1 - inbound, one-way text links using good anchor text are your goal from an SEO perspective. (I'll define everything below)
2 - DO NOT sweat page rank on the page linking TO YOU
3 - DO sweat that each page/site is topically related to you
4 - Try for these "golden boy" links from the major players in YOUR topical category - better 10 inbounds from related topic sites with a PR of zero, than 100 inbounds from unrelated, PR8 sites. (Think long-term when building links)
5 - one-way links are better than reciprocal links
6 - MOST sites will ask for a recip
7 - Recips are fine, but make sure where you are linking to offers something of value for YOUR users
8 - Recips can be good to bring in traffic - just be careful to take a look at who's link to THEM - bad neighbors are not good...
9 - Avoid three-way or triangular linking - it's crap and the engines assign no value to that junk anyway
10 - set a budget - get listed in the major directories, in the correct categories (search here - there's been a lot of good directory lists posted lately)
11 - when approaching webmasters for a link request, show them respect and be patient. Use a professional approach and respect their right to ignore you completely - just move on. Send them an e-mail, make an effort to track down a contact name for the site and address it to a person. Follow up about a week later - leave it alone after that. (more below)
12 - Vary the anchor text in the text link and vary where users land - don't just use your site's name and drop everyone to the index page, in other words. Use keywords to direct people to relevant content within your site.
13 - Avoid link exchange programs, link farms, etc.
14 - Buying links is fine, but the engines like long-term links, so after a few months of paying, when you decide you're done, the link disappears - so goes any value. Plus, the engines are getting savvy to how & where folks buy links these days. Buy links for traffic, not SEO.
15 - Avoid site-wide links, too - some places offer to put your link into their nav bar and spread it across all their site's pages - Google, etc. discount any value from these - do this enough and you might trigger a link spam trigger, too...
DEFINITIONS:
One-way link - points from some other website to your website
Reciprocal link - they point to you, you point to them
Anchor text - the actual text used which is linked to you - it matters - good anchor text will use a relevant keyword where possible and land the clicker directly on the related content
Sample of a link request letter:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi (webmaster's name),
My name is (your name) and I work with (website's name) to help spread the word about their great (free products/services/content, etc.).
I was hoping you'd consider mentioning us to your users or linking to us on your (provide the webmaster with the specific page you'd like to see your link shown on, include the section, if necessary - be specific).
Please find a brief overview of what we offer visitors below.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via e-mail or with a quick call. I am a real person and will reply quickly.
Thanks again for your time & consideration.
(Your name)
(website URL)
(e-mail address & phone number)
__________________________________________
Brief run-down on what the site's about and the value it offers.
Now, you'll need to research the site a bit to try to dig up a name to address this to. I use the following method:
1 - I go to GoDaddy.com
2 - type in the URL for the site you want to request the link from
3 - it'll say the domain is taken, but offer a link to "More information" - click it
4 - Enter the code presented to you and click again
5 - IF they are not paying for private registration of the domain name, you should be able to now see contact information such as a person's name, address, e-mail addy, phone number, etc.
***This assumes THEY entered real data and it does not work 100% of the time. It works often enough, though, that I can land on someone's doorstep and get them to stop spamming our forums here at work...
__________________________________________
PLEASE NOTE:
I am NOT a link building expert - much of this is information I have learned over time, through actual hands-on work, or through sessions with link building experts such as Eric Ward (that letter is patterned after one he recently supplied during a session).
This is not meant to be THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO LINK BUILDING.
Please feel free to correct any errors or omissions you may see.
As with all things on the Internet, your results may vary.
Cited:
Search Engine Forums - SportsGuy
Linear Mode
