2.4. The Bottom Lines

So let’s cut to the conclusions...

1) Improved Search Engine rankings are certainly a strong reason to build some inbound links, and especially important in the early stages. Link popularity and reputation assist the best sites and pages to “rise to the top.”

However, it’s not the be-all-and-end-all. If you take a step back to see the forest, you will realize that links are just one of we-can-only-guess-how-many other off-page criteria, and that on-page criteria are important, too. They do become more important for “tougher” keywords.

This e-booklet shows you the 80-20 way to get all the high-quality links you need, without going totally overboard like so many SEOers do (remember, you only have 24 hours in a day, and you have to sleep for at least 2 of them... so put your time into higher yield activities).

2) There is a second reason that inbound links are important...

Inbound links help you get “found” by the spider. There is no way to submit to some SEs. Their crawlers must find and rank you independently. Unless they happen to find you by following a link from a site already on their radar, it may be a long time before you make it into their respective indices. A single good link can do this, a few make it inevitable.

Furthermore, they “credentialize” your site, making it worthy of STAYING in the SE’s index. A few to several are generally enough (if they are of decent quality -- perhaps a major or 2nd tier directory and a few theme-based hubs).

MYLW:  <<2.3. It’s Just Common Sense  2.4. The Bottom Lines  2.5. Link Exchange Caveats>>