With the amount of people doing SEO, there are tactics that each one of them would use. This is how you build up the website to the level of your competitors. Later, you will use specialized or advanced SEO tactics in order to gain higher ground and beat out your competitor.
Link Building
This is the first part of common SEO tactics and it can be broken down into several techniques or methods. But the basic principle here is that you spread links going to your website throughout the internet. This is done because one of the factors that affect search engine rankings is the number of links leading to the site. Basically each link is a “vote”. The idea behind this from a search engine standpoint is that if a lot of websites link to a particular website, then that means the receiver has good content and is deserving of a higher spot in the rankings. Link Building is done in order to replicate this effect.
Directory Submission
This is the first and probably the most common link building method there is. Almost any website today uses this method and all SEO specialists are at least familiar with this method. It is the fastest and easiest way to gain links from all over the internet. So how does this go?
First off, there are websites on the internet designed to provide people a service similar to that of the Yellow Pages. The main difference is that instead of providing the address and phone number of a particular business, it provides the URL of a particular website. These sites are called Directories and they are huge compilations of various sites all over the internet.
What’s great about Directories is that they also categorize the sites listed in them. Although categorization can differ from one Directory to another, it’s still very helpful that they are categorized. And, another great thing here is that you can use them to gain links for your site.
Basically all you have to do is to look for a Directory (which isn’t very hard). Next, look for the button to submit a site to their directory. You are then instructed to fill up a form containing information such as website name, the URL address, a quick description, e-mail of the submitter for verification, etc. After you do this, click on submit and it will be posted after the owners of the directory approve it.
Accomplish this process a couple of times every day and you’re sure to gain good backlinks for your website.
Now there are good directories and bad directories to submit to. You can identify a good directory if it has a high page rank and if it does not use a “no follow” tag on the links. Bad directories on the other hand are the exact opposite. They have zero page rank, which could also indicate that they are blacklisted by Google, and they implement “no follow” tags.
Forum Posting
Another “old school” method of building up your backlinks is to make use of Forum Posting. It is a quick, easy and sometimes even fun way to get your links out and maybe even have someone directly click on them which is always a good thing. When it comes to Forum Posting however, the trick is moderation and substance.
To start things off, you need to find a forum in which you will post your links. Now there are several strategies that you can take here and it all depends on what you feel most comfortable with. But the basic idea is to find a forum that is at least remotely related to your website. Again, for example’s sake, the target website deals with selling motorcycle parts, then it would be a good idea to sign up with a forum of motorcycle riders.
Once you have filled up the form and are an official member, the tricky part starts. Each forum has their own rules and regulations especially with regards to posting links. One of the most common rules you will find is that they do not allow you to post links in your messages until you reach a certain number of posts or weeks as a member. Also, when you get approved to post links, do not go on and overdo it. Do not post your link in every thread of the forum. This is a sure way to get your account banned and your posts deleted thus all that effort going to waste. Do it moderately and in an acceptable manner.
For example, post a link in your message only when you are referencing to something. Again let’s go back to the motorcycle parts scenario. It would be ideal to reply to a message asking where to buy a particular part and suggest your website by posting the link.
Next, in forums, each member is allowed to create his or her own signature. This would become part of every message you post to a thread. Once you can place a link in your signature, do it then participate in several discussions. This is a great way to get a lot of links fast since all replies you make would automatically contain your link.
Article Submission
It is worth noting that when it comes to link building, it is very difficult to find a site owner willing to give you a link freely. Usually you give something back in return. In Directory Submissions, you provide content for them. In Forum Posting, they also get more content for their site. Another example of this is Article Submission.
The basic concept of Article Submission is that you give the Article Site content and they allow you to place a link in your article in return. Once it is approved and posted in their site, you get the link. It’s as simple as that. Of course, there are rules here too. And each Article Site has their own set of rules and regulations.
The first thing that you have to consider is the quality of the article. You can’t simply go around and submit a poorly written article to these Article Sites. If you do that, chances are you will get a low success rate and get one approved article for every twenty submissions that you do. Another thing you have to remember is NOT to copy another article word for word and submit it as your own. They have ways of checking for plagiarism. If you do this, it is a quick way to get your account deactivated. Worse, some of these Article Sites will block your actual IP address.
You should also refrain from articles that are too sensitive or controversial such as adult oriented articles and vulgarity. Keep it simple, keep it direct and informative. That is the best type of article to deliver.
In submitting an article, write one that is related to your product or service of course. Again back to the motorcycle parts scenario. If that is your website, then write an article about motorcycle parts. Look for an Article Directory which has a category that fits your article and submit it.
Now when it comes to the links, one Article Site can differ from another in their rules. Some sites allow you to place a link or two anywhere in the article. But most commonly, these sites will only allow you to place two links in your author biography box.
Link Exchange
Since the dawn of link building, this method has been done in order to get backlinks. As a matter of fact, this is the simplest way to get link building done. So how does it go?
Well, the name says it all. It is an exchange of links. You do this by messaging another website asking if he or she is willing to post a link in his or her site to yours and you will do the same. Of course, looking for a willing webmaster can be a pain. You have to surf through the internet for
hours looking for websites and messaging them. Ideally, the sites you do Link Exchange with should be relevant to your website. For the motorcycle parts scenario, do Link Exchange with sites selling motorcycles or organization sites for motorcycle riders.
