I have read a lot of lists of ways to build links. Most of the ways have not worked well for me or just did not apply to my websites. However, I have tried a lot of different methods, and I will tell you some methods that have worked well for me.

Article Marketing – Basically, article marketing means you write articles and submit them to article directories. With the articles, you include an “about the author” section with a link or two back to your website. This can also be a good way to get traffic directly, especially if your articles get picked up and republished on a popular website or ezine. The disadvantage is that search engines will not value the links that much if the content is not unique. In other words, it does not help much to publish the same article to multiple directories.

Forum Posting – Most forums will allow you to have a signature, in which you can put a link to your website. Most of the forums do not add nofollow to the link, but some do, so you may want to check that. The trick to forum posting is to make high quality posts. Be helpful and informative. If people like your posts, then they will be much more likely to check your signature link.

Blog Commenting – Almost all blogs put nofollow in their comment links, so the links do not have much direct SEO value. However, if you subscribe to relevant blogs, you can read there posts and regularly post helpful comments. By doing that, you can build relationships with the bloggers, and the bloggers may post about your website or add a link to it in their blogroll.

Great Content – The number one way to get links is to have great content on your website. If you have great content, people will decide to link to you on their own. If you have bad content, then you will find it very difficult to build links. If you have a video site, you need to post great videos. If you have a website with jokes, then you need to have lots of great, very funny jokes. If you have a website providing information about a certain topic, then you need to provide lots of helpful information about it. Basically, if you have great content, your website will promote itself.

Those are just some ways that have worked for me. Feel free to experiment with other link building methods too.

Link Building Tips from My Experience

According to MSN Career, Search Engine Optimization is one of the 4 most sought after jobs today. You will agree with me, when I say that Search Engine Optimization is one of the key foundation stones for a successful business online. There is nothing like organic traffic from Search Engines. They are precise, focused and with a purpose.

A career in the Search Engine world can be very lucrative and rewarding, both financially and psychologically. The perks that come with SEO job are numerous. At a corporate level, SEOs are paid as much as $150,000 a year, no kidding, with a starting salary of at least $25,000. Are we all so-called Search marketers qualified for this type of reward? No, definitely not. Can we prepare ourselves for it? Yes, definitely.

While many of us claim to know the Search Engines and boast of our abilities to perform SEO ourselves, how many of you (including myself) have given a serious thought to the knowledge we have accumulated? Have we ever verified it? How much of the knowledge that you and I have gained is junk?

Consider a scenario, where you were to implement a certain SE strategy to boost your rankings and respect in Google, but because of a lack of complete knowledge in the field, you make a deadly error that costs you your precious rankings. What next?

Well, I guess I am asking too many questions. My point is for a successful Search Engine practice, one needs to gain verified knowledge from an authoritative source. If I want to learn English, I will not go to the Cobbler, will I?

Kalena Jordon, one of the first Search Engine professional, and a very respected SE marketer in the U.S has started the Search Engine College to answer this very need of individuals and corporates. Kalena currently lives in New Zealand, and runs Ask-Kalena.com, a Search Engine Q&A blog.

The Search Engine College teaches everything from basic SEO to Link Building to Advanced Keyword Research to Website Copywriting and more. The prices, in my humble opinion are pretty reasonable. They range from anywhere between $195 to $275 per individual course and $695 for the Search Engine Marketer package course.

In addition to the certification provided, the college also helps you get a job in your chosen field. Every student has to have at least 70% in the final assessment to be eligible for certification. Currently, SEC has students from 30 countries which speaks very well of them.

Even though, I do my own SEO and am pretty good at the game, I am personally considering taking the advanced level courses one after the other. I am positive there is something to learn there for everyone of us. Knowing Kalena and her reputation, I can tell you the quality is top notch.

I personally recommend you to take a look and enroll in one of the courses. I have nothing but good feelings about this course. As always, if there is anything negative, I will pen an update later on.

Review Thursday – Search Engine College

What is your SE Ranking Strategy?