SEO Tycoon

**Learning Newbie** · 02-05-2007, 06:19 PM

Hi,

I've been lurking here for weeks, and this is my first post. I'm getting ready to launch a web site, have learned the world about html and css to build a good site, a bunch about writing, and so on. Now as I'm working on my pre-launch checklist, I hope to learn more about SEO. Example: what's the difference between a link and a backlink?

The most important question is where do links come from, though. I read the posts here, and 2/3 of the advice is to go build them yourself, or hire someone to do it for you. Sometimes people say the opposite: they'll grown organically, of their own accord. So which is it, or is it a combination of the two?

I found out about directories, but for free it can take months for them to approve your link. Or maybe they just say that so you'll pay for an upgraded listing? Does it make sense to apply to directories? And if it does, should I wait until my site is ready to launch, or start now and expect the lag to take until I'm ready, or longer?

People say to add links in your forum signatures, but isn't this spam? I'm grateful for all the advice I get, but I always thought forums were about sharing advice and knowledge, and problem solving, but not a place to advertise? I must be wrong since so many people say they're great, but I don't want to get kicked off a forum, or have people black list my site.

After that I really don't know how I can "build" more links. Maybe I could start a blog, but it sounds like people go around creating hundreds of links back to their site, on their own, spread across a lot of different web sites. I must not be very creative, because I can't think of how to do this!

Thoughts?

**chrishirst** · 02-08-2007, 10:44 AM

have a read through HR Link Building forum for some other ideas.

**Visio** · 02-08-2007, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

have a read through HR Link Building forum for some other ideas.

Definately not the best resource for newbies. Seochat has good info and Aaron wrote a great post on it here: http://www.seobook.com/archives/001936.shtml

**Kirtan** · 02-08-2007, 10:32 PM

Search Engine Watch : http://searchenginewatch.com/showPag...ing StrategiesUpdated Version of above
SEO Book 101 Ways to build links 71 Good Ways and rest are BAD.

**trichnosis** · 02-08-2007, 11:15 PM

my suggest is you to read this http://www.seobook.com/archives/001936.shtml

**vangogh** · 02-09-2007, 04:09 AM

LearningNewbie all of the links above will lead you to dome good articles.

To answer the question about sig links they're not spam. Some forums don't allow them or limit them since many people will make useless posts thinking they get these great links with each post.

Sig links are allowed here so feel free to create a signature with links back to your site. They probably won't be worth a lot where a search engine is concerned. Some links are better than others. If you see I have a few thousand posts here meaning I have that many links back to my site too. I'd trade all for one very well placed link on an authority site of my choice.

Sig links are most beneficial for the direct traffic they might send. Make good forum posts and people will click on the links in your sig.

Ideally you'll get links by creating some great content on your site that other people naturally want to link to, but obviously you need to get some people at least to see it to get the ball rolling.

Directories are one place to get links as you've seen.

Try participating in various places on the web. The more you get yourself out there the more you start seeing how other people get links. Also try to build relationships with people online. If you build friendships with people you'll end up getting more than one link.

One way to get links is to write articles that end up on sites other than your own. When you write the article make sure to add links back to your site. You get the links the other site gets some free content.

**ForrestCroce** · 02-09-2007, 05:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

One way to get links is to write articles that end up on sites other than your own. When you write the article make sure to add links back to your site. You get the links the other site gets some free content.

I've been giving this technique some thought. Part of me is worried about devaluing the articles on my site ( Black and White, Soft Focus ), but I'm thinking on the whole, name recognition is probably more valuable. Some of my articles run a bit long, though, so I might wind up writing shorter versions for other sites.

Also, Learning Newbie has posted in some of the coding forums; software can be a good draw. WebMaestro is starting to be pretty useful, it's free, and it's bringing traffic to my site. If you either make software available to the public, or create good articles on how to accomplish certain things in code, either will get your site on other peoples' del.icio.us pages and whatnot.

**SeLFiE_12** · 02-09-2007, 05:48 AM

Quote:

they'll grown organically, of their own accord.

IMO it will grow if your site gave great contents and interest to visitor that they might probably link to you and that's link baiting...and that is great as it is a one way link...you can also get backlinks (also traffic) from as you said directories, article submission, press release submission, blog, forums, social bookmarking sites, and by exchanging links...

**Learning Newbie** · 02-09-2007, 02:43 PM

"Linkbaiting" sounds like a bad thing - is it?

**parusa619** · 02-09-2007, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

"Linkbaiting" sounds like a bad thing - is it?

Nope, it sounds like a strategy. Link baiting is a strategy wherein you put good and delightful contents that describe your site.

Read Arts of Link-baiting

**vangogh** · 02-09-2007, 03:18 PM

The term linkbaiting sucks as a name, because it does sound like a bad thing. In reality it's a really good thing. The basic idea is to create some kind of content on your site that is so useful people just naturally link to it.

The content can be an informative article that serves as a resource. It can be a really entertaining video. It can be news you get to first. It can be a useful tool that everyone wants to use.

It can be a lot more things as well. There's more to it than what I just said, but if you do a search for 'linkbaiting' or 'linkbait' or 'link bait' etc there's a lot of good info out there including many discussions about how the name itself sucks.