If you go on and ask several SEO specialists about Link Exchange, you will find that some of them, especially the new ones, have never tried this method. This is because exchanging links does not really produce that much success anymore. For one, there are a lot of factors that can hinder the other site from agreeing. One such factor is the page rank. A high page rank website will certainly not agree to Link Exchange if your site is new. They will gain nothing from it.
Another problem with Link Exchange is that since it is one of the earliest methods in increasing backlinks, Google and other search engines have found a way to counter its effects. They do not give a lot of credit to a link if it goes to a site that simply links back to the first website. Each link counted by search engines is “graded” for quality. And if they see it as a Link Exchange between one site and another, they give the link a poor grade thus not giving much effect to the ranking of your site.
Blog Posting
One of the latest things to hit the internet is Blogging. This allows anyone to have their own little space on the internet and post their ideas, feelings, and basically anything they want. You don’t need to understand any coding to create and maintain a blog. All you need is your ideas and thoughts to post.
Now, you can choose to either keep the blog private or broadcast it all over the internet. If you choose the latter, people can come in, read your posts and even comment on it. That last part is what you can use to spread your links even more.
Blog Posting is basically done by visiting various blogs. Choose a post, read it a bit and put in a comment. Inside the comment, you can place a link to the target website. It’s that simple. Well, the idea is simple but the execution may not be that simple.
Unlike in Article Submission, Forum Posting and Directory Submission, there are no written guidelines when it comes to the approval of your comment and thus your link. You have no guide to ensure your link to be posted. This is because each blog is run differently depending on the owner. Some owners meticulously check each comment and only approve those with sense and substance. Others simply approve all comments. There are those who don’t approve comments at all. Then you have blog owners who will approve your comment but remove the link before publishing it.
Success rate in Blog Posting can be low but the quality of each link posted is good. This is why SEO specialists still do it.
Link Buying
If you have the money, you can speed up your Link Building process significantly by purchasing links. This is done in a similar fashion as advertising. There are websites that build up their content, do their SEO and get their site to become popular. Once that happens, they offer to place your link in their site; for a price of course.
As mentioned earlier, no one will willingly give you links for free on the internet. You have to give something in return. And since this is the business of making money, why not give money to make money? If you have the budget, then go for it. You can attain high quality links in no time at all.
There are a lot of sites and blogs that offer this service. You can look for them manually or you can use a service. There are services on the internet that lets the two sides meet. Here you can simply scan through their list of websites and blogs that offer Link Buying. You can check out their stats like page rank, traffic, and description. Once you have made your choice, simply contact the website and make your offer.
Of course, the better stats a website has, the more expensive their price will be. There’s no real strategy here. Just have a budget for it, and buy as much high quality links as you can without going over that budget.
Content
When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, the content will play a huge role in your rankings. As they say, “Content is King, Link Building is Queen”. Remember, all the hard work you do in building up your links will be for naught if your content is garbage. Search engines love websites that have good content and that only. If you can build good backlinks, you have to offer good content as well to achieve proper optimization and success.
Actually, it’s not just for optimization’s sake. SEO is about bringing in traffic, and how can you get people to go to your website if you have nothing significant to share? How can you convince people to stay on your website and buy something or click on an affiliate link if you have no articles, videos, or at least pictures in there? Simply put, you can’t do any of that without proper content.
That being said, Search Engine Optimization should start with creating and uploading content. This can include a lot of things but the most basic piece of content that you will use is articles.
When writing your articles, you need to keep in mind two things: first is your reader, next are the search engines. You need to make sure that both aspects are taken care off. Make it easy for your readers to understand and digest what you have to say. You can have different approaches to writing your articles; it’s up to you in which method you’ll be comfortable in. The important thing is that you express what needs to be expressed. You let the readers understand where you are coming from. And, in a sales point of view, you have to convince them that they need to buy or avail of what you are offering. It’s all about convincing your reader that what you say is true.
Next, you also have to treat search engines in the same manner and importance as your readers. This is because if you treat search engines right, they will place your content in a higher ranking. As mentioned earlier, they love good, unique content. That being said, how do you make them happy? First, make sure that your article is not plagiarized or simply copy and pasted onto your website. There are a lot of free online tools that lets you do that.
Next thing to remember is to make use of your keywords in your articles. Sprinkle them all over the place; but do not overdo it. Using your keywords too much can result in search engines not liking your site due to Keyword Stuffing. Use it a lot, but in a smart way.
Other things that can make search engines happy about your article are the use of tags like bold tags for your keywords, header tags and title tags. This can significantly improve the looks of your article in the eyes of search engines.
Of course, there’s more than one type of content that you can use for your website. The main one would be articles, but you can also use pictures or images to enhance the look and feel of your website. It can also add emphasis to whatever you are saying in your article. Images are a great way to catch your reader’s eye and get the message across faster.
Audio and video content are also good choices for certain websites. You can add audio messages or even background music for your website just to give it a better feel or ambiance. Plus, it lets your visitors remember the site. Videos on the other hand give you a faster and easier way to communicate with your visitors.
