One way links do not require a reciprocal link – or link exchange. They simply point to your site. So, how do you get one way links?

First, a warning… Type “one way links” into Google and you will find many services offering such links HOWEVER be warned, buying links is against Google Webmaster Guidelines (see article ‘Information about buying and selling links‘) and so you risk having your site banned from Google. You have been warned

Here are our favourite methods for gaining many one way links:

1) Submitting Articles to Article Directories

Simply write a unique article about your website, product or service and submit the article to many of the hundreds of free article directories. Once approved, these articles will contain a permanent link back to your site from good authorative article directories.

2) Take an active role in Blogs and Forums

If you are a blog or forum reader then taking an active part, ie. leaving comments, will increase your one way links. How? Most site owners allow you to leave a link back to your site in your comments, if your comment is approved by the site owner then the comment (together with your link) will remain on the blog permanently. This is an effective method for gaining quality one way links.

3) Getting links from Squidoo and Hubpages

Squidoo and Hubpages are sites that allow you to create web pages about pretty much anything. You can then place links back to your website from any pages you have created. These websites have a high pagerank and links from them are highly regarded by the search engines. Ensure that the pages you create contain good descriptive and relevant content to your website for maximum effect.

These are just three Google friendly ways of creating one way links. Be imaginative and take your time. There is no hurry. Building backlinks is a long term and ongoing process, if you think you have found a shortcut then you can bet it is a method best advised to avoid!

The prime component of off-page optimisation is backlinks, these are links to your site from another website. Almost all of your efforts will be spent on building and managing your backlink catalogue. Why are backlinks important? Well, try reviewing the quantity of backlinks associated with the top ranking sites – you will find they are numerous. But, that’s not all…

Backlinks have different values, which equates to – some backlinks being better than others. And now to the point of this article, which backlinks should you be concentrating on – and which to avoid.

Link types to seek

1. One way links – no link swapping!
2. Links with relevant “Keywords” in the Anchor Text
3. Links from industry-relevant pages
4. Links from industry specific article pages
5. Link to your site should not be through a “redirect” script

Link types to avoid

1. JavaScript links
2. Links from “framed” pages
3. “flash” embedded links
4. Paid or time-bound links
5. Email spam used to solicit links.
6. Links from Link Farms
7. Links from FFA (Free-For-All) link networks
8. Links from sites containing offensive content
9. “no follow” links
10. Links from pages with more than 80 outgoing links

To summarise…

The preceding link types to include – and avoid – will ensure your backlink campaign will be effective to the maximum, and wasteful to the minimum.

Future articles will concentrate on each link type, why you should include (or exclude) this in your link strategy and how to effectively campaign for the right types of links to maximise you site ranking.