Creating backlinks isn’t difficult, but it can take a lot of time and tedious work. To get inbound links you can do the same as big, popular sites like YouTube, eBay, Amazon etc. – create a valuable resource for people, a website with excellent information on a certain topic that they will want to come back to again and again. Then they will make a link ‘back’ to your site.
However, to get the snowball start rolling and getting some initial traffic you will need to build inbound links upfront. Keep in mind that both the quality and the quantity of your incoming links are important, as well as the relevance of the links (your backlinks should be placed on sites that are topically related to your own site).
There are many ways to build inbound links, and here are some of the most common:
Articles
Article marketing is one of the oldest SEO strategies there is. You write articles and publish them on article directories. In addition to inpointing links to your site from those articles, you also may get traffic directly from the articles – from people who read an article and click on your links. Your articles may also be republished on other sites, which can produce many backlinks from various websites, along with direct traffic from them.
Blog Commenting
By leaving a comment on a blog in your niche, you can receive a link to your site from a site that is related to yours. Many blogs will allow visitors to leave the web address of their site along with their the comment, which makes a link back to your site. To make sure to get your post approved by the blog owner, provide a useful and interesting comment.
Forums
Many forums are an excellent source of information that you hardly can find anywhere else. By posting in forums you can get inpointing links by adding a link to your website in your signature, and you may also receive traffic directly from your forum posts. Traffic from forums is often highly targeted.
Web Directories
Web directories are compilations of websites categorized by topic, and usually you will have the option to pick a category that you want to be listed in. A web directory is an excellent place to add your URL and receive a quick backlink. There are both paid and free directories.
Social Sites
Social bookmarking and networking has become a huge thing in the past few years when it comes to attracting inbound links and generating website traffic. Sites like StumbleUpon and Delicious, Facebook and Twitter, can help creating backlinks immensely, as well as bring in a reasonable amount of direct traffic.
Link Baiting
Link baiting means that you offer something valuable and helpful on your website that people want or need. Once they have found your site they will make a link to it so they can come back for more whenever they wish. By offering useful and unique content that is naturally ‘linkworthy’ you can have lots of other sites link to yours. ‘How-to guides’ can be an excellent tactic to have people link to your site.
