Believe it or not, it is hard to explain link building, trust me. For a few years, a business associate (and good friend) and I had a thriving business that was built strictly for the purpose of building links in the search engines, using natural methods.

The trouble was even though those signing up knew right from the get go that the membership was about building links and nothing more, still the questions would come… primarily “where’s my traffic?”

Building links is one of the many objectives you need to set for yourself to be successful online. So, when a service offers free link building and the tools to get the job done, then you would be foolish not to investigate.

Recently I came across a website called Free Link Building Tools that must have Google’s approval since they’ve got a PR, and their Alexa and membership numbers demonstrate they are growing. In fact, as I write they have 2,894 registered members and 1,786 registered domains. (You’ll be able to see for yourself when you click through to check them out.)

What I like about this website is there are no huge claims, just lots of good information, along with tools for webmasters to get the job done. Don’t be fooled, you do need to know (or know someone who does) how to:

o Install simple script coding on your website and/or WordPress blog, and

o Read and follow directions so that your domains are added and linked up correctly (to reap the benefits).

And, to be truly successful and get everything setup right, I’d highly recommend you first read their Tips section. One article in there, called Link Building Etiquette not only explains the benefits to exchanging links, but also how to do it properly – from who and how to link, to proper titling, to essential information you need to know first to make the most of this search engine optimization trick of the trade.

Not all links are created equal, however, Free Link Building Tools is a resource you will want to thoroughly investigate.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Google’s page rank is finally meeting its (long overdue) end.

I don’t know how many pages I’ve visited of late that get decent (or boatloads of) traffic yet have no or very low PRs. In reverse, you’ve got the huge PR website, yet you can easily tell (via add ons, etc.) that no one knows they even exist.

For further proof, head to the Google search itself. Type in anything you want (I typed in “latest news google pr“) then start scanning and researching the leading results. For my particular phrase, front page results reflected posts and web pages posted last month to several years ago. I did check the “pr” and “alexa” for many of them. No surprise to find that front page results included sites without any PR at all – along with some with traffic so minuscule anyone would be shaking their head over “why the front page?” (Maybe our accompanying illustration helps reinforce the head scratching, mind boggling way this is all “determined.”)

It’s fact – while there are popular sites (depending on what you type) like WebMD or Amazon in your search results, you always find within those same front page results websites with no PR and a variety of traffic (low to high).

So I’m going to go further out on that limb to say that I think when it comes to choosing “traffic versus Google PR” that anyone in their right mind would opt for the traffic, right?

Boatloads of traffic!

The Google PR used to be a badge of honor, and many a webmaster or seo expert sweated bullets over this one. Maybe some still do.

However, even the folks at Google cannot or will not tell (or do not know) whether PR really means a hill of beans in the end.

What prompted this post was an inspection this morning of my ezine advertising website.

At one point in its so far 7 year history, it achieved a traffic rank of under 21K and held onto a PR 4 (for this type of niche this was outstanding). Then along came one of those infamous algorithm changes and now… well this morning on my end of the world there is no PR on the site. Zip, zilch, nada.

Now it could be the folks at Google are in some cycle doing updates again. Could be the poor thing just lost out in this latest round of bids for ranking. Be that as it may, thankfully it does sit on the front page for many of the distinct keywords necessary for folks to find it. And that’s what counts.

Google plays with their algorithm so much and so often, you could easily drive yourself insane figuring out your next move. Running around in circles trying to please or appease, you’ll not only get dizzy, but allow much of your competition to race right past you.

What should you be working on? Words. Content. And more importantly, in SEO terms, keyword content. You do have to know the difference between appropriately working those keywords into your content (and which ones are really going to be any use to you in the first place) and cramming them into metas and content like there’s no tomorrow. Do not be short sighted nor mislead by shady tactics.

The time is ripe for the rest of the world to just “do their own thing.” Work your website or blog the way you wish to work it (and start having fun for a change). Go for the gold, go for traffic. Let’s also hope that Google drops this antiquated ranking platform very, very soon.

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Diane Scott started out as the persona of two great friends living on opposite ends of the country. Diane currently calls Las Vegas home, while Scott lives in Baltimore.

While we both have spent the last decade(+) online (and offline) making our livings by analyzing and applying search engine optimization, traditional internet marketing, and social media strategies, as of August 2009, “Scott” is no longer part of OIMS – having decided to take his energies elsewhere – with well wishes to all his new endeavors!

So Diane Scott becomes a whole person – my alter ego so to speak – where “she/I” can let loose on any subject (just about). However, my main focus continues to be the testing, evaluation, and recommendation (or not) of methods to promote your website/blog and increase website traffic.

I do enjoy writing the occasional “get paid to” post – and try to pick out the ones I find most interesting and intriguing (and yes, the ones that pay well for doing so – if you’re a blogger you can/should/could, too).

Well that about brings you up to date as of September 2009.

Be sure to visit my ezine advertising co-op, My Wizard Ads, along with the Whole Hog Blog blogging system I also own and operate. Then stop on by ImWebNiches for an A to Z search portal on all sorts of subjects.

I hope you enjoy your visit not only to Online Internet Marketing Strategies, but all the other websites and blogs, too.

All the best,
Diane Scott
(and would it be aka Theresa Cahill? Or the other way around LOL!)

We love descriptive blog post titles. However, like any type of advertising, especially solo ads, article titles, and (of course) blog post titles, create them too long and you’re wasting not only a lot of usable space, but hindering your search capabilities.

That’s why we are testing (more…)