|  No matter how you spin it, the main goal of just about every website these days is reaching the top of the search engine rankings. Internet marketers make millions of dollars selling their services to up-and-coming small businesses which are just beginning to venture into the online market. But before you take any steps towards optimizing your website, you have to understand the basics.
When you search for a phrase in Google or Yahoo, or any other search engine, you receive a list of relevant results. If you are like most people, your first inclination is to click on one of the links offered on the first page. I mean, those must be the most relevant results, right?
Not necessarily – you see, most websites use search engine optimization, or SEO, to artificially boost the chance of their website coming up in the first few pages of search engine results. While on-site SEO is very important, the major difference comes from how you utilize off-site SEO.
Off-Site SEO Basics
Essentially, the main thing you want with your off-site SEO is inbound links (also known as backlinks). Inbound links are hyperlinks that point back to your website from another domain. The favorite term in the industry for the effect of these links is “link juice.” The better the link, the more “juice” it sends your site. If a link is coming from a popular, well respected website, you”ll get more juice from that link. If the link is coming from a free blog that was set up a week ago, you”ll receive less juice.
For example, if the Huffington Post links back to your website or one of your blog posts, you”re getting a very high quality link. Since most major sites like this won”t allow you to simply plaster links on their pages, you have to use different methods to bring in those high quality inbound links.
Tips For Getting More Links
Posting good content is without a doubt the number one way to bring in links. The better your content is, the more likely it is to be shared by your viewers. Other blogs will take notice and begin posting links back to your website. This method has a slow start, but is ultimately the most powerful and effective. Think of it like a snowball rolling down a mountain; by the time it gets to the bottom it”s an avalanche.
Of course, to speed that up a little you can always write guest posts for other blogs and websites. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement because you can put a link in the post back to your website, and the other site gets free content. Everybody comes out ahead.
Simultaneously, you should always submit your site (or blog) to search directories. There are hundreds out there, and it only takes a minute to do. Technorati is a great directory for business blogs, but there are plenty of others as well.
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