Search engines gives priority to websites which contain more inbound links, thus leading to higher rankings in their search results.
Link building is an important aspect of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
It can be described as the practice of acquiring links from other sites to your own website.
We can see to it that from years ago, many a webmasters have been actively engaging themselves in various link building processes to gain higher rankings from search engines.
After knowing it importance you might be tempted to jump in and start link building but I warn you it should never be taken lightly as it needs plenty of planning and research.
Not building quality links might result in search engines ignoring your site.
Increasing your ranking can be done by driving more traffic to your website which is a direct consequence of good quality inbound links of your website executed properly.
Thus proper care and attention should be given to link building to promote your healthy relations with the search engines.
Following are some important points to consider before you indulge in link building: * Keep a watch on your competitor: your competitors may be thinking ahead of you and may be engaged in different link building strategies.
Find out how they are doing so and you might be able to grasp some great ideas to work on.
They might be indulged in Article Directories, Guest Posting, Networking E-mails, Linking Out, Social Media Sites, Reciprocal links etc.
These might help you in increasing Backlinks of your own website.
* Content is the key: The content is the most valuable information on your website.
The more original, refreshing, interesting and helpful the content is, the chances of it being successful are more.
Link building is very essential for your web-site but without relevant content the traffic driven in by link building will be fruit-less.
* Utilize the right type of keywords: Use the various methods available to find suitable Keywords for your type of business.
By suitable I mean the type of keywords that end-users put in and remember not to overstuff your content with keywords, because maintaining the right balance between your content and keywords will serve two purposes, traffic driven to your site will get the feeling of authenticity of your business and search engines will rank you higher in their searches.
* Avail and display the best Title Tags and h1 Tags: Title tags are the main resources used by the search engines to find a web page.
A catchy and descriptive title will surely get you the much deserved ranking.
If a user types in a keyword present in your title probability of him finding your webpage in the searches is very high.
Web crawlers never miss examining a title thus it is important to use the right keywords in it.
H1 Tags are another highly placed resource which refers to the header tag present in the body of a website.
These tags also help in boosting your page's search ranks.
* Look out for canonicalization issues before jumping in to link building: canonicalization is the process of converting data having more than one possible representation into a standard or canonical form.
It largely addresses the duplication issues.
Thus checking your site's URL for "200 OK" or "301 Moved permanently" status is a must, because fixing internal duplication is very important.
* Check for User-Friendliness of your site: checking if or not your website is user friendly comprises of looking into the page load speed, accessibility, navigation and information of your website.
Keep the following tips will help you in deciding whether your website is user friendly or not - -Create a Site Map -Use a Logical Navigation Structure -Check for Errors Regularly -Use a Consistent Design and Layout -Use short and easy readable URL's -Break long pages into multiple pages -Include a Site Search Tool -Ensure Shopping Carts are Functional -Include Obvious Contact Details -Make it search engine friendly * List your resources: resources available on hand will definitely help in the process of link building.
After choosing the right niche for your target readers, list your resources related to that topic.
* Find out your Specialty: your website will be loved and applauded if you target the specific and right kind of audience.
Find out the niche you have created for yourself in the market and stick to it.
After determining your specialty do some internet research of websites with higher page ranks related to your kind of specialty and surely enough your viewers will never forget to bookmark your site.
* Use accurate contact info: Using domain specific e-mail ids or ids created for business purposes will surely gain you mileage points in the long run.
If you have chosen a personal id you can be a target for spammers.
Using accurate and proper e-mail ids will make sure of your contact info for various reasons.
Link building as it seems from outside is not easy and never under-estimate it's importance.
If you successfully develop the skills for link building your site is bound to gain higher rankings and greater inflow of traffic.