The Link Building Newbie 101 Guide Quality Links & Traffic

To start I would like to say that a good link to you is from a high ranking website that gives you a one-way link to your website. If you can get a .edu .org website to link to you one-way then do the happy dance. However, if you are just starting off, and your website is under a year old I would suggest just taking some of the steps and pointers from this page.

Do a search on Google, Yahoo, and Bing, for relevant keywords. Take note of the top 15 website's in each search engine, and write them down. Review each website to make sure they are relevant to what your website is about.

Now that you have this information you will use the search engines to find out who actually "links" to those website's. You will want to keep notes on your findings. To find out who links to a website you simply do a search in your search engine choice like this link:www.thewebsite.com (you put the website's homepage URL in place of thewebsite.com) You can also do the same search to see who is already linking to you.

Once you have all of the data from your searches above, check to see which sites have a higher PR (pagerank). See if it will be possible to get those sites to link to you. The things you should do and not do to get another website to link to you.

NEVER say "I will link to you if you link to me"
NEVER present yourself as a "beggar" simply ask!
NEVER expect a response the next day or even within a week. Be patient!
NEVER send preformatted "SEO Beggars" emails to get sites to link to you! They can tell its not from the heart!
NEVER just submit your website to any link directory. Be smart and research the directory first.

DO follow up with a short email reminder after a month.
DO remind them how beneficial your website could be to THEIR visitors
DO ask them if there is anything you could do for them. Be sure it is something that you would seriously consider doing.
DO submit your website to healthy higher ranking directories that offer categories

Linking Mistakes Link Farm Warning

When it comes to a website's linking strategy you need to be very careful. I write today with hopes I can get the word out and help others to not make the mistake that most new web site owners make.

Typically they are eager and know it all so they go link farm crazy. I've seen this time and time again, and it sad when a new site owner destroys their website before it even had a chance. Just because they found their website listed in the search engines they get excited and start submitting their site to any website that will take them or has an easy submit form available.

Link Farms are a form of spamming the index of a search engine. Other link exchange systems are designed to allow individual website's to selectively exchange links with other relevant website's and are not considered a form of spamdexing. Search engines countered the link farm movement by identifying specific attributes associated with link farm pages and filtering those pages from indexing and search results. In some cases, entire domains were removed from the search engine indexes in order to prevent them from influencing search results. What you have learned here is that a link listed on the Internet does not always mean its a good worthy link. Who and what you link to plays a major roll in your website's page rank and popularity. To fix any mess you may have made will take some work, and to start you should request a listing removal immediately. It will take time to clear out the damage that was done, but getting started now is worth it.

If you believe you made a mistake and submitted your website to directories that you are not such a great community, there still is hope. Search around and when you find your site listed in a bad community then make note of each one so that you can request to be removed from that directory. Just be very careful as you do not want to remove yourself from a good directory site. Continue to keep you your website with quality information and you will eventually start pulling in healthy traffic and links from all over the world.

Directories Get Listed Safely

What can happen with decent Directories? Okay, so now we know that link farms are naughty these days, but what about those halfway decent directories out there? Should you be submitting your website to all those directories out there or should you not? There is a 50/50 divide on this subject in the SEO world, but my own experiences have given me a list of rules to follow when it comes to directories.

There are many great website's out there that offer a service for free to submit your website to hundreds of directories. These can be safe and they can be dangerous. The best thing that you can do is take full control over where you site is submitted. Personally I would not even bother submitting your website to any directories, unless you're in a real hurry. If this is the case, I've added some helpful tips for you below.

1. Before you submit to the list you should visit the directory site and review it. Some directories are so poorly set up, and with checking deeper into the directory you may find they list bad website communities. Be sure to double check because you will be listed with them. Be sure to check the check its PR (pagerank) of the directories home page, and the PR of the page where you think you will be listed. If Google finds the home page to be a 1/10 after 2 yrs of listings then its likely they found it to be a rotten or stinky community.

2. Keep your own list of the directories you did submit to. Write down the title, description, and keywords you provided to this directory. Later, go to the directory and make sure they did it right. Human edited directories can screw you with their own interpretation of your site so be careful. Go back monthly and see if the site is still up, or if it seems to be gaining or losing in rank. If it is gaining, continue to watch, and hope for the best. If it has turned into a real garbage dump, you should request that your link is removed.

3. AGAIN Go back to these directories often and check them out. So many fall under and bring you down with them. Keep organized and be very careful.

4. The problem is a good community can go bad quickly, and if you're listed there, and then you have no list of the directories to check back often, then you're screwed!

The point is that good Directories today can turn into bad Link Farms tomorrow, and effect on your sites rank. You can use them to your advantage if you do your research, stay organized, and follow up with these directories often.

Point to remember! Most SEO sites will feed you sugar to get you addicted to their logic, but they never tell you the full story because they want you to come back, and buy their book or software.

To learn more about link building and site optimization visit our website analytics, and SEO links. Our website offers website guides in these subjects and we hope you review them as they can offer you the tips you need to have a successful website.

Best Wishes!