Every SEO (Search Engine Optimization) effort must be accompanied by a link building campaign to be effective. After all, the incoming links are the entry points into any website besides the links displayed during a search result on Google or any other search engine.

There are different ways of approaching a building link strategy… and undoubtedly the most preferred method must be the natural way of linking that attracts a visitor to your website in search of good content. However this is a slow process and can take much time and effort . I always promote the fact that content is king and good content creation is one of the best SEO techniques ever. However, another common route of developing links for a website has been the reciprocal link building method where two or more websites exchange links with each other or links are purchased via a vendor. This method of search engine optimization is not appreciated any more by Google and such a practice will result in the site being blacklisted or the websites ranking maybe lowered.

Another good practice is having your site listed in Web directories like Dmoz or Yahoo Directory. These Directories are human edited have a prominent element in the search engines ranking algorithms. There are many directories with well categorized listings that are referred by people. While Dmoz is a free directory, there are many other paid directories that can be approached and this process can help in multiplying the incoming links to our website. One thing to note: When submitting to paid directories you must also consider directories that have relevance to your site.

One of the most effective linking strategies is to purchase text link ads from other high ranking websites. It has got a double benefit as the advertisement itself will pay by bringing in traffic and the site will get good ranking on the SERP (search engine results pages). Business websites can also register or place an ad on online yellow pages and this also can generate good traffic besides generating business