How to obtain backlinks

Backlinks and position in results of search engines are the goal of SEO and the later depends upon the former. Backlinks are obtained by a good and unique content, but some tricks can help a lot.

Note that if you do not want your site to be penalized for excess of artificial links, it is essential that backlinks are on pages of same topic that your site, and that the anchors are not the same repetition of the same group of keywords. Over-optimization is now hunted by algorithms of search engines.

Pages which bring links naturally

• Create a page in the style "10 tricks to do this or that", because such a page obtains links easily.
• Demystify an established truth. In the same idea as the preceding rule, give the list of the myths concerning some subject.
• See the annual report of Google or Yahoo on the most often given keywords in requests.
  A contrario, a subject of which you are the only one to speak brings obligatorily links.
• If you have means, create statistics on a subject of general interest. Or more easily, make a survey.
• When a new product or software is announced, get documented in-depth about it and what is referred to it, to be able to say more than all the others which will announce the news.
• A long article is more likely to get links than a short article.
  

Design of the site

• Pages must be accessible and easy to read, written in a simple language, even if it comprises technical terms and it must be easy to find complementary information on the site. Look after the style, the orthography.
• Look after the design. Of course employ CSS and images.
• Check the validity of your HTML code. See tools.
• Do not place too much advertisements, in particular these groups of Adsense giants advertisements on full page.

Show you are an expert

• For that, give on your site a list of experts in your field.
• Always mention the licence of software and all legal mentions.
• Add links on sites of references, but forget this online wiki-encyclopaedia that is known too well, to not weary visitors too much.

Promoting

• Directories. Some as Dmoz and Botw are impossible to circumvent, but it is useless and even it can be prejudicial to refer a site on hundreds of directories with a PR almost null or that require a link in return.
• See the handbook of SEO to know the essential bases.

Take part in sites of news

• Write articles for sites open to external writers.
• Send e-mail to webmasters to announce your product.

Digg-like and other wikis

• By putting a question on Answers from Yahoo, or by answering questions of other Net surfers, you make yourself be known.
• Take part in forums. You will easily have the occasion to put a link on your site if its contents contribute to solve a problem which is posed. On the Google groups in particular.
  It goes without saying that this will have a return if on this occasion you show your competence and not whether you tend to just spam by adding links to your site.
• Write a summary of your best articles and propose them on the blogs and collaborative sites of information (digg-like).
• Add comments on the pages which allow it, which is always the case of blogs. As for the forums, that can possibly be the occasion to add a link.
• There exists many wikis in which you can take part. It is of course not a tool of referencing, but if there are articles on products similar to yours, and if yours is popular, verify that one speaks about it too.
  Most wikis do not bring backlinks because of the nofollow attribute on the links, useless thus to add a link on your site.
• Use Twitter and register in following for accounts related to your business. This can let know your site to the Webmaster. In a second time you will get your own followers.

Contribute with scripts

• Build a template for Dotclear, Wordpress, PhpBB, PunBB or another CMS. (See the list of CMS). The template must contain a link towards your site and the licence of the topic must specify that the link should not be removed.
• If you can program, write an extension for Firefox.
• More easily, an extension for a CMS, which is only PHP code, such as a protection against spams for example.
• Any script is a source of backlinks.

Exchanges

• If a site speaks about your articles, speak about this site, that shows to your readers that you are known. But that should not be automatic, and do not contact Webmasters to say to them "you owe me a link" when you speak about their site.
• Quote others webmasters in your articles, as experts. They will be flattered and will speak about your site.
• If your site is a blog, blogrolls on similar sites allow to exchange visitors.

The hunt to broken links

• Webmasters do it for themselves or for their clients' websites. Look at good sites, with pages relevant to the site you want to promote, for broken links. This can be done with a link checking tools like Link Checker (see in the scripts section).
• Send an email to the webaster to signal that the page contains a broken link, and offer him instead a link to one of your pages.
  The result depends on how you will present your request and on the webmaster: he may only thank you or simply not respond and delete the broken link. In the best case it will be grateful to accede to your request and replace the link.

Make a blog (for a commercial website)

• As all public celebrities and characters do it now, as well as companies, add a blog to your site. That let you enter in a blogosphere, a group of blogs dependent between them. It is common in a blog to quote another blog. That also makes it possible to speak about what you want to make known.
• News obtain links easily in particular if an RSS feed is created. They must be renewed because their duration is limited.

Select the sources of backlinks

Whatever the nature of the sites from which we hope links, digg-like, partner, another blog, etc. avoid sites that have unfair practices :

• Black hole sites: they get the benefit of incoming links but do not link to other sites.
• Networks, another form of black hole: they do links inside a network of partners only.
• Invisible use of X-Robots: their external links are nofollow, but it is invisible.
• Google highlights it, there are few directories, from wich links are valuables.
  Often they make use of the submissions as a medium for advertising. Sometimes they stole the place of submitted sites in search engine results through X-Robots yet.
  Get assured they are moderated and structured and the descriptions have a unique content.
• Link exchange, usually in footer, are to be avoided as well, it is another thing that the previous article from Google reminds.

To see which sites provide links and which do not provide, see at the Links entry in Google Webmaster Tools.

Useful sites

• ODP. Lot of links in Dmoz for improving popularity.
• Stumbleupon. Another bookmark site.
• Answers. Online service of Yahoo. Put your questions or answer the questions of Net surfers.
• Amazon. Make a review, add comments, or create a list. You can even get a percentage on sales.
• Google Groups. Specialized forums.
• Submit your content. Page by google that summarize all the services where you can submit your contents: articles, images, and so ones.

See also

• Value of a backlink. There are not all equal.