Emily Thompson is the Affiliate Manager for Kutenda Online Marketing Software (link to http://kutenda.com). Kutenda , located in Broomfield, CO, offers an all-in-one Internet marketing software platform for small businesses.

Ensuring your website gets found by major search engines can be challenging. It takes time and effort on many fronts and can sometimes prove frustrating. However, there is hope! Despite the obstacles, the results can be monumental for your business.  The better your search engine rankings, the more business you get.

Optimizing your website to be found by major search engines (Search Engine Optimization or SEO) involves a lot of factors- including on-page topics like content keyword density, title tags and meta information. But one important element to consider is your off-page optimization – specifically, link building. Building links for your site is critical to your success online.  The search engines view each link to your site as a vote- but not all votes are created equal. While the amount of links is important, make sure you have links from high quality sites, as these carry more weight.

While often a very manual process, there are a few key points that will help you get started:

• Begin with a plan: Decide which area of your business you would like to focus on first. Maybe it’s a particular product you offer, or a market you would like to concentrate on. Having a focus gives you direction, and can break the process up into more manageable pieces, rather than an overwhelming task.

• Build up your list of potential link partners: There are many ways to accomplish this. Try researching valuable, quality sites in the market you are targeting. Look for sites that your business would be a good resource for, such as non-competing industry related sites and blogs. Also try exploring links to your competitors’ sites and contacting them.

• Gauge your contact approach for each site: While certainly more time consuming, personalizing your emails to each potential partner will almost always provide better results for you in the end.  No one likes receiving a canned letter, so take the time to write something of value to your prospect.

• Take every opportunity you can: Contact current clients, write articles, and publish press releases. Getting creative in your approach helps you network and gain more visibility on the web.  The more links you can have, the better, so utilize every weapon in your arsenal.

Remember- Don’t get discouraged! Diligence and patience are the name of the game. Refine your approach, and keep trying new things. You never know what method will prove the best for your business. Got any link building tips of your own? Let us know!