How To Build Great Links For Your Web Site

Building effective links is one of the most time consuming and challenging
aspects of web site design. Ultimately, link building can spell the
difference between a high search engine ranking web page and one that
disappears in a sea of similar web sites, so it is best to take the time to
do it right.

There are certainly newer search engine algorithms being developed for the
web but effective linking continues to be the most decisive factor in search
engine optimization and will likely be for several years more.

Links as the name implies, are the most basic connectors to all the pages on
the Interent and is the easiest way for a given application to gauge the
relevance and integrity of a web page.

People love lists; find a way to integrate a list into your site. This can
be anything from a list of tips or things to avoid or a list suggested
reading, for example. Lists give the impression of being a definitive source
of information and many people will want to link to them.

Often people will link to a site if they feel that it is an authority on a
given subject; they will then feel confident about recommending that site to
other people. That is what link building is all about after all, a sort of
digital referral or stamp of approval.

Every web site should strive to have reliable and well-researched content.
Try to keep your content informative but simple; if no one can understand
what your web site says they probably won't want to link to it! Check your
text for spelling or grammatical errors; a web site riddled with poor
spelling and bad sentence construction doesn't seem very professional or
authoritative.

Online news sites are a good way to establish links. Some of the things you
can do are: submit an article for online publication or syndicate an article
with a news site. Reputable sites usually enjoy a high search engine rank
for their articles and receive plenty of traffic. You may also send press
releases or trade articles with other sites.or even write an article about
another site and ask then to link back to your site; most will be happy to
repay the favor.

Establish contacts with the Better Business Bureau or the Chamber of
Commerce in your area or the relevant city and state government offices. You
may even look around closer to home by submitting your link to the local
library or exchanging links with local businesses in your area; even
non-competing businesses in the same field.

Consider starting an affiliate program; it may not lead directly to high SEO
value but it can still prove useful in providing additional links.

Submit your site to directories that allow free submissions such as DMOZ
(http://dmoz.org) or even paid directories. You can even take this a step
further by creating your own directory of similar web sites. You can
obviously link to your own site here and even include other important pages
in addition to the home page. Quality listings are important here so if it
is a useful directory to the most number of people, it will easily attract
links.

You may want to post a link to your site in classifieds sites such as
Craigslist or if you belong to user groups like Yahoo and Google groups it
is often acceptable to post links to your site if you are asking or
answering a question. Just make sure it is in the context of the discussion,
as most people do not take kindly to being spammed.

Reviews are another great way to get people to link to your site. If you
have a reputable looking site and carry informative, well-written reviews,
there's a good chance that your articles will receive high search engine
rankings. Try to keep your reviews on-topic, informative and thorough, and
be specific whenever possible.

Blogging has become an integral part of the Internet and is one of the most
effective means of linking; you can either drop a few words of comment on
someone's blog or link to them from your own blog. Most blogs will be happy
to link back to you.
Try to update your blog regularly and post interesting content so people
will want to link to you.

If your budget permits, explore the possibility of hiring a professional
web-linking publicist (yes they do exist!) or consultant for your web site.
If you choose carefully this will free you up to take care of other areas of
your web site and leave the details of link building to the experts.

Those are a few things to do to create good links, what about things you
should avoid? These methods will actually hurt your visibility on the web as
it may cause search engines to ban your site or ignore it altogether!

Do not spam forums! Nobody likes a spammer and can usually tell if someone
joins a discussion forum for the sole purpose of self-promotion. A sure way
to annoy people is to post a non-relevant reply to a question and then
include a link.or worse not even answer the question at all!

Choose carefully when submitting your site to directory services; a poor one
won't help increase your traffic at all and may carry out-of-date or off
topic links.

When asking someone to link to your site, make sure that there is a good
reason why he should; maybe your site is similar to his own in subject
matter or your site showcases him, his products or his web site in a
favorable light.

Take the time to compose a polite, well written personal request for
linking. It doesn't have to be long but the important thing is to make it
seem like a genuine request as opposed to an impersonal, automated email. Do
not pester a Webmaster with several, persistent emails; it is annoying and
will not likely help your cause any. If you don't get a reply, move on.

About The Author: Mikhail Tuknov, http://www.infatex.com/ is founder of
Infatex (Search Engine Marketing Company). With an extensive background in
Internet marketing, Mikhail Tuknov offers SEO, PPC, SEM services.