Many of us had hoped it would simply slip quietly into the night, disappear into the background, fade away with time… Not a chance. It is here to stay.
That ‘it’ is of course, link building. At best time-consuming and at worst confusing, building links for your website is guaranteed to drive you bonkers at one point or another. And yet it is completely unavoidable because, for now, it is the best way to achieve higher rankings through SEO. (PS. That isn’t to say that what Piers had to say in his last entry is wrong though, far from it. We just both happen to think we are right 
)
But why are they so important?
To put it bluntly, Google and other search engines love high quality natural links. When indexing the web, Search Engine spiders move through interconnected pages via the links on a website; the more high quality links you have to your website, the better the chance these spiders have of finding it. These links do not just give search engines an idea of how popular your site is, they also help them determine the topic and relevance your site has in relation to those all important keywords. The more high quality links to your website, the better your ranking. The better your ranking, the better chance your website has of being a success.
So what are the ‘do’s’ of link building?
Here are my top tips to cut down on time, scythe through the confusion and avoid spiralling into bonkersdom (pre tip tip – don’t use made up words 
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1. Create a few top/best/easy 10 tips lists. Think about how many people will search for wedding tips or holiday tips – People can’t resist bookmarking or linking to them for a look later on. I know I have. (Try a top 10 myths list too!)
2. Create a page with loads of resources on a specific subject or item. People will look at it as authoritative and therefore more likely to link back to it.
3. Digg and twitter allow people to discover and share content from anywhere on the internet. Make it easy for them to share by adding bookmarking icons onto your web pages.
4. Create an FAQ’s or glossaries page.
5. Make your content easy to understand. There’s no point in writing complete gobbledegook and expecting everyone to understand it. If they don’t they are less likely share it with others.
6. Check for grammatical and spelling mistakes on your website! It sounds so obvious, but many people just don’t bother to do so. And they lose out as a result. Would you link to an apparent Sand Castle specialist website if they insisted on spelling it ‘Carsel’?!
7. Submit an article to an industry website. Make sure you publish it on your website for a few weeks first so that search engines can index your site and recognise it as the creator of the article. Likewise, don’t pinch an article and try to fob it off as your own. Firstly, it’s not right. Secondly, if they find out, you could be in trouble.
8. Put your picture next to your article. If you’re willing to put your face next to it, you must know what you’re on about! In essence, it builds up trust between you and the reader, even if they can’t quite grasp how long your mono-brow is.
9. Syndicate a press release. Be sure to take the time to make it an absorbing read. Email it to well-known journalists or bloggers, not forgetting to personalise the email. You can also try sending it to prnewswire.com (or similar) for more exposure.
10. Track those journalists who pick up your article or press release. Chances are they’ll be interested in other things you have to say, so offer them exclusive news or content in future.
11. Create a forum.
12. Create a blog and keep it up-to-date and relevant. Good execution means more links back to your website. Poor execution means banishment to web wilderness. There are plenty of websites that offer tips out there if you’re not sure where to start, like problogger.net
13. Link to other blogs from your blog. This is one of the easiest and cheapest forms of marketing out there. Many bloggers track links to their own blog and will likely reciprocate.
14. Submit your site to free directories. Probably the oldest tip in the book, but submitting your site to free directories like DMOZ will help. Paid directories are also an excellent way to build links, but make sure they are reputable and of good quality.
15. Answer questions on blogs, forums, websites that you know the answers to and link it back to your website. DON’T leave a link to a question that is 4 years old though. That won’t help.
The more astute amongst you will have noticed that the majority of my tips do not require the help of an seo specialist at all… You will still need to hire one at one point or another to make sure that the hard work you put in is rewarded with higher page rankings, but until that time, get cracking with those listed above!
Cheers!