Whats the big thing in SEO now?

[JazyLcan]

I have been out of the loop with search engine optimization strategies for a bit now. Actually I have never reeeeeeeeeeeally been IN THE LOOP but I like to think that I have :-).

Anyhow I know text links have been the biggest thing for a bit now and probably still is but with the new algos clapming down on link purchases and sales its becoming more and more risky to aquire links unnaturally.

With that being said, what is the next big think in SEO now and if it is still links what ways are people getting them to avoid being penalized by the search engines?

JL.

[ryanhellyer]

I have had a lot of luck by looking up lists of similar websites, finding the contact addresses for each site and then mail bombing with a request for a reciprocal link. I usually find about 10% of them agree.


The most obvious way to get links of course is to create good content, then people will naturally link to you anyway :P

[BigAlReturns]

Agree with Ryan - the biggest thing in SEO is, and will remain, content.

[ryanhellyer]

I thought of something which I see as being a future (well, current but becoming more popular) legit way of getting backlinks to improve your search engine rankings.

Creating a very interesting landing page which people would like to link to, not off-topic, but just a very cutting and to the point, perhaps controversial, page which people will remember and want to talk about on their own site/blog. I'm not meaning a home page, but a sub page of some sort which catches peoples attention, even if only for a second.

This is becoming particularly important for getting traffic from sites like Stumbleupon and Digg where an instant attention grabbing headline or blurb can create a lot of backlinks and traffic very rapidly.

I see this as being a growing area in SEO, as it is not against Googles TOS and won't ever be as you simply creating links naturally, albeit engineering a certain page to encourage others to link to it.

[BigAlReturns]

That's a technique that Rand Fishkin at SEOmoz talks about a lot - it's got various guises but "linkbait" is currently in vogue.

[IFOR2005]

how about comment posting? bit old ayt?

[ryanhellyer]

Comment posting is okay, but it's hard work unless you are relying on spam techniques (which you shouldn't be doing).

I occasionally seek out specific blogs and forums whose users I think might be interested in my site and leave a few comments here and there, but I don't find it's worth it just for the links, they're just a little added motivation to participate in certain sites.