Backlink Tool: Penguin-Friendly Link Building Tips

Statistics show that the Google Penguin update hit more than 64 percent of websites. If all of your traffic comes from Google, then you are setting yourself up for failure. Search engine optimization and link building strategies have changed completely after the arrival of Google Panda and Google Penguin. Sites with low quality backlinks or identical anchor text have been penalized. If you want boost your rankings and succeed in online marketing after Google Penguin, then your link building campaign should look natural in the eyes of Google.

First of all, you should focus on offering useful content on your website. Nothing can beat high quality content. If you provide fresh information, other sites will link to you. Just understanding that Google is built on users may help you get your site back up to where you want it to be. You simply can't get away with links from over-promotional sites, irrelevant sites, or web pages that have poor quality content. Great content earns links over time and generates long term results.

Focus on quality links over quantity. Even if you are using a backlink tool, choose one that generates quality backlinks. Stop building anchor text for more than 10 percent of your links. Another element that Google has penalized is over-optimization. For example, if you are targeting the keyword "cheap holidays in Greece" and you are asking all of your readers and customers to link to your sites using that exact keyword, search engines will think it's highly suspicious. Try to diversify your anchor text.

If you are writing guest posts for link building, focus on quality. One high quality link from a reputable blog is better than 100 links from low quality sites. Search engines will penalize your website if it has a large amount of links from untrusty sites. You should also diversify traffic sources to hedge against fluctuations. Guest posting is all about creating long term relationships for years to come. Make sure your site or blog is compelling enough to pull natural backlinks.

Get links from websites that are relevant to your niche. Make your content link worthy. Get more social and stay active on social networking sites. This way you will obtain natural links that are relevant to your site. Work hard creating amazing content and building relationships with your audience. Don't forcefully repeat keywords. Use unconventional link building techniques and check the authority of websites linking to your content.

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3 Simple Ways To Check And Evaluate Your Backlinks

Since Google did its game-changing Penguin Update last month, it seems like everyone is talking about links and backlinks. Now, more than ever, it's very crucial that you have the right linking structure in place - both with internal links on your site and with external links pointing back to your site.

The key word here is "natural" - no pun intended.

All your links must appear natural to Google if you want to rank for your targeted keywords. Any links which suggest you're trying to "game" or "manipulate" the system will send up red flags and may get you penalized by Google.

SEO experts are already pointing out some obvious linking mistakes like using the same keyword phrase in all your links, getting site-wide links from one source, using spammy blog networks and blogroll links, over-optimizing your site with keywords, linking to bad neighborhoods... and the list goes on.

Links have become very important to the success of your online site or business - so you must have a simple way of finding suitable link partners or backlinks. Obviously, you want backlinks which will help your site's rankings, not harm them.

You need a simple way to check or evaluate any potential backlinks or even the current links you have flowing back to your site. Yahoo's old Site Explorer can still be used (if you have a Bing Webmaster Tools account) but this service is now somewhat limited. We all need an alternative to the old Site Explorer...

So here are 3 simple ways to check your backlinks:

1. PageRank - I know everyone says Google PageRank is dead and not very important anymore. But if you ask anyone who has a site, if they would turn down a direct link from the homepage of a PR7 or PR8 site and you will probably discover that PageRank is alive and well.

PageRank is the ranking score (0-10) of how important Google believes any site or page is on the web. Get a link (dofollow or even nofollow) from an important site and a small amount of PR flows to your site depending on how many links are on that page.

While PageRank is not that important anymore for getting your keywords ranked, it can still give you a simple way of judging the importance of a site or page. It is still something you can use to evaluate your linking partners.

2. MozRank - This is another way to discover how important a domain or page is on the web. This ranking system is run by by SeoMoz.com. You can access this method by using the OpenSiteExplorer site, and it will give you a Page Authority and Domain Authority number for that site or page.

It will also give you other vital information about a page or site with a detailed link analysis, however full access to this ranking system is very limited unless you get the paid option. But still worth trying for a very simple assessment of any page or site. http://www.seomoz.org

3. Citation & Trust Flow - This evaluation system is run by MajesticSeo.com and gives you valuable information about a site or your backlinks. This site has created two new "flow metrics" which tell you the number of links pointing to a site, but more importantly it gives the amount of trust flowing through that site.

