While no one knows exactly what the formula for search engine rankings is, we do know that it has a lot to do with how many "votes" you have out there on the web. These votes are counted as backlinks. If you think about it, what do you when you find something you really like and want to share with others? You link to it! That's why the search engines count these so highly. While you should definitely aim to get to the point where others will link to you, it's possible to take things into your own hands for now.

Below are some of the top strategies you can use for building backlinks to increase the value of your blog in the eyes of the search engine.

Write Articles and Submit Them

Writing and submitting articles is a great way to build backlinks! There are sites out there like EzineArticles.com and GoArticles.com that allow you to post your content with a link back to your site. That means you get to have your link on authority sites! The more articles you write, the more you can submit them. The beauty of this is that you can often submit the same articles to different sites, or rewrite them quickly to have something that is more unique.

Comment on Other People's Blogs

It's a great thing to remember that a huge part of blogging is getting involved in the community. Commenting on other people's blogs will not only get you some recognition from their readers right away, it also counts as a backlink! Keep in might that some of these links are termed as "nofollow", which means the search engines may not pass along ranking or "juice." That's okay, because the algorithms are always changing, and since these links are so highly targeted they are a great thing.

Write Guest Posts

Writing guest posts for other niche blogs is an amazing strategy. People love to let you do this because it gives them a day off from blogging. Readers love it because they get a fresh perspective on a topic they are interested in. You'll love it because it means you get a link back to your site and all you had to do was write an extra post for the day.

Use Social Bookmarking Sites

Another thing you can do is bookmark your sites. Now, there are some rumblings out there that these won't count as highly in the future as they do now. Still, bookmarking your sites lets the search engines know "you are there" for fast indexing. If you take the time to make sure the sites you bookmark with are high quality, you'll get the benefit of those links as well.

Paying for Links

There are many different ways you can pay for links. It is important to know that Google and other search engines frown on this because it's like you're gaming their algorithm. Whether you choose to do this or not is up to you, but it can be an effective strategy if you don't go overboard and aren't obvious. You can contact people directly or even work through link exchange networks.

Learning how to build backlinks to your blog is extremely important if you want to rank well. Add a few links at a time and they will build up in a massive way over the long run.