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Six Tips for Link Building & Improving Google Page Rank

Link building is a long, tedious process and never really finished. However, if you are persistent and diligent the rewards can be profitable and gratifying. Coupled with optimized site architecture, your position and ranking in the top search engine result pages (SERPs) can be attained and your site will be viewed as a website of authority.

So how do you build links to improve your page rank and increase traffic to your website? In a nutshell, you provide good information to people who are looking for it and you publicize that information. Create a tool or quiz than other websites find useful to link to. Comparisons and reviews are also good "link bait". What you don't want is something that could be easily duplicated because you stand the risk of doing a lot of work only to have others re-create it. Here are a few examples of things you can do to attract links back to your website.

Tip #1: Write Articles

Articles written for press releases and newsletters are a great way to solicit links. Submit the articles to Chamber of Commerce newsletters or newsletters in your target markets. Most editors are hungry for information for their audience and would love to publish your article(s). Don’t be afraid to reuse articles for different groups of readers and always provide a link back to your site in the content. Links back to your website build your internet popularity. Date your articles and write them new when they need to be refreshed. Don't forget to also post them as pages on your own website, taking care to reword them a bit so they don't become duplicate content.

You can also submit press release type articles to syndication services such as PRWeb.com.

PR Web is a great way to announce the subject of your article to many places at one time. It is an inexpensive service with multiple donation levels that offer advanced syndication. If you don’t pay the extra dollars for their submission services, be sure to submit your PRWeb article pages to the search engines. These links will also help improve your link popularity.

Copyright all your articles and use the <cite> tag around your copyright line to tell the search engines that the content belongs to you. The <cite> tag looks like this: <cite “yoursite.com”> your content here </cite> and will print out “your content” in italics.

Tip #2: RSS Feed

Create a RSS feed. Also called an XML feed, it is basically a file with a summary of information about each of your articles and links to the corresponding pages on your website. A list of your articles will appear when subscribed to in a RSS reader such as myYahoo has available. Publishers and researchers and even everyday ordinary people are using RSS & XML feeds to scan for information from sites they have subscribed to. RSS readers provide an easy way to look for information that might be of interest to an editor’s audience since they choose the news they want using keywords and keyword phrases. Editors reading your feed and picking up your articles may link back to your website and add another link to your portfolio of links.

RSS feeds are simple yet tricky to set up and maintain. There are sites that will walk you through the process. You can either use a code generator or write it by hand. Either way will work if done properly.

Tip #3: Blog

Those of you who already about blogging know what I am talking about. Blogs otherwise known as web logs, are a way for people to share information. Blogging is like keeping a diary that other people can comment on if allowed. Find blogs that are appropriate to your subject and comment on them. Don’t forget to provide the link back to your article on your website to help improve your link portfolio. Although some blogs are set up with a "no-follow" command on links, it doesn't hurt because human visitors are good too and commenting will help establish you as a subject matter expert.

Tip #4: Directories & Search Engines

Ask yourself if you have submitted your website to all the directories you can? Have you researched niche directories in your target market and looked for directories that pass page rank (PR)? These directories in particular will help imrove your link popularity. Look into directories that service your target industries and vertical markets. Write custom title and meta tags when you can and follow all their rules for submissions. Never submit using an automated system. Always submit manually.

And while you are submitting your site to directories, don’t forget to check the search engines and make sure all your pages are indexed in their databases. Links from search engines to search engines may also factor into their algorithms. Never submit using an automated system. Always submit manually. Did I already mention that?!

I offer a premium directory submission service for those who don’t have the time to do the research and want to get the best out of their submissions. I know how to ensure that your site will be accepted by submitting correctly, efficiently and accurately to SEO friendly directories, avoiding directories that are not SEO friendly. In the end you will receive a spreadsheet showing you what directories your site was submitted to.

Tip #5: Linking Out to Authority Sites

Not only do you want other sites to link to you, but in order to establish your site as a website of authority, you will need to link to other websites, preferably from your content rather than a links or resources page. Links to authority websites show the search engines that your site is a resource for information relevant to what your visitors are searching for.

Tip #6: Internal Linking

Last but not least, you want to make sure and link amongst your own pages. If there is a place in the content where you can reference one of your other pages, by all means do so. And even better if you can do it from a keyword phrase relevant to the page you are linking to.

Breadcrumbs are another way to provide internal links and a very good way for your visitor to find their way back to where they came from. Breadcrumbs are text navigation usually at the top of the content that creates the path back to the home page of the site.

Remember, you can never be too rich, too thin or have too many links back to your website. Ok, well maybe you can be too thin but never too rich or have too many links. I hope these tips help you generate links and establish your website as one of authority on the Internet!

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