How many times in the past 2 months have you read a post about link building and SEO? I ask this because I have read 5 in the past day and most of them are saying that link building is dead. Now, is link building dead? No, link building is not dead, it has just changed.
The problem with the way most people would build links a few months ago is that they were getting links from very poor websites and this in turn go their websites penalized by Google. What you need to understand is that link building is something that doesn’t stop and there is no quick way to rank on the top of the search engines. If you ever hear somebody tell you that they will guarantee your rankings, and then just know that it is a lie and all they are going to do is get your website penalized. Trust me, I know because I hired somebody to do that with one of my experimental sizes about 8 months ago.
So, how has link building changed?
Link building has changed because now it is all about building a reputation. For example, if you have a blog then you should have reviews about that blog. This is where AngliesList comes in and even Yelp. The problem that many people have is they are too focused on building links on other sites just like theirs, through comments, through forum links, and even social bookmarks. What you need to realize is that everything is changing because now Google is not the only one running the internet, Facebook is there too.
Ways to Succeed With Link Building
Guest Posts – One of the best way to get more links is through guest posts. The best part about a guest post is that your link will show up on another person’s blog and with more than a million blogs out there, you are bound to get some on high ranking websites. Where most people make the mistake here is they submit their posts to really low quality blogs, if you want to succeed, then you need to put yourself out there and publish only on high ranking sites. One piece of advice that I have for you is to make sure you create a post that people will want to read and not just something that has been talking about for forever and a day.
Reviews – Yes, reviews are making a big hit these days. The reason review sites are starting to pick up as far as links go is because Google has realized that these are generated by users and that is the best way to tell a users experience on the site. If you have a few reviews on sites like Angieslist or Yelp, then you will notice that your rankings will be higher because of it. Now, don’t go out and plaster reviews all over the internet, instead, build a few each week.
YouTube – Yes, YouTube is a great way to get links. The best part about YouTube is that you can put your link on their site and when somebody comes and uses your video, your link will show up on their site. The reason I like this method is because more people are using video now than anything else. Trust me, this does work and that is why I suggest using it.
One thing that you will notice about link building is that it is only going to get harder and harder to affect your own rankings. Many people could do this without any problems a few years ago, but with all the changes you will notice that it is not easy anymore. Just remember, link building is a long and tedious process that you need to work at.














3 Proven Ways to Increase Website Traffic
To many people it doesn’t matter how they get traffic to their blog as long as they get it. For me, this is somewhat true and that is why I do more than just write blog posts and build links. There are several great ways to increase your website traffic but I want to just focus on 3 of those methods today.
The problem that so many people have when it comes to increasing website traffic is they don’t take the time to figure out what really works for them and what doesn’t work at all. This is why I am showing you 3 proven ways to increase your website traffic without doing something that won’t get you anywhere. Just know that all 3 of these methods work but you have to use them.
3 Proven Ways to Increase Website Traffic
Blog Commenting – Blog commenting has been used for a long time and more and more people are forgetting about it. What most people think is that blog commenting doesn’t work anymore and to be honest with you, it doesn’t, in regards to SEO. Blog commenting should be used to get direct traffic from that blog you are commenting on right to your own website. I love blog commenting because it gives you the ability to get in front of other people without spending countless hours writing a post for your own site.
Tip: When blog commenting make sure you are commenting on blogs with high traffic. The reason you do this is because it is more effective than commenting on a blog with only a few readers on it.
Forum Posts – 5 Years ago forum posts were the best thing for a site. The problem now is that forums don’t pass much link juice to your site, but they do get you in front of different people. The way forums work is that somebody asks a question or needs help with something and then you respond to their question/post. Once you have enough forum posts on a certain forum you will start to get traffic from there.
Tip: Don’t post on dozens of forums; just stick to two or three larger ones.
Hard Work And Dedication – After everything I have learned since I started blogging the one thing that has stuck with me is hard work and dedication. Without hard work and dedication I am not sure exactly where I would be today. There have been many roadblocks that I have had to overcome and it is because of my hard work and dedication that I am still able to do what I love and blog weekly. If you want to do what you love, whatever that may be, then you need to understand how important hard work is and where dedication will get you. Trust me, without both of those things you probably will have a tougher time.
Tip: Never think that you will get lucky someday, so you don’t have to work hard. Most people are not successful because they are not dedicated to what they do, but all of this can change as your passion for life and blogging change as well.
Without blog traffic you will have a very lonesome blog. If you are serious about taking your blog to the next level or at least making sure people are reading your posts, then you need to increase your blog traffic now. I know that not all blogs will thousands of visitors each day but you can at least build it up to a couple hundred visitors per day.
Just answer this one question regarding website traffic before you go – What would 1,000 visitors to your website mean to you? Your site?