After spending hours checking backlinks and backlink sources, I must say that the number and type of backlinks to this blog suck more than a vacuum cleaner or a vampire. Oh, I have more than 40,000 backlinks pointing to this blog, but there’s a problem. The majority of them point to the home page. Very few point to the inner pages. Of the ones that do, the majority of those are “nofollow”. There has to be a good way to get decent backlinks without working so damn hard. Let’s examine some options, shall we?
[Update 2008-12-04: The network is established.]
Backlinking Options
I’ll probably leave something out. I usually do. Anyway, off the top of my head, here are some options that I know about:
- Commenting on blogs.
- Leaving bookmarks at bookmarking sites (including scuttle sites).
- Requesting link exchanges.
- Submitting articles to the article repositories.
- Buying links.
Regardless of any existing method, it can be time-consuming, frustrating, and/or expensive. Buying software to automate the process can be a win or lose situation, depending on how you use it and how much money you invest.
While it’s a good idea to pursue links that are “dofollow” (DF), a healthy mix of both dofollow and “nofollow” (NF) links won’t hurt anyone. The dofollow links help your Google search engine rankings much more than the nofollow links while the other search engines don’t seem to differentiate between the two.
In my opinion, if you’re going to work on building your backlinks, you want to use the DF links as your base and not the NF links. After all, Google is the biggest player on the field.
I purposely left out the social sites such as StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, and BloggingZoom. These kinds of sites generate traffic, but not much more. If you’re trying to apply SEO to your site, you’re much better off spending your time building links using other methods.
My Backlink Network Idea
There are a couple of heavy-hitters who’ve started up private backlink networks and they’re good, but they’re not free. They face a minimal risk of getting found out (and I won’t get into that unless you specifically ask me via my contact form/email) and I think a free and private backlink network would eliminate that risk completely.
The easiest way to generate backlinks is to create backlinks in posts. If you have a lot of people doing it at the same time, hundreds or even thousands of backlinks can be generated for everyone involved. How do you control it and how do you keep everyone who’s involved honest?
Well, you need a central point (me) to collect the anchor text and backlink URLs, compile them into something coherent, and send them out to each individual in the network. The recipients would then create new posts with the targeted links embedded in them or edit old posts to include the targeted links. These would be targeted, one-way links.
Checking backlinks is easy with this online tool: Link Checker v2.0. Yes, I know it’s a beta service. It works well as it is, but it can only get better as more people contribute bandwidth.
Not Specifically for Niche Sites
I need to emphasize this part. This will work for any kind of site, not just the niche sites. The more topics your blog covers, the easier it would be to participate. Is this something that might interest you?
Putting Out The Feelers
I’m sorry, but I’m not popular enough to draw people in like a magnet. I’m not an expert butt-kisser. This idea won’t be worth pursuing unless I can get enough people involved to make a difference. I’m not talking about thousands of people. I’d say anywhere between 20 and a hundred would work. Of course, the more the merrier. So… it’s up to you to help me out and pass the word somehow. I don’t need a link to this page unless that’s the easiest way for you to do it.
If enough people show interest, I’ll jump in head first. If not, I’ll continue to build backlinks the way I’ve been doing, using a slow and tedious method. It’s all up to you, the reader.
The only real question I have for you is, “Are you game?” Please use the contact form and drop me a private message if you are.
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- The UV SEO Series - Part Seven - Backlink Sources
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- The UV SEO Series - Part Three - Internal Linking
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