Everybody knows that links are the key to SEO. Links are also the key to selling advertising. Links are the key to Making Money Online. Links also are they key to traffic. Hmm did I miss anything? Links are the Key to everything! I’ve compiled a list of the top ways I generate links, hopefully some of these will be new for you.

1. Make blogs posts that are lists.
For some reason, the blogging world is addicted to these things. It used to be seeing the dollar symbol, but that is so overused now, when people say 35 ways to do so and so, then everybody wants to see the article. If it’s a good article as well, people will link to it. You can make a list either proving things, or even disproving. People like seeing posts on things that aren’t true for some reason, so you can make a list of myths and people will still link to it.

2. Us Social Media sites.
Twitter, Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicious… these are all great ways to get links. Ask people to publish your articles on these, and you will get links. Make sure your article is good, and do some self promotional, and this can give you tons of links.

3. Ask questions.
Lots of popular bloggers like to have Q and A times. For example dailyblogtips.com has a continual going one. All you have to do is ask a question, to get a link from a Very popular site. That’s a high PR link as well. These come along often, you could even good for them, I’m sure you could find a bunch. Make sure you ask good questions, but this is a great way to get that question answered, and get a link.

4. Comment on Blogs.
I won’t beat this already very Very dead horse again. You know the idea, commenting on blogs will greatly help your site, Why are you still not doing it?

5. Write Guest Posts.
This ways is an awesome way to get links, and traffic. Email top bloggers, and ask them if they’ll let you guest post. If they say no and try the big guys in your niche. Shoot for the top and work your way down. If you can write a good informative, helpful post on a popular site, you can get a lot of publicity for your site.

6. Submit to Blog Directories.
Don’t go crazy with this, as in the end I don’t think it’s more valuable then say four blog comments, which you could do in the same amount of time. But this can be nice for a quick high PR blog. Always try the DMOZ directory, that one is definitely worth a shot.

7. Preform Studies and Surveys.
People like it when you conduct several week studies. It gets them following your blog, and checking back for the updates. Also reading through the archives to find out what else you’ve said on the topic. So find original studies that people haven’t done before, and try them out. People will link if it’s done well.

8. Steal off other Contests.
Be like Eric Tan and offer part of the prizes from other people’s contests, in case you win. And in return ask for links… stumbles…. comments. I can’t believe this works, but apparently it does because he keeps doing it. And hey if it works, that’s a pretty awesome idea. This isn’t meant to bash Eric by any means.

9. Blog Carnivals.
These get your posts posted on a bunch of different sites, you should definitely try one of these. This is a great way to publicize your site, for free.

10. Make a self updating list.
Learn from the top 100 site of 45n5, and the top IM sites by Winning the Web. These are great ways to get links. If you are a good programmer these will get you TONS of links if you can advertise them right.

11. Use Forums.
Forums are great ways to get traffic, but make sure you are giving helpful advice first. Only use your posts when they are relevant, and don’t spam and get yourself kicked out. Forums can be a great source of traffic and links if you use it correctly.

12. Publicize it on Wikipedia.
If you have a fairly popular site, create a new page about it on wikipedia. If nothing else you can show it to other people, and brag about how popular you are. You can also publicize yourself on Google Groups, and Yahoo Answers.

13. Create a Squidoo Lens.
These can be useful, as they are essentially like miniature websites, except they are only one page. Make one, write some original content, and then post a link to your site. Do some publicizing, and you can build up the PR of it. Squidoo lens get really high Search Engine rankings. So take advantage of this.

14. Post Often.
If you are posting often and originally, then links will come organically. You just need patience, and good self publicizing skills.

15. Create a WordPress Plugin.
These can give you a lot of links, if it’s a good one. I went to plugin recently that had 4300 trackbacks, on this on post alone, because it was that popular a plugin. I you can make a good one, the reward will be great.

16. Create a WordPress Theme.
There are lots of good ones already, so don’t expect to make too much money from this. However, offer them for free, and you’ll get lots more links that way. If you calculate it up, the more links may be worth more then the extra sales.

These last two, are the top linkbaiters in my mind. If done correctly these reap you great rewards.

17. Hold a Contest.
These are great linkbaiters, especially if you are offering great prizes. Everybody wants in on a great contest. So choose carefully, your sponsors, and the details. Don’t ruin this great opportunity. Don’t waste your time with a stupid contest, make sure it’s the best prizes you can get. And spend as much time as you can spare advertising it, because that is the way you’ll get links. If you give people a big bonus for blogging about the contest, you’ll get a lot more links.

18. Be a Sponsor.
This is the top way to get links in my mind. It’s so easy to be a sponsor, all you need to do is offer 500 ECs and you can be given free links. Or a text link ad, or a 125×125. Think of the potential? Right now Tons of bloggers are running christmas contests, take advatage of this. Ask them all if you can be sponsors. I sponsored Five contest this past week, that’s five links alone. Now say each of them get’s linked to five times, (which is very little,) that’s 25 links. Now two of them were on fairly popular sites, so they’ll get at least 10-15 links. So with offering five different prizes, only one of which cost me any phyiscal money, I just generated 40-50 links. And that’s assuming these are small contests. Are you starting to realize the potential? Don’t miss this great opportunity, to get links.

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