We all know that incoming links are an essential element in getting a domain or webpage to rank well in every major search engine. However, there is much debate about which text link strategies a site should employ.

• Should I buy links from domains with high Google Page Rank? • Should I use normal link exchanges or 3-way link exchanges? • How about more aggressive tactics like blog spamming? • Do my textlinks need to come from unique Class C IP addresses? • How often should I vary my anchor text?

These are all questions that focus on the here and now. If you are marketing websites that have a limited lifespan then these are the kind of questions you should be considering. However, what if you’re marketing a site that needs to rank for years to come?

Thinking like a Search Engine The key to predicting what search engines may want in the future is to start thinking like one. Once you get yourself in that mindset it isn’t that hard to understand what strategies you should employ.

Quick Facts to Remember: 1. Google, Yahoo, and MSN are businesses. They are designed to make money and have shareholders to answer to if they don’t. 2. They all 3 make money off of advertising in their search results. 3. Not one of these engines is happy that you and I are attempting to manipulate their algorithm. 4. 0 – That’s the amount of money each engine makes when you decide to “rank yourself” instead of buying their advertising.

Armed with these simple facts we can make a powerful inference. Search Engines must do everything in their power to make it difficult for you to manipulate their algorithm if they are to be commercially successful. There are actually two main reasons for this. One being the fact mentioned above, if it is easy to manipulate their algorithm and “rank yourself”, why bother to advertise with them or make high bids on keyword phrases? The second reason is that if an engine is easily manipulated then relevance suffers.

How relevant an engine is determines how many people will continue to use it over and over. It is no coincidence that MSN is the least relevant of the 3 major search engines and also has the least amount of traffic. Yahoo is the second most relevant search engine and they are also the second most popular.

By thinking like a search engine you can see how their entire business model is affected by how easily manipulated their results are.

What Can We Learn From This? The best search engines will always actively attempt to close any “loophole” that allows webmaster to manipulate their algorithm.

Just look at past techniques that no longer work. • Meta tag stuffing • Keywords in comment tags • Repeating keywords in content over and over • Cloaking (to a large extent) • FFA Pages

This list could go on and on.

Taking A Step Back Take a step back and examine one of the oldest forms of backlink building.

The Link Exchange At its core, link exchanging involves you placing another sites link on your domain, usually on a links page, and the other site in return places a link back to you. This practice has been around for many years and there are literally thousands of programs you can join which allow you too quickly gather thousands of incoming links.

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