Building Backlinks
Let’s face it: Links make the web go ’round.
More specifically, backlinks are the lifeblood of any content-based residual income. For a webmaster, good backlinks (links to his site, from other well-ranked blogs and sites on the web) are invaluable. No matter how good your on-site SEO (search engine optimization) is, your site will go nowhere without solid links to the content you have to offer.
If you already have good content and a well-organized site, but aren’t seeing the traffic or Google search results to match, the number one thing you can do is to build links to your main site page and to some of your best content pages within your site. Ideally, each and every page of content you publish online should have a good backlink pointing to it. After your website is well established and builds page rank (PR), simply linking to new pages from your index page or tier-2 page that also ranks well will be sufficient. But in the beginning, and periodically as rankings ebb and flow, you need to build solid links to your site, blog, or other online content.
One-way backlinks from well-ranked sites are considered high value backlinks. These are the best of the best and most valuable to you as a webmaster or content author. One-way means that the site links to you, but you don’t link back as you would in a link exchange. For example, if a high-ranked blogger or national news site linked to one of your content pages, you’d be in the money.
Keep in mind that the page rank of the page that links to you is important. Even if the parent site has good overall PR, it’s the page that links to you that “counts” for the value of the backlink. Therefore, simply linking to one of your sites from a Squidoo lens or an article on HubPages will not give you a top-level backlink reflecting the site’s overall popularity in Google — unless, of course, the article with the backlink is featured on the front page or otherwise builds its own high PR.
Another thing you have to keep in mind is that some sites block Google from following outgoing links, using the “nofollow” meta tag in their html code. I use nofollow tags on affiliate links on my blog, which is an appropriate use of the tag, but some sites use nofollow tags for virtually all outgoing links — eHow.com is one of them, so adding your site to the Resources section of an eHow article won’t help you build backlinks at all. If you’re confused, don’t worry, I’ll keep it simple: everything I link to in this article allows dofollow links at the time of this writing.
Since my focus for 2010 is to build income through my niche sites and blogs, creating plenty of backlinks is a top priority. Here’s what I suggest for building backlinks, based on what I’ve read and am experimenting with myself:
- First and foremost, give people (specifically, webmasters and bloggers) excellent content they will want to link to naturally. Not every post you write is going to be amazing, but articles that are compelling, informative, helpful, or innovative will attract some attention.
- Guest blogging. While it takes time to write a quality blog post for someone else’s site, the ability to include a link to your own blog or website can be very valuable. Network with bloggers in your niches to find these opportunities, or they may come knocking as has happened to me in the past.
- Submit articles to blog carnivals (these are typically only good for blogs, not static articles on a niche site). Most require commenting turned on, and some require that you link back to the published carnival in a timely fashion — which is good blog carnival etiquette, anyway.
- Host blog carnivals and require that participants link back to your site. Publish the carnival monthly to ensure a steady flow of links to your site. Weed through carnival submissions to make sure you are only giving links to quality content.
- Add articles to content sites, especially revenue-sharing content sites that will pay you a little (or sometimes a lot) over time in addition to the value of your backlink. I recommend HubPages, Squidoo, and InfoBarrel.
- Utilize content blogs, such as Jevitt and Snipsly, by setting up an account, entering your Google adsense publisher ID for additional revenue, and publishing relevant blog posts with links to your sites.
- Submit articles to article directories, including EzineArticles, GoArticles and ArticleVolcano.
- Bookmark links to content on SheToldMe, LinkVault, and Redgage.
To manage backlink building effectively, I plan to devote one work session a week (ie a few hours) to building backlinks to my niche websites, blog posts, and eHow articles. And then, I’ll backlink to the backlinks.
Do you build backlinks to your content? What’s your strategy?
I am so lost! I’ve tried so hard to grasp this, and sometimes I even think I’ve almost got it, but then I read something that contradicts what I’ve read before, and I’m completely confused all over again.
I guess part of the problem is that I’m very new to all this. I found eHow in the middle of November, 2009. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to figure out how to make the most of this online venture. I really want to figure this out.
Natalie, it’s important to remember that there are many ways to accomplish the same end. Residual income is not a precise science … keep writing, keep experimenting with what works, and repeat your most successful experiments until you find a formula that achieves the results you’re working toward.
Natalie, keep Maria’s advice in mind because like she said, it’s easy to get distracted in the many ways in which you can accomplish this. That’s been part of my problem.
Maria, with niche sites, that’s the hard work: building backlinks! But for my blog, I’m contacting people to see if I can do any guest posts while featuring them on my blog as well. Though their blogs might not rank that high, I’d at least be getting the process started and getting comfortable with it.
