Just a bit about search engine optimization.

Backlinks can help raise your site from the bottom on the barrel to the top of the search engine list. This kind of feat takes more than just good SEO tactics on your site. It takes a few quality backlinks from others.

Backlinks are links from other websites or blogs that link to your website. Some good backlinks will do more than anything you do on your own site.

When somebody embeds a link to your page, they are implying that they value the content of your site. When Google or any other major search engine spots this link, they tally it like a vote.

Anchor text is more important than how many sites have links to your site. Anchor text is what people see when they click on a link. Search engines will see the anchor text as well. This is one way they know what your site has to offer.

This is the reason that you need to anchor text of links that are incoming to the top keywords when you can. Now that you know why backlinks are critical, let’s discover some ways to make them happen.

Qualtiy site content which is unique will be the main reason people will link to your site. You will benefit if your site is different and perhaps even controversial. If people view your site as special they will be more apt to link to it.

Try to make it really easy for other websites to link to your website. Try setting up a “link to us” page to simplify the process. Also, make sure that you include keywords in the anchor text.

Submitting your written articles to directories will allow them to be reprinted on other sites with a link to you in the Resource Box. Just one article could result in many backlinks. Alternatively, you could try personally contacting your niche sites and offer to write a recurring column. Another option is to arrange a trade system in which each site writes for the other, providing backlinks to each other.

Justin Harrison is a leading Internet Marketing consultant responsible for the Internet Marketing strategies behind some of the biggest online brands including Amazon, BBC, MasterCard and many others.