Directories It is important to note that sheer number of incoming links is not as important as quality of sites that are doing linking. The fastest way to get some quality incoming links is to get listings in popular directories, such as Yahoo and Open Directory Project. For business sites, Yahoo costs $299 per year (it is free for non-commercial sites, although it takes a while to get listed). The Open Directory is free for all sites that meet certain quality standards, but it sometimes takes a lot of follow-up inquiries to make sure your site gets listed. When listing your sites, try to get them in highest-level category that is applicable to your site. For instance, if your company in Podunk Ohio ships wind chimes to consumers nationwide, make sure you submit to national "Wind Chime Dealers" category, not "Retailers in Podunk, Ohio" category.

How do I increase link popularity?

Building link popularity is hard work. You've searched endlessly. You've sent every reciprocal link email you can think of. What else can you do? Surprisingly, writing articles on your topic can lead you to a wealth of link popularity.

What are benefits of writing articles? Think about it. If you write articles, you get to use them on your website and you build your website content. You can also submit your articles to other sites. With both methods you get a lot in return:

You build your content. More is better when it comes to site content.

You promote your website. With more keyword-rich text on more pages, you will increase number of pages indexed by search engines.

Other websites link back to your website content. Sites focused on related topics link back to you.

You receive a link back to your website from site you submitted article to. Remember to include a link in all guest articles you submit.

You become an authority on your topic. Search engines reward sites with a larger number of inbound links from sites dealing with similar topics. What do I write articles about?

The saying goes "write about what you know." Sometimes it takes thinking in a creative way to open door to a new route for link popularity success. Think of what your visitors might be looking for. Why do they come to your site? What can you help them with when they arrive on your website? Answer their questions about your topic. We all search to find information, so give them what they are looking for.

So what are they looking for? That is easy enough to find out. Review your web server logs to see what keywords and phrases your visitors are using when they find your site through search engines. Run your own searches using those keywords. What kinds of sites are returned in search engine listings? Pay attention to visitor feedback. Know your visitors. Answer questions they are asking, or even those questions they do not know yet to ask.

Most importantly, write because you have something to say. If in process of building your content and inbound links, you benefit your readers with your content, all better in terms of providing visitor satisfaction. This is best reason to write, which is way of web, to seek out and share information.

Where do you put articles?

On your site. The first and obvious answer is to put them on your site. After all, you have all this knowledge; why not share it with your visitors? You may want to create an Articles page on your site. This will give you a place to put your articles, and any new ones that you write. Make sure to add this new page into your site navigation, and especially to add it to your sitemap page. Add a link to your main articles page on your sitemap, and a link to each new article on your articles page, and you are on your way to having your good content indexed. Make sure your visitors and search engine robots can find your new pages.