It’s the dream of every online blogger to be recognized as king of the hill. When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), being king of the search engine hill means having as many people as possible link from their sites to yours. One-way.
Search engine optimization is the process of preparing a site to rank well in search engine queries. Optimization methods range from legitimate practices, such as continually improving content relevancy and making navigation easier, to tricks like keyword stuffing, link farming, and similar tactics.
When people link to your site from theirs without requiring a link back, that is called an inbound link. Search engine giants like Google, with its PageRank system, place significant value on the number of links pointing to your site because each one can be seen as a vote of confidence and relevance from that site.
As stated by Google: “In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B.” A strong vote of confidence online can mean more than recognition; it can also lead to revenue. When a site is seen as relevant, it can rank higher in search results, attract more attention from consumers, and draw interest from companies willing to pay to appear on the same site.
In effect, one-way inbound links are now as good as gold.
So far, there are five effective ways to acquire inbound links:
1. Wait for Offers. This is the normal way of getting inbound links, and it is the most ethical of the strategies. This method relies on a simple idea: if your site has great content that stays fresh and interesting, along with a navigation system that does not require rocket science, people will respond to it. Offers will come naturally. Then you get your links.
2. Play Musical Chairs. This is a more devious way of getting inbound links, using reciprocation with a twist. Reciprocation is the most common form of getting links, but it does not carry much weight with the page ranking systems used by search engines.
Normally, search engines can detect reciprocal links. But if reciprocation is layered, or indirect, it takes the engine much more work to detect it and requires more complex algorithms. The price for using this trick is steep, though. You need to have more than one website. Some people make a pretty penny putting up one-way links.
3. Apply for Inbound Links. Yes, it’s not a crime to promote your site. You can submit your site for review to people-run directories whose interests match the subject matter of your site.
If the world wide web is like the earth, a directory is best described as a town where almost everybody knows each other. Any new arrival gets a thorough once-over, and the whole town votes to decide whether you get to stay.
4. Links for Sale. Some high-ranking sites are willing to sell their outbound links to the highest bidder. Sites that are popular with PageRank or other search engine ranking systems sometimes use this extra capacity for additional income.
However, the drawback is that these sites are purely mercenary, renting out space for links. You have no link equity beyond the cash you shell out to keep existing on their site. Search engines such as Google are actively trying to dampen these efforts because they degrade the relevance of search engine results.
5. Be Generous, Distribute Content. Of all the strategies listed, this is a highly effective way to earn better quality, legitimate one-way links. You give other websites a real reason to place a link on their sites that points in your direction.
All sites are always looking for fresh content. A site cannot expect to stay number one in relevancy if it only refreshes its content once a month. Most of the time, these sites will even pay a slew of writers for fresh online content. For a discounted offer, you can have an “about the author” link posted on the site along with your own content. Be creative. The key is to make it mutually beneficial.
Ultimately, with a little patience, elbow grease, and luck, it pays to be honest and stick with the topics you enjoy talking about. You won’t regret the time you spend, and you may even enjoy the process.
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