You can really do a lot of link building in an hour if you are focused and have a plan. Here you will find that link building workout plan. All you need is just a dash of focus for one hour and you’ll come out of the session with more links with a more solid relationship with your current followers to boot.
Low Hanging Links
This is your 20 minute warm up. It will get your fingers ready to roll and put you in the “zone” for the rest of the hour. It is best to stretch before every workout, so crack those knuckles, down an energy drink, saddle up and let’s get going!
Blog Comments: These are special simply for their traffic. Direct clicks. You need to visit your favorite blogs for the next 15 minutes and do some meaningful, engaging commenting. The more funny, thoughtful, and pithy (to the point) the better. There’s no telling what any blog’s comment links are really worth to the engines unless you slow down to check, so get that out of your head. These links are made for clickin’!
Twitter: Make a couple really helpful Tweets for your followers. From some of the stuff you discovered at the blogs above, you should have some neat things to point to in Twitter. You can do this in 5 minutes tops. You should be working up to your target heart rate now!
20 Minute Mark
Internal Linking: Internal links are very important. They are links from your site’s pages to other pages on your site. They are very much the same as links from other websites in the way engines use them to decide on the strength of your internal pages. Do a quick post (I mean VERY quick) on your favorite posts from the last 2 months.
Start the post with something like…
“I’d like to welcome all my new readers! Thanks so much for being here. Since you’ve just joined us, I wanted to give you what I consider my best __________ posts in the last 2 months.”
Make the posts you choose themed. Pick a topic you’ve written the most about in the last couple months and choose 3-4 posts to link to after the lines above. Use the best keywords for each post (what you’d want those posts to rank for) as the actual links. Then do a short description for each.
Example:
Link Building on a Budget Part 1: This is the first in a series of posts I did on cheap or free link building tactics.
So do 3-4+ of those and you’re done. Tag with overall best 3-4 keywords, post, and go to the next step.
Buzz dat post: Tell your friends on the social networks you belong to that you’ve just posted and ask for some link love. This is just a resource-style post, so don’t go overboard like you’ve just created the greatest post ever, but work for the next 10 minutes on getting your social networks updated so people can re-tweet and otherwise link to it for you.
Tip: Be funny. “Here are my best posts on __________ of all time! (all-time in the last 2 months that is) 
“
You have 20 minutes to do all of the above. If you are out of shape and need to pace yourself, you might go over an hour today. But keep working at it and don’t get down on yourself if you aren’t fast enough yet to get the above done in 20 minutes. And yes, this can be done in the amount of time alloted when you’ve worked up to it!
20 Minute Cool Down
Deep breath. That was intense, but you’re feeling the burn and it feels awesome. You’re getting some real work done. Sense of accomplishment is releasing endorphins to ease the pain. You’re out of breath, but feeling a bit giddy. Now we tackle some fairly intense stuff and wind down from there…
Put Out Some Feelers: Many bloggers accept guest posts. This sounds like a great way to get some of the best linkage you can get for search engines AND direct traffic, but everyone fails to plan ahead and actually do this guest posting thing properly, most of the time. You tell yourself you have to get some guest post gigs on a couple of the bigger blogs in your niche, but you never do anything about it. This is where you put in the sweat and get the show on the road.
QUICK! Go back to the blogs you commented on above and check out a couple. Skim through their last 5 or so posts. You’ve already been in their comments so you know the “mood” their readers are in lately. Isolate a couple of ideas, on the fly, for posts you could put together for each blog.
Go to the blogger’s contact form and pitch your idea. Use something similar to the following:
Hey Darren,
I was reading your _________ post and really got a lot out of it. I also noticed your readers really seemed to be interested by the number of comments you got. I have an idea for a post about ________ which I think ties right into what you’re talking about here. If I put together a great post on ____________ would you consider it for an exclusive guest post?
I can have it done in _________ so that it makes for a great followup and more conversation on the ___________ topic. Would love to have the chance to show you what I can do!
Sincerely,
Done. Do it again on another big blog and you’re done with this exercise!
That should have taken no more than 20 minutes, and that completes your 1 hour link building workout for the day!
