Link Building is a Pain in the Butt

Prior to creating the SEO Book training program I conducted a survey of SEO Book members. One of the questions was, "What is the biggest thing stopping you from improving your website rankings and traffic?"

The most common answer to that question was "link building". If links are so important how do you build them? Here are some great techniques for providing content that people will actually WANT to link to:

Quality Links You Can Build Today

One of the easiest was to start building links is to submit your site to leading general web directories and directories in your niche.

Don't just think of directories as being places that accept websites. Some of the best directories represent business partnerships and exist on sites like manufacturers you sell for, local government sites, or your local chamber of commerce. For example, Google lists some of the most popular Google Checkout business partners 
http://www.google.com/checkout/m.html

• Would some of your business partners be willing to link to your site?
• Are there any trade organizations or local business organizations you can join?
• If there are no relevant organizations, could/should you create one?

Here is a list of some of the most well trusted online web directories

• Business.com - $299 per year for commercial listings.
• Yahoo! Directory - $299 per year for commercial listings. Free for non-commercial listings.
• BOTW - one time $299 fee (SEO Book subscribers get a 35% discount coupon)
• JoeAnt - one time $40 fee
• DMOZ - also referred to as the Open Directory Project or ODP. Free submission, but it may take a long time to get listed as it is ran by volunteers.