Getting Your Site Linked

Getting great search engine results is more than simply optimizing your site for keywords.

The most effective way to get more visitors to your site is by "link building".

This type of advertising is the online equivalent of word-of-mouth and involves getting other Web sites to link to your site. Similar to a friend recommending a good mechanic. As this person has a relationship with you the referral carries more weight than if a person visited your site Web site from a search engine result.

But beware, it's not a case of just any link will do. "Link popularity" is the concept of relevancy. Search engine listings will increase or decrease depending on how relevant your site is for a particular keyword search in relation to the links pointing to it.

Links from sites that are not relevant to yours will have the opposite effect and lead to a decrease in your listing or could even result in Google blacklisting your site altogether.

To help you get the best results, here are a few steps you can follow when building links:

1. Set a goal.

Link building can time consuming if you don't plan ahead.
Start with working out how many links you need and what types of sites you want to approach.

2. Create value.

Before approaching other businesses make sure your site is worth the link. If it's untidy, half finished or does not sell products or services; you need to ask yourself what their visitors will get out of visiting your site.

Think about creating linkable content such as how-to articles or product reviews.
Creating content can be tough but content is KING. If you have nothing of interest on your site than why would another business want to recommend you!

3. Establish the type of sites you want to trade links with.

This is obvious but often overlooked. Creating content that will appeal to a wide range of link partners takes some practice.

Start by focusing your attention on one type of customer profile you have and what websites they would visit.

As you acquire new link partners you can shift your focus to other types of customer profiles you have.

4. Evaluate your link partners.

More always seems better and it is easy to fall into the trap of accepting link partners without thoroughly assessing the link value.

Make the most of your efforts and download the Bing Toolbar to help you decide which sites are worth it and which aren't.

The toolbar integrates with your Web browser and displays each site you visits "page rank".

Tip: Try to link with sites that have pages ranked higher than yours!

View the original article here