Anyone working online knows the importance of online marketing and SEO. Just as I think I am a little wiser I get surprised with how much I still have to learn …. I thrive on learning so this is indeed not a problem.

As Piet Hein once wrote “The greatest knowledge of all, is knowing that you know nothing at all”.

In my quest for building my SEO knowledge I came a cross this list of 10 steps to a productive backlink strategy …. worth a read. You may already have all 10 points cover, but here you go ……

The 10 Steps to a Productive Backlink Network

1. Assess your strong points with which you’ll approach potential link partners

2. Decide the keywords you’ll be using as anchor text

Naturally you’ll want to use as much money keywords in anchor texts as you can. But be wary, as Google puts these money keywords under extreme scrutiny and it’s constantly looking of artificial links having such keywords as the anchor text.

Don’t create the impression you’re spamming your way up to number one in the SERPs with highly competitive keyword phrases like online marketing, mlm leads and network marketing.

Again, it’s nothing wrong with using high converting keywords in hyperlink, only be sure to alternate between competitive and medium quality keyword phrases; Avoid being associated by Google with very competitive keywords if you’re traffic stats and site authority doesn’t reflect that.

3. Analyze the top-ten competitors

Extract the most valuable keywords and keyword phrases, run a search in Google and jotdown the top-ten players for each of one.

Next, analyze each competitor and take note of their strong and weak points both in terms of On-Page and Off-Page Factors. For a thorough report on your competition, I suggest you use programs like SEOElite (focused on Off-Page Factors) or Market Samurai (offers valuable competitor insites for each keyword you target).

A free tool to use which provides information about your competitor’s linking partners is Yahoo! Site Explorer. More details are found in the following section.

4. Find potential backlink partners

A complete walkthrough can be found in the 4-Step Guide to Building Backlinks with Solid Link Partnerships.

5. Contact potential backlink partners

When initiating contact for obtaining a backlink, make sure your approach is personal and points out concrete benefits for the other party.

Don’t contact webmasters before you’ve reviewed their site thoroughly and you are able to make factual comments about its content pages.

Provide in your initial email, the link and anchor text you want them to use without formating it. If they agree on a reciprocal link, make a gesture of goodwill and be the first who inserts the link on the webpage. If they delay in returning the service, keep their backlink until your next website inspection.

6. Build artificial backlinks using submission sites

Consult these 20 Guidelines for Building Backlinks with Submission Sites for a comprehensive procedure on this topic.

7. Increase the value of your existing backlinks

There is no point on having multiple backlinksin the same webpage. Instead focus on increasing the value of your existing linkspointing to your website;

> Take for example an article you’ve submitted to an article directory. Bookmark that content page on different bookmarking sites, present it to different linking partners for website submission, reference it on forums and blog comments. By doing all this you’ve increased its authority which ultimately benefits the webpage you backlinked on it.

> Lets say you’ve submitted your website to a submission directory. Reference that directory in your future content pages and posts on different platforms by backlinking to it. Build a link that goes to the section, or webpage your website is listed in. By doing this both parties benefit – the directory’s webpage and your own webpage by being listed there.

These are just two examples of how to get more authority or PR with the same backlinks pointing to your website.

8. Have backlinks placed on the right spot

Don’t just reserve your backlink on a webpage with PR8, when on that page there are another 100 outbound links.

Keep in mind to place all of your backlinks (if possible) in the body text that’s also relevant for the anchor text. Avoid getting backlinksin footers and siderbars as they don’t carry much weight.

Look for building links that are long lasting because the older a backlink the more SEO juice it provides to your website. Related to this, avoid paid links if you can’t sustain this practice long term.

9. Use internal linking throughout your website

As your webpages gain PR and popularity, they will act like floating devices for your website in SERPs. For this to happen you need to consistently and coherently interconnect all of your webpages.

I’ve already put together an Internal Linking Strategy you can freely use with your site.

10. Undertake periodical inspections of your website’s backlink network

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