Building backlinks is merely the process of finding ways to entice other Web sites to link to your Web site. The more quality backlinks that you have pointing to your site (along with a number of other factors that search engines take into account), the more favorably search engines will rank your site.

The most desirable backlinks pointing to your site are those that come from referring sites that:

1. are contextually-relevant to your site (both in terms of the extent to which the content on those referring sites is in alignment with the content on your site and in terms of the keywords embedded in the links themselves)

2. are high-profile sites according to the indexing search engine (e.g., have a respectable Google PageRank, have a large number of backlinks referring in turn to those sites, etc.)

So, how do you build more backlinks to your site for improved search rankings?  Here is the Golden Rule for Building Backlinks:

Create a site that adds value to a well-defined segment of would-be site visitors

This is a deceptively simple rule, but nevertheless it holds true. But, it makes sense, right? To see why, put yourself in the shoes of the Webmaster receiving your request add a backlink to your site. Provided that they are inclined to offer backlinks to other people’s sites anyway (and that they are in a good mood, you are asking nicely, etc.), the first thing they will want to know is whether this would, indeed, be worth doing. In other words, they have to ask themselves: “Will adding a link to this site add value to the users of my site, or will it just seem like I am stuffing my site with useless links?”

Okay, so hopefully we agree that building backlinks successfully is all about value of your site (okay, and it’s also a bit about how you ask!). The question for you then becomes: how do I create a valuable site that people would actually want to link to? Well, that is the $20,000 question because there is no single right answer; it depends upon a number of factors. But, here are some hints to get you on the right track. To be perceived as a valueable site, the site you are requesting backlinks to must perceive your site in one or more of the following ways:

1. it is relevant to the their site in terms of content, theme, etc

2. it offers lots of fresh, original, value-added content

3. it has a high utility value in terms of useful tools like online calculators, searchable reference information, relevant industry information, etc.

4. it looks really, really cool (but without overdoing it or being “too much”)

5. it describes products or services that their own users might benefit from

So, if you want to get Webmasters of other sites to agree to link their sites to yours, focus all of your efforts on building a value-added user experience for some well-defined target segment. In other words, give those Webmasters a very good reason to say, “Yes!”