Forrest if you're going to submit articles to other sites it's best to write a different article than the one on your site. You can rewrite one or the other so both are still unique or just write an article for that other site without worrying about having it on your site as well.

There are a lot of sites that allow you to submit an article that others can download, but a better approach is to find an authority site in your industry that allows you to submit articles and write one tailored for that site. It's harder work to find the really good site and tailor an article to them and it's also only one link as opposed to the many you might get from having lots of people use the article, but having the article on one authority site where a lot of people in your industry visit will end up carrying the greater reward.

And of course the article should be a good one.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-09-2007, 07:03 PM

Where do links come from? The link stork. Remember that drunk cartoon character from Bugs Bunny that ended up delivering Bugs to the family of gorillas and then the daddy gorilla kept getting abused by Bugs and then the mommy gorilla would bail Bugs out? That's the link stork. He was just loaded and didn't know what he was doing.

Seriously...the best place to get links is to build stuff that draws 'em out naturally. And what does that? Content. Good, quality, useful content. That's it. That's the secret in a nutshell. Build something people will want to link to, tell a few people about it, and let the awesome power of netgeekery take its course (assuming, of course, you've earned it).

**vangogh** · 02-09-2007, 10:00 PM

Adam do you have the number for the link stork. I ordered 1000 links a week ago and they still haven't arrived. I'm afraid my order was intercepted by a cartoon rabbit instead.

If I find out it was do you have the number for Elmer Fudd. I'm thinking it may be wabbit season.

**astrojith** · 02-10-2007, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

Remember that drunk cartoon character from Bugs Bunny that ended up delivering Bugs to the family of gorillas and then the daddy gorilla kept getting abused by Bugs and then the mommy gorilla would bail Bugs out? That's the link stork. He was just loaded and didn't know what he was doing.

Really nice example, Adam. I personally think the article from SEO Book is one of the best you can get. Actually, I've done a little research on it in the past. I remember posting a lot of links to a lot of articles. Its here :- http://webmaster-dome.com/?p=60 .

There's more than 30+ articles so grab a burger. Anyway, its an assorted collection. So, you don't have to question the quality. This is not a self promo of any kind. I thought it would be nice to provide my own personal list. A lot of the links were provided by Brian Clarks. So, kudos to Brian !!

**parusa619** · 02-10-2007, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

The term linkbaiting sucks as a name, because it does sound like a bad thing. In reality it's a really good thing. The basic idea is to create some kind of content on your site that is so useful people just naturally link to it.

The content can be an informative article that serves as a resource. It can be a really entertaining video. It can be news you get to first. It can be a useful tool that everyone wants to use.

It can be a lot more things as well. There's more to it than what I just said, but if you do a search for 'linkbaiting' or 'linkbait' or 'link bait' etc there's a lot of good info out there including many discussions about how the name itself sucks.

Forrest if you're going to submit articles to other sites it's best to write a different article than the one on your site. You can rewrite one or the other so both are still unique or just write an article for that other site without worrying about having it on your site as well.

There are a lot of sites that allow you to submit an article that others can download, but a better approach is to find an authority site in your industry that allows you to submit articles and write one tailored for that site. It's harder work to find the really good site and tailor an article to them and it's also only one link as opposed to the many you might get from having lots of people use the article, but having the article on one authority site where a lot of people in your industry visit will end up carrying the greater reward.

And of course the article should be a good one.

Yeah, on the first place I thought link-baiting is a bad thing, but when I read about it, I found out that link-baiting is a good method than any other method. It may largely give traffic to sites.

**vangogh** · 02-10-2007, 01:35 PM

It's probably one of the best ways you can build links into a site both quickly and over time. The name does make it seem like a bad thing though. I doubt the name will be changing though so we're most likely stuck with it.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-12-2007, 03:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

Adam do you have the number for the link stork. I ordered 1000 links a week ago and they still haven't arrived. I'm afraid my order was intercepted by a cartoon rabbit instead.

If I find out it was do you have the number for Elmer Fudd. I'm thinking it may be wabbit season.

Sorry, dude. He dropped his cellphone into the Atlantic and hasn't replaced it yet (or Elmer blasted it off of his side, I don't know. Jury's still out.)

**Claud** · 02-12-2007, 06:34 AM

Learning Newbie –

1)There are actually two types of links outbound link and inbound link where you give a backlink to a website and you get a backlink from another website respectively. Links come from different websites for which you have to work for in order to get them by sending requests to them or if they find your site interesting and related to their’s they will link back to you. You can ofcourse buy them too if the other party is interested in selling.

2)Directories are a very good way to let people and SE’s know about your site. Some directories do take a long time to show up the site if it’s the free submission but many list them soon enough. I would suggest you to first finish the site with the main content and then submit them in directories and complete the remaining part in the mean time. You can go for the paid listings with major directories if it’s in your budget.

3)Forum sig’s isn’t spam but a way of advertising the website and getting unique visitor’s on the site but doesn’t help in getting the site crawled by the SE’s but yeah you get a lot of good advice along with it.

4)Read some good tutorials and stuff related to SEO and Link building and soon even you’ll be a lot creative in terms of link building and get some for your site too.

ATB

**BruceWayne** · 02-12-2007, 07:21 AM

I recommend you this http://www.seomoz.org/