Inbound Linking

Inbound linking will always be an important part of SEO but how you link to some one is the key to having any type of success.

If you are a web site specializing in legal services and some one links to you as "ACME Corporation" they are by the act describing your website as something that has nothing to do with law.

If the same person were to be inbound linking to you as "Los Angeles Lawyer" and your practice was a law firm in LA, you would of course benefit from that link right?

Linking Is Easy Right?

Not so fast. You have to consider several other linking parameters to qualify each and every link you get. What is the linking power passed when inbound linking? It depends on the PR of the page that links to you, the relevancy of the link and most of all how many other links are on the page linking to you that are diluting the amount of PR passed by that link. Furthermore you have to have the inbound link in place long enough for Google or another SE to pick up the link and then credit you for that inbound link.

How Do I Get Links

There were over a million ways to get inbound links when I started writing this article and by the time I finish there will be 1.2 million. My point is you need to be creative when inbound linking. Submitting to Squidoo and other web 2.0 sites are great but you really need quality and relevant links to get you were you need to go.

Inbound Link and Rate of Acquisition thereof

How fast can your site pickup inbound links you may ask? Here are a couple considerations. How many times is your url mentioned in blogs x emails y im z social networks z1 aim z2 article diggs z3 well you get the point right? There is simply no way to fake good old fashioned popularity. And lets not forget data collected from those helpful tool bars you attached to your browser that save you so much time. If you acquire Inbound links without all the other metrics in reasonable proximity to earth you just might sink your ship before it sails.

What We Have Learned

• Buying links does not work
• Black hat techniques will get you banned in the long run.
• Only link out to sites with credibility
• You can't fool Google