One of the most important and effective SEO strategies involves gaining backlinks to your site from other places on the web. The more websites that link to your site, the more valuable you appear to search engine crawlers. But a lot of this has to do with the referring site's PageRank. A link from the New York Times website is worth more than a link from your The goal is to obtain quality, relevant links. This means websites with a high PageRank, that have to do with the same topic as your website. Getting a link from your father's mortgage business won't do much for your handbag website. This article will outline some reliable and respectable ways to gain quality links pointing at your site. Some require more effort than others, but all are valuable things to consider when trying to make a website gain backlinks.

Send Your Site to Key Directories

Online directories are like databases of websites, arranged by category. They list sites according to topic, and unlike search engines, do not rank or rate websites. Once your site is included in a directory, you gain a potentially valuable backlink from the directory's main page. DMoz, or the Open Directory Project, is one of the largest and most reputable sources of backlinks as far as directories are concerned. Each site submitted to DMoz is reviewed by a human volunteer editor. Having a site listed here speaks highly of that site's reliability and quality of content. What this also means, however, is that it can take a long time for your site to get listed. Submit your site, take heed of the instructions on the DMoz site, and do not re-submit or you'll just be putting yourself at the back of the line. Be patient and reap the rewards once you're listed here. Other important directories include the free Yahoo! Directory. To speed up your site's review you can opt for Yahoo! Directory Submit, which requires a $299 yearly fee for expedited review of your site. About.com and Business.com are other worthwhile paid business directories.

Submit to Specialized Directories

In addition to the large, general directories, there are dozens of targeted directories out there with high Page Ranks. These directories may focus on specific industries or topics, such as finance or education. Many of them are free, while a few have submission fees that are worth paying if the directory is used widely in your niche. If you belong to trade organizations with member directories, ask them to include a link to your site. Locating these directories requires a bit of online research . There are a few sites that can help you with this, such as Academic Info, and Internet Public Library. Use these sites like you would a search engine, and type in your topic or focus and look out for sites that may be directories. If something pops up with the words "Subject Guides", "Gateway Pages" or "Directories" – take a closer look and see if it's something worth submitting to. This pretty much is based on PageRank. It's not recommended to spend too much time combing the internet for specialized directories, as these types of sites tend to come and go frequently and can often be weak sources of backlinks. Also, steer clear of requests for paid ads – it's probably not worth it to post an ad inside a directory unless it’s a very popular one.

Issue News Releases

Write about something noteworthy that's currently happening in your industry, and include links to your site in the article. Submit it to online news release services within your field. This way, you'll boost traffic to your site the "natural" way, by presenting the online community with helpful and relevant information and attaching your name or your website's URL to it. Plus, you'll be gaining backlinks each time your article is syndicated. There are tons of press release sites to choose from. Some are free, while others offer different types of packages and SEO-offerings. PRWeb is a good place to start and offers a powerful syndication service tailored to boosting site SEO.

Write Articles to Websites

An excellent way to gain traffic and boost your site's link popularity is by producing informative articles that others can use on their websites or in e-mail newsletters. Submitting an article as a voice of authority can increase brand credibility. Publishers go to sites like EzineArticles.com when searching for quality articles to fill newsletters or sites. Start a viral marketing campaign by contributing articles to these places and asking that a link be included in your article. Your content can spread like a virus if it's picked up by editors and publishers. There's more information available on this tactic at Ezine.

Ask for Reciprocal Links

The key here is finding sites with content that relates to yours in some way. This doesn't mean you have to e-mail your competition and ask them to feature free website links to your site on their homepage; rather, look for smaller sites that fit into your general niche. Send a personal e-mail to the webmaster requesting a reciprocal link to your site. Then, create a page on your site for your very own link directory. It is recommended to make this page one that's not super easy to get to from your home page, so as not to turn visitors away from your site the moment they get to it. Also, the old adage "all good things come to those who wait" applies here - as it does to most reliable methods of SEO. Be patient, and wait to hear back from webmasters you've contacted. If you don't hear back , try a phone call. To find complementary sites with content similar to yours in topic, SiteSell Value Exchange offers a free link-searching service. Other sites like Linkalizer.com and Linkmarket.com could be useful as well. The most important thing to bear in mind is finding relevant sites. Google relies on links as a primary indicator of what your site's content is about. So even though you're getting bombarded with requests to exchange links with a realtor site, don't accept it for your church group website. It won't make sense to Google, or your visitors.

Become a Blogger and an Active Social Media Member

Creating your own blog is an excellent way to promote yourself as a voice of authority that others will want to link to. One way to gain awareness is by socializing within the confines of your online community. Find blogs about topics similar to yours, and post helpful, relevant comments. Answer questions on forums. Hold back from posting a link to your site until you've already posted at least 4 times on a particular blog. Try to establish yourself as a well-informed member of your field. The key here is to provide good, quality content that others will appreciate.

And there you have it. These tips and methods will help you learn how to make a website soaked in backlink juice. With a combination of these various methods, you should start seeing your site ranked higher in search engines, an improvement in PageRank and a general increase in site traffic. Good luck!