The top 3 search engines are MSN, Yahoo and Google - and all three think that having links from outside sites pointing to your sites is one of the most important “ranking factors”. This is called link popularity. You can start building your link popularity today by influencing other websites to link to yours, which will then make the search engines see your site as more “popular” and then they will send you more traffic.

It’s pretty easy to start building your backlinks. And, you can even find free methods to do so, like the one detailed below. Of course, there are paid methods as well. But if you are just getting started, it’s a good idea to do it on your own at first to get used to how things work.

Using the blogosphere to help build your link popularity and backlink profile is a perfect way for a beginner to get started. Because there are so many blogs out there, you’re sure to find somewhere to post to. And because the internet is “on” 24-7, it’s just a matter of getting going.

Go to Google’s blog search and simply enter in a term related to your site. You’ll receive a list of blog posts about the topic you entered. You’ll next visit these sites.

Ninety-nine percent of blogs allow visitors like yourself to leave comments. First skim through the blog post and make sure it’s about your topic. After that, hit the button for “Comments” and respond to the article.

You’ll fill out the required fields within the commenting area. It usually asks for your email addy, name (you can just put your first name if you want) and, if you have one, a website address. This is the most important field, so make sure you fill it out completely.

Then, for your comment itself. You do not want to spam the blog you are posting a comment on. That is, don’t just leave a promo for your own site. It will most likely be deleted.

Ensure that whatever comment you leave, it’s relevant and useful. Read their article and if you have another point to add, do so. You can also ask a question or compliment the blog author.

Once your comment is complete, hit the “Submit” button. Some blogs will publish your comment immediately and you will be able to see it, and your link, right away. Some blogs will hold your comment for manual approval by the blog owner; in this case, you may receive a message that your comment is being held in moderation.

Go through all the blogs listed in Google’s blog search that you found on your topic. Leave comments on all that you can that are relevant to your topic. The more blogs that you leave comments on, the more you are building your link popularity.

It’s pretty easy to get started building your link popularity today with this method. It’s a good idea to go through these steps on a regular basis, because new blogs will continue to pop up in Google Blog Search. Building links throughout the weeks and months this is best done once a week or so.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 3rd, 2008 at 6:39 am and is filed under Webmaster Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.