Like learning to golf or mastering the winter garden, creating natural links require effort and consistency — but it’s worth it in terms of giving you more brand strength.

Natural links are the key to targeted, effective conversations with the people who know and trust your brand, and they’re a strong way to reach new people to get to know your products or services.

Natural, or organic, links are links people click on or send out on their own because they’re gaining value from what you’re offering across your content. They send people directly to your website in response to providing an engaging “hook” across an online platform. Natural links are part of your overall best content marketing strategy, and their end result is simple:  to drive the right kind of traffic to your site, and thus help drive the conversations you want to maintain online with specific readers.

Gaining natural links is a very natural part of your efforts to create valuable content that answers your readers’ questions or gives them key information. One way is to utilize quality online resources in your content, the ones that have been out there for a while and are successful because the information they offer is valuble and trusted. Another way to generate more value from your conent marketing strategy is to create distinct topics of interest across the social medis tools you use. Start paying attention when a piece you send out is retweated and resent often. Be mindful of usign creative, engaging headlines and of not overwhelming the audience with too many requests to share.

Utilize photos across your content marketing strategy to help create more natural links and natural site traffic. Some organizations may view adding images as an “extra” element; think instead as a requirement. Especially in light of the rampant and targeted joy many get from Pinterest, give your pieces an image and then add them to your Pinboards. Be sure to tag your photo with key phrases so that search engines can index it. If someone comments on your recent blog or social media post, be sure to give a response back – this helps create a stronger community of loyal followers for your brand.

Finally, ask for participation when you’re working to build more natural site traffic. Give people a chance to learn more about your service or product through an email update, a blog subscription or a whitepaper that identifies you as the expert in your area.

Lest you feel overwhelmed, remember this:  natural links mean people like what they’re reading from you across your content creation strategy. With the right plan and a consistent plan, you can grow to become a true content curator and garner natural links without even thinking about them (much).