Build Links by Greening Your Business
Running an eco-conscious business is first of all essential if you care about the planet you live on. What is also great is that it can help you considerably in promoting your business and building brand awareness. By adding your company to green directories and promoting eco-friendly news related to your business you will:
- Generate more links: most of these sites will reward your eco-efforts with nice direct free "dofollow" links;
- Manage your reputation: "green" profiles will pop up for [your brand name] searches. People usually react very positively seeing that the company has eco-friendly policy. Besides, being eco-friendly and actively promoting the idea will contribute to the favorable mentions of your SEO company on various green blogs and web magazines.
- Get more exposure: those eco-friendly links will open up your business to those who browse green directories in search for environment-friendly companies
To qualify for almost any of these sites, you don't have to be a manufacturer of eco-friendly products. You can publish a press release describing how you take care about the environment (by using energy star-compliant printers and recycled paper). Alternatively, you can add a green policy to your site describing how eco-conscious you are. All that being said, almost any business can qualify for adding to green directories with some effort and time devoted.
Here are some sites where you can promote your green efforts for free (all of then offer direct "dofollow" links):
| URL | Type | Approval | Add your business |
| DoTheRightThing | Social bookmarking, user generated | Instant (registration required) | Add website |
| GrowNews.com | Social bookmarking, user generated | Instant (registration required) | Register |
| Green Company Directory | Directory | Moderated, fast approval | Navigate to the appropriate category and click "Add" |
| EcoFirms.org | Directory of green manufacturers and retailers | Moderated | Add company |
| Green Maven | Directory | Registration required | Add site |
| BestGreenBlogs.com | Directory of green blogs | Moderated, thoroughly edited | Add blog |
| Green@WorkToday | Environmental news journal | N/A | Add news |
| Keetsa blog | Green blog | Approved by the editor | Add news |
| GreenHackz | Green blog | N/A | Submit story |
User generates sites:
Just register and submit green links, news and resources to share them with community members.
DoTheRightThing is a website that tracks and rates society- and earth-friendly impacts of companies on people and the world and "make it worth their while to do the right thing." Each member can submit a story associated with any business and other member will rate its impact based on the complex scale of ratings. Each company has a profile on the site showing its overall rankings based on all rankings of stories associated with it. You can add your business to the directory and include a nice "dofollow" link back to your website.
GrowNews.com is a social voting site allowing members to submit and vote for eco-friendly news and announcements. The site allows for "dofollow" links to the original article from the story page.
The site was created by a well-known green blog AboutMyPlanet.com According to the site:
When a story reaches a certain growth level it will be promoted to the front page of the "GROW" homepage and eventually might be picked up by our main site www.aboutmyplanet.com
Green Directories:
- Green Company Directory doesn't require either reciprocal link or payment for the review. To qualify you must "either be a supplier of green products/services, or have environmentally friendly company policies".
- EcoFirms.org lists environment-friendly manufacturers and retailers.
- Green Maven lists and accepts submissions of green sites in multiple categories.
Promote Green Blogs and Green News
- BestGreenBlogs.com is a directory of green and eco-conscious blogs. It "only features weblogs focused on the environment, green living, sustainability issues, people, places, things and ideas in this directory.".
- Green@WorkToday.com allows visitors to submit links to green news and articles that deal "with the environment and sustainability".
- Keetsa blog is the eco-friendly and green news blog that accepts submissions of important earth-friendly news and unique stories.
- GreenHackz invites people to share green stories using their contact form.
By Ann Smarty, a search and social media marketer running an SEO consulting blog.
Post image credits: ydurs
Ann Smarty is a a blogger and SEO consultant and professional blogger. Check out Ann's personal project My Blog Guest - the forum meant to connect guest bloggers to blog owner for plenty of mutual benefits. Ann also provides guest blogging services.
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Great green resources.
Well it is a great resource however they do nothing for the environment in reality.
Its a lot like carbon credits. Nothing tangible to be had, but people buy into the concept "thinking" it is doing good.
However the reality is the only good it does is for the person selling the credits….and those marketing 'green'
Want to be green??? start riding a bike to work daily!
Peace!
Great post Ann. Green is the new black, and it is gratifying to see how people's awareness has grown. Companies attitudes towards the environment definitely is having more and more impact on consumers decision making. Thanks for a great green list, it will be put to good use!
The possibilities for SEO of a green website / business justs increases all the time
@Clint, true
but let's hope those resources at least encouraged anyone to start riding a bike 
@everyone, thanks for the comments!
Hmm… I'm pretty sure that I wrote a comment on this post but now I don't see it. Can it possibly be in the spam filter? I'm sure I didn't put in any links or things like that.
[...] January 29, 2009 by dandunlop Yesterday I came upon a post by Ann Smarty on http://www.searchenginepeople.com. Ann's post is all about how to manage your company's reputation by way of promoting its green practices online. You can check out the post by clicking here. [...]
@Mikael, I'll ask Ruud to search for your comment.
Going green is good but a good number of businesses just green wash their businesses.
@Ann Smarty – Lets hope but I did not notice many cars slowing down on the highway when we were at $4.00 per gallon..
@Web Design Blackburn – Dead on 100% accurate…many label themselves green simply because they "think" it will earn them sales….keyword = sales…
Actually the whole "green" thing is nauseating, and I wish George Carlin were alive to toss in his views!
Peace!
[...] January 30, 2009 by dandunlop A couple of days ago I came upon a post by Ann Smarty on http://www.searchenginepeople.com. Ann's post is all about how to manage your company's reputation by way of promoting its green practices online. You can check out the post by clicking here. [...]
Green or eco friendly are certainly the buzz words right now so I can see how associations formed to them can be beneficial.
Its a lot like carbon credits. Nothing tangible to be had, but people buy into the concept “thinking” it is doing good.
Thankyou soo much for feedback Ann Smarty.
Great Article Ann.
We have also noticed several companies starting independent green charity sites to build links to and then of course have keyword rich links to their main business site.
Thanks for the great list. It is true that green is a hot buzz word, but it is for a reason. Green jobs will be what saves the USA and gets us out of the recession.