Backlinking And How It Can Force An Avalanche of Traffic Your Way

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You want more traffic to your websites, right? And you know one way to do just that is by having quality backlinks from all over the Internet leading back to your own websites and blogs. You've heard that having hundreds and preferably thousands of quality backlinks helps your sites rank high in search engine returns and bring more highly targeted quality traffic your way.

'Quality' is the operative word because not all backlinks win approval from search engines, in fact some could get your site banned from search engine listings.

Briefly, the highest quality backlinks are genuine (not obtained through link farming, keyword spamming, some paid for links, most link exchange programs). They are usually based on keywords used in content at the site providing the link as opposed to a simple website address, and the donor site itself must be respected by Google and other search engines.

That means backlinks differ in benefits to you; some are worth working hard to achieve, some are worthless and potentially detrimental to your business.

And that is why this article is about generating as many quality links to our websites - preferably using descriptive keywords - on as many high PageRank websites as possible.

ABOUT LINKS

'Link' is what the term implies in all walks of life, namely a relationship between one concept and another - tangible and intangible - such as a person, an idea, a news report, or in our case a website. So we talk of someone having 'links to organised crime' inferring that person is in some way associated with organised crime. We hear about one pop star being 'linked' to another pop star and insinuating some family or romantic connection between them.

'Link' for the purpose of Internet marketing, typically relates to an element on one site, maybe a banner or short news report, which when clicked on leads direct to the website mentioned in the link. Note that to direct visitors this way the link must be 'active', that is hyperlinked to the destination website. An inactive link - usually plain text without hyperlink - is not always worth working hard to achieve, with some exceptions as the next paragraph reveals.

Important: An inactive link - a so-called 'dead' link - might still attract traffic from people willing to key the url directly into their browser, which few people are willing to do, but it is unlikely to affect search engine placement. Hence the reason an active link will generate more clicks than a dead link, and is also more likely to help your site rank high in search engine returns.

ONE AND TWO WAY BACKLINKS

The process of 'back linking' - so called because those sites 'link back' to our own - can be a one or two way process.

The one way process involves placing links on high PageRank websites without you necessarily having to reciprocate the gesture. So you might, for example, place articles on high ranking article directories with links leading back to your own websites, but without having to mention the article directory on your own sites.

Conversely, two way or reciprocal linking involves having links placed on high PageRank sites leading back to your own sites on condition you also provide active links back to those sites.

Reciprocal Backlinking and How It Helps Your Sites Rank High In Search Engine Returns

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Reciprocal backlinking is a process whereby you place a link to another person's promotions on your website, and they reciprocate by placing a link on their websites leading back to your own. The process can be hugely effective and well worth working hard to have reciprocal links for your site on a wide range of other people's websites and blogs. But there are problems to contemplate, all easy to circumvent, and backlinking this way really will help you make money fast from your promotions. So although it takes a little longer than other marketing techniques such as writing articles and placing posts on other people's blogs and forums, you really should try your hand at reciprocal linking. Let me tell you how it works.

Anyone with their own website will have received emails from other webmasters offering to add your link to their website, if you link to theirs. Most of these offers are well worth considering, mainly because people have usually taken time and effort to compile a list of websites, as well as website owners likely to consider their offer.

But I'm told only about five per cent of requests actually get accepted and of those not all links take place or have their desired effect. That said, if you have time on your hands this could be a useful way to generate backlinks. Start by looking for websites on a similar subject to your own and from which backlinking is likely to be more effective than from dissimilar sites. Make a note of the website owner or main contact; you'll usually find the details somewhere on the page.

You can find sites similar to your own by keying words to describe your website content into the search box at Google.com and studying listings on the first five or six pages.

Compile a list of one hundred or more contacts. Then write a short email saying how you'd like to have a link for your site (an active link with keyword rich text) placed on their site, and you will reciprocate the gesture.

