Most search engines have algorithms that measure the number of back links a websites have. Web pages with good quality back links are ranked higher. The number of back links is an indication of the popularity of that specific website and is used by Google and other search engines to determine the page rank of a website. Get enough quality links and your web pages will rank for your key words. The key to link building is that it must be consistent and ongoing. Provide good content on your site that people naturally want to link to.
Where to get links:
Directories
Submit your site to web directories for inclusion. They can provide quality links to your site. Niche directories that contain categories about the topic of your site should also be considered.
Forums
This is an easy way to get back links for your site. Find forums about your particular topic. Post links in your forum signature. Participate, answer questions and submit quality posts to get traffic from other forum members.
Blog Comments
Find blogs about your topic. Add your comment. Mention other blogs in your posts. An excerpt from your post will appear as a comment if the blog owner has track backs turned on. A track back is a link back method enabling authors to keep track of who is linking to their articles.
Keyword Search
You can also find back links through searching for the back links of your competitors. Search for one of your keywords and then do a back link search on the sites on the first page. Learn if some of those sites will link to yours. This can be time consuming but excellent links can be obtained.
Article Submission
Article submission is another good method to get back links. Add a link in your bio pointing back to your site. Quality content will ensure downloads to other sites.
Press Releases
This is another excellent way to get links. Newsworthy releases can also get selected by Yahoo news. Since the content is intended to be used by the media, attempt to be accurate. Press releases are most effective when they are under 500 words.
Link Baiting
This is a natural source of getting back links. The aim is to provide newsworthy and humorous content on your site. Sustainable link bait is rooted in quality content.
RSS feeds
Find places where you can submit your blog or rss feed. Sites always need more content. Web portals provide users the facility to add rss feeds to their home pages. Submit feeds. If your information is beneficial your feeds can be added to other people sites.
Link exchange companies
Link exchange companies can add your link to a lot of different websites. The links that they provide however, are limited to two types. It is not recommended since Google will penalize you when using paid links. The pattern with which links increase is one of the factors that the search engines monitor to check sites that are artificially inflating their search engine position. Use yahoo site explorer and google sitemaps to make sure your link exchange relationships are still intact.
Automated link exchange
Be aware of automated link exchange software and webmaster quality control for both your site and for your link exchangers' sites. Links to or from link farms can harm a website page rank, as well as the website's visibility on Google.
How to check your links
Visit http:// siteexplorer to determine who is linking to you. Enter your url and click ‘explore’ url. Click on the ‘inlinks’ button. You should be able to see all the back links pointing to your site. When you get a link to your site use proper wording to describe your site. Don’t use the ‘click here’ phrase, rather let them link to one of your keywords using anchor text.
Summary
Trusted links are rare. The higher the authority of the linking pages, the higher is the authority passed to your pages. When rating the quality of back links google looks at the quality of the linking site, text around the link and the anchor text. Ensure that links are search engines friendly. The websites using the most back links are considered far more authoritative and will ultimately rank larger inside the search engines for their selected search phrases. Promote your website link only on websites that are equal or greater in popularity than yours. Don't submit to low ranking websites. You will not improve your page rank.
