by Murray Lunn

Created on: August 25, 2010

In a complete sense, search engine optimization are methods to rank well within search engines - building backlinks is one of the fundamental aspects of this process. The importance of backlinks are widely known to help websites rank well but it's often not the case in terms of how to build these links back to your website.

To help you in this process of gaining more visitors and ranking well within search engines, here are the best ways to build backlinks to your website.

+ Social Bookmarking - Social bookmarking details submitting your content to various social bookmarking websites like Digg, Technorati, Reddit, StumbleUpon and the countless others that scatter the web. Each new piece of content you submit to these social bookmarking sites gives you a link back to your website; improving it's overall ranking.

+ Guest Blogging - Bloggers are always on the lookout for fresh content when their own efforts become strained from the constant demand for content. If you run a website or blog, consider writing a guest post for other blogs within your niche which allow you to place a backlink to your website within the content or author bio box on the page.

+ Write an article - Much like guest blogging, writing articles can also be a great way to build a valuable backlink. Websites such as eZinearticles, Goarticles and Squidoo allow you to write and submit content and place a link back to your website if you choose. These high page rank sites will help your content and website rank higher within search engines as they are quickly spidered and hold high relevance and authority.

+ Website Directories - Although not nearly used as they once were, website directories are large websites which collect websites on the web - they are hubs to help users find niche websites related to their preferred topic. Thousands of these website directories are on the web which can give you a backlink during submission but overall the two most important are DMOZ and Yahoo Directory.

+ Blog Commenting - What makes  a blog different from a static website is the ability for readers to interact through blog commenting. A blog comment often includes your name, website url and email address - with each new comment you leave on a blog, you gain an additional backlink. Plug-ins such as commentluv and keywordluv increase the value of your backlinks by allowing you to set your link title and show additional posts you've recently written.

+ Create great content - The best (and natural) way to build a backlink is to write great content for your website. Fellow bloggers, website owners and internet enthusiasts love a great post and will often share it with their own community through a link in their own content. A natural link from a high profile website will give your website a greater benefit than spending hours trying to build links on low-rankings ones.

+ Produce a video - Many new video websites allow you to place a link back to your website within the description of your video. While you capture the viewers attention, you're linking back to your own website which can help drive up traffic but more importantly helps your ranking by getting the nod from search engines for your additional backlink.

+ Forum posting - Forums are a hotbed for leaving backlinks scattered throughout the social platform. Located within your signature box, you can place your own links to any website you'd like with enough participation - this link can be pointing back to yours!

Learn more about this author, Murray Lunn.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.