Building a brand online isn't easy for most small and midsize companies. But the bright folks over at Search Engine Land have some useful and inexpensive tips.

Aaron Wall is mostly writing about how Editorial & Advertising come together on the Web, but he also takes a look at the problem of brand building for small companies, and offers seven useful things to try:

1. Create featured content. Some content should be more important than other content.
2. Outbound links. And pitch the people you link to.
3. Advertise on non-commercial keywords. They're often much cheaper than commercial keywords.
4. Buy ads on sites that rank. Prices vary widely, find the deals.
5. PR Leads. Offer quotes to the media, and then use their logos in an "as seen in” section.
6. Clean user experience. Don't bother with ads at first.
7. Free samples. Comp the thought leaders.

There's a lot more info in the original column, but basically, it all comes down to the fact that if you don't have the money to do things the traditional way, then you need to find alternatives that don't cost as much.