Link Popularity is probably the most controversial of all traffic generation methods. Not because it’s a bad idea, it’s just that the majority of people don’t seem to use the method to it’s full potential. Or worse, they use the method in a way that does more harm than good.

The first thing you need to understand is that search engines don’t generally reward websites for having a vast number of links to other websites. What they reward is how many quality links point back to any given website.

For example, …

If you get involved with a large link directory and exchange links with countless other websites, you’ll receive a certain degree of benefit. Both in terms of traffic and search engine reward. However, …

If numerous high-ranking websites are linking to specific pages on your website – and the links contain keyword-rich text rather than just a URL address – you’re going to experience highly targeted traffic and a very large thumb up from the search engines.

So, it stands to reason that merely exchanging links – “I’ll put your link on my page if you’ll put my link on yours” – is not the most effective method. Not for gaining targeted traffic or attaining higher search engine page rank and position.

What you need to do is concentrate on gaining links from quality websites that already enjoy a large amount of traffic. The same viewers who would be interested in your product or niche market.

There are two primary ways that you can do that…

1.Seek out and contact the owners of those beneficial websites and then offer some type of deal that would involve them placing a link to your site on one of their pages.

For example, you could give them a major discount on a product you’re selling. Or, you could create a custom ebook that includes their business information and then have them distribute it to their viewers.

Whatever you choose to do, the idea is to reward the website owner in some form or another. And since it’s beneficial to approach them with an offer that is specific to them, you should always become familiar with their particular business prior to making contact. That way, you can come up with something that’s tailor-made for each of the owners you approach.

2.Place webmaster tools, online generators, how-to instructions, or any other helpful service that other website owners would be interested in linking to.

For example, the web page where people can download the free Adobe Reader from Adobe: Creative, marketing and document management solutions (Adobe Acrobat Reader DC) carries a Google page rank of 10. That’s because so many other websites have chosen to provide a link to that page.

Mind you, although countless pages throughout the internet are displaying a link to that page, Adobe is not reciprocating any of those links or engaging in any form of link exchange. They don’t have to. The page has something on it that is so useful, other websites automatically link to it without expecting anything reciprocal.

For your own page content, you can pretty much provide anything you like. The only criteria is that it’s extremely valuable and useful to other webmasters (just like the download for the Adobe Reader). They simply consider it beneficial to pass the information along to their own website visitors and then do so.

And since you want to encourage other websites to link to yours, it’s important that you give them the exact information. In other words, don’t just ask them to provide a link back. Give them precisely what they need.

That would include the URL address and the words that you would like hyperlinked when they place it on their website.

For example, if you wanted them to link to Traffic Equalizer, rather than just give them the URL – http://www.trafficequalizer.com – you would suggest several phrases that would be hyperlinked and lead to the Traffic Equalizer page…

• Drive Highly Targeted Traffic to Your Website
• Generate Tens of Thousands Of Targeted Viewers
• Get Top Ranking in Major Search Engines

Basically, you’re the one who determines what type of link gets displayed. That gives you the ability to tap into popular and effective keywords. And that gives you a lot more credibility and value where search engines are concerned.

For convenience, have those links set up so that someone can simply copy and paste the code. It makes it easy for them and it ensures that the link will be displayed exactly as you intended (as well as guaranteeing that it works properly).