pro_seo - 12:49 pm on Oct 16, 2008 (gmt 0)

My 2 cents:

1. Don't waste time in submitting links to general web directories.

2. Don't give away your hard worked content to article dirs for the sake of a link from the dir which doesn't do any good to your website in terms of Google ranks.

3. Don't spam forums for that signature link - a wastage of time & energy.

4. Do vary your link anchors.

5. DO NOT LINK OUT TO ANY WEBSITE THAT IS A PART OF A LINK FARM.

6. Reciprocals are not dead - you may exchange links with some quality relevant website. But just don't base your link building on reciprocals. They have been devalued.

7. Do not waste time on commenting on blogs...most blogs apply a nofollow attribute on all the comment link making them useless in terms of aiding ranks in Google.

8. Create content that will generate links naturally. It takes enormous time and effort to create such content but it pays off.

Some tips on creating killer content:

i) Create "How to" lists - they get much attention since they are short and 'to-the-point'

ii) Create "Top 10"; "101" lists on industry specific topics. Such content spreads fast through social media and blogs creating lots of links for your parent website.

iii) Do an industry research and post the data on your website. A good way of attracting links.

iv) Create funny/ humorous content related to your industry.

v) Create a controversial post on your blog and watch links flying. [be careful while doing this]

vi) Post interviews of industry leaders on your blog.

vii) Free-tools/ Giveaways - Give away something for free to your visitors. Something that they can use on their own web property to enhance its value. Such as a free tool or a cool widget [of course containing hardwired links to your website]

viii) Bust the top 10 myths of your industry with supportive evidences and promote it through Digg, Reddit etc.

9. Submit your website for reviews.

10. Start an affiliate program. A mutually beneficial way of getting links and sales.

Hope this helps!