backlinksIn this post I share 11 6 methods I use but first…what is a backlink:

Simply put, a backlink is a link on a website (including blogs) that leads back to your website / blog.

In search engine optimization (SEO), page rank is at least partially determined by the number of sites that link to yours. It’s important to gain backlinks honestly, and if a lot of other sites link back to you, you will naturally get more traffic to your page.

There is a lot of argument around the quality of backlinks.

We are to believe that a backlink from a website that is in the same niche as yours carries more weight. That would make sense.

Also, we are to believe the higher the Page Rank of the website you are getting backlinks also carries more weight.

So, ideally we want backlinks from websites in our niche and with a Page Rank of 10!

There are not many of those around unfortunately.

My approach is to mix it up and not get too hung up about whether the backlinks are in my niche or coming from very high Page Rank websites. Personally, I have too many other aspects of my on-line business that I want to keep running.

One more thing to mention…

When back-linking vary the anchor text you use. Read my post on anchor text here: How to use anchor text to your advantage

1. Blog Commenting

An easy way to get backlinks is to target Blogs that ‘Do-Follow’.  If you want to follow do-follow blogs (i.e. the ones that provide you with a backlink), here’s a great list: http://followlist.com/

When you comment try and include your name AND your anchor text. Something like: Terry @ Tips for horse lovers

In this example the anchor text is “Tips for horse lovers”.

Aim to make 10 valuable comments per day.

2. RSS Directories

I mention this technique over and over again but there are so many people who just don’t use it and it is one of the easiest ways to get automatic backlinks.

Check out this post and submit your blog feed (and others) to the RSS Directories:

How you make your blog index quicker, build back-links and increase your traffic with a task that takes 2 minutes and you only have to do it once

3. Social Bookmarking

Most of the very popular social bookmarking sites like Digg, StumbleUpon and Reddit do not give you a backlink when you social bookmark your blog post.

However there are some that do! Sites like:

http://www.mister-wong.com/

http://www.diigo.com/

4. Video Sites

These days having some video blog posts is a must and once created you can submit them to numerous video sites automatically by using TubeMogul.

5. Guest Posting

Guest posting is not just about getting the backlink. It is much more than that. Read my post on Guest Blogging.

6. Internal Links

Internal links from one blog post to another blog post on your site also count as backlinks.

Each time you write a blog post, try and backlink to a previous post. That way you are also adding another backlink. Plus you are enticing your visitors to see some of your other previous posts.

I know I have mentioned numerous ways to build backlinks but by carrying out these tasks you will also gain loads more traffic.

How do you get backlinks? What tools or methods do you use? Share your views in the comments below.

Thanks to Daniel Jones, owner of www.ivebeangrounded.com informing me I did have out-dated links in this blog post.