Affiliate Tutorial - Good links to your site (Step 8 - 10)

STEP 8: Get good quality links to your site

Without links to your site, your site won't be found in the search engines. So you MUST get links to your site, if possible from "authority" sites - ones that have lots of links to them.
First, link to other sites. Choose sites that have similar or related themes, and invite those sites to link to you.

This is hugely important. Search engines love sites that have many links to them - especially if those links come from sites which are themselves popular.
Now you see why I said build a useful, interesting site. If you do that, people are more likely to link to your site.
Here's an article I wrote describing how to get reciprocal links.
Reciprocal links should be only a small part of your marketing strategy - not your whole marketing strategy.
Even better than reciprocal links are one-way links. Here's an article describing how to get one-way links.
Some of these one-way links techniques are fairly advanced and require considerable work. Most of your competitors will be too lazy to do them, so you'll have a big advantage if you do. They can make the difference between a hobby site and a serious, very profitable business.



STEP 9: Anchor text

You'll also need to understand the importance of anchor text, the words you use to link to pages on your site, the words people use when they link to your site.
To search engines, anchor text is very important.


STEP 10: List your site in major directories and niche directories in your industry.

You probably already know about Yahoo! (good but expensive) and DMOZ (often takes months to get into).

Here are some more directories (some charge a fee):
Gimpsy
Skaffe
Joeant
Business.com
SevenSeek
ThisIsOurYear
Looksmart (probably too expensive)
BlueFind
WowDirectory
Best of the Web
GeniusFind

Guides to web directories
David Mahler has a Guide to Web Directories. It's a good list of recommended web directories.
Here's another list: http://www.strongestlinks.com/directories.php

How to find niche directories:
Go to Search It! (It's a very handy free research tool.)
Scroll to the Search Category, "Specialty Hubs and Directories"
Choose one of the 4 options in STEP 2
Read the "Click Here for Information..." help before proceeding
Complete STEPS 3 and 4, and then click on Search It!
Read the tutorial. It tells you what to do with the search results
Get your search results. You should be able to find relevant, themed hub sites and directories which will list your site. Some charge a fee, some are free.



All 18 steps of Affiliate Program Tutorial:

Affiliate Tutorial (Step 1 - 3 ) - Set a Goal

Affiliate Tutorial (Step 4 - 5 ) - Research Affiliate Merchants

Affiliate Tutorial (Step 6 - 7 ) - Add Affiliate Links

Affiliate Tutorial (Step 8 - 10 ) - Good links to your site

Affiliate Tutorial (Step 11 - 13 ) - Place Articles on Websites

Affiliate Tutorial (Step 14 - 15 ) - See Affiliate Success!

Affiliate Tutorial (Step 16 - 18 ) - Tweak site to make even more money