Before we get into this post you need to understand it was written 3 years ago and some of the factors are no longer considered important. Such things as page rank no longer appear publicly and should not be used as a guide for site authority. You now need to look at Domain Authority and Trust Flow.
Thanks to the recent Google updates, the affiliate marketing world has put even more emphasis on quality back links from diverse sources.
Affiliates who have the “right” kind of back links can go higher up the search engines with fewer links and less work. That means if you don’t know where to find these links, you’ll be spending more time doing grunt work and getting fewer results.
The best back links can bring traffic from visibility and also bring credibility to your site. So, how do you find these kinds of links?
Choose The Right Places
You want to make sure that your link is somewhere relevant to your niche.
It’s much better to have a link in a small site that has similar interests than a large site that might only have a few interested people. Spend time requesting links from blogs and organizations that share your audience.
You should also look for websites with authority in your niche. You don’t need a fancy piece of software to spot these sites at a glance – they have history, a unique design, and good comments from eager visitors. Befriend these webmasters, leave comments, and offer to make guest posts!
Also, think about where your link will be displayed. A guest post in a related niche is the most valuable kind of link you can get, because of the central location of the post and the amount of time you’ll have to deliver value. Blog comments are good too, but their value can diminish if you’re the hundredth comment on the page.
Important: Do not post a comment on a blog just for the back link, this will actually hurt you overtime and will in many cases get you listed as a spammer. Take the time to add value to any blog comments you write and you will start to build solid relationships with other authority bloggers where you can post your articles for a more effective back link.
Search engines think the same way, giving more juice to links near the top of the page or on pages with fewer outbound links (OBLs).
Make Them Readable
So what is a readable link?
Plain, text links are the easiest for search engines to read, and their easy for people to spot, especially in comparison to banner ads, which are easier to ignore. Stay away from links based on old technologies like Flash and JavaScript – they look like spam.
There was a time when it was important to put your main keyword in as many of your links as possible, but search engines now realize that people don’t often use keywords when recommending links to friends. It’s important to have a natural link profile. A few links with keywords in them are OK, but use them sparingly.
Give Them The Right Context
There are billions of links on the internet. Just having a link pointing at your site isn’t enough to entice people to visit. Make sure that your link has the right context. It should promise to solve a problem or deliver a feeling. You can also offer something like an article, book, or video to people who click on it.
Everybody has something that makes them stand out, so it’s up to you to figure that out and leverage it.
Also, remember that it’s not appropriate to give this kind of pitch in every situation, so use your best judgment or ask the webmaster. When you follow these tips, you’ll have a solid building block for your link profile that also brings in targeted traffic for years to come!
Leverage This From Your Social Networks
I know this has not been covered as yet, but you will also need to use your social profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ to place your links not just on others sites. In the coming weeks I will have a complete series of articles for you on leveraging the social networks.
This series will not only show you how to get authoritative back links but also build your online reputation, social influence and make you the authority in your niche market.
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