28 April 2009
This is an article written by K L Jonasson about how you can get to the top of SERPs.

SEO: Six Step Link Building Plan

Link Building has changed in this world as of lately. Strategies like directory submissions, press releases, and buying text links don't produce the same results as they once did. One thing that hasn't changed.....a successful link-building campaign is your key to a successful SEO strategy. During the next three days I am going to go over a six step layout for you to follow in order to start a link-building campaign that works!

#1 - Invest In General Directories

Submitting a site to a directory scores a website it's first 'authority' links. This is also the quickest way for search engines to find and index your pages.

Submit your links to the following directories:
In order of importance:

1 - DMOZ = Free
2 - Yahoo Directory = $299 year
3 - Best of the Web = $99.95 year
4 - Business.com = $299 year
5 - GoGuides.org = $69.95 year
6 - JoeAnt.com = $39.99 year

When you submit your link to directories, make sure you get listed in more than just one category. If you really are not sure about doing this is worth your time and money, check search engine result pages for competitors keywords that link to these directories.....if they do, make the investment. But if they don't, this could be your ticket to what pushes your site ahead of the rest!

#2 - Submit to Niche Directories

If you submit your site to directories that are geared towards a specific industry (yours), it can prove to be more of value than a general category search engine. Most topic specific directories are more flexible (using anchor text), are topic relevant, and are often authoritative. This is a good place to build you links, and it is often over looked by competitors.

#3 - Social Media Profiles

It is essential to build profiles on social media sites in your company name and brand, and also as an individual. This lets you promote content to large groups of people, which in turn can provide more incoming links. Most media sites don't actually pass Google PageRank, some do. Even if time is short and you can't fill the profiles out it is still a good idea to reserve your name. If you look around you will come across a few social media sites that pass Google PageRank and will anchor a text link of your choice on their site for you.

#4 - SERP

This is where time and patience come to play. Go to Google and do a search of your top keywords and check out which websites pop up in the top 50 and 100 spots......those are your link targets. Since the results that come first are ranked high with Google PageRank, start at the top and move your way down. Have a look at their sites and observe to see if there is a 'Links' or a 'Resource' section, and if so request a link. You can also go to sites that are related, but non-competing with your site and suggest a link exchange in order to compliment each others sites. Even offer to guest blog or contribute some piece of relevant content and you will gain yourself a long term link partner.

#5 - Create Yourself a Blog

One great way of building a link base is by creating a blog. You can find tons of companies that offer free blog hosting across the net. Just do a Google search for 'Blog' or 'Free Blog' and I'm sure you can find one that fits. Once you have a blog up and running make sure you write about topics that are relevant to your business, and always link to your own domain in posts. If you don't, the incoming links won't count and your effort will be wasted. After you have a few articles up, submit your blog to the top blog directories. Again you can find this information on Google Search. Post links to your articles in your social media pages and you will see the incoming links increase over time.

#6 - Write Articles of Value

This is where your creativity and know-how come in handy. In order for all of your hard work to be successful, build up your social media profiles and keep an active friend network. Create content that appeals to a social-media centered audience. The outcome will be many more links to your website. Don't expect every article you write to be a hit, this is a trial and error process. Try different topics for your articles, and when one works it will make up for the rest that flopped.


The way to wok these steps is to systematically repeat them. If you can figure out how to work even one of the six steps, you will be on your way to the top of the SERPs.

K L Jonasson