Do you wonder about how to market your website so that it reaches the first page on Google? There is no easy answer and theories vary about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and the best ways of attracting visitors to your website.

Link building (adding a link to your website on other websites) is a good method of SEO. Apparently, Google calculates that the most popular sites are the ones that are most linked to from other sites. So the more your site is linked to from other sites, the more chance it has of making the first page on Google.

When a website is published, I think it’s a bit like sending a message in a bottle over the ocean, hoping that someone will find it and read what you have to say. It is not enough just to create a website and leave it to fend for itself. The most important thing, it seems, is to get a link to your website from other websites.

However, you have to be strategic about it. The best quality links to your website will be from other websites that are highly relevant to what you have to say, sell or show. Obvious I know, but the obvious is often overlooked. For example you wouldn’t want a link of your art website in a directory for golfing enthusiasts.

Effective methods of link building:

1. Add your links to forums

• Above all else, avoid being a spammer (ie. adding multiple links and irrelevant text as a comment). You can add links to forums in a less annoying way simply by adding your link to your forum signature. This way you are taking part in conversations and displaying your link at the same time.
• Forum posts are often archived so your link will be recorded for quite a length of time. Google often lists information contained within forums, so it can also appear within search engine results.

2. Add bulletins to social sites such as Myspace and Facebook

• Myspace and Facebook are also good places for artists to network and link build. Myspace has various art groups that you can join, after which you can post a bulletin of your next show with the link, which all members of the group can see. Just make sure the bulletin is relevant to the group and isn’t just to show your link.

3. Add your witty comments to other people’s blogs

• In a similar way, blog comments are a way of including your clickable link. But ensure you have something relevant and insightful to say not just the link. Blogs are also archived, keeping your links frozen in time. Some blogs now block html code and most vet your comments before they are posted. Your comment can also be easily deleted if it is thought unsuitable.

4. Add your link to directories, but be wary of anything that’s free

• It’s not necessarily a good idea to put a link in any directory. These are essentially websites that contain loads of categorized links. Think, is the directory relevant to an art website? Will it generate the right kind of traffic to your website?
• Paying to be included on a directory may not necessarily benefit you, but could mean that you get included on search engine listings more quickly. The Open Directory Project is free and the Yahoo! Directory charges a fee per year.
• Be wary of link farms, such as FFA pages. An FFA page is a Free For All page that is just a list of links with no relevant content or use to most website users. Search engines frown on these types of sites, which they may see as link farms; a sneaky attempt to artificially promote your website up the rankings. The search engines have cunning ways of identifying link farms and treat them like a bit of dog doo on the end of their shoe. So beware. Your listings on a search engine may go down as a result rather than up.

5. Add links to your own websites

• Include links on your other websites, if you happen to have more than one. It will at least pass on potential arty website surfers who have been fortunate enough to stumble upon one of your creations.

6. Exchange links with other websites

• Some websites allow you to purchase links, but it’s only worth it if you think it will truly benefit you. Smaller specialist sites may let you add your link for free. (I’ll include your link if you show mine…)