Forum Moderators: martinibuster
1) Link exchanges with related content sites seemed to be the way to go for a long while, until Google decided to frown upon this act, and only value one-way links;
2) Entries into directory sites with high PR was fashionable for a while and beneficial, but now Google frowns upon this;
3) Posting articles in article directories was beneficial for a while, and then Google decided that a cluster of backlinks from non-diverse sites will not be looked at favorably;
4) Sure, good original content may lead to some backlinks, but it's hard to get those backlinks if your content is not visible due to poor rankings.
So, from a back-link perspective only, what is a webmaster to do these days ? Is getting backlinks only for the rich (those that rank high already) ? Is it a case of the "rich" getting richer, and the "poor" always struggling ? Do "poor" webmasters sit around and hope that some Godly PR6 site will decide to one-way link with us ? Seriously, are there any options left for the "poor" ?
Matt Cutts has said specifically said word for word: "We do still encourage people to have interesting and helpful links for their users. If it (adding a reciprocal link) is good for your users, then go ahead and do it. Trading links is natural and it’s natural to have reciprocal links."
Matt has asked webmasters to avoid high volume irrelevant link exchange which is a no brainer and something I have been preaching before he ever stated it.
You ask "what is a webmaster is to do these days?"
Get links from any relevant sites that will link to you regardless of their pagerank or metrics. It's tough to get a link unless you give a link so link exchange if needed. There is nothing wrong with it just as long as you maintain high relevancy and natural volume.
"Word on the street" is quite different from the word of a specific individual. Be careful what you hear "on the street" - many times its misinformation or ignorant information.
1) Link exchanges with related content sites seemed to be the way to go for a long while, until Google decided to frown upon this act, and only value one-way links;
Reciprocal links by themselves aren’t automatically bad, but we’ve communicated before that there is such a thing as excessive reciprocal linking.
[mattcutts.com...]
the question is how many reciprocal links are considered excessive; i have seen enterprise sites reciprocate thousands of links with each other without severe ramifications.
4) Sure, good original content may lead to some backlinks, but it's hard to get those backlinks if your content is not visible due to poor rankings.
this is where networking comes into play; you write, responding to what other webmasters and bloggers are writing about on their sites, and send them an email; help them drive traffic through social media or other links; they'll link to you in return. bottom line, build relationships, and you will start drive links that could possible drive more traffic to your site than the search engines. just remember, think of how you could help the webmaster first if he/she may be a hard sell.
Find influencers.
with some work contributing to social networks, you do become an influencing figure. the main way i do this is to interact with as many people as possible - influential and non-influential alike. not all influential figures on social media are readily accessible; some by choice, others by being too busy, probably.
the "tipping point" by malcolm gladwell can help you establish a schema to identify influential people in a community - "the wisdom of crowds," nonetheless, teaches how true intelligence will be found in the crowd in it's majority. so you want to reach out to that majority as much as time allows.
after some trial error, you will find ways to promote your content to the popular sections of these sites treating everybody equally with respect, where you will find a great resource in order to build links @ times very expeditiously.
