In the previous two posts I told you about the basics of SEO i.e.

Competition Analysis and Keyword selection , where I discussed the importance of competition analysis and proper keyword selection.

Then I briefly guided you how to implement those analyzed data for best results; in the topic Optimizing your On-page elements for Google

Now it's the turn of most important part of SEO i.e Building Backlinks to your website which comes under Off-page SEO. I will cover the PR issue, Quantity of backlinks and how to measure the quality of Backlinks to your website/blog. I will give you some suggestion regarding "Availing free Backlinks" for your website/blog at the end of this topic.

You may be amazed to know how PageRank (Commonly known as PR, the idea of PR was create by Google co-founder Larry page) can alter the search results in Google. To understand the significance of PR, I will give you a real time example. Suppose two different webpages with same on-page elements (identical content, title etc) are trying to rank one in Google for a keyword. Then how will Google distinguish those pages? Here comes the importance of PR. In this case, the one with higher PR will get the preference in search result.

Now the obvious question comes; How Google determines the PR for a webpage?

To simplify; PR of a webpage is determined by how other websites "vote" (both quantity and quality counts) for that webpage. Here the term vote is referred as "link". Higher the number of links; higher the PR of that website. PR of a website can not exceed 10 as PR is measured on a scale of 0 to 10.

When calculating PR of a website/blog; quality of backlinks matter not quantity. Let me explain it bit further. Suppose your website has a "backlinks" from a PR 8 or higher and also from a PR 1 website. In both cases you have one backlink but the importance of first link is higher. May be 100 such links from second source will not be equivalent to first one. That's why Dmoz listing (Dmoz listing Secrets)is considered so much important for webmaster.

Getting backlinks to your website/blog is most significant part from the Off-page SEO perspective. Availing quality backlinks to your website helps you to increase your PR which in returns improve your search engine ranking. But the obvious question that arises is "How can you gain the backlinks?". Let me discuss your concern.

Most easy and simple process of obtaining handful of backlinks is to create "Unique & Quality" content; which will generate reference link to your content. What's most promising factor of this method is that it's a never ending process. That means you can expect backlinks from that content in near future as well.

There is a con this option also which is , it is only viable for content rich website/blog. This method holds good for service oriented website also. Then what about those site which has neither of this?

For them Directory is better option. Submit your website to as many directories you can afford. Be cautious about "Auto directory submission service". Also be aware about the "Paid submission" because Google may penalize you.

In this section I will list all websites from where you can get free backlinks to your website/blog

1. www.dmoz.org This is the most influential in terms of upgrading your website's PR value. While listing your website pay close attention to proper category selection for your website. It will take at least 1 month for listing in Dmoz (List your Website Fast to Dmoz). Once your website is listed in Dmoz you can expect 100% hike in your traffic from search engine.

For more list of free directories search in Google with keyword "free directory". You will get a list of websites where you can list your website to boost your PageRank.