Links to your site from outside your web site help search engines determine the context of your web site and web pages, and the popularity or relevance of your site.  The more links to your site’s pages, the better.  However, the quality of the links is key.  Links from a highly trafficked, high ranking site will carry more weight than links from a site with little traffic and a poor ranking in the search engines.

So you need links.  And, the more competitive your field, the more incoming links are needed.

How to Determine the Number of Links to Your Site

Google and Yahoo! both have link tools, however, they do not list all of the links to your site.

To use Google’s free link tool, go to google.com and type in “links:domain.com” in the search bar.

To use Yahoo!’s free link tool, go to Yahoo.com and type in “links:domain.com” in the search bar.

To see all links and detailed link reports, you will need a link tool, such as Majestic SEO’s (http://majesticseo.com).

This is a subscription-based site, however, you can register and use the basic tools, which provide a lot of powerful information for free.

How Do You Create Links to Your Site?

Here are a few suggestions to build up the number of incoming links to your site:

• Ask Friends, Family, and Employees to Link to Your Site
• Send Out Press Releases & Articles with Keyword-rich Links
• Ask Suppliers, Vendors, and Partners to Link to Your Site
• Post Links on Industry Association Sites
• List Your Site in Online Directories
• Respond to Comments on Highly Trafficked Blogs with Links Back to Your Site