – If you’ve bought a product from a company, you could take a second to
shoot them an Email saying you’re happy with it and would love to give them a testimonial for
the site.
• Customers You think Would Help – If there’s someone who’s very enthusiastic about our
offering and you think that they wouldn’t mind linking to us from their site, this might be an
opportunity.
Vendors You Worked with in the Past
These would be the same as the list above, but you may have worked with them at a previous company
(be sure to tell them where you moved, and to have them link to MadeUpCompany though!)
How to Link to the Site
There are a few things to note when linking to the site:
• Get as Many Links as You Can (Tactfully) – If it’s allowed, try to link to as many of the URLs
listed below as possible. Don’t push the issue, though: if someone wants to give you only one
link, that’s better than nothing. No need to burn bridges!
• Use Variations of the Suggested Anchor Text – When possible, use slight tweaks of the anchor
text provided in the chart below. So if the suggested anchor text is “great widgets” use
something like “our great widgets” or “widgets that are really great”. Listed below are
suggestions of possible variations to use; feel free to create your own as it makes sense.
• Pick 3-5 links from the list at random – It’s always a good idea to link to the home page. If you
can, try to add an additional 3-5 links from the list below. Grab them at random as you can fit

4. them into a paragraph or bulleted list. Ideally we would like to avoid having EVERYONE use the
exact same anchor text and linking to the exact same pages over and over again.
Here are a couple of examples of what might work if you’re allowed a “summary”:
MadeUpCompany is an industry leading provider of widgets and widget integration, offering a few
unique features and three powerful benefits. Features include:
• Dependable products with first in class widget servicing and blue widget parts
• Added functionality through widget keyword 1
• More value out of widget keyword 2
• And More...
This improved keyword discovery, first-in-class segmentation capability, and intelligent automation
combined with customizable "automation management" settings allow MadeUpCompany to provide
three core benefits to customers: Dependability, Functionality, and Value.
Another might be:
I work for MadeUpCompany Inc., a widget manufacturer. The company offers blue widget
solutions including widget keyword 1, widget keyword 2, and widget keyword 3.
Again, if you have any questions about any of this, feel free to speak to/Email Joe or Mary. (NOTE: I
don’t think most sites will require you to post HTML code, but I’m including what the code should look
like just in case).
Keyword Targeted Page URL (Where to Link To) HTML Code (NOTE: the text between <a href=”” title=””></a> will
(Possible Anchor be the anchor text)
Text in Parenthesis)
Widgets http://www.MadeUpCompan <a href="http://www.MadeUpCompany.com" title="Best
(MadeUpCompany’s y.com Widgets">Widget</a>
widget solutions,
widget software,
widget solutions,
etc.)
Blue Widgets (blue http://www.MadeUpCompan <a href="http://www.MadeUpCompany.com/ blue-widgets"
widgets, keyword y.com/blue-widgets title="Blue widgets Software">Blue widgets</a>
suggestion, blue
widgets tools)
Widget Keyword 1 http://www.MadeUpCompan <a href="http://www.MadeUpCompany.com/widget-keyword-1"
(widget keyword 1, y.com/ widget-keyword-1" title="Improved Widget keyword 1s">Widget keyword 1</a>
widget keyword 1
tool, increase
widget keyword 1,
improve widget
keyword 1)
Widget Keyword 2 http://www.MadeUpCompan <a href="http://www.MadeUpCompany.com/widget-keyword-2"

5. (widget keyword 2 y.com/widget-keyword-2 title="Buy Widget Keyword 2">Widget Keyword 2</a>
tools, widget
keyword 2
software, widget
keyword 2 guide)
Widget Keyword 3 http://www.MadeUpCompan <a href="http://www.MadeUpCompany.com/widget-keyword-3"
(widget keyword 3 y.com/widget-keyword-3 title="Widget Keyword 3">widget keyword 3</a>
tools, widget buy
keyword 3
software, best
widget keyword 3)
Widget Keyword 5 http://www.MadeUpCompan <a href="http://www.MadeUpCompany.com/ widget-keyword-5"
(widget keyword 5 y.com/widget-keyword-5 title="widget keyword 5 buyers guide">widget keyword 5</a>
tools, buy widget
keyword five, best
widget keyword five
Red Widgets (red http://www.MadeUpCompan <a href="http://www.MadeUpCompany.com/red-widgets"
widget tools, best y.com/red-widgets title="Get red widgets">Red Widgets</a>
red widget, buy red
widgets)