There are many ways to build links and traffic. Some are organic methods, others are borderline or completely unacceptable as far as search engines (SEs) are concerned. Here’s a sampling of some common methods. Most were acceptable as earlier as last year, though some SEs may be penalizing them, if detectable.

1. Article directories.
   While article directories such as Ezinearticles and GoArticles can help build links and traffic, make sure that you do not submit the exact content as on your site. Rewrite articles you’ve already published at least a few weeks in the past, and rewrite them. Submit those to a select few good article directories. Do article syndication right, and it’ll benefit you.
2. Directories.
   Pick a few good authority directories such as Yahoo! Directory, Dmoz, EatonWeb, Aviva Directory and JoeAnt.
3. Guest blogging.
   Guest blogging can gain you links, traffic, and new subscribers. There are many sites and blogs looking for guest writers. Even Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Cilnton is looking for a guest post. If you don’t support her, maybe your favorite candidate is doing the same.
4. Good grammar.
   Some bloggers simply will not link to a site where the writer comes off as illiterate. It’s worth your time to spell check your articles before posting them, for numerous reasons.
5. Comments.
   Comments on other sites, if they allow you to include your site URL, will at least bring some traffic. Some sites even use “do follow”, so search engines will follow through and index your pages.
6. Forums.
   At most forums, you can add your URL to your member profile, which will appear whenever you participate in discussions. Some forums do expect you to post a certain number of times before your URL will show in your signature. Of course, the more helpful your forum postings, the more likely you are to draw traffic. If those visitors are bloggers, you might even pick up a few links to your site, eventually.
7. Linking out.
   Be a link leaker. In your articles, link out as often or more than you link in. If you are linking to relevant articles elsewhere, your readers will appreciate this, as will the other bloggers - either of whom may eventually link to you.
8. Set trackbacks.
   If you’re not tech-savvy, trackbacks may take some time to understand. They work like this. Blog A writes an article and links to Blog B. Blog B has trackbacks turned on. When Blog A publishes the article, it sends a “trackback” notice to Blog B. Now, a little snippet of text from Blog A’s article appears in Blog B’s article’s trackbacks/ comments section. Now, just by allowing trackbacks, you might actually induce more people to link to you. (Unfortunately, there’s also lots of trackback spam these days.)
9. Link exchanges.
   Link exchanges, like several of the techniques in this list, must be done carefully if you decide to use them. Some search engines such as Google are possibly discounting reciprocal link exchanges.
10. Purchased links.
    There are several types of purchased links:
    1. Sitewide in navigation bars.
    2. End-of-post.
    3. In-post.

    Google in particular is cracking down on paid links (both buyer and seller) by penalizing the authority of any page carrying paid links or pointed to by them. The problem for them is that some types are more subtle than others, and they are asking people to snitch to them. Some experts feel that Google is doing this because they don’t want to lose AdWords revenue. Others assume it’s simply because paid links skew PageRank.

    Regardless, if you are careful, paid links can work for you. Here are some considerations:

    1. In general, in-post (editorial) links are always better than sidebar/ blogroll links, most especially if they are relevant.
    2. You can buy links that are displayed at the end of a post, though these are more detectable.
    3. Sitewide nav bar links may have less value in the future, depending on the search engine.

    A couple of the more popular link brokers are Text Link Ads and Text Link Brokers.

11. Purchased ads.
    If you’re concerned about buying links, the next best think is a purchased ad - which is really a link anyway. Still, Google is trying to force their hand on everyone and recommends that anyone selling ads (or links) should use the NoFollow attribute in paid links. That’s so that Google does not follow and index a linked page. Obviously, not everyone agrees with Google on this and ignore this suggestion for their ads.
12. Purchased reviews.
    Purchased reviews are viewed by some as a way to get some blogger to say something nice about you if you pay them. Others feel there is nothing wrong with this. There’s enough of a market that there are at least seven well-known pay per review sites. A few are PayPerPost, ReviewMe, SponsoredReviews, and LoudLaunch.
13. Review exchanges.
    If you don’t feel like paying for a review, some bloggers offer review exchanges, which might be viewed the same way as reciprocal linking by some search engines.
14. Press releases.
    If you have something worthwhile to announce about your site/ business, using a web press release might be useful. Some sites even allow you to include a live link (as opposed to the just the text of your URL).
15. Video with watermarked URL.
    If you post any original content at a video sharing site such as YouTube, Revver, or dozens of others, make sure that your site’s URL appears at the beginning and end of the video. It may not be linkable, but if it’s easier to remember, it could pull a lot of traffic. Alternately, if you use SplashCast, you can actually link to your site from within their media player.
16. Linkable content.
    You’ve read it all over the place: content is king. It’s true because good content is inherently linkable. Create lots of it. Here are a few types to consider.
    1. Good and/or entertaining content.
    2. List-style linkbaits.
    3. Resource linkbaits.
    4. Tutorials.
    5. Free themes.
    6. Free plugins.
    7. Profiles of bloggers or other people important in their niche or industry.
17. Social media marketing.
    SMM, or Social Media Marketing, coupled with linkable content can be immensely valuable for traffic and link building. Keep in mind that there are several types of social media sites, each with different rules. Here are a few.
    1. Member-voted news sites [Digg, Sphinn].
    2. Social profile sites such as [Myspace].
    3. Social bookmarking sites [del.icio.us].
    4. Professional networking site profiles [LinkedIn].
    5. Wikis [Wikipedia].
    6. Hybrids [Stumbleupon].

    All of these sites either allow you to set up a profile with your link and/or allow articles to be posted. Some do not like if you submit your own article. Respect the culture at each, and ask a friend to submit articles if necessary. Using good titles and descriptions, as well as the right category, makes an enormous difference.

18. Blog Carnivals.
    Blog carnivals are an ideal way for new blogs to get some link love and traffic, and to network with other bloggers. And it’s usually from topically related sites so search engines love it. [Check out our Carnival of Small Business and Startups.]
19. Feed subscription buttons.
    Placing these prominently on your site “above the fold” tends to help increase subscribers. If they can’t find it, they won’t subscribe. Subscribers are sometimes bloggers, some of whom may someday link to you.
20. Blog and ping.
    Blog and ping amounts to having your blog platform signal various blog directories or blog search engines whenever you post a new article. Those sites in turn publish a list of “recently updated blogs”. Some come and index your page, making it freshly searchable. Targeting certain times of day can be more beneficial if you post several articles per day, rather than posting them within a few minutes of each other. Also, if you are targeting a specific geographic region, try to post before the beginning of the work day in their time zone (typically before 8 am in a zone).
21. Affiliate programs.
    If you have a product or service that you sell on your site, consider starting an affiliate program. Not only does this expose you to more potential customers and bring traffic, you shares your profits with others, which builds good will. It’s often but not always a win-win situation.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 11th, 2007 at 9:00 pm and is filed under Link building, web development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.