Wizard of the Websites
Everything you need to know about starting your own Website
How to Start Link Building
If you don't already know, link building is a very broad term describing anything a webmaster does to point inbound hyperlinks back to one or more of their own websites (Also known as building backlinks). This can be done by posting comments in forums, submitting articles, submitting links to directories, posting links on social websites, etc. Link Building not only can generate traffic and bring awareness to your website, but is also a very large part of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO for short) world. Search Engine Optimization is the main reason so many webmasters spend countless hours and dollars on promoting and building backlinks to their websites. The concept is pretty simple, the more optimized your website is for search engines, the more visitors your websites will receive.
Their are numerous ways to build backlinks to your website and it all depends on what you, the webmaster, is looking to accomplish. I say this because when building backlinks you need to have a plan, and a goal set before you start, in order to stay on the right track. Before you start you need to ask yourself what type of backlinks you want to create for your website. Knowing this will not only help you speed up the link building process, but also help optimize your website faster.
Forum/Blog Commenting
Find and join Forums and Blogs that are related to the content of your site. Both usually have a place where you can add your websites link to your profile that you create, and to your profiles signature. Each time you post a comment in a forum your signature will be left with that comment for all to see, including search engines. If people like your comment, find it intriguing, or are just looking for information, it is a good chance they will click on the link you left in your signature. The more comments you post, the more links you leave to be picked up by web crawlers sent by search engines. If interested in finding forums I have created a list under the Forums Submissions Page.
Article Submission
Article submission is a little more time consuming for link building techniques, but can also help increase your websites Page Rank if posted on the right sites. Start by writing several small articles concerning topics that have to do with the content on your website. You then submit these articles to websites, like Enzine or GoArticle, that will post them for their viewers. Be sure to always add your website link in the source section of your article. That way web crawlers sent by search engine will find it when crawling the site, and viewers that like the article have a chance to go to your website for more information. I have also created a large list of article submission websites for your convenience under the Article Submissions Page.
Directory Submission
There are hundreds if not thousands of website directories out on the internet that people use everyday to not only search, but also build backlink with. A website directory lists sites by their category and subcategory instead of displaying them by their keywords like search engines do. Most directories allow website owners to submit their site manually, so be sure to pick a category that best fits the content of your website. Also be aware that some website directories are not "DoFollow" and your link will not be picked up by web crawlers sent from search engines. Be sure to always check to see if the links posted on a website are "DoFollow". If you choose to still post your websites link on a site that is not "DoFollow", don't worry, your site will still be found by the thousands of people who use the directory daily.
Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking is some what new to the scene of link building techniques and can be a great tool to have on your side. Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to organize, store, manage, search and share online resources, such as websites. Everytime you save a link to a webpage in a social bookmarking system it allows other users in that system to view the link you bookmarked. If other users like that link then they can save it themselves, pass it along to other people, or write a comment about it for all to see. In other words it is a great networking tool to open your website up to potential viewers. Also, it is a good way to get your website noticed by web crawlers sent form search engines. The more links you bookmark, the more potential visits your website could have. Some of the top social bookmarking sites include; Twitter, Digg, Yahoo Buzz, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
RSS Feed Submission
RSS or "Really Simple Syndication", is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works, such as websites, blogs, and headline news, into a standardized format. RSS documents are called feeds which includes text and metadata that are published when your website or blog is updated. This is a huge benefit because RSS feed submissions allow webmasters to publish their websites or blogs content automatically. The more websites you submit your RSS feed to, the more times your new contents is published for search engines to find. Also visitors can subscribe to a specific websites RSS feed to inform them on when new material is posted. This can also be a huge benefit because it is an effective way to keep previous visitors returning for more. Like most link building techniques there are many websites out there you can submit your site or blogs RSS feed to. Here are a few to get you started. (Note: you may have to register for some). Blogdigger, Feed Burner, RSS Network, Ping-O-Matic, SourceForge. In order to find more Websites to submit your RSS feed to, just do a quick search on your favorite search engine for, "RSS feed submission sites".
Question Answering
Question answering can be a very productive link building technique but can also be very time consuming. There are many websites, like Yahoo Answers, people can go to to post questions and wait for other people to post the answers. this can be very productive because most of these sites allow you to also post a source link with the answer to the question. This will allow web crawlers to find your links as well as allow other people searching for the same answer to follow the link back to your website. Putting your link of these type of websites may also greatly increase your sites Page Rank due to these site having a higher Page Rank themselves. Be careful not to spend your whole day answering questions though. this technique is best used by just answering a handful of questions each week. Over time the backlinks will start to build up.
Building Social Pages
Social pages such as a Facebook fan page, Myspace, and YouTube are a great resource when it comes to building backlinks to your website. Building a simple social page usually only takes minutes and can benefit greatly because it allows you to add loads of information and links that help credit your website and at the same time attract new visitors. Millions of people each day search these social websites to find new information, and then share that information with friends a family. One visitor could turn into ten if the information they find is worth sharing. Each time a visitor shares the link to your website or to your social page they are posting another link out on the web for web crawlers to find. If popular this is a very quick and easy way to build backlinks. For an example you can check out Wizard of the Websites social pages at the links below.
Wizard of the Websites Facebook Fan Page
Wizard of the Websites YouTube Page **Coming Soon**
Blog About It
Blogging is another link building technique that can help your website greatly, but can also be time consuming. If done right a Blog can not only help build backlinks to your website but also help credit your site, attract new visitors to your site, and promote new pages and information on your site. A Blog can also benefit your website by allowing you to post topics and discussions that pertain to the content of your website. In order to have a successful Blog though one needs to continually post unique topics and information, and also apply link building techniques to help it grow and become found on the internet. Remember to always add a link to the Blog post so web crawlers and visitors can follow the link back to your website.
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