Link building is an integral part of every Internet marketing campaign. Links not only drive direct traffic to your site, but are also used heavily in search engine ranking algorithms. A page number with a high-authority back links usually means that it’s important ­– and will therefore rank more favourably in the search results.

Link building is an art as much as it is a science but there are still best practices you need to abide by for maximum results. For example, no one is going to link to your page if there’s nothing of value on there. It’s almost common sense but you’d be surprised by the number of people who simply don’t get it. Don’t let this be you. Read the link building best practices below.

Create a privacy policy and link to it on every page
All reputable companies have one and it’s a good quality signal to all potential link partners. Use this privacy policy generator to create your own or read more about the topic from the Better Business Bureau

Create a contact page
It’s important to be accessible online especially if you want to make connections with others and build links. Use an online form where visitors can fill out their information and get in touch with you with their requests.

Create an “About” page
What is your site about? Have an “About” page in place that includes your picture so that potential linkers can be assured that you have a credible site worth linking to. For an example, check out my About page on Winning the Web.

Don’t be obsessed with PageRank
Yes, PageRank is a good metric to use to determine which pages on a site have high value, but it’s definitely not the end-all measure. Build links on relevant pages without focusing too much on PageRank. The toolbar PageRank numbers are usually random and outdated anyway.

Think quality, not quantity
A single high-authority link can do alot more good for your site than a dozen poor ones. Aim for quality links one by one instead of developing tactics to attain poor links on a mass scale (aka spam).

Link out to other sites generously
You give a little and you get some back. Don’t be stingy with linking out. Linking to others will encourage others to link to you too.

Don’t post spam
Don’t post spam-even if it means you get a link out of it. Your reputation is important online and you don’t want to destroy it by polluting the web with garbage.

Get 1 link per domain
It’s actually better to attain links from a wide variety of sources rather than to get site-wide links from just one domain. In most cases, You want to get a link from a domain and then move on to other targets. Brandon Hopkins describes this as drive by linking.

Keep the end user in mind
Never build a link just for the sake of the link itself. Keep your readers and users in mind and think how it can benefit them.

Install a page translator
It might be a good idea to translate your site into different languages(either manually or automatically using a translator). More languages mean a more diverse set of links and vistors. If you’re using Wordpress, try the Global Translator Plugin.

Be creative when hunting for links
I’m going to be sharing a lot of link building tactics in this list, but you need to be creative if you want to get ahead. If you get links no one else even thinks about, then you’ll move up in the search rankings very quickly.

Create a “link to us” page
Make it easy for others to link to you. Create a page that includes banners and text links and provide the code that webmasters can cut and paste onto their pages. Just remember to update it often so that you can vary up the link anchor text.

Use spell check
Don’t be sloppy with your content. It could cost you links that you otherwise would have attained. People are more likely to link to professional articles than ones with grammatical and spelling errors. Use spell check and proofread all of your content before publishing.

Make sure your site is easy to use
An easy to use site means that the content is more accessible-which means more people will see it and link to it.

Consider traffic, not just SEO
Links have a lot of SEO value, but that shouldn’t be your only consideration when building links. Get links from a variety of different sources(e.g. newsletters) even if they’re not accessible by the search engines. Also, don’t worry too much about links being “nofollow” as they can still provide a steady flow of quality traffic.
Give people something to talk about
IN other words, don’t be boring. Bait people to link to you and share your content by being interesting and providing exceptional value.

Get links from .edu domains
.edu domains are given more weight by the search engines because they’re usually associated with higher authority. Run a search for these domains and get links from as many as possible.

Make your site attractive
Looks matter online. People are usually more likely to link to sites that are visually appealing. Make sure you have a clean layout and attractive theme in order to get more links

Cater to influential bloggers and authority sites
Blogging is becoming a bigger part of the internet and bloggers are relied on for the opinions and information. Get on their good side and you’ll get a lot of free links and coverage.

That should help you learn how to link to other pages and also how to gain backlinks to your own site.

For more information on making money online check out my post about John Chow