Any webmaster looking to build continuous traffic from search engines needs to understand the importance of text links and how to use them. There are many factors to understand that can be revealed when researching this topic.

First, it is important to understand how most search engines rank websites. Each search engine is somewhat similar in the way it ranks sites but each search engine holds an algorithm as their trade secret. The algorithm is the formula which calculates all the different aspects of a website and uses the information gathered to compare and rank against different websites for a given search inquiry.

What is common knowledge between most search engine specialists is that incoming links to a website seem to be the most important and controllable aspect when ranking a website. When a website links to you it is casting a vote for your website within search engines. Understand that some votes are worth more than others. A website that is relevant to your content is of high value as well as a website that has many votes for itself. Along with building links you will want to make sure that your website is search engine friendly. This includes many aspects of a website such as META tags, accurate spelling, clean layout, unique content, and proper grammar.

A webmaster should skip submitting a website to search engines if you plan on building links. Search engine send out spiders that follow links within web pages that will index your page within a matter of days rather than paying and waiting for weeks to get manually indexed within a search engine. Just a single link that is indexed within search engines will normally automatically list your website within each search engine the initial site is listed within.

A question you may have at this point is "why text links?" The reason is that when the vote is placed for your website it is analyzed. At this point it has been found to take the most advantage of your vote that your link text should be that of the keyword or key phrase that you are trying to increase your rank within search engines. Banner and graphic ads will provide more direct traffic from the linking website but it will not help in search engines as much.

Text links can be obtained in many ways. The most common are through link exchanges, forum postings, social book marking, article marketing, and paid advertisement. Providing unique quality content and tools from your website can also generate links from your actual visitors over time. It is always important to place a "link to us" area on your website providing easy to use link instructions to your website visitors. Every link counts!

So the rules have changed, yes 2007 was a unique year in the world of web promotion as Google suddenly decided to crack down on the paid links market. Webmasters from around the world were slow to react despite many warnings from Matt Cutts and his chums. Even the old favourite, link exchanges, were affected as were over aggressive cross linking between your own sites. One way links are now, it seems, the future of web marketing. The question that many people are asking is how do you gain this form of backward link? In this article, I will be giving my opinion as to what the answer is to this all important question.

As strange as it might sound webmasters are able to gain a one way backward link purely by having a great informative website. If your site is of interest and use to people, other webmasters will point their readers towards your site in the form of a link. This is because it will enhance their visitor’s experience of using their site, thus potentially attracting them back in the future.

It is vitally important therefore that your site is good to look at, is easy to navigate around, has interesting and unique content and is updated on a fairly regular basis.

To attract additional backward links to these natural ones I would advise you go down two routes. Firstly writing articles on your niche subject/s. This has many benefits but for the purpose of this article let’s concentrate on how it helps you to gain one way backward links. This is the process: 1. You write a quality article. 2. You submit it to a couple of the popular article marketing sites, such as ezinearticles. 3. People read the article. 4. Some of them like the article so much that they decide to include it on their own website for their own visitors to also enjoy. 5. You gain a backward link via the author bio which appears at the bottom of the article.

You may hear some people bad mouthing article marketing. Ignore them; I can categorically confirm that this is one form of web promotion that works. Stick at it, writing two articles may not have a major affect however writing two hundred definitely will.

The second area to look at is quite similar to the first. This is where you offer to write content for other webmasters, for free, in exchange for a link back to your site. This is a new and up coming form of web promotion so get in there at the outset, you could just make a name for yourself.