These days, it's all about getting a vote of trust from a related high ranking site, to increase your rankings. These two metrics will help you find good linking partners. What I really like, they put all this information in a graph - so you can quickly see how important a site is on the web.

One major drawback, in order to get this information, you have to sign up for a free account but I found it worth it. There is also a paid option but I haven't tried this yet. Regardless, I am finding this ranking system very helpful for finding backlinks. http://www.majesticseo.com

There you have it, 3 simple ways to better choose your linking partners or to check your current backlinks. Of course, I have always recommended you also use the free SEOQuake toolbar, which you can place on your browser. As you surf a site, you can quickly see the PageRank, Alexa numbers, Age of site... and so on.

Used in combination with the other evaluation methods mentioned above, it will give you a great way to check and evaluate your backlinks and linking partners.

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Backlink Building: How to Use Blog Commenting to Get Quality Backlinks

Blog commenting is one of the easiest and most effective ways to get free one way links to your website. This simple method of advertising your business online can generate significant results in terms of SEO. With comment spam being one of the main issues targeted with Google's Penguin update, many webmasters are wondering if blog commenting is a worthwhile link building strategy.

Leaving useful comments on blogs can help you build long term relationships with other website owners and gain credibility online. In order to drive traffic to your site, your comments need to be compelling and informative, making absolute sense and relevance of the content posted. If done right, blog commenting is a great way to get high quality links to your site.

First of all, you need to find blogs that don't use the no-follow attribute in their links. This element tells the search engines to disregard the link to your website. There are various tools that allow you to search by keywords and find well established blogs in your niche. Just because blog commenting can generate free backlinks, don't waste your time leaving comments on every blog you find. You need to write interesting comments that express your opinion and value to the blog post.

Make a list of blogs related to the content of your website. Here are a few attributes that you should consider:

Blogs with quality content and active comment discussions Blogs with high search engine rankings Blogs in your niche Blogs that allow do-follow links Blogs that use CommentLuv

Use a SEO extension for your browser that gives you information about the sites you are visiting. This way you will get a comprehensive list of do-follow blogs to comment on. When leaving a comment, put your real name in the author box. Entering your real name gives credibility to your comment. Make your comments relevant to the post. If you have a website about car insurance and you comment on a real estate blog, then your comments won't be indexed by the search engines. Use a real email or a different email that you have access to.

Spend at least a couple of hours once or twice a month commenting on blog. Your main aim is to post comments that other people will find interesting and engaging. If your comments provide useful information, you will get highly targeted traffic to your site and build your personal brand.

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Backlink Generator: How to Get Your Website Found Online

All companies want to show up at the top of the list in search results. Your website is your most important business tool. The need for businesses for get found online has made web marketing essential. The key to a successful Internet marketing campaign is to create a unique language that grabs customers' attention and reflects your brand name.

Here are some simple tips on how to get your website found online:

Optimize Your Website

A professional website, with a clear message and relevant keywords, is the best way for your business to gain visibility online. Update your website to include keywords in its text and meta tags. What words do your target clients use to search online for your products and services? After choosing your main keywords and key phrases, incorporate your brand language into your company tagline. Create a website header and a compelling description for your business. Use a SEO friendly design.

Send Out Press Releases

There are many free press release distribution services that can help you promote your business. Publishing press releases online on a constant basis will create a large number of backlinks to your website, which increases traffic and search engine rankings. Use wire services to distribute your press release to hundreds of websites.

Write Newsletters That Sell

Staying in contact with your clients is essential if you want to retain their business. Online newsletters are an excellent marketing tool that will keep your customers up to date with your latest products and services. By sending online newsletters once a month, all the costs involved in print newsletter can be avoided. You can use online tools and web statistics programs to see how many people are reading your newsletter, how much time they are spending on each page, and which websites are linking to your newsletter.

