Find Out If Manual Link Building For You

There are many different SEO (search engine optimization) methods out there. All of them have their own pros and cons, and manual link building is no exception. In it's simplest terms, this is nothing more than finding the sites you would like to link back to yours, then adding them to that site (if it's set up to take such submissions) or contacting the site owner directly and asking them to add your link.

A lot of people are convinced that hiring a backlink service to do all of the tedious work is the best way of getting backlinks. Then there are those who believe doing their own manual link building is the better SEO strategy.

The truth is that manual link building does have some advantages. Because you are, by definition, doing the work yourself, it is basically free unless you happen to purchase software to help you find the best sites to link to, but this often isn't necessary. The other advantage is that because you have complete control over which sites are linking back to you, it can be a very effective method. It's also a good option for site owners that only want backlinks from sites in their geographic area.

It's safe to say that it's not a smart move for small businesses to invest months and years to slowly build up a web presence through social networking and article publishing; waiting for enough of this content to be linked enough to see a boost in the search engine rankings. This applies even more so to brick and mortar businesses that don't have a strong need to do business online, but still need an online presence. That doesn't mean they shouldn't try getting links this way, but that they need to do more because time is always of the essence.

A good place for local businesses to start are local online business directories. Request that your website be added to the directory, but beware that many of these directories will require payment to be listed with them. However, if there are levels of listings, and your business doesn't have a lot of local competition, then you should be safe going with the most basic listing. But also remember to go with the larger paid directories such as Business.com, Yahoo and BOTW. The reason it's important to cover all your bases is that Google likes the larger sites and it will increase the results of you manual link building efforts.

What about automated link submission tools? Well, they certainly can be used effectively, but they aren't perfect. They can fill in submission forms automatically, but not all sites use the same input fields. And when there are unique fields that the automated software doesn't recognize, it either won't submit properly, or you will still have to do some of it manually. The main benefit is that when it works right, it is much faster than manual link building.

Get Best SEO Tools More SEO Techniques

Should You Buy Backlinks Or Not

There is quite a bit of controversy about the right way to use SEO and build backlinks. Should you buy backlinks? Or should you go about building your incoming links the "old-fashioned way". This is one hot topic in worldwide forums and not something that's easily answered. There really is no right or wrong.

In the past, big companies were the only ones that could afford in-house staff or outsourced workers to work on this facet of their online marketing, the facet which many would argue is the most important. Big companies can build enormous websites with hundreds and hundreds of pages. And they can do it very quickly. They have no problems getting backlinks to their sites. In fact, they probably get millions of them which means that the search engines will prefer them.

Small business owners were forced to build their own backlinks. Until recently, they didn't have the resources to have this done for them. So they could in no way compete with the huge corporations that gobbled back links up like candy and forever insured their top spots in search engine rankings.

But it's become easier for the small business person. There are now services that allow the smaller fish in the pond to buy backlink that don't cost an arm and a leg. However, there are some important concepts to keep in mind and things that you need to avoid.

First of all, remember that all backlinks are not the same in quality and that obtaining a bunch of low-quality links can actually harm your search engine ranking rather than improving it. Secondly, while buying backlinks can save you lots of time, it is not cheap and you are at risk for being flagged by Google (in particular) and the other search engines. And you want to make sure that you are not just throwing your money away to any service. Do not choose just the cheapest links to save you money. Do your research first.

Stay away from hundreds of links that all come from the same origin (usually referred to as "link farms"). These are easily tracked and very much frowned upon by the search engines so they will get you nowhere fast. Also steer clear of businesses that advertise the buying and selling of links - these links will also sooner or later be flagged by the search engines and they are not worth the risk. Remember that backlinks have become a very hot commodity.

If you do decide to invest in them, you want to make sure you are getting the quality you pay for. Don't buy backlinks that you must pay for each month. You're better off to buy a backlink each month rather than paying for the same one over and over again. What you pay for your back link may vary. But make sure that you do the research before just choosing any service. Some highly recommended services include LinkVana and Neurolinker.

Get Best SEO Tools More SEO Techniques