While backlinks are the most important factor in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), particularly when they are naturally occurring, highly relevant and driven by great content, outbound links have their place in SEO as well.

Outbound links serve the publisher so that the reader more fully understands the sources of information used by the publisher (writer).  These links serve to increase and maintain credibility of the writer.  They also serve to add backbone to the information and / or the message of the content being offered by the writer.

Letting people know what information you are relying on to become the expert you are in your field lends credibility and foundation to your writings.  Giving credit where credit is due is just a good human characteristic you should have towards building credibility, loyalty and a following.

Authorities rely on other authorities to build a case or make a point.  Moreover, “ye who gives shall also receive” … so by giving to credit to authority sites you increase your opportunity to be linked to by an authority site.  This is kind of the SEO version of the golden rule applied specifically to linking.

So, it still comes down to writing great content; there is no substitute for that.  Then give credit to those who contributed to your knowledge base in developing that content.  Associate yourself with “authorities” and authorities will associate themselves with you.  There is no magic to becoming an expert … you need to do the hard work … you need to know your stuff AND you need to extend the knowledge of your readers by adding new facts, opinions and perspectives to drive home your points.

And to show that I eat my own cooking, please be sure to visit http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-role-of-outbound-links for related information on Outbound Links.

As an Internet Marketing Company with a strong emphasis in Search Engine Marketing, Optimum7 must know this information to be successful on behalf of our clients.  Our Link Velocity Tool is a major player in our toolset and is available now free of charge at http://www.linkvelocitytool.com/.  As the name implies, this tool measures your link velocity rate i.e. 10 backlinks per week.  Of course, you need to start with a baseline and continually measure this statistic to generate the data because it is measure of rate of change vs. just a static data point.  The tool provides you the ability to compare your link velocity vs. the link velocity of your competition.  So now you know how fast your horse is going, how fast the other horses are going and therefore you will know how fast you need to go to outpace your competitors and win the race!  As in life, this is a marathon and not a sprint … link velocity tool can help you run the full marathon by giving you a constant gauge as to where you are in the race and what you have to do to win the race.

Remember, backlinks don’t come from thin air; the most important or the most valuable links always start with great, non-duplicate content that is highly relevant and targeted on the keyword (s).  Track your content production.  The more backlinks you need to compete successfully, the more content you will need to create.  You can shorten the odds greatly through high quality and highly relevant content.  These simply score more points.  So it follows that it is possible to have fewer backlinks and have a higher search rank because your content and resulting backlinks have more quality and relevance … and Google is all about relevance.  Of course the Link Velocity Tool will be of little help if you cannot or will not make the firm commitment to content, weekly, even daily for some.  If you are like us, imagine the great satisfaction you will gain from seeing your site rise in backlinks and rise competitively on the Link Velocity Tool and ultimately the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

If you have any question about the Link Velocity Tool, Internet Marking or SEO, just contact us and we will be happy to help.

Search Engine Optimization

The search engines are all about RELEVANCE.  There are virtually countless searchable websites.  Each keyword searched likely has 100’s of thousands of competing pages; often times millions, tens of millions and even higher numbers of pages sometimes competing for a single keyword.  How then does Google rank web pages for relevance and how do online businesses successfully compete by convincing Google that it is the most relevant for a keyword?  While there are many differentiating factors in SEO, by far the most important differentiating factor is Backlinks; the better the quality and the better the quantity of backlinks, the better the web page will rank against competing web pages on a keyword by keyword basis.

Backlinks are one-way links originating outside of your website but pointing directly into relevant content within your website.  The basic premise is that backlinks represent votes in favor of the website since, by definition, it originates outside the website, yet promotes the website by linking to it without any reciprocation or return link.

Backlinks can be purchased.  Backlinks can come from directory sites.  However these backlinks do not carry as much weight as the most beneficial backlinks.  The most beneficial backlinks we like to call naturally occurring, highly relevant backlinks.  All of these backlinks are driven by only one thing … CONTENT.  Content such as highly relevant articles, press releases and blogposts are the raw materials needed for generating the most beneficial backlinks for successful internet marketing and SEO strategies.  Beyond this, the content must not only be indexed by publishing them on the source website; the content must be promoted, most specifically syndicated.  It is the syndication of optimized content (coded) that results in wide dissemination of the content, for instance, with online publishers’ websites.

Just as Google indexes your articles and press releases published on your site, syndicated articles containing keyword-relevant “anchor text,” are similarly indexed.  This is where the magic happens.  This indexing action spawns backlinks.  Further, the interaction by readers of the content generates further links and popularity.

Backlinks can be achieved in multiple environments.  Syndication is not limited to online publishers.  Syndication can occur through a Twitter tweet with a link directly to relevant website or blog content.  All of the social media including MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and many more social sites are ideal targets for syndicating appropriate and relevant content to generate backlinks.

Content doesn’t need to be limited to textual content.  Videos, Podcasts, Animation and all multimedia that contain the proper “alt text” and descriptions can be widely disseminated in the social media.

Social Bookmarking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon and Delicious are also prime sources of backlinks where individuals share and promote highly-rated content for like-minded participants.  These human interactions are monitored closely by Google and backlinks are a key result.

There is no one best way.  The point of this writing is to emphasize how beneficial and important backlinks are to SEO.  It is ultimately a fierce competition for getting the most and getting the best backlinks.  There are countless ways and those that use them most widely with the most consistency win the game. Of course, we are here to help. Contact us for a no obligation consultation.

So how do you go about adding backlinks for your site? It’s pretty basic and complex at the same time. In the online marketing industry, it’s a norm that if you create unique and interesting content in your own industry or segment which really provides information and offers value to the reader, you will get backlinks from users who like your content. However, sometimes it does not work exactly as planned and you might need to do some extra work. Here are some methods:

1. Article Submissions: While this method does not define the backlinking process, it definitely helps. There are hundreds of online articles sites that will gladly accept your content and publish it. The benefit for you here is that you get a backlink from each submission. You can use software like “Article Submitter” or a web-based version.
2. Directory Submissions: This is a great method to boost your backlinks. There are programs such as IBP, which do these submissions manually and automatically. You can also use the “Directory Submitter”. While these backlinks might not be really relevant backlinks, they definitely help.
3. Online Classifieds: These sites are free to list and you can get an easy backlink. Just make sure that you do not spam these sites; a one-time post will be sufficient. Sites such as Craigslist and BackPage are examples of classified sites. You can also post on sites like Squidoo, Technorati, Merchant Circle and many more to get one-way links. Another potential positive of these sites is that they actually show up pretty fast on Search Engine Results Pages.
4. Blog Commenting: While this is a more time consuming process, it provides more value. You must identify the blog sites and forums that are related to your industry or business and engage in conversations on these sites. Do not forget the first rule of quality content; give value to the users so they cannot get enough of you. Use your expertise and answer questions on answers.yahoo.com. It definitely helps.

Things You Should Not Do

• Do not send a million emails trying to exchange links. This complicated process takes a lot of time and is not productive.

• Do not spam classified sites or do not use automated blog commenting software; that is considered as spam and you will not benefit from it.

• Try not do buy links and make it too obvious all your backlinks is from one source. Google sees it all. Try to diversify the number of links you get spread over different sites and IPs.

Remember, content is king. While there are hundreds of ways to get backlinks, the above should be a quick start. Of course, for more advanced techniques, we are here to help.