What is the best way to obtain backlinks?

[irvingw]

I would start off with promoting through social media outlets - even nofollow links are ok because Google still sees them even if they aren't passing PR. If the content is good people will share it.

True that back links are still important, but gaining them as naturally as possible is more important otherwise you will get penalized. And if you do something like bulk spamming type link building packages where it is impossible to track them down for removal or there are just too many, you could be looking at having to start all over with a new domain. name.

[juniorbeagle]

Thanks for your help!

[pattersonla]

Build interesting and useful content and people will link to it. You have probably heard this a thousand times if you have even begun looking into link building and SEO. While it is a great motto to live by, it won't get you started. Without some initial link building effort your website will be as good as the tree that fell in the woods when nobody was around.

Step 1) Some tips for getting started... I always like to start each new site with a blog. I take a little time each week away from my standard work to write a single highly interesting blog post in the topic area. It is important than you don't just write filler posts, but actually focus on interesting titles and topics that will grab a reader. After each post, use any social media connections that you have to distribute a link. Now go back about your business. You will be surprised how this can help your site get started. If the posts are good, you are likely to get at least a few initial links. Google also likes to see the regular content updates and it helps you to build some rapport.

Step 2) Know your competitors and make sure that you are offering better, more interesting content. If you don't have better stuff, how can you expect to win? Once you have the site set up, focus on building links until you get a regular stream of traffic. Try whatever non-tacky links you can obtain. I would recommend a few easy directory listings and try to do a couple of guest posts for a blog related to your niche.

Step 3) Once you have some visitors flowing through your pages regularly, it is time to knock the competition out of the park. This is where the "Build interesting and useful content and people will link to it" comes into play. You should be asking yourself constantly what do my visitors want that my competitors don't have. Try to come up with any ways to get your visitors to interact more with your site, and encourage them to share things via social media. If you have the right effort, this is where your link building will really take off (and you aren't even focusing on link building).

Hope this helps.

[KeriMorgret]

Our guide to linkbuilding at http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo/growing-popularity-and-links can also be of help.

[LoganYard]

I would highly recommend not buying links from anyone other than a website proprietor. Search engines are getting much better at determining which links are purchased, and in  some case penalize both the advertiser and the site selling the paid links.

The best way to purchase links is to pick up the phone and make them an offer. Be very polite, compliment their website, and then ask if they would be willing to place a link on their site.

I personally think buying links this way is very inefficient unless you can get a link back from a related industry giant with enormous amounts of traffic and visibility. Otherwise your time and money is best spent building really good content, guest blogging, and growing your social network.

[goodlegaladvice]

that jk was just kidding don't do that

[juniorbeagle]

Thanks for your help...greatly appreciated!!

[juniorbeagle]

Check out my site http://www.turksandcaicosrealestatespecialist.com/ and let me know what you think.

[pattersonla]

Now that looks like the place to live. Should I ask what real estate goes for there?

You might make sure that you have localized links in any real estate related directories. You should be able to find some worthwhile places to list if you spend some time searching. Run any competitive sites that also sell real estate in your area through Open Site Explorer and see where they have gotten their links from.

[juniorbeagle]

Im blessed thats for sure as the Turks and Caicos Islands is truly paradise...real estate ranges from $350,000 to $45 million depending on what your appetite is.

Ive done the competive analysis of my top competitor sites and they all have hundreds of links which Ive started emailing and asking for backlinks but Im not having much success at it and Im wondering if Im taking the right approach....??

[pattersonla]

Trying to find common links among your competition is a good start (if they all can get a link for site A, you should be able to as well). Divide any potential candidates up into groups depending on how likely you think you are to achieve the link. Try to spend more effort on the one that you feel likely to pan out.There are some obvious things to rule out like links from sites that appear to have been dead for some time and old news articles/posts. If you run out of good options on your direct competition, you might turn to other places that you don't directly compete with, but that have similar real estate.

Another idea is to try to find some good real estate blogs and write a couple of interesting to read guest posts that you can submit. This method works really good. You offer up interesting content to the blog and in return you get a link back to your site.

[juniorbeagle]

cool thanks!!

[Boodreaux]

I would start off with a couple of good purchased links too. Like Business.com and BOTW.com. BBB.com is a great one I have heard too.  That is the next one I will buy.

[MagicDude4Eva]

I would try and get links by guest-blogging on investment-/property sites and if you have a portfolio of properties perhaps go as far as syndicate those to property sites (affiliate scheme).

[juniorbeagle]

thank you for your help!

[juniorbeagle]

thank you!

[DesignbysoapLtd]

I would recommend a content-based approach to link-building, as it has a much better ROI than chasing down one link at a time.

I've written a couple of SEOMoz posts that might be useful to you, the first on creating good content:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/indepth-guide-to-content-creation-with-infographic

and the second on using infographics to build backlinks:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/getting-the-maximum-number-of-links-from-your-infographic

I'd also highly recommend you read the post Keri linked to, some great stuff in there, particularly if you're new to link-building.

Hope that's of some use to you! Good luck with your link-building campaign.

[AdamThompson]

Here's an idea. Since you live in paradise, get a professional photographer to take pictures of paradise for your blog posts. Who doesn't like to link to gorgeous pictures of paradise? Add captions to the photos with relevant text explaining where the photo was taken, etc, etc.

[juniorbeagle]

thanks I am currently doing that with my blog posts ..... http://www.turksandcaicosrealestatespecialist.com/blog/