In any website promotion campaign, link building is an essential part, not just for attracting visitors, but for increasing your search engine rankings. However, you don't just want any links. You want quality links. The best links are one-way links from recognized authority, well established sites and sites with content directly related to the content of your site. The older the links are; the better. You will need to give it some time to see real results from your link building efforts. Also, do your link building slowly and steadily over time, not all at once.

Here are some excellent ways to increase your links:

Directory Submissions

Directory submissions are an excellent way to build your links. Smaller, general directories offer one way links that are usually free and permanent. You should also submit to DMOZ.org, which provides results to Google's web directory and thousands of other websites and search engines all over the net. Also, consider paying for listing on the biggest directories and specialty directories that pertain to your content. Some paid directories to consider include Yahoo Directory, Business.com, GoGuides, Best of The Web and the Microsoft Small Business directory. The fees range from $40 to hundreds of dollars per year, however, these major directories can also be a good source of traffic, depending on the category your site is listed in, as well as provide an excellent one way link for link building.

Content Distribution

Content distribution can mean many things, like offering free ebooks, videos, downloads etc. but one of the main ways to offer free content to other webmasters is through article writing. You write an article on a topic related to the content of your website and then distribute it to article directories. Your article will then be made available to millions of publishers, including website owners, bloggers, e-zine owners and offline publishers looking for content. When they publish your article, they must include a link to your website and your author bio. You can potentially get hundreds or thousands of free, one-way links from just one syndicated article.

Press Release

You can write a press release announcing your website or something about your website, then announce it via PRWeb. This can result in publicity and one-way links to your website from many types of media.

Forum Posting

Find forums and message boards around the net that are related to your content. If you have a site that sells cat collars, you'll want to find a forum where cat owners chat and discuss their cats. Join and then add your URL to your forum signature. Contribute to the discussion and abide by the forum rules, and you'll get some targeted traffic and one-way links.

Link Exchanges

Link exchanges with high quality, directly related sites can also be effective for link building purposes. Find potential link exchange partners by searching Google for one of your keyword phrases. Don't exchange links with link farms or sites that have huge directories of reciprocal links. You want a quality link exchange partner, so be choosy with which sites you exchange links with.

These are some of the most popular and effective ways to build links, but there are dozens of other methods. Link building is simply essential for bringing traffic to your site and achieving top 10 rankings for your desired keyword phrases.

About The Author

Frank Stoczko writes for goSEOpro (www.goSEOpro.com), an Internet Marketing and Website Promotion company offering Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign management solutions designed especially for professionals and small business owners who require high impact, quick results and value-based pricing.