The fact that the major search engines now rank websites based on the number of other websites that link to it is well-known for some years now. But many people still don't know what this can mean for their website and even worse, don't know the methods for improving the number of links that point to their site.

The reasoning behind this method for ranking is obvious. The fact that others will point to your site for your information, products or services is an endorsement of your website. In fact, the most important thing about this is not only the number of links that endorse your site but the quality of the linker in the search engine's eyes.

Complex link analysis by search engines will give websites page ranks which affect how close to the top 10-20 sites they are in the search engine index. Clearly the more websites with better rankings that link to yours will cause your site to gradually increase its own page rank.

The most simplest method to finding link partners is to go to the major search engines, enter search terms related to your own site and pick relevant sites. You should first ensure that you have a page dedicated to links on your own site. Most websites have a page giving contact information. Send the webmaster an email saying you are interested in trading links with their site after first putting a link for their site on yours.

Many websites also have link exchange forms. It makes it very easy for you to place your website URL and description on their site from the form. Of course, a reciprocal link is usually required and it should be placed on your links page or any other relevant page on your website.

A little known method to gathering sites with link exchange forms, is to place the following phrase into a search engine (I usually use Google): keyterm"Please also suggest my link to the LinkPartners.com Directory"

The word keyterm should be changed to a keyword related to the content of your website. For example if your website sells umbrellas you should enter umbrellas"Please also suggest my link to the LinkPartners.com Directory"

Usually a large list of websites with link exchange submission forms will be found.

In order to automate finding link partners and even send emails to hundreds of sites at a click, one should use the superb software SEO Elite. The software makes finding link partners easy. It also tells you information on each site that you can use to your own benefit such as, 1.the number of outbound links from each site 2.the total number of links on the site that is linking to you 3.the Google rank of the site 4.whether or not the site linking to you is deemed an authority by Google

It is essential in most cases to know these things to analyze your competitors by knowing their own linking patterns. Check out AddTrafficNow for other useful website promotional products.

A free method to getting a lot of links to your website is to join the link exchange Link Metro. You can receive a large number of reciprocal links by joining this free network and remaining active in it. Start off by requesting links from websites similar to yours, then branch off and expand your links page. You will not be penalized for linking with a site dissimilar to yours as long as your links page is arranged under various headings and categories.

A final word about linking. Apart from finding reciprocal links, it is even more important to establish one way inward links to your site. The easiest way is to write articles related to the topic of your site and submitting them to article directories. You should include a short author bio at the end of the article with a link pointing back to your site. A few article directories can be found here AddTrafficNow.