Link building can get a bad rap sometimes. Often people think it’s just spam, but really link building is a very beneficial component of a successful SEO campaign. Some companies buy links or hire companies to post automated links (which is heavily frowned upon by search engines and degrades the Internet experience, in my opinion). Why would you want a computer to do your work, when you can get better results by posting legitimate quality links?

Here are four pieces of advice to getting your comments and links approved:

1. Be real. I find the most successful way to get your back links approved is to be your authentic self. Go ahead, state your opinion on the topic, as long as you can tie it to the topic of your link or keyword. This way you’re posting a real comment as if there was no link there. Saying “Great Post, I will bookmark your site and read more.” is not a real comment, it’s spam.

2. Be relevant and respectful. Always make sure that the blog or article you’re posting a comment to is related to the link you’re posting. Once you find a relevant site, read the article and leave comments that reference something that was mentioned in the article.

3. Be a social non-spammer. If you think of link building as providing the author and readers with helpful information or added value in your commenting versus trying to get a link, you will likely see an increase in the number of approved comments. In my experience, being myself has worked to my advantage when link building. Occasionally my efforts are misinterpreted as spam since I’m including a link. On the other hand, there are occasions when people comment back and a conversation begins, which to me is very valuable because you are building a trust with the individual whose blog or news source you are leaving a comment on. They know you are leaving a legitimate comment and the fact that there is a link there is fine by them because they either like that your comment was real and related to their post or know that you may be working an angle by link building, but they are okay with that since you are adding value.

4. Don’t take it personally. It will get frustrating at times when your comments and links are not approved. Experiences like these can teach you about your link building approach and technique. For instance, you may find that you need to shorten your comment or try another approach, or maybe the topics don’t relate like you thought they did. There are so many factors that can determine if your link gets approved or not, but the bottom line is to not get discouraged and to keep it real.

photo love to: seattleclouds.com

So last night I posted some quick tips for getting started and being proactive with building inbound links.  But, I read an interview with Matt Cutts this morning (ironically conducted at SMX earlier this month – we were there!) that garnered an additional post.  I mean, really, you can’t get enough of this stuff or know enough of this stuff…it’s just so worth it.

Here is a great excerpt of the Interview by Eric Enge with Matt Cutts on Link Building:

Eric Enge: So, what I’d like you to start with, Matt, is just an overview of your thoughts of what the approach should be. And then, we can get into some more detailed stuff.

Matt Cutts: Yeah, totally. So, what are the links that will stand the test of time? Those links are typically given voluntarily. It is an editorial link by someone, and it’s someone that’s informed. They are not misinformed, they are not tricked; there is no bait and switch involved. It’s because somebody thinks that something is so cool, so useful, or so helpful that they want to make little sign posts so that other people on the web can find that out.

Now, there is also the notion of link bait or things that are just cool; maybe not helpful, but really interesting. And those can stand the test of time as well. Those links are links generated because of the sheer quality of your business or the value add proposition that you have that’s unique about your business. Those are the things that no one else can get, because no one else has them or offers the exact same thing that your business offers.

For the nitty gritty and more in-depth link building techniques and ideas read the full article.

As you may or may not know, inbound links are one the main influencing factors in search engine rankings.  Getting some “link love” or “link juice” from other sites is tremendously time consuming and labor intensive.  You can hire a company to do this work for you, like Liberty Interactive Marketing, but you may find it prudent to first look in your own backyard.  Many opportunities to obtain inbound links to your site should first start with those closest to you, by simply reaching out to your customers, colleagues, etc. you may find that these folks are willing to add a link to your site from theirs. And ultimately, what is the harm in asking? They say no. So what? The advantage you have over your competition may be that you asked and they didn’t.  Either way, if you get a few links to your site, the time and effort put in is well worth it.

Here are three easy tips to get started:

1. Add a link to your thank you confirmation page or email confirmation that asks visitors to add a link to your site.

2. Make a few phone calls to colleagues, vendors, even friends and family, ask if they would be open to placing a link to your site on theirs.  Offer reciprocating link love if necessary.

3. Do some research on related services/products. Contact these companies and see what opportunities are available.

You’ve got no excuse, except if you are purposely trying to not rank well within search engines.