Some ways are better than others when it comes to building backlinks to your website.

The task of collecting backlinks for your web pages must be done in a way that increases your search engine rankings instead of decreasing them. There is a difference in relevancy so it’s important to know the difference between good backlinks and poor ones.

The optimum characteristics of good backlinks include relevance, rarity with less than 30 other links pointing to other pages, Google index, and Google page rank. Good backlinks will point back to your site from the same relevant content and category as what appears in the information on your page. Too many outgoing links along with yours will affect your search engine ranking negatively. Check the Google page rank before you insert your backlinks to assure the page has a good ranking and is indexed by Google. The ranking will affect the quality of your backlink.

Backlinks from Blogs and Forums

Posting articles, forums, blogs, and directory submissions are also great methods by which to acquire your backlinks. Here are a few tips to remember.

• Always use the right category when you post directory submissions.
• Try to get your listing within the first two pages. You can do this by choosing a category where there aren’t too many other similar listings.
• Post articles within your own category for best results and write your articles according to the relevancy of content when compared with your website.
• Post articles and blog entries on the best quality directories you can find.
• Blog postings are among the most efficient ways to gain exposure for your website.
• They can produce great one-way backlinks as the better blog sites see excellent traffic.
• Forum postings will give you instant backlinks.

Things to Avoid When Building Backlinks

Among the most inefficient ways to attempt good backlinks is to use a home page with a zero page ranking or any webpage that has a zero page rank. Another thing to watch out for is any webpage that has 100 or more outgoing links with irrelevant or unrelated material. A reputable major search engine will not likely give you good ratings if you post backlinks on these sites.

Mirror sites with duplicate content but different addresses, URL cloaking, and pages that redirect the user are also considered poor ways to backlink to your site. Don’t use sites with question marks in the URL, or ‘no follow’ and ‘no index’ meta tag robots within their source codes.

Look for good page loading speeds and avoid excessive ads and flash banners before posting there. Avoid alphabetized search results, and most of all, be patient. Good quality backlinks are acquired over time and quality is always better than quantity in this case.

Always avoid using link building programs that promise you first page results. For more information read our post on "Beware of Using Auto-Submitting Programs for Backlinks".

When you are doing anything to build your SEO rankings for long term results, always use white hat techniques and good practices. "There are no tricks in SEO, only good habits"

Happy Backlinking!