Okay, so you understand that links are important, but how do you find them?
The first step to finding links is posting to relevant directories. Note the term ‘relevant’. This does not mean posting to every directory you can find, but posting to directories that a) potential customers may actually visit and b) have decent page ranks. Without a decent page rank, your link will be essentially useless.
One of the best ways to find relevant directories is to visit DMOZ, click on Reference, then click on Directories. From here, you can review the list of directories and determine which are relevant to your site.
When searching for relevant sites its easiest to ask for link exchanges. One way link building is far more difficult than two way, and if you have a resources page I recommend using it to gain link exchanges. Links posted on your resources page should not only help with link exchanges, but they should also be potentially useful to your customers.
One of the best ways to find link partners is to type ‘add url (keyword phrase)’ into a search engine. Results will list directories and potential partners. Also, just typing the keyword phrase into a search engine will list relevant sites. Visit the sites, determine if they have a resources page, and request a one way link. If they request an exchange, provide it for them. Remember, you should only be interested in having your link placed on a page with PR 3 or more (not the home page).
Link building can be an extensive process that takes tens if not hundreds of hours, and you may want to consider hiring professional SEO services to complete this task for you. Many SEO companies specialize in link building; however, before hiring any company you should ask these questions:
1) Do you submit to Search engines (a ‘yes’ is a clear sign of an incompetent SEO)
2) How many directories do you submit to (Anything above 50 is outrageous. Some would argue that anything above 5 is unnecessary.)
3) What type of sites will you get links from (you’re looking for relevant sites)
4) What page rank will these sites have (you’re looking for PR 3 or more, although I sometimes go down to PR 2)
