buckworks - 7:48 pm on Jan 6, 2007 (gmt 0)

Remember that it's natural for a business to promote itself!

Don't be afraid to cultivate links at whatever pace you can. That's what you'd do if search engines didn't exist, right?

BUT, don't just hunt for any old link you can get. Focus on relevance, relevance, relevance. Approach your link development with the mindset that your goal is to reach targeted users directly from those links. That also is what you'd do if search engines didn't exist.

I can't prove this, but I often think the main timing problem to worry about is that being in too much of a hurry leads to sloppy work. When sites report problems from gaining too many links too fast, I often suspect that the real problem is scattershot theming. If you have lots of links but not enough are coming from places where the relevance is clear, that will send a confused message to the search engines regardless of timing.

When people link to a site without being asked, they do it because something matches their own interests. If a site gains links naturally, the timing could be anything but the links will reflect some sort of common interest. A natural "link footprint" will develop discernible themes in the overall topics of the pages that link to you. The more closely those themes match your own targets, the better, although it won't hurt to have a few odd fish in the mix.

"Natural" links are based on common interests, so that's where to aim in the links you cultivate. It takes time to focus on relevance and quality, so if you work at building links that would make good sense to users, timing issues will likely take care of themselves.