I’ve had a whole bunch of enquiries over the past couple of weeks about building back links. I was about to write something, and just as I was settling in I came across this little gem from Brick Marketing.

Back to Link Building Basics

Writing by Brick Marketing in Link Building

The second phase of an SEO campaign, after on-site optimization, is ongoing link building. Links from quality websites establish trust with the search engines. What’s important to recognize is that there is a right way to build links, and a wrong way to build links. Sometimes a website owner can get so wrapped up in it, that they can take a link building strategy to the extreme and enter a gray or black hat area. Because it’s good to get a refresher every once in awhile, let’s take a look at some of the most popular link building strategies and outline what should and shouldn’t be done.

Article Marketing
While it once was acceptable to write one article and post it on hundreds of article sites, the Google Panda update nipped that practice in the bud. When it comes to writing articles for link building purposes, focus on quality rather than quantity. Write for end users, not the search engines and instead of posting on hundreds of low quality article sites, find one good niche industry site that accepts guest submissions and post it there. Not only will it help your link building, but it will also improve traffic since the audience is more relevant.

Directory Submission
Some SEOs are eliminating this tactic from their link building strategy completely because directory links hold far less value than they used to. However, as part of a diverse link building strategy, there is still a place for directory submission. The key is to find the right directories to submit to. Instead of wasting your time submitting a site to twenty low quality directories that barely get any traffic and probably aren’t even U.S. based, spend your time researching a few niche industry directories that target audience members actually visit to find the product or service that you offer.

Blog Commenting
Blog comments are a great source of links, but you need to be commenting on the right blogs and you need to be commenting the right way. Writing “Nice post!” on any old blog isn’t going to get you too far. In fact, it will probably just get you sent to the spam folder. Spend time researching industry blogs and industry related blogs and leave thoughtful comments that contribute to the conversation. Blog commenting isn’t just about getting a link, it’s about building your personal or professional brand across numerous websites.

Press Release Distribution
Submitting a press release with keyword anchor text links is only beneficial for SEO purposes if it gets picked up by numerous sites and the only way that will happen is if the press release actually shares newsworthy information that is interesting. Don’t try and pass an article off as news. If you don’t have anything new to share, just hold off on writing a press release until you do.