Recap
In the last hour you have built something like the following:
1. 5-6 links in comments on other popular blogs in your niche. Pithy, strong, engaging comments designed for people to click your link and check you out because you’re so darned helpful!
2. Care and nurturing of your Twitter following. Content development on your microblog! You linked to other sites, but you reminded your followers why they follow you, and you should even see some traffic in your stats to indicate people came to your site through your Twitter profile just because you posted. If you got re-tweeted, all the better! (Place “Please RT! at the end of the Tweets you want lots of retweets for. If you end up sending some good traffic to the bloggers you’re pointing to, and they happen to be the bloggers you are trying to get guest post gigs with, well, you can fill in the blanks there!)
3. Internal linking: You sent link love to your inner pages. 3-6 or so links there which are almost as important as incoming links from other sites!
4. Guest posting: You set the stage for a couple of major links via guest posts. Your 1 hour link building workout tomorrow will include follow up with those bloggers and, if one or both accept your proposal, you can spend some of your workout planning your guest posts. It’s important to work different muscle groups and alternate each day’s workout anyway!
Perform this workout an hour per day and you will really start seeing some changes in your rankings and traffic starting the first day.
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Lots of really important points here Jack: link building isn’t so difficult but it is time consuming and you need to take the time to learn all the little techniques. Well worth the effort though: I’ll be back to read more here.
Being a junior link builder in my company I have enjoyed and learned your article. Especially guest article writing tips I like very much .
Great post, Jack. Your step-by-step tutorials are some of the best I’ve read. Concise and to the point. You can’t spell out an easier link-building plan to follow. But like they say, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make ‘em drink.”
Jack,
Love the title of this post! So true. Link building is not hard if you just sit down and commit. Doing an hour every other day can bring huge results – especially in the small business local arena – shhh, but don’t tell anyone
Great content as per usual!
Thanks Patricia, Greg, et. al. I’m into “simple” these days!
Back to business… Very nice article that has given me some ideas such as doing a summary of articles/blog posts. I need to do a few of those right off. I’ll do one of those tonight as I watch tv.
Great post, Jack.
I particularly liked your suggestion for promoting those internal links. This
is a neglected area for sure.
Guest posts are also potent, and I just recently did a post on this subject:
Increase Your Blog Traffic Through These Ten Blogs That Are Hot For Guest Posts
You can greatly expand your sphere of influence through guest posts,
because you’ll reach audiences that are impossible for you to duplicate.
Lastly, your emphasis on a DAILY ROUTINE is crucial since it invokes
discipline and forces us to TAKE ACTION.
Best of success,
Robert
Jack,
Thanks for the great post. Now if I can only get myself to do this everyday for next couple months, this should bring significant traffic to my site. The ideas are very simple and easy to do but they are also easy not to do which is why you really need to sit down and commit and focus on this great exercise
Thanks for this great article , its amazing what can be done in one hour if your really focus
Jack,
The focus of this article is great! I’m one to think about doing something, trying to do it and then figuring out that I really did nothing. The plan is good structure. I’m going to start it right away.
Jims last blog post..Dutch Wonderland – A Day of Fun for the Kids
Great post. I’ve notice that even commenting on nofollow blogs seems to help with rankings. It’s nice to see someone actually talking about how to get links instead of just theory and how important links are.
Thanks Jack for the “plan”. I printed it out so I can follow your suggestions each day. A written plan will help me stay focused so I can move my blog from a lonely road in the desert to the hustle and bustle of a big city traffic jam. I’m starting my workout with commenting on your blog right now.
Janice Scissorss last blog post..Do You Feel Guilty For NOT Shopping?
Nice spin on this one. I don’t think people realize the power of internal linking. Great that you mentioned it..
Jim Gaudets last blog post..Ani Difranco | I am Drunk, leave me alone…
This is an awesome planned out circuit to use! I have been putting these to work already but I love the timed approach so I don’t get sidetracked. I’m wondering how many people procrastinate on these exercises as much as we do the actual physical sweaty ones!!
The One Hour Link Building Workout is a great way to invest time and to keep from wasting it. I especially like your guest blogging strategy and it makes sense since it promotes action, sets up a foundation, creates a stronger relationship, and shows why you are of value by letting them know your thoughts.