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Your site’s page rank is the way Google labels your sites popularity. The higher your page rank, the higher your site will appear in search engine results. All search engine optimization efforts are aimed primarily at increasing page rank value. One of main techniques Google uses to establish your page rank is assessing the number of backlinks there are for your site. Backlinks are links on other websites that contain your site’s URL. The more links there are on the web pointing to your site, the more popular your site appears to be.

Blackhat vs Whitehat

There are two schools of thought in the search engine optimization world; blackhat and whitehat. Blackhat techniques are considered unethical by many, and they are generally used by people who want  to get things done quickly without a lot of work. While blackhat techniques do work, and have given many success, whitehat techniques are seen as being more acceptable by search engines. Whitehat techniques are straightforward, by-the-book methods that also work, but require more manual work and persistence to succeed.

Most search engine optimization experts agree that whitehat techniques are more suitable for people who are looking for long term success, whereas blackhat techniques can bring quick but short lived success. Therefore, in this article we will focus on the art of getting backlinks using whitehat techniques.

Quality Content and Networking

One of the most fundamental ways to get people to link back to your site is by providing interesting and informative content. If your content is useful, then people will want to link others to your site by nature. Many people enjoy sharing information with their friends and family through social networking sites, blogs and forums. A good way to encourage backlogging on your site is to add social bookmarking buttons that give people the opportunity to easily promote your site for you.

It is also a good idea to comment on blogs in your niche, placing a link to your site in each comment. You should also become a member of as many forums as you find that are relevant to your niche. Become a contributing member and place the link to your site in your signature on every forum. This will attract targeted visitors, that are more likely to link back to your site.

RSS and Coding

Make sure you include an RSS feed on your website. RSS feeds keep your visitors updated when new content is posted on your site. This will give each now post much more popularity and therefore a greater chance of generating a backlink for your site. Another useful coding method is to insert a “Link back to me” or “Share this with a friend” snippet on your website.  This will make it easier for your visitors to share your site’s information with others, thereby creating even more backlinking opportunities.

Advertising and Marketing

Another basic way to get more backlinks is to advertise your site to other websites with banners. You should be able to find websites in your niche that have open banner space for a nominal fee. Many times this banner space only costs a few dollars per month. It is best to advertise on sites that are authoritative in your niche, this way you are targeting a specific audience.