Background: ========= My site is a couple of years old and has a PR of 4 on most data centers (although its still PR2 on a small % of them). I rank in the top 10 SERP's for some key words / phrases but not the major ones. [Note: My goal is high SERP's not high PR, I just mention the PR as a reference point.] So far my main SEO efforts have been content building and on-site optimization. I want to take my SEO efforts to the next level, but I'm not sure how. Questions: ======== - If I go for a paid directory submission service, am I likely to get hit with the "31 Penalty" on Google that I've been reading about? - Where do you find suitable link partners for niche fields? Most of the top ranked sites for my key phrases (related to flowcharts) are .edu, .gov, and other flowchart software sites. I don't see a lot of others that look like the type that would swap links. - I nabbed the flowchart category for Squidoo. Will that be worth my while? - Should I just blog about general purpose stuff, with the goal of creating great link bait, to build back links from any source? Any advice would be helpful, but, again, please keep in mind that my goal is high SERP's not high PR. Thanks.
I'd recommend building links to your site with the keyword you want to rank high in as the link text and title. Exchanging links is usually a good way to start getting some ranks but I don't think it matters as much if you're at your stage, you're mainly looking for incoming links now. Build pages for users to get to your site, like blogs, squidoo, myspace profile, whatever.
hi, paid submissions are good to powerful and renowned directories with good strength i.e pr 5+, so long as you are listed in related categories, this should not do you harm, for finding niche partners, here is a beautiful site kartoo.com it helps you see spider map links between websites, so if you use your keyword you can see who is linking to who and on the premise of what keyword with your own eyes, and at what level of SERPS the linkage is occurring, failing that just order seo elite plug and play and go to bed. 2pence
IMO, relevant back links and a unique and quality content, together with a LOT of patience will help you achieve your goal on higher SERPs.
improve your site content...unique and quality contents is important...improve your link popularity...submit your site to link directories...create articles and submit them to article directories...join forums and create blog...exchange links with relevant, quality and trusted sites...try http://www.linkpartners.com/ to find sites for link exchange...or search through SE with your keyword and check out those sites on top 5 pages if you want...