If you have found this article you are most likely aware that effective link building is the most important statistic search engines compare when ranking web sites. Search engines rank sites on importance, and how better to show importance than willfully being referred by other websites in the form of a link? Keep in mind that incoming links are the most important factor when ranking websites but not the only factor! Use the following link building strategies to ensure your website effectively receives sustainable traffic:

Article Writing and Submission

Writing articles is our number one recommendation when building one way, incoming links. By writing an article related to your website's content and placing your link on it, you are not only building incoming links but also getting the attention of your targeted audience that are reading your articles. There are thousands of article distribution services as well publishers that feed on quality content and want nothing more to place your article and link on their site. Since the information in the articles can be redistributed, your article and link will be redistributed for years to come. For best exposure we recommend finding a reasonably priced submission service or program to take care of most of the leg work!

Forum, Blog, and Profiles

Do you participate in any online communities? Most allow or even force you place a profile or signature. Many of these also allow you to insert a link to a website of your choice. This link also serves multiple purposes. Search engines recognize this link as a one way link and you also will get curious visitors from the site the link was initially posted. Now be careful with this! You need to follow the rules of the website your link is being posted at. If it is against the website's policies to post your link it is illegal for you to do so and can cause serious issues with your website and business if escalated.

Reciprocal Link Exchange

When related websites exchange links it is called reciprocal linking. Although not as beneficial as one way linking, this is a common and free way to obtain more links from related websites and is mutually beneficial to both websites. Webmasters should always keep in mind that linking to a website that is banned or being penalized by search engines may have a negative effect on their own website. For this reason, if linking to other websites, please monitor your link partners to ensure you are not a victim of these penalties.

Quality Content

Google's number one recommendation for improving your position in their search engine is quality content. A common reason why websites fail in the marketing world is because their websites do nothing more then sell products. People as well as search engines don't want anything to do with these websites. Information gathered by researching the topic and related topics will pull links and traffic, then you are able to offer them your products and services.

Content Related Tools

This topic may not be possible based on your website subject. People often search on automated tools to assist them in saving time and providing them with the answers they need and webmasters love to provide their visitors with links to sites that allow this. This will indirectly pull traffic to a website and keep them coming back often. For example, this article is about link building right? What do you need to keep track of your link building progress? There is a very easy tool to use called a "Link Popularity Check." This tool allows you to monitor how many websites links search engines see linking to your website. Placing this tool on our website will keep you coming back often to check your link building progress and also lure you into trying other tools and possibly purchasing services from us.

Paid Advertising

Just like anything else in life, you can buy yourself through link building. Everything listed above can be completed or created for you but there is often a hefty price that comes along with an experienced. If you choose to pay someone to do the leg work for you, you are placing the reputation of your business in their hands. If they decide to take a short cut and spam your link, you will face the consequences.

Now you have the knowledge you need to make your website an internet success! Be patient, as link building takes time. With effort comes progress!