For your niche sites, how do you build backlinks? Article Submission Directories…?
Great information about backlinks; thanks for sharing. I have to work on building more backlinks…
Thank you for another great article, especially on backlinks. Natilie is right, backlinking can be tricky and sometimes overwheming. You have given us more great info to learn and put into use. Great job again!
I was talking some people today who didn’t have a clue about internet marketing and writing on ehow.
Right in the middle of the conversation one of the people said, “Why it would be fantastic if you could actually post a link to your website on another website!”
Moon, for building links to my niche sites, so far I’ve used bookmarking sites and do-follow article directories as well as blog posts.
Thanks, jenicoe2001.
Thims … that is priceless. And very funny.
This is a really great post! I checked out the other comments before I wrote my comment and I appreciate that you are guiding people to help them to be more successful. This business definitely takes perseverance and you have to continue to analyze what’s working and what’s not.
My site also has some great information about building residual income at
Building back links is a current project of mine. It is something that I have left out of my schedule in that past and just have depended on pure content/other people linking to me. Thanks for the input, I will be using it. amylaine
[...] marketing MyMaria presents Building Backlinks posted at Residual Income Web, saying, “Backlinks to online content are vital to making money [...]
Though i have been writing for over two years backlinks are something which i had ignored. Now after understanding the importance of backlinks i have started bookmarking my content and also use content sites to create one way links to my articles or blogs.
I am new at blogging, just started it as a whim but have gotten into trying to make money with affiliate marketing so article is very informative to a newbie like me. thank you very much for the information and guidance.
Backlinks are definitely important for getting any site or article to rank in the search engines. I actually belong to a membership called Keyword Academy which has it’s own guest posting system. You can simply write your article (it only has to be over 250 words I believe) and then submit it to the system and choose a blog in your niche you want to publish it on. The admin of that blog approves the post and you have an instant backlink on another blog that is in your niche.
You mention some great ways to get backlinks. Most of my backlinks besides the guest posting system involves blog commenting and social bookmarking on do follow sites and some article marketing as well. I am also getting into forum marketing as well.
The important thing is to never spam your backlinks and to make them appear natural. If you use an automated backlink tool and get 1000 backlinks in one day that may look a little off to Google.
Great information about backlinks; thanks for sharing. I have to work on building more backlinks…
I would also have to recommend signing up for a few high quality forums that are relevant to your niche and posting a link to your website within your signature. This is a good way to build your backlinks while building relationships with webmasters inside your niche.
Also, if your forum comments are of high quality, you will see some targeted click through traffic to your site.
I agree with Tiffany, I never use anything automated. Just do it the hard way and it will pay dividends… at least I’m hoping it will:)
Agreed.
It’s important to build backlinks naturally. Even if you work extremely hard commenting on other blogs, writing great content which you are mentioned and using social media, you should be clean in the eyes of Google.
It’s sites that get 1,000s of backlinks all of a sudden which are fishy. Automated software is a nice idea but it doesn’t beat hard work and building a community.
One of the most important aspects to getting your site good rankings is to build backlinks. I think George is right on with his comment about building backlinks naturally. It will take time but forums and posts are important aspects to this.
Thank you for writing this – this is exactly the content I have been looking for. I have three sites up and running, each for a regular business (i.e., not just on-line). One is for Real Estate Appraisal in Austin and Central Texas, one is for a local granite company and one if for my own Real Estate website. The SEO has been pretty straight forward once I got a clue, but the creation of backlinks has only recently hit up on my DUH! list.
THANK YOU!!!!
Thank you for writing this and showing us that not only can we improve the visibility (and profitability) of our current businesses but my wife and I can start NOW to build some niche sites that can generate some residual income a few years from now, when we hope to be lolling about on a beach somewhere in South America.
Over the last month Ihave concentrated on acquiring quality backlinks on .com sites. Pr 5 or higher. I have gotten 11 of such links. My website prior to this fell on page 40 or more on google. Today it is 5-6 on page two.
Pr 5+ sites are difficult to find. For the next month I will concentrate on .edu .org .gov sites. Incidentally several of my links come from no follow over half in fact and only three of those quality links are subject related in anyway to my website. I’m beginning to believe that a link to a quality site do follow, related to or not is a link.MHO.
I keep track of the sites url I post to. I go back and check if my comment passed moderation and is posted. If so I then ping that specific url as the addition of my link is an update to the page. I have come a long way with only 11 quality backlinks to my site. I’ve written no artilces I hate to write. If I can get to page 1 using only backlinks I will certainly build a number of sites centered around this method. Finding sites to link my new sites to will be easy now that I have found sites.