In their effort to create valid and relevant search results, Google's complicated algorithm is ever changing. The key to ensuring that your site shows up at all in search, and particularly high enough to get some traffic, is factoring in the importance of inbound links. It is impossible to say exactly how many links you need, what kind of links, or why some links seem to work more than others. But with experience and research, you can learn how to work towards that perfect mix of links that will signal to the search engine spiders that your site is indeed worthy of the Top 10.
But first to point out the obvious, without a decent, valuable site, your link building will be wasted. Search engines try and mostly do reward sites that are relevant to search terms, useful to visitors. So gaming the system without trying to truly have a worthwhile site will not work. It may work for a short time, but for longevity, you are still wise to focus on what the visitor wants and needs.
That said, you still have to do a ton of work that you would not normally do for visitors only, if you want to rank for your words. It is just not possible to build a site just for visitors and expect to rank. MAYBE if you have 4 years, MAYBE if the nature of your business coincidentally is one that demands new content naturally for visitors, MAYBE if you are such a huge authority in your field, if your field happens to be something worth linking to, MAYBE then you can just randomly and naturally build up enough inbound links to rank high enough to turn a profit. But what if you sell socks? I mean, how much content can you possibly 'naturally' put on your site about socks? Is it really helping your visitor? And how many websites in the world are just dying to link to your fabulously well written valuable articles (1-2 new ones a month, right?) about socks, choosing a color, knee socks vs. crew, etc. It is all just fluff, and this is what the search engines want (expect) us to do.
It is reality that the incoming links are an integral part of this manipulation of your campaign for the search engines. Your link building campain will include the natural links that occur by chance (or by link baiting, adding lots of content and press releases and viral marketing). And you should balance this with a large volume of small links and a handful of heavy duty links from higher PR pages, or from some EDU links or GOV links. The sites ranking high in results have plenty of links, most likely a portion of them are paid links, it is just reality.
Link campaign tips: Keep it well rounded. Work towards a mix of high PR links and lots of smaller ones, even PR below yours. Shoot for links in content whenever possible, they are still absolutely the best. Keep the timing natural, you do not want tons of links showing up at one time, it is unnatural. Use a variety with your anchor text, do not overoptimize for one keyword. And point the anchor text to the complementary internal page, not just the homepage.
And how to get all of this done? It is daunting, and the only way to do it right is to spend an enormous amount of time on it. This is why companies are hiring these things out, and focusing on designing their site for their visitor, letting the SEO worry about the rest.
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