Link Building Strategies - Part 1

Link building is an “off page” technique and harder to control compared to other site marketing methods. However, with practical link building strategies, your hard work can help rank you on the top of major search engines. First, let’s discuss why link building is important. Search engines use “link backs” to help determine how the rest of the world applies popularity to a website. Simply put: the more links your website has from external websites, the more popular and qualified a search engine will believe your site to be.

However, not just any link will enhance your rank. A few years ago “free for all” link farms worked but those techniques don’t work today. Instead, assembling a solid link building strategy will improve your rank and your website.

PART I – Preparing Your Pages

Launch Your Website
Nobody wants to exchange links with a site that’s not complete. Make sure your website is free from errors and broken links before you send out a link request. Also ensure you have at least five pages of content.

Placement
Decide where you will place your linkbacks. Commonly, webmasters publish linkbacks on a single page but you can also create a side bar on all pages or certain pages. The sidebar method is more preferred as a visitor won’t have to wade through dozens of links.

Content
Update your content regularly to capture search engine traffic while employing your link building strategy. Webmasters like to exchange links with other websites that have some type of existing traffic. It may seem like an oxymoron to build traffic while you’re attempting to get traffic, however, one will help the other and you can build up little by little as you go.