Use Social Media

Social media can help you attract new customers and gain exposure online for a very low cost. Sign up on Facebook and Twitter, join groups or networks, and share relevant information with your potential clients. Create compelling profiles that include your company tagline and website address.

Internet users are more comfortable initiating contact through social networking sites than they do in other forms of communication. Get in touch with people who are interested in what you have to offer. Several strategic pages on social media sites can increase your popularity and help you get quality backlinks with minimum investment.

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How to Use Blogs for Search Engine Optimization and Backlink Building

It's no secret that blogging can boost your search engine rankings and drive traffic to your website. Blogs promote the exchange of ideas in a format that the Internet users have fully endorsed. When search engine spiders find an active blog, they tend to crawl it more frequently and more often. Incorporating a blog into your website will help you get quality backlinks and improve your credibility.

Many business owners are not aware of what the search engine optimization benefits of blogging are. A recent study conducted on a group of SEO practitioners has shown that over 87 percent of those who have used blogging for SEO have obtained measurable results. Backlinks were cited as the most important SEO benefit from blogging. Starting a blog can also help you establish authority in the marketplace, interact with your customers, and promote your products more effectively.

Most blogging platforms offer uncomplicated URL structure, making it easy for search engines to find and crawl your content. An active blog creates the kinds of signals from other websites that search engine spiders tend to reward in the rankings. A blog that is updated frequently attracts both human visitors and search engines.

The better you write, the more people will link back to your site. In addition, there are many plugins and widgets that make it easy to share your articles and posts, thus encouraging links. You can also use blogging to constantly add fresh, relevant articles to your website. No one can give an exact answer on how often you should blog. Most experts say that whether you update your blog once a day or once a week, it really doesn't matter, just as long as it is relevant and consistent.

Not many webmasters and business owners who start blogs have the patience to create quality content. If you want people to find your blog and click back to your pages, you need to write compelling posts and use relevant keywords. No matter how many SEO techniques you use, there simply is no substitute for creating quality content.

Conduct backlink analysis on competing blogs and take the time to look at articles that already rank well in search results. While the main objective of a blog should be to get your message out, don't forget to do proper research and optimize your content for search engines. Get listed on other people's blogrolls and include your blog URL in profiles on social media sites.

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How Can Virtual Assistants Help With Your Link Building Efforts

Link building is essential if you want to promote your website and get organic traffic. This process requires time and effort. If you want to focus on other aspects of your business, consider hiring a virtual assistant to help with your link building efforts. Some virtual assistants can also analyze your competitors and perform keyword research.

Not everyone can do link building. This technique is one of the most difficult parts of SEO. There are various link building strategies such as article directory submission, blog commenting, social media promotion, and forum posting. Some of these tasks must be performed on a daily basis. By hiring a virtual assistant to do link building, you will save time and money in the long run.

If you have little or no experience with SEO, don't try to do the link building by yourself. For a small fee, a virtual assistant can do the job for you. You can ask your assistant to write unique content for your site, create social media profiles, and leave useful comments on other blogs and websites in order to get relevant backlinks.

When it comes to link building, a highly qualified virtual assistant can perform the following tasks:

• Post comments on forums • Create web 2.0 profiles • Share your posts on social bookmarking sites • Submit articles to blogs and sites with high page rank • Find the best keywords for your website • Submit your site to web directories • Send out press releases • Connect with potential clients on social media sites • Share content as a guest author • Write viral content • Check your competitors' backlinks

Outsourcing link building to a virtual office assistant is one of the best decisions you can make. A knowledgeable assistant can submit your site to hundreds of web directories, write guest posts for other blogs, and create news announcements and press releases. She can also optimize your website for search engines and create a user friendly design. If your assistant has good writing skills, she can make your content easy to understand and improve its readability.

Virtual assistants can also perform surveys and studies for your marketing campaign, post classified ads, and make quality contributions on chat boards and forums. A good virtual office assistant can help you obtain quality backlinks that increase the value of your website. She will also bring you new customers and generate sales. By hiring a virtual assistant, you will have more time to focus on your SEO strategy and improve your marketing campaign.

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