World's Longest Homepage - Increasing Search Engine Optimization by Acquiring Quality Back Links.

Considering SEO and Back Linking

As you start out in your pursuits of gaining that number one spot on your favorite search engines, the phrase "Search Engine Optimization" (aka SEO) is one of the first you encounter. SEO is the process of developing your sites in such a way to where search engines will find your site as well as placing them in the top results of users' searches. There are many factors involved in optimizing your pages including but not limited to: choosing best keywords, making sure the pages are coded correctly, avoiding deceptive SEO type tactics, link exchanges, and others.

The focus of our topic with this site is Back Linking. Back links are links on sites that come back to your site. For example, if you have a site that gives the latest daily sports updates or allows people to discuss sports you may find other sports type sites that will put a link on their pages, referencing back to your site. The more sites you have linking back to your site, the more "popularity" weight our friends at google will give to your site. You may have noticed on your google toolbar (if you have one) the little green bar that bears the title of "PageRank". One of the greates factors that goes into getting more green on the toolbar is the amount of incoming links you have for your site.

Why should I care about my Page Rank?

This measuring stick has little to no relevance as to where your site will be in the search results, but it does help in some other ways. For instance, let's say you just built a brand new site. You have it optimized and ready for the world to see it. You have it live and now the question comes, "How can I get the search engines to notice my page?". One of the fastest ways to get your page indexed and noticed is to go find some sites that have a page rank and see if you can get your link on their page. The reason for this is because if a site already has a page rank, it's a good indicator that they have been indexed already. If they've been indexed, the search engines will "crawl" their sites checking for updated content. Having your link on their page, the search engines will notice this and will then begin to see your site. If you're wanting to employ a service to help you get indexed using a similar method, we highly suggest CrawlSpider.com. We had one of our sites indexed in less than one day when we enlisted their help.
Remember, we're talking solely about computers and technology here. Search engines only see text. They cannot see pictures or movies, etc. If you're in the SEO game, you'll want to start thinking of how a computer with software thinks and then implement some of the practises that will help your sites visibility improve.

Text links are a good place to start when looking to get your site noticed out in the world. They can help provide a quicker way of getting your site indexed in the search engines. There are some Do's and Don'ts, however.

Do's:

Look for sites that have similar content - Search engines will factor in the relevance of a site that links to you. The stronger the relevance, the better the ratings.
Find sites higher Page Ranks - Higher page ranks mixed with relevant sites can help your rankings.
Find sites with lower or same Page Ranks - If you spend all your efforts getting links on high page rank sites, you could be sending a red flag to the search engines. Get a balance of links.
Do it naturally - A good site will be a good site and sometimes it takes time. Just naturally go out and find sites to link with.
Be courteous - Most people will link back to you if you show them the relevance of your site and are professional about it.
Find some good directories to submit your links into.
Links in your signatures - Join some forums that you will enjoy and contribute to. Most have an option where you can put your homepage in your signature. This is a link back to you!

Don'ts:

Beware of "all free" directories. Sometimes those directories could bring about other things like spamming, etc.
Post on blogs and forums erroneously - Make sure you follow the rules of forums and blogs. Some will let you put your links on their sites if you do it by following their rules.
Spend all your money on back linking - You can get quite a few back links by building a repore with those you correspond with on the internet. While spending some money on links can be very helpful in promoting your site, there is no need to buy all of your backlinks.
Forget the human element - Remember, the internet is a place where humans go. It's not ruled by the techie search engines. Search engines can help you get seen, but remember that you have yourself that can promote your site. People just may be able to find your site from clicking on a link that is on their page, yet didn't show in a search result. Backlinking is not just for search engine tactics.

Remember to have fun in your pursuits of site promotion. There are many quality sites that are on the internet that haven't been seen. Back linking is a great way for you to get indexed in search engines. It is also a good way to get people coming to your site from different pages and not necessarily from search results. There are many ways to get someone to come to your site. One of the best ways, is to get links on sites that are similar to yours. That way people who are already interested will want to come!