Natural backlinks are like gold to an internet marketer.  I have seen too many marketers buy into the spam link networks that promise “overnight results with 1,000′s of backlinks that will force Google to rank your site as #1 for any keyword!”  Even if these black hat backlink methods work for now (and many of them do), they will not work for long and I always advise people to pursue the long term success of their websites.

So what is a natural backlink?

It’s a link to your site that you did not build yourself.  It’s when a website or blog owner loves the content on your site so much they decide to link to it so their readers can benefit from it as well.

Now Matt Cutts has stated that the best way to get links to your site is to create amazing quality content, and he is right, but I want to go one step further.  You will read all kinds of garbage about getting white hat links through black hat methods, but I am going to reveal the single best way to get natural backlinks.  Ready?

The secret to getting natural backlinks is………

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Networking

That’s it.  That one word, if understood correctly, will be the number 1 asset you have in getting legitimate natural backlinks and getting your site to rank higher in the search engines.

First, this is what networking is NOT:

1.  Networking is NOT spamming every blog owner on the planet with an email asking for a link.

2.  Networking is NOT following people on Twitter just they will follow you back.

3.  Networking is NOT leaving pointless blog comments on a blog in your niche.

4.  Networking is NOT spamming forums with 10 links in your signature.

5.  Networking is NOT offering a link exchange to 1,000′s of websites at once

Networking is developing real and genuine relationships with other people in your niche.  It’s getting to know other blog owners and allowing them to get to know you.

Networking is asking what you can do for someone else and not what they can do for you.

Networking is sharing information and creating great content for someone else’s site.

Networking is communicating with other people with the purpose of working together not getting them to work for you.

What are some ways you can network with other blog owners?  (This is how you get natural backlinks)

• Use Twitter to find people in your niche.  Check out their website and leave a friendly message or retweet one of their messages.
• Write a bog post about this other site or this person you met on Twitter. Link to them to get their attention.
• Go to a live event and interact with people.  You will be surprised at how many great connections you will make.
• Do some guest blog posting.  Write the article first and submit it to a site owner asking if they want to use it.
• Use MyblogGuest.com to find other blog owners to network with and write a guest post for them.
• Join a forum and ONLY offer great content in your threads.  Answer questions and don’t promote yourself.  Just build connections.
• Join a Meetup.com group on your niche and interact with the other attendees.
• Find Facebook groups and fanpages of other people in your niche and strike up a conversation.
• Offer to do a join venture with a blog owner and your email list.
• Write a blog post about how amazing this other website is and link to several of the site’s pages, trying to get the site owner’s attention.
• Just email another blog owner with some simple questions.  You never know who will respond.
• Offer to do an interview with a big name in your niche.  People love these, whether it is a video or simple transcript.

Networking will not work if your site is garbage and full of spammy content and loaded with affiliate links.  Think about it.  You want trusted links from trusted people.  So why would a reputable blog owner link to a overly-promotional site?  He wouldn’t.  That’s why he has a good reputation with his readers.  Good links come from good blog owners.  So it’s not the actual websites you should focus on, but the people behind the sites.

Now let’s see why networking is the key:

You have to put yourself out there, introduce yourself and get to know the other people in your niche. The more of these genuine relationships you develop the better chances you have of them linking to you.  Even if your content stinks they might link to you just because they like you.  But the more you network with other blog and website owners in your niche, the more “natural” links you will get from them.

Natural links stand the test of time

I don’t know about you, but I plan on being in internet marketing for a long time to come.  I don’t want to build a fly by night business.  I KNOW I can use black hat tactics to build thousands of links to my sites in a matter of days and get my sites ranking for #1 of Google.  I have done it before and I know I can do it again.  But those sites rarely will stay there.  Cheap links don’t stick and are often too spammy for webmasters to keep them.  You can use blog networks like Linkvana, BuildMyRank, Backlinks Solutions, UAW, and others, but I have seen many sites in those networks getting deindexed.  That means bye-bye backlinks, and over time your site will only hurt because of it.

You just have to ask yourself: Which would you rather have?

• a quick boost to your site now that will eventually fade into oblivion

OR

• or a gradual increase in rankings that take time, but once you reach page one your site sticks for years to come

It all depends on what your business model is.  You are probably on this page because you are sick of the backlink tactics talked about in backroom forums.  I am personally tired of my email inbox being flooded with “The next great backlinking system that will get your site to #1 in 7 days!”  Not only do these methods cost a lot of money, they may also hurt your site over time.

I hope these methods for getting real, genuine, natural backlinks help.  Let me know any comments you have on this below.  Thanks.