Part 9 of 10 of the SEOExciter Series, which you can watch all of them right now at  -> Backlinks & Off-Page SEO.

In the second half of the SEO Exciter Series, we have been talking about the importance of getting external websites to link back to your own website (called a “backlink”).  This is a measure of popularity and it can also provide some insight to the search engines (like Google) on what others find relevant about your site (like we discussed in our last post, Anchor Text, This is SeO Important!).

But the biggest question is “How Do You Get Backlinks?”  Here are 4 Ways that other people may link back to you:

Pay For a Backlink

This model used to be much more popular in the past, but Google has been cracking down on this over the past year.  Basically, they have been supposedly dropping the page rank of websites that have paid links on their site.  I personally don’t believe this entirely!  Having out-going links on your website is very natural and necessary.  How does Google determine a paid link and a free one: that is the question.

The biggest benefit of paid links is that any site (even ones with little to no authority) can pay to get a backlink on a highly authoritative (high Page Rank) website for a price.  One of the most reputable and SEO impacting places to pay for a link these days is still the Yahoo Directory.  It costs $299/year, but some argue that this may be the best SEO money spent for any paid link on the internet.

Ask for a Backlink

This is very simple:  you just find websites that are relevant in your niche and just ask the webmaster if they will place a link on their website pointing back to your website.  Of course, not many webmasters are keen to this idea.  There is the concept of reciprocal linking, too.  Reciprocal linking is when you swap links with another website:

“I’ll put your link on my site if you put my link on your site.”

This was once much more popular, too, but there are theories that the two links kind of cancel each other out.  I personally don’t believe this: a backlink is a backlink!  I make sure that I link swap with a site that is in my niche, though, and I aim to only link swap with other authoritative sites (similar to my own).

There are more complex ways of doing this reciprocal links, like “N-Way Linking”, which is arguably more effective, but more difficult to organize (especially with SEO-novices).

Still, asking can’t hurt (especially when you are networking face-to-face with people, you will find getting free backlinks is easier than you think!)

Hope for a Backlink

OK, this one is sort of stupid, but it will happen naturally.  This is what the internet is SUPPOSED to be about.  If someone likes this article, for example, they may write a response about it or Twitter it or trackback it or just link to it as recommended reading.  There is no control over the anchor text.  There is no control where it comes from.  There is no control over who puts it there.

If your content or website is REALLY good or creative or funny, though, getting natural backlinks is easier.  Also, being a social presence (i.e. actively social marketing yourself or your site) usually results in more natural backlinks.  There is not too much of a strategy here, but understand that it is a big component of Off-Page SEO.

Generate Your Own Backlinks

This is my favorite, but of course, it is probably the most labor intensive strategy for getting backlinks.  There are simple ways of getting backlinks like through directory submissions.  These are usually low authority pages, but you can get a lot of them quickly.  Personally, I would not do this myself.  There are tons of services online that will submit your website to hundreds of free directories for pennies on the dollar.

(Note:  I am not talking about submitting to search engines!  Personally, I think that is a waste of money!)

Article writing is perhaps my favorite way of generating backlinks.  Simply write an article and add a couple of anchor-text-rich links in the signature or bio of your article.  Then, submit your articles to a handful of free article directories.  These articles seem to get indexed rather quickly and others are likely to take these articles and post them on their site or blog (which includes your bio and backlinks!).  Yes, there can be a viral backlinking effect from article writing!

Speaking of signatures, don’t forget to include backlinks in your forum signatures and blogging comments.  Some of these are “followed”, but some are not.  Still, it can be extremely effective for Off-Page SEO.

And what about Social Content sites?  I love using Squidoo Lenses and Hubpages and even Scribd to generate great and authoritative backlinks.

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In the last part of the SEO Exciter Series, we dig deeper into the Social Marketing component of Search Engine Optimization.

But if you are ansy and need to see Part 10 of the SEO Exciter Series now, you can see it and all 8 other parts for free at:

Internet SEO & How to SEO Your Own Website

(Also includes full downloadable transcriptions, too!)

cheers…matt

http://www.SEOExciter.com