Search Engine Optimization or simply known as SEO is a critical part of any online endeavor. More than 80% of all our website traffic comes from the search engines results pages (SERP’s) so you can assume that using correct SEO methods is the only way to achieve a prominent position in the search engines for your website.

There are two different methods of SEO, On-Page SEO and Off Page SEO. Each has its own purpose and both are needed. Off Page SEO has a more complex technology and is used to gain a high page ranking (PR) once your site has went live.

Your link popularity is the main concern when using Off Page SEO. Your link popularity will be represented by the number of back links your website contains. You can check your websites current link through various places online. The more popular your website the higher your number (PR) will be. You can build link popularity by increasing the amount of websites that are linked to yours. This may sound easy but it is quite complex. Google does not appreciate reciprocal links so you cannot simply use the method of you link to me and I will link to you. You will need to incorporate unilateral links to your website.

The best method for building popularity is to make sure all the content on your site is unique, informative and 100% original. The more useful and unique your information is the more websites will want to link to you.

There are several other methods that can be incorporated for increasing link popularity as well. If you do not have time or ability to create the content for your website and constantly update it to keep it fresh you can try some of the below listed methods.

Article Marketing: Using one or more of the thousands of article directories on the internet that you can use to market your website. With every article submitted you will be given a resource box that allows you to introduce yourself as well as share a link to your website. Some of the directory sites have a high page rank (PR) and if you have an article accepted and placed there it is very beneficial to your website. You can find article directories that will submit your articles to over 200 directories for as low as $25.

Forum Marketing: Online communities that are dedicated to the same topic of your website is a great place to increase your visibility. You are given a signature box which will appear in every post you create so include the link to your website in that box. Every post will give you a page linking back to your site.

Advertise on Craigslist: Craigslist has a PR7 score and this is a rare find. Having a link back from this high PR site can give an enormous boost to your site. Who cares if no one reads the ad, the search engines will love it!

You can also use triangular linking to get around Googles reciprocal link issue. Find two or more webmasters and begin the twisted climb in the rankings. Finding a partner or partners is also helpful.