Show Them a Beautiful Design and They’ll Give You Backlinks

Have you realised that a good, eye-catching site design can be a great ally in your link building efforts? Let me show you how to go about this.

Why you could use a beautiful design for link building

People just love beauty. It’s a fact. Not that you should feel miserable if your site doesn’t look that good. Content still matters and always will. However, when you have a truly good-looking site or blog, many people will want to share its link with others regardless of the content’s quality. Besides, there are many sites which specialise in linking to beautiful pieces of web design.

A beautiful design will certainly create backlink opportunities that you wouldn’t have otherwise.

How to build links for a well-designed site

• CSS galleries should be your first stop if your design contains strong CSS elements. Their links usually are do-follow.
• Many design-related blogs link to well-designed sites, because those are seen as sources of inspiration for other designers. You could become a regular commenter on such blogs, hoping that the bloggers eventually will visit your site and link to it afterwards. For more tips on this technique, read my article on link building via comments on no-follow blogs. Alternatively, you may contact the bloggers by email and politely suggest the inclusion of your site on their design galleries.
• Leave comments on personal blogs. Try to build a relationship with their owners. Diarists are often looking for something to write about; if they get impressed by your site or blog’s design, there’s a good possibility that they’ll write about it — and of course they’ll include your URL on their posts. A person who doesn’t specialise in web design and webmaster-related topics is more prone to admire a fancy design. A tech-savvy type, on the other hand, may not be so easy to impress. So you must never ignore the average Joes and Janes out there.
• Rewrite your forum signatures to make them look more intriguing. Instead of describing your site’s topic, ask people what they think about your site’s design. This may make them curious, thus causing them to click on your link. If you’re a member of a forum that allows images in signatures, enhance yours with a screenshot of your site.

If you have other ideas on how to build links by investing in an eye-catching design, leave a comment and share them.