Contextual Backlinks - The Advanced Way to Climb the SERPS

Contextual backlinks are links which do not stand alone. These are different from the traditional header, footer, or blogroll links, as they tend to go naturally with the content. The reason why they are so highly valued by the search engines and their robots is because their search algorithm engineers understand a link mentioned during typing is highly editorial and therefore most likely to be quality, relevant, and highly related to the anchor text phrase used (hyperlink).

Now, since we know links were orginally intended on one's own site for navigation purposes, these in content inbound links have changed the game. The goal is not to simply have a great onpage seo plan in place such as proper keyword research, title tags, meta description, and interlinking, but to create offpage signals, known primarily as backlinks to boost our web properties in the SERPS (search engine results).

Now that we know what in content links are, we should also be able to see the next logical step in creating more of them. Since user generated content isn't a fad, we can look to article marketing, blog posting (web 2.0 free blog hosting platforms), guest blogging, forum discussions, and even video marketing.

Any medium that allows content to be posted along with live hyperlinks is the perfect vehicle to use. For most article directories a resource box is only allowed at the end of an article, but you can still create text before and after your link. The same is true for forum postings as well. Typically you can only leave a signature link at the end of each thread you particpate in; there is even less space here for text but there is some room.

Web 2.0s offer the best opportunity for contextual backlinks because you are in the driver seat. With full control over where your links are placed, anchor text, and frequency, you can either make your posts full of links, or take the average approach of 3 links per 500-1000 words of content. An example is a link building service you can check out at http://backlinksvault.com - able to promote within a web 2.0, but be sure to add value to the readership.

Guest posting falls under the same line of article marketing, as many owners of websites do not want a link to your website until the very end of the reading / post. Some will however allow it.

Video marketing is only going to continue to grow because people would much rather watch something than read, and listen for that matter (books on tape exist for this reason). Luckily we can divert traffic from the video without over emphasizing it within the actual video content. In the description area there is a section where you can describe the video, along with creating a hyperlink back to your webpages.

Directory submissions aren't really in content links but there are some techniques you can use to maximize them. When submitting be sure to write an orginal snippet / description of text along with a unique title. This will help the search engine robots find it and not deem it duplicate content. Although all the links will still help and count, it makes the process that much smoother if your text adjacent to your link is unique but still relevant.

Social bookmarking - same applies to this method. Social bookmarking can really be seen as an advanced directory with social signals (votes) on each directory submission. Therefore if you use multiple social bookmark sites be sure to enter a unique description and tags if applicable. The service http://backlinksindexer.com actually helps boost your existing backlinks, so if you do any type of bulk social bookmarking it can help streamline and automate the process.

Link Exchanges - while many sitewide links are standalone, you could take a bit more effort and care by creating text before and after the links in your header, footer and blogroll. While it will be the same or duplicate for each page most likely, it will still have the benefit of text marrying the hyperlinks, avoiding penalties often associated with naked, or "random" links.

If you have exhausted the free web 2.0s, article websites, forums related to your niche....see how dumb that sounds? It's nearly impossible to exhaust all these options, but if you do there also exists private networks where you can pay a monthly fee for access to create posts on their network. It's basically like a web 2.0, but with more ips and domain diversity.

Obtaining backlinks is a difficult task because you have to remember to add value, which many webmasters conveniently forget. Their are a plethora of strategies and content vehicles to use to get your message across and dissemenated. Press releases also come to mind. In the end, make sure you pick a technique and stick with it until you have mastered it. Then move on to the next one. Wish you luck and determination in your link building efforts.