It’s no secret that inbound links are pure gold for any website. Not just in terms of SEO, but for their ability to drive a strong and constant stream of traffic in your direction.

Unfortunately, earning links the natural way has never been easy. Particularly problematic in an era when buying links simply isn’t an option. Unless you want to fall out of favour with Google and Co., you need to earn your links through good old-fashioned hard work and determination.
On the plus side, there are a least a few things you can do to boost your chances of earning quality links naturally. There’s no substitute for hard work and commitment, but the following three staples will certainly help steer things in the right direction:

Quality Web Design/Development
What does the overall design of your website have to do with inbound links? In one word, everything! Make no mistake about it – any respectable website considering boasting a link to your content will scour your site from top to bottom, before going ahead. It’s important to remember that backlinks serve as direct recommendations from the website in question, supporting and saluting what you have to offer. If your website is anything but a beacon of professionalism and prestige, you can forget about it.
As such, you need to ensure that your website conveys a positive and professional message across each and every page. If its general quality leaves a lot to be desired, this could be a good place to start.

Publish Great Content
Over and above everything else, the key to building quality inbound links is to produce and publish quality content. Nobody is going to want to send traffic your way without a good reason to do so. The kind of content that encourages inbound links naturally is the kind of content that’s educational, entertaining, informative and inspiring. It also has to be unique – something that the web user in question cannot gain easy access to elsewhere. What’s more, it also has to be crafted from top to bottom with the reader in mind, rather than your own interests and priorities as a business.
Promotional content and anything salesy is never going to attract natural backlinks from quality sources. You need to think carefully about their customers, their needs and their interests, in order to produce the kind of content they’ll be happy to recommend.

Stay Active on Social Media
Last but not least, the greater the extent to which you build a reputation online, the more likely you are to earn natural links. Likewise, the more contacts you have within your network, the greater the number of sources for backlinks you have at your disposal. This is one of many dozens of reasons why it is crucially important to stay active on social media at all times.

Always remember that backlinks are about sharing, sharing is about being social and social media…well, you can figure out the rest. If you only pay a token ‘nod’ to social media from time to time, you can’t expect your name to become embedded in the hearts and minds of others. By contrast, maintain a constant presence and they won’t be given a chance to forget who you are or what it is you do!

Author's Bio: 

Chris Jenkinson works as an interim marketing director providing marketing support to businesses.