Ask the other person to send their chosen text and url to you and say you will upload the link within a specific time, and then you will send your link and text for them to upload. But be sure to check the other person actually does upload your link, and correctly, and be quick to contact them if things don't go according to plan.

Forex Trading and How to Avoid the Scam

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Wherever there's a chance to make large sums of money there will be scams designed to rob people of their hard earned cash, and Forex trading is no exception. Experienced investors recognise most scams and avoid them, unlike newcomers to Forex trading who more easily fall victim to scamsters. Governments and consumer watchdogs worldwide warn people to be wary of scams promising massive profits from tiny investments, and offer the following tips to help keep this particular areas of the investment business safe for all:

* Be suspicious of high profit, low risk offers. The reality is that all investments involve risk, some more than others, and the individual must take great care to safeguard his money. Do that by checking all offers relating to Forex trading, and do not part with cash or sign any agreements until you know you're working with a reliable bona fide company. One way to check for scams is to key the name of the company making an offer into Google's search box and look for good as well as adverse comments. A lot of good comments does not mean the company is genuine and reliable, any more than a lot of adverse comments mean you should avoid the company concerned. That's because the company itself may be paying bloggers to post complimentary comments about them, while rival companies are paying other people to post derogatory comments about the company under review. Try to ignore derogatory comments in forums and blogs, often placed by people with an axe to grind or being paid to discredit the company concerned. The exception is comments having back up from government and reliable media sources. If you see a particular company has been sued for malpractice, and lost, give them a wide berth. If nothing bad has been said about the company, dig deeper, and study several search engines for good and bad comments to help influence your investment decisions.

* Avoid sending money over the Internet. Scams are prolific online where fraudsters can create wonderfully professional websites with credit card facilities and quickly scam hundreds or thousands of people before the authorities wise up and close down the site. Where possible visit the Forex trading company in person or at least telephone them. Check out the company's street address, if there is one at the site, and make sure the company has a physical offline presence compared to an accommodation address. If there is no address at the site, or if the telephone is constantly engaged or out of order, that's a good indication of a Forex trading scam.

* Do not ever trade with companies who approach you with unsolicited email or high pressure telephone sales talk. Genuine and reliable Forex trading companies wait for you to approach them first, from advertisements on and off the Internet, or by invitation at their website for you to learn more about the company and how it can benefit you.

Most important of all, remember the best Forex trading companies are in business for the long haul, they want you as a customer for months and years to come. So they don't make promises of short term gains for short term effort. Instead they'll talk about the Forex trading market next year, and the year after that, and they'll tell you Forex trading is about taking calculated risks and never comes risk free.

How Passive Income Makes Money Faster Than Payment Upfront

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How can you make money online, and are some ways of making money online faster than others? As all established online marketers know, there are many very different ways to make money online, some easier and open to marketers of all skills and experience; some reserved for longer-established marketers with specific talents and knowledge.

To illustrate, we know pretty much anyone can make money on eBay, for example, also on Amazon, and virtually everyone can be paid to write blog postings and short articles for online writing sites. That's unless you're selling goods requiring special knowledge, however, such as antiques and collectibles; or you're writing to a specific and very complicated client agenda, where in both cases only the special few are likely to succeed.

And because choice of employment varies between individuals, the question of how and where to make money online is an entirely personal matter, and the answer will be very different for you as for me.

However, there's one question that applies to everyone wanting to make money online, especially for writers and artists, photographers and cartoonists. That question is: 'Is it best to seek passive income from my creative skills, or should I sell my work outright to the highest bidder?'

Let us see how those concepts compare and how they apply to both budding and experienced writers, based on creating content for their own and other people's websites.

Imagine the writer has his own website, where he uploads articles and earns a commission every time someone clicks on an AdSense unit at his site. Once the article is uploaded and visitors begin to call, just one article can generate commissions from Google for many years to come. So if the writer earns just 35 cents a click on an AdSense unit and receives three clicks a day, that's more than $7 a week he'll be earning from one article, and more than three hundred dollars over the year. That money can continue coming in year after year, even if the writer does no further work on his article, hence the reason future earnings accrued after a job is completed are referred to as 'passive income'.

