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How to Fire up Your Link Building Mojo
By Jeremy Morgan (c) 2008

You know you need inbound links to your site to succeed in SEO.
What you may not know is, you don't need to spend a dime to get
them. In fact, I would advise you not to purchase links.

The recent Google shakeup is all about paid links. Stop
paying for links now! Google is now "punishing" websites for
having paid links, because they feel it's cheating the
algorithm. You might be upset by this, but they are doing it to
improve the quality of their results. Here is how you can take
advantage of it.

Google is moving towards algorithms that favor sites that are
"naturally" linked to. What is "natural" linking? These are
links that a webmaster puts up because he or she wanted to, not
because they were paid to. They saw something they liked, and
put a link to it. This means all those shady SEOs who were
buying links up by the hundreds can't cheat good sites out of
the rankings anymore. So how you do get natural links?

Focus on Your Subject

There is a saying in marketing, if you market to everyone, you
are marketing to no one. Maintain your focus, and keep your
content within your niche. Don't try to spread yourself too
thin.

I personally have been guilty of this sin in the past. At one
time JeremyMorgan.com had SEO articles, PHP scripts, Ford
Mustang News and photoshop tutorials, and pictures of my family
and locations back home. Needless to say I didn't really
dominate any of those niches. Focus your efforts, and try to
stay on topic.

Give Them Something to Link to

Once you find your focus, provide content that others in your
niche want to link to. It's really that simple. Think to
yourself, "are people going to want to link to this?". As much
as I think my speculations and opinions on industry trends are
great, the reality is most people link to articles I write that
actually tell you how to do something. If you really want to
build links, give them something helpful or really interesting
to link to.

Even pages that you cannot easily monetize. The more links you
get, the better.

Join the Community

In 2008, they have a community for almost anything. Get involved
in those communities, sign up for forums and comment on posts.
Become an authority. Just by being helpful to others and
bringing information to a community, people will link to your
site out of respect, knowing that their audience will appreciate
the link. Be honest, helpful, and maintain your integrity on the
boards. Instead of making fun of that newbie, help them out.

Look for Places with High Quality Links

Don't be afraid to ask to exchange links with others who might
benefit from your service. Links from sites like your local
library or community-centric pages go a long ways. Even your
employer may put up a link (be careful not to mess that one
up!).

Get Deep Links

Deep links are very important. Try to get links pointing towards
inner pages of your site rather than the front page. With enough
of these types of links, you can dominate some of the serps
related to that topic, as well as build your overall quality.

Write Articles

Chances are, you're reading this article on somewhere other than
JeremyMorgan.com or Webfoot Central. That's because I submit
articles all over the internet. Not only do you help build
backlinks, but you contribute to your community, and make a name
for yourself. Don't write spammy articles, or try to advertise
too hard. Make something useful that others will want as content
on their own site.

Issue Press Releases

I can't really comment on this one too much, because I've never
done it, but for some sites it's a very useful tool for getting
inbound links, and good publicity. Make sure you have something
going on that's worth talking about!

Blog, Blog, Blog

Every site needs a blog. Even if your site is primarily about
selling widgets, have a widget news related blog. Individual
articles will get people linking to them, and will keep your
site fresh and add content, which google and other search
engines love.

If You Must, Sponsor Some Links.

There are a few sponsored links worth getting. Yahoo Search
Inclusion is one example. If you are in a highly competitive
industry, such as adult, SEO, mortgage, finance, or gambling you
will need to purchase links to get an edge. There are a lot of
people competing for your terms.

Conclusion

Use common sense. The best way to get ahead is by being honest,
and providing a decent service. Stop trying gimmicks or tricks
to cheat your way into good rankings. The best long term SEO
plan involves taking the high road and doing things honestly.
Check out the SEO book to see what I learned about ethical SEO.
Now I don't have any problems getting people to my website. You
can too, all it takes is a little effort!
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Jeremy Morgan is a Portland SEO (http://www.jeremymorgan.com)
who frequently blogs about SEO and how to make money online
(http://www.jeremymorgan.com/category/make-money-online/).
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