The difference between search engine optimization(seo) and search engine marketing(sem) is money. Optimization is the art of getting ranked high in the organic(free) listings of a major search engine for the keywords for want. This provides free very targeted traffic to your website. Search engine marketing is paying not placements in a major search engine. Google, Yahoo, and MSN are the three major search engines with Google by the largest by far. 

Search engine optimization can be broken down into 2 pieces building quality content for the keywords you are targeting and getting quality, related websites to link to that content. This article is focused on getting quality, related websites to link to your website. After all, you can have all of the quality content on a subject you want, but if no one links to it it will not rank well in a search engine. Getting ranked high for certain keywords in your industry, will bring you continual targeted traffic. This is a vital part of an overall marketing approach for any internet business. This effects the bottom line directly because it reduces the spending you need to do to get traffic.

In another article we will talk about building quality content, but for now let’s assume to have quality content. How do we get other sites to link to it? There are several methods that can be used here. But also remember this is usually a slow and ongoing task that pays off in the future and builds momentum overtime. It is not a quick fix.

First, there are what is know in the industry as “link exchanges” or “link partnerships”. Tis is where you email related quality websites that you want links from. You offer to place a link to there website on yours if they do the same. It is a win-win for everyone. As long as both sites are of equal search engine strength, this can help. Some search engines dig you for out going links. So, trading an incoming link for an equal outgoing link is kind of a net wash. It does help build credibility and add relevant information for your visitors.

Next, you can write articles that reference this quality content of yours and link to it from within the article. You can then submit this article to many article submissions sites and expert sites within your industry. This gives them some quality content to add to their website as well as a link to yours. This is a win-win for everyone, and unlike the first method you do not need to give up a link.

Let me take a minute to also mention that always try to get the anchor text for incoming links to use the keywords you want to rank well for. The “Anchor text” is the text in the incoming link on the site that is linking to you.

Another method to get links are forum boards related to your industry. Most forums will allow you to place links to your website in the signature of your posts. This way every time you post in a forum you generate a link to your website. These links are usually lower quality then the previous 2 methods, but posting in forums is a good way to create a buzz about your website and establish yourself as an expert in your industry within the online community of your industry.

Another way, which is similar to the previous one, is blogging and commenting on other blogs. A blog site is a great way to create a buzz about your internet business and it will generate content and links for your website. Posting on other related blogs provides the same kind of benefit as posting in forums.

I should also mention that it is also very helpful to get incoming links to multiple pages in your website instead of just the homepage. Search engines weight each web page not a whole website. So building the rank of interior pages will help boost the rank of other pages in the website because they are usually interlinked. Also, it allows you to target different web pages for different keywords. Targeting 1 very popular keyword is a risky strategy. It can pay big but then if you lose rank for that page it can hurt you big. It is better to build search engine strength for a number of pages across a number of related keywords. This will give your website much more potential places to rank and usually we won’t lose rankings on all keywords if you take a dip.

Another way to generate links is to submit your site to search engines, website directories, and industry specific directories. There are hundreds and hundreds of directories and search engine to submit your website to. There are some tools to help with this but a lot of directories have implemented functionality to thwart auto submitters. The best way is still to do it by hand.

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