Search Engine Optimization SEO

Link building is one of the primary tenets of effective search engine optimization. To that end, here are 30 link building tips (plus a bonus) you can utilize to pole vault your site to the top of the charts.

1. Generate quality content that is worthy of linking to
2. Write articles to share on your site
3. Submit articles to online e-zines and industry trade journals
4. Submit your site to free web directories including DMOZ
5. Start a blog
6. Create RSS feeds for your sites
7. Maintain links to all of your domains (provided you own more than one and they are legitimate)
8. Have a blogroll (links to related other sites from your blog)
9. Use trackbacks on blogs
10. Comment on blogs related to your site and topic
11. Link only to related sites that rank fairly well
12. Send link requests to webmasters of related sites
13. Join link exchange sites such as LinkMetro or GotLinks (do your homework with these types of sites; some links may be of poor quality)
14. Create a podcast (interview someone, be interviewed, share quality information)
15. Create a video
16. Host a teleseminar or webinar that requires registration
17. Create a top 10 list (people love lists!)
18. Host a free helpful tool on your site
19. Purchase a link on a high ranking site
20. Use a pay-per-post site
21. Add industry related news to your site
22. Report on an event that isn't getting a lot of coverage
23. Survey your clients to generate a unique free report based on the survey results
24. Generate and submit press releases
25. Join and contribute to social community sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, etc.
26. Contribute to industry forums and message board discussions; use signature to link back to your site(s)
27. Ask or answer a question to members of Yahoo Answers
28. Join and utilize social bookmarking sites such as Digg, del.ici.ous, StumbleUpon, etc.; use signature to link back to your site(s)
29. Add your site to local government sites
30. Add your site for inclusion in local search results
31. Have a contest with a valuable prize given to the winner (people love prizes!)

Next time you're looking for a little inspiration on a link building campaign, review the tips above to try something you may have not tried before and monitor its progress. Link building doesn't have to be hard, but it should definitely be included in your search optimization campaign.

Roger Bauer is founder and CEO of SMB Consulting, Inc., a nationally recognized sales and marketing consulting firm specializing in revenue growth programs, search engine optimization and strategic initiatives. To learn more search engine optimization techniques, point your browser to Search Engine Optimization Training or http://the-seo-bible.com