Filed under the category of “I know I should, but I never actually do that” is a simple tip for gaining free one-way links from companies that you do business with.

Have you purchased a product or service online recently? Of course you have. What did you think of the company, website, and/or your overall experience?

If everything was positive, did you send an email to let them know how great you think their company is? As any business owner will tell you, customer feedback is always welcome with positive feedback being the ultimate goal. Many sites reassure potential customers and build trust by showing exactly what previous customers have said, so many websites include a testimonials page. And more often than not, these testimonials are displayed on a very visible page and include a link to the website of the customer providing the testimonial.

The links are free as well as permanent in a lot of cases, and the entire process shouldn’t take more than five minutes. Just make sure to include your website address (using targeted anchor text when possible) with every testimonial for another simple way to build organic backlinks.