I do not know the reasons why Google does not show all incoming links when people make use of their command - site:www.yoursite.com. If they do not want people to see incoming links to their own websites or websites of their competitors (I think webmasters are the sole consumers of this command) it seems reasonable to remove this option completely, but Google had some different point of view displaying some, but not complete data.

Remember I was surprised to discover my website getting PR4 with not a single incoming link. I was certain it was an error; I tried to recheck a few times next couple of days – to no avail. Then I have realized that Google is likely to do that on purpose, purpose that I do not understand so far. Do you know why they are doing it?

So it was a nice surprise that you still can see what inbound links your website gets using Google similar command in Google blog search

Technorati Tags: links, inbound links, external links, incoming links, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, earn your living online

I think about free links ideas to focus on this year. Links are likely to last as one of the most important factors to consider if you want your websites gradually improve search engine rankings.

After proper revising my options to get more incoming links I suggest to focus on these techniques:

- Social websites. No need to submit all your posts (only if they are all really good) and no need to hit digg.com or del.icio.us home page (not man chances if you are not familiar with top digg users – there are about 3,000 news articles currently submitted on a daily basis), but it is important to get noticed (and luckily mentioned) by other website owners in your niche. Also it is time to see how you digg me I digg you clubs can help you.

- Blog commenting/ networking. You get (related to your website) links that are counted by Yahoo! and MSN – at least this is my opinion. And again you are likely to set some contacts in your niche.

- Finally, I would like to test some expired domain name – just buy one and see if it keeps its incoming links once it is transferred into my name.

At this time blogosphere links are most popular and valuable way to get links. And the rise of the services similar to ReviewMe and PayPerPost just prove that.

Summary: Links, it is all about links.

It is not a great job to hunt for incoming links, but it is an integral part of running websites. One needs to get a certain status when the incoming links start pouring by themselves, for now you need to hunt for them.

Technorati Tags: links, inbound links, external links, incoming links, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, earn your living online

I am skeptical about manual link exchanges - a waste of time that irritates other webmasters receiving your stupid e-mails where you state that you visited their website and liked it so much…

But it is a fact that links are a must for a progress or success of any online project. One solution is to outsource this boring work. Some details and advice on how to efficiently arrange the outsourcing process were recently covered by Greg Nyland. It is not 100% safe way to delegate this important aspect of the work, but I’d rather go this way than do it myself again.

Another viable option is purchasing links. A few things that you should keep in mind while choosing links for rent:

• Relevancy
• Alexa rank (better than nothing)
• Website rank
• Page rank (where a link to your website will be added)
• Location of your link on the page
• Number of outbound links on this very page
• This web page cache

I used to rent links from high PR websites hoping to improve my website PR and natural SE results, but a lease of 3 months was fruitless for both websites. Now I’d rather pay attention to the amount of traffic (estimate) that page gets than its high PR. A prospect to get some traffic via a rented link looks more appealing than a prospect to (probably) increase one’s PR.

Summary: Websites need links. The more the better. Quality also matters. But nowadays search engines (= Google) index links selectively and unpredictably. It is up to you to develop your own link building program, but I am sure of one thing – one should have a program like this.

Technorati Tags: links, link popularity, link building, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, home based job, earn your living online