Getting a lot of links to your website isn’t limited to appearing on the popular search engines. It can also mean having people inform their family and friends that your website exists. For instance, your Mum was looking for a hard-to-find recipe for the holidays. Try as she may, her search ends up in frustration. You, on the other hand, have seen this particular cooking website and decide to send Mum an email with a link to the site. Once she receives your email, she can simply click on the link and go straight to the site. No need to type in those long URLs.

Another example of a link is when other websites use your site as an example. They may refer visitors to your site if they wish to learn more about a certain topic. Again all the user has to do is simply click on the link. It’s that simple.

For those who want to attain high link popularity and succeed with their search engine optimisation efforts but think that this requires a PhD, think again. Here are a few simple search engine optimisation tips to have people “clicking” their way to your site.

1. Use directories. Just as you would have your office telephone listed in the yellow pages, it would be a good search engine optimisation idea to have your site listed in major online directories as well. There are a lot of these directories out there. To gain extra mileage, choose those that have a high web site ranking by major search engines.

2. Forum signature. This is simply visiting relevant internet forums and leaving a hyperlink that directs users to your site.

3. Link Exchange. As the name implies, this involves having other relevant websites post a link to your site in exchange for you providing the same. This is done by either going to a link exchange website or emailing the site owner/webmaster directly.

4. Submit articles. Just like writing a Press Release for publishing in newspapers, you can also submit articles to other websites. These articles usually have an Author’s Biography where your contact information, including a link to your site, is contained.

These are just some ways of letting people know about your site and maximizing your search engine optimisation efforts. An added bonus is that they’re free! So why not check them out. Who knows? You may have people visiting your website sooner than you think.