Link Building Strategies

One of the most difficult areas of SEO is building link popularity. Why? Because the engines don't want "artificially created" (or useless) links, so there are no easy ways to build link popularity. The days of link farms and huge link exchange programs are over. Try those strategies now and you can easily find yourself booted out of an engine.
The hyperlink is at the heart of the web - it allows people to move quickly from one document to another or from one site to another. This simple concept creates a powerful communicates tool that can be harnessed to deliver your business or organizational objectives.
Before we go any further, what is "link popularity"? In very simplistic terms, link popularity refers to the number and quality of the incoming links that are pointing to your site. These other sites consider your site important enough to link to. So, in the engine's view, your site is considered important as well.
Linking strategy is a methodology that builds appropriate inbound links to your site and helps you achieve your overall business objectives. You can find out easily using either Google or Yahoo or one of the online link popularity checkers.
In Google, enter:

            Link:www.yourdomain.com

Then click ‘Google Search’ and the pages that link to you will appear.
It’s a good idea to download the Google toolbar that will allow you to check the link
popularity of any site you are visiting.
In Yahoo, enter:

            Linkdomain:www.yourdomain.com

What are the benefits of an effective linking strategy?

Here are some of the main benefits:

• A link is one of the most popular ways for people to find new sites. Therefore, the more inbound links you have to your site, the greater the opportunities for people to find your valuable content.
• Search engines give sites with good inbound and outbound links a higher ranking. The logic goes that if you provide outbound links to other material you are providing a valuable service: and, if other sites link to you then you must have content of value.
•  Having a linking strategy forces you to ask the fundamental question, "Why would anyone want to link to you?" The answer of course is that you provide something of value: you need to be clear about what that value is.
• Inbound links help to build trust. If people see that a popular or respected site links to you.
• Perhaps most importantly, you become part of a community