by Abi Noah

As an internet marketer, the temptation is strong to buy backlinks to improve your website’s position in the search engine results pages.

And with directories offering ‘deals’ like £1 a link, no wonder you are tempted.

But before you jump in, lets take a closer look at how effective bought links are.

There is no doubt that backlinks to your website are important in building popularity for your webpages. The backlinks bring both direct human visitors and visitors from the search engines.

But what you want are links that are generated naturally either through article submissions, other webmasters naturally linking to you because of great content or perhaps through viral products you have online.

Here are a few reasons why buying links is not such a good idea:

• Value for Money? If you think about it, good search engine results page position is achieved by having LOTS of backlinks from a WIDE VARIETY of sites pointing back to your site using the appropriate anchor text. So how many backlinks do you have to buy from the different sites to make a difference to your search engine ranking. So many, you will soon be out of pocket. So is it really value for money buying backlinks? I think not
• Quality of links. We all know that the best links are from within the content of another page on a relevant topic using an anchor text. Ideally the page that has the backlinks to your website on it should not contain any other outgoing links, maximizing the amount of PR juice your website gets from the linking website.With bought links your link tends to be put on a page that had a whole load of other links thereby reducing the boost you would get from your link. Also you cannot guarantee that the link will be placed on a page with niche specific content on it
• The Google Penalty. Google prides itself in providing the most up to date and relevant results for any query. It is to ensure this that Google has it’s very complex but effective search engine ranking algorithm. By buying links, you are artificially improving your ranking in the search engines thereby rendering the results inaccurate. The forums are full of comments by webmasters who have been penalized by the search engines on account of bought and sold links. This penalty is mainly in the form of loss of search engine results page position

Really, the best way to go about generating backlinks to your niche specific site or forums is to have unique useful content on your webpages that other webmasters will want to link to naturally

About the Author

Affiliate Marketing Tips for newbies at http://www.affiliatemarketingintro.com

by Randall White

A blog is a bit like an online journal, although it can be written by various people, or by just one individual. It’s written on a website in chronological order, although usually appearing in reverse order. Blog or ‘blogging’ are also used as verbs to imply an action - in other words, the action of making a comment on a blog somewhere.

The word ‘blog’ comes from Jorn Barger’s word ‘weblog’ and reportedly sprung into being when Peter Merholz divided it into the two words ‘we blog’ on his website for a laugh.

When lots of folks interact using a blog, they are typically discussing a particular subject of interest for them. Consequently, if someone wants to know what’s the best pink gadget to buy for his boat, others will write in with their comment on how that particular gadget worked - or didn’t work. Blogs are ideal for discovering what other folk’s experiences have been with anything you can conceive.

If someone is knowledgeable on some topic with plenty of experience that other people can benefit from, then he might start up a blog about it and offer advice. They might in addition offer links to other sites that promote products applicable to the area of competence. Also he may offer links to other articles or other blogs regarding the same subject.

Blogs utilize both images and text, but some blogs emphasize art (artblog), videos (vlog), images (photoblog) and audio, that is, podcasting or MP3. Blogs can be long or short, but those that are very short are referred to as micro-blogging. Blogs are typically updated frequently and the technology utilized today permits people who understand very little about it to become competent bloggers with just a tiny learning curve.

In the early days of blogging, bloggers referred to themselves diarists, journalers, or even escribitionists. An article or comment placed on a blog is called a post, a blog post or an entry. Old blogs on a topic are sometimes referred to as ‘archives’ and may be maintained on a different page or pages that can be accessed via a hyperlink. There are occassionally a variety of links - like the index at the end of a book and they are located on the right or left of the blogging page.

The beauty of blogging is that people who have the same interests can all join together and talk about, getting to know each other (so to speak) at the same time.

About the Author

The author, Randall White, often writes on topics such as What is Blogging? For more great articles, videos, and products, go ahead and check out Blogging for Fun and Profit

By Sameep Shah

Today, anyone with access to a computer can become a member of a social network. Social networks are online communities comprised of individuals with common interests or goals. Social networks can be used to exchange information, offer advice, or to communicate with others just for fun.

Becoming a member of a reputable social network can significantly increase your customer database and site traffic. Through social networking, you are given the opportunity to connect with people in your line of work, people in related fields, and potential clients looking for the product or service your business offers.

Building relationships with other business owners can result in referrals for your own business as well as the chance to work with another business owner to reach a common goal. Potential clients are able to learn more about your business firsthand and will already have a level of comfort regarding your expertise.

Social networks are springing up all over the world. Some networks, such as Facebook and MySpace, are available in multiple countries. Facebook, once considered to be only a social tool for teenagers, is becoming more accepted as a legitimate social network for small business owners.

The Facebook subscriber base is extensive, and you will be able to reach prospective customers as well as other small business owners. LinkedIn is a popular professional social network, with members representing over 150 different industries.

LinkedIn members are able to offer advice to other business owners and also ask for guidance from other members.

There are usually several different ways to communicate with the other social network members. Once contact information is exchanged, members can communicate with each other through Email or instant messaging (IM). You can present your business information through pictures, videos or blogs on your network page. Members can leave comments on your page, and you can quickly provide them with the information or resources they need.

Social networking is often used by small businesses for business-to-business (B2B) marketing. A professional social network, such as LinkedIn, allows business owners to share their personal experiences with other business owners and also find owners interested in either buying from or working with their business.

The sage advice you will receive through social networking can help direct your efforts for adjusting and improving your Web site, business practices, and marketing techniques. You will generate more interest in your business, and more traffic to your site, by establishing solid business relationships through social networking.

About the Author
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