SEO Tips: 10 Most Important Inbound Links You Must Have to Your Site

As you think about search engine optimization for your site, don't overlook your inbound linking strategy. An inbound link is simply a hyperlink back to your site from a page of another web site. Search engine algorithms change frequently, but the one constant and reliable strategy in search engine optimization over the years is that sites with a variety of high quality backlinks trump their competition in the search engine results pages.

Why are these links to your site important?  They can can...

- bring potential customers to your site when they click on the link

- increase the number of visitors to your web site

- dramatically improve your search engine rankings

Even though there are software packages on the market that help automate the linking process, use them sparingly, if at all.  The only way to succeed in linking strategies is (aside from creating useful content that will encourage inbound links) by manually creating the links.  That's a hard fact to swallow, given how I like to automate as much of my marketing as I can.

Here are the 10 most important inbound links you must have to your site.

1.  Directory links

Directories are indexes of online sites, typically organized by category. Links back to your site from directories like Yahoo Directory and DMOZ.org are very valuable.  DMOZ.org is edited by human editors, and while it's free, it may take awhile for your site to be listed.  Getting listed in Yahoo's Directory costs $299/year.

2. Press releases

If you're writing press releases, make sure they are optimized for keywords that someone would use to find a business like yours and include links back to your site, as well. Once written, you can have your press release distributed through a service like PRWeb.com, which will create links from high traffic news sites back to your site.

3. Article directories

Writing and distributing articles through high traffic article directories, like EzineArticles.com, is a great way to get valuable inbound links from a high traffic site.  And, with a good resource box at the end of your article, you can drive traffic to your site at the same time!

4. Social bookmarking

Similar to web browser bookmarks, social bookmarking sites store individual pages (bookmarks) online and allows users to tag (with keywords), organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web resources as well as share them with others. If you bookmark your own content on these sites (like Digg.com, Reddit.com, Del.icio.us.com), you get a link from the service.  By producing content that your readers love and then bookmark to their friends, the link increases in SEO value.

5. Blog comments

To find blog posts on which to comment, you can use blog-specific search engines like Google Blog Search.  Make sure these are blogs read by your target market, not your colleagues. Brand yourself by always using the same name and remember to link back to your site. Always leave a comment that adds to the conversation that's happening within the comments.

6. Social Media

Now, Google also indexes your Twitter updates and your social networking profiles.  Add that to Web 2.0 hubsites like Scribd or HubPage and you've got the option of creating many, many inbound links in a very short period of time.

7. Blog/podcast syndication

Submitting the RSS feed of your blog and podcast to syndication services will give you a link back to your site.  Most of the time, when you publish a new blog post, a link is assigned to the new post, as well.

8. Video syndication

YouTube is one of the most visited sites online, and the number of sites that syndicate videos is growing each day. These sites often allow you to link to your site either in your video's description or on your profile page, or both.

9. .EDU and .GOV links

Government and education web sites carry a great deal of weight with search engines, and thereby hold a great deal of credibility.  However, it's not easy to get links from either type of site.

10. Internal Links

Remember, if you have more than one web site, or a web site and a blog, be sure and link one to the other. You can do this by linking one article to other related articles, or link to categories or archives of information.

Creating a sound inbound linking strategy is a key component of your search engine optimization efforts.  See how your traffic and rankings will skyrocket by trying a few of these strategies.

More information

Small business marketing coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create authentic, profitable online businesses. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com.