When you’re first starting out, figuring out how to get backlinks, while not the biggest challenge for new webmasters, can nonetheless be a little confusing. Fortunately, it doesn’t take too long to learn the basics. Now, you’ll figure out some of your own tricks and come up with some great ideas on your own as you go, but the following tips should at least be enough to get the ball rolling.
Don’t be too Desperate
Somebody linking to you can never hurt, but you need to be careful about who you’re linking to. Remember, you’re trading webspace for webspace when it comes to hosting a link, so bear in mind that your webspace is often more valuable than another site’s webspace. For example, a website that hosts literally dozens of other links is likely to host yours, as well, but who’s going to find your link buried under dozens of others? It would be better to save that linkswap for a site that keeps its links section down to select handful of, say, ten or twenty links, tops.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization. In the early days of the internet, before search engines, backlinks were more important as a way to navigate the web. Today, the primary importance of backlinks is in boosting your search engine visibility. The main thing to keep in mind here is keywords. When you use anchor text, or linking text in your web content, make sure that the anchor text is a hot keyword. Too many keywords and your content looks stuffed. This is important, as search bots, or spiders, might actually reject your content if it’s nothing but keywords, since that suggests that you’re more interested in getting easy hits than you are in providing useful, readable content.
Don’t be Afraid to Ask for a Linkswap
Use Google to find the top sites in your field, and see if those sites will swap links with you. They might not… But they might. The point is: It never hurts to ask. You never know when one of the top webmasters will take a liking to your content and cut you a break. The worst they can do is turn you down, so never hesitate to ask anybody for a linkswap.
Spy on the Competition
Check out your competitor’s websites, see who they’re sharing links with, and see if the sites they’re linking with will link with you. This does put you on a website right alongside your competitors, but let’s face it: Competition is the name of the game. The point is to get yourself in the running rather than sitting by wishing you could get some hits.
And Finally: It’s About Who You Link TO…
Let’s say you run a website selling your own home brewed beer, so you send a link exchange request to some of your favorite sites on the subject, like Homebrewheaven.com, one of the top sellers of home brewing supplies. Well, even if they turn you down, there’s no rule saying you can’t link to them. You can link to whoever you want, and even when you don’t get a link in return, a link to an industry leader can still improve your reputation, your “trust”, and net you some visibility. Think of it as a sort of “digital karma”.
Mike Gates is an online marketer and recommends HostGator for hosting. HostGator is the cheapest web host. You can use hostgator coupon to get discount at the time of sign up.
