Getting More Backlinks

If you’ve been blogging for a while now, you’re probably wondering about what backlinks are, and how they can help you make money blogging more effectively.  Backlinks, which are also called “incoming links”, are links to your blog or blog pages that are put up on another blog or website.  If a fellow blogger puts up a link that directs his readers to your site, that in itself counts as a backlink.

Of course, backlinks aren’t just some little detail that bloggers can forget about.  In fact, they’re responsible for your success as a blogger, and have a direct effect on your blog’s ranking on major search engines.  The more backlinks your blog has, the higher its rank will be on Google and other search engines.  If you have more backlinks for a keyword that other blogs are already targeting, your ranking on search engines will be much higher, therefore making you more accessible to the online community.

You also have to know that backlinks are better if they contain a keyword that’s already targeted by your blog.  You also have to know about “anchor text”, which is basically a backlink that contains your targeted keywords.  These kinds of backlinks have a stronger pull on Google, so aim to get more of these, as well.  Here are some of the ways by which you can start getting backlinks and blogging more profitably:

1.  Comment on other blogs:
Don’t just keep yourself huddled in a little corner: let the blogosphere know of your presence by interacting with fellow bloggers, particularly those in the same niche as yours.  A good way to make yourself known is by posting relevant and well-thought out comments on other blogs.  This is also a very subtle way to create a backlink for your site:  simply type out your comment and include your URL at the foot of your message.  Even better: you can use your targeted keyword as your name, which will normally contain a link back to your own site.

2.  Hop onto forum boards:
Forum boards are also a great way to create backlinks for yourself.  Be a member of a forum board that deals with your blog’s chosen niche, and set out to be an active poster in various discussions.  Always be courteous and informative in your posts, since forum boards are also notorious hotbeds for online brawls.  Be friendly with everyone, and don’t forget to sneak in your blog’s URL (and keywords, if possible) on your signature.

3.  Link baiting:
Link baiting is the practice of writing about hot news or controversial topics about the niche that your blog is focused on.  If you can pounce on breaking news about your niche and write a really good entry about that topic, you’re bound to get some people linking back to you.  This method’s a little trickier (because you’ll have to work at making your post unique and special), but it’s very good at making a lasting impression on your blog readers and visitors. Just make sure your title of your post contains the keyword that you’re targeting as it’ll be easy for webmasters to copy that as the anchor text for their backlinks to your blog post.

Although getting backlinks is a major priority for professional bloggers, you shouldn’t let that take precedence over writing good and reliable content for your readers to enjoy.  No amount of backlinks can support a poorly kept blog, so try to get as many legitimate backlinks as you can without neglecting your content.