Have you received a letter from Google lately?

Does it contain something like this, “We’ve detected that some of your site’s pages may be using techniques that are outside Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Specifically, look for possibly artificial or unnatural links pointing to your site that could be intended to manipulate PageRank”?

Now, why would you have “artificial and unnatural” links?

As you go over this question, you are also probably wondering what you did wrong. If you are confused with the workings of SEO as well as of search engine algorithms, you do not have to be. It could be that you have less idea about link schemes or you are not aware that some spam sites have linked to your website.

Whichever of the circumstances you are under, find out which linking schemes you need to avoid. These usually include the following:

• Mass commenting on other blogs and, sometimes, including your URL
• Mass posting on forum sites or discussion boards
• Automatic linking through some site directory listings, and article directories (especially those with spun content)

After looking into these aspects, it is important that you also know the proper methods of generating links to keep from breaching any guidelines.

Before anything else, you must know that there are two main link types.

1. Internal Links– They point to pages on your site to help with easy navigation.
   

   The way Internal links work

2. Backlinks– They are hyperlinks from other portals or Web pages, which direct the users to your website or content. The number of quality links, which you have obtained, determines your site’s importance and popularity.
   

   Backlinks point people towards your website

Now, both types are valuable; however, we are going to focus on the latter as it helps greatly in increasing your PageRank (PR), which in turn can boost your ranking in SERPs. The highest PR is 10, while the lowest is 0 with the rating based on general factors such as the following:

• number of inbound links (or number of websites linking to your pages)
• PR of the link sources
• Certain webpage factors (e.g. size, number of modifications, latest update, and title and hyperlink text)

Since getting relevant and authoritative inbound links is important, how do you ensure this? The answer lies in the following ideas.

Natural Ways To Get More Backlinks

1. Concentrate on producing quality content

By “quality”, it means that your articles have to be informative, compelling, fresh, and original. You can also focus on trending topics, making sure (at the same time) that you are providing credible data.

When you take note of these aspects each time you write content, you will eventually grab the attention of many users and authoritative site owners. Once this happens, the next two methods will follow.

2. Earn backlinks from established and high-ranking sites

Think of these websites as the “in” crowd and the World Wide Web is a school. When the owners of these sites recognise you and your work, most (or all) of their followers will accept you too. You would be a “shoo-in” to their network. These individuals will mention your site in their write-ups and tag you in their profile pages.

Speaking of which, let us proceed with the next technique.

3. Use social media

When you are able to grab the attention of credible and authoritative people online, they will talk about you on their blog or social pages. Additionally, they will suggest or share your content to their friends or followers.

Well, this is not the only way you can make the most of well-known networking and sharing sites. If you have an account on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, you can add a webpage or blog post link to your status update. This way, your target audience can access your site through your profile pages.

4. Guest blog

If you have a blog site, you can generate backlinks by writing for another blogger. But before you send requests to several individuals, take note of the following pointers.

• Choose popular and credible sites within your niche.
• Come up with relevant and well-written articles to avoid rejection.

When the people, whom are blogging for, are satisfied with your write-ups, they can provide you inbound links.

5. Comment on blog posts

This method can help with generating backlinks too, especially when you comment on trending posts within your niche. When you are doing this, do not forget these important tips.

• Avoid adding your URL directly to your feedbacks.
• Start a real conversation and share your own ideas.
• Only give your link if the other users ask for it.

So, there you have five innovative techniques on getting inbound links. As you can see from the ideas, earning and creating backlinks is generally about increasing your visibility and popularity online.

Now, you may find it hard to attain wide exposure at first. But once you begin to master these strategies without breaking guidelines, your website will ultimately obtain great PR and a high ranking in search results.
___________________________________________________________________
Thank you to my Guest Post Author: Emma Tomlinson

Emma Tomlinson is the Head of Retail at Smart Traffic, a UK-based specialist company that offers SEO reseller solutions to both SMEs and major companies.
___________________________________________________________________