Now take another writer, someone who sells his work outright on freelance writing websites, where competition is rife and writers are constantly undercutting one another on price. Our writer might create an article similar to the other writer who makes money from AdSense, but in this case the article has a one time price attached to it and once sold it generates no further income for its creator. The main benefit for this writer is that he gets paid before or just after the client accepts the article; the problem is he forfeits future earnings from his work. One time income like this is called 'upfront payment', and typically the writer will earn one hundred dollars maximum for his work, placing him way below the AdSense writer's annual income.

And that is why, for most people wanting to make money online, and writers in particular, one of the most important pre-task questions is this: 'Do I want to be rewarded for my work today, or should I hold out for more money later?' Almost always, the second option proves most profitable.

How to Make Money Fast As a Micro-Blogger

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A micro-blog is a blog that typically focuses on a specific niche within an overall larger subject area. So, for example, a conventional blog might focus on cats in general, while its smaller counterpart relates specifically to Ragdoll cats, or in even narrower terms the micro-blog might center on the history of Ragdoll cats.

Bloggers focussing on tight niche subjects can make money much faster from their work than their counterparts creating blogs covering a subject in depth. That is because:

* A profitable niche blog can comprise just ten or twenty pages, sometimes just one or two pages, and can be created in hours or days, compared to blogs covering a subject in depth which can take years to create, and perhaps never be complete. So a micro-blog can very quickly provide all the relevant information visitors may be seeking, while a comprehensive blog - sometimes called an 'authority' blog - on a subject that evolves over time, will always be one step behind developing news stories.

* Because they're quick to create, a niche blog can begin making money right away, even from just two or three pages uploaded to the site, while an authority blog comprising just a few pages will look incomplete and unprofessional and may deter visitors from buying.

* The blogger can create multiple smaller blogs in much less time than it takes to create one authority blog. This means the blogger does not risk spending all of his time creating one blog that goes out of fashion or faces heavy competition, or simply doesn't make money. By creating a range of micro-blogs, the blogger is spreading his risk across a variety of subjects, allowing him to focus his time and effort, also money, on blogs proving the most popular and most profitable at any point in time.

These are the most important steps in developing a niche blog that begins making money right away:

Step One

Choose a subject you'll enjoy researching and blogging about. Working with subjects you enjoy allows your enthusiasm to rub off on visitors to your blog and encourages them to pay regular visits.

Step Two

Once you have your main subject area, hone in on a specific niche, such as the history of Ragdoll cats, mentioned earlier, compared to blogging about cats in general. If your main subject is ballet, your sub-niche could be ballet shoes, for instance, or ballet lessons. Should your main interest be country music, your niche blog might focus on a specific era of country music, or a particular artist.

Step Three

Choose a domain name for your blog that features words commonly keyed into search engines to locate the kind of goods and services you might soon be promoting at your blog. So a blog about ballet shoes, for example, may feature a specific design of ballet shoes in its domain name. Having your niche subject appear in your blog's url helps search engines identify your blog as a potential source of quality information for people currently using similar keywords in search queries. As a result, your blog can quickly rank high or even hit the coveted number one spot in major search engine returns.

Step Four

Find products to promote at your micro-blog, either by creating those items yourself or by having someone create goods for you. Alternatively, choose from thousands of affiliate products available by keying something like 'affiliate + your product type' into any major search engine.

Step Five

Now you begin researching content for your blog and creating and uploading posts providing as much information as possible about your niche subject. Once done, you spend the remainder of your working day on Step Six, the most important aspect of micro-blogging.

Step Six

Drive traffic to your micro-blog. One of the best ways to attract visitors is by writing articles about your niche subject and placing them on article directories with links leading back to your micro-blog. Alternatively, write short posts in forums and blogs focusing on subjects similar to your own chosen niche.