Link building is one of the major factors that will affect your website’s ranking as far as the more popular search engines are concerned.  The reason for this is because for each link from another site that leads to your site tells the search engine that a site or a lot of sites find your site helpful and this is almost like a direct endorsement of your site.  However, this is not 100% helpful all the time because some approvals are given more consideration than others.  Following are the essential elements that could affect the worth of a link:

1.    The Site’s Strength – the supremacy of the site that is linked your site counts a lot.  For instance, if two sites link with your site – one a Page Rank 8 and another a Page Rank 3, the link of a Page Rank 8 merits a higher vote in Google as Google perceives Page Rank 8 more important than Page rank 3.

2.    Placement.  Where you place the link within the page as well as the other links on the page will determine the worth of the link.  A link found on the top or near the top page will get more vote than a link that is found at the bottom of the page.  This will affect a visitor’s decision to click at the link or just ignore it.  The search engine gives much weight to links that appear several times on a page.

3.    Text Used as Anchor.  The specific text employed to be directed to your site is of primary importance.  You must bear in mind that when you build site links, you should always take account of the text keyword which must be in the specific phrase for which you want to be ranked.

4.     Appropriateness.  This is the most important aspect of all, more than a site’s influence or strength.

Actually, there is no limit to the ways you can use to build links.  Nevertheless, following are some of the fundamentals of link building.

Post articles.  It is assumed that you are specialist in your particular line, so let the others benefit from your knowledge and expertise.  It might not be an easy task, but if you give it a little thought and effort, you can find it very gratifying.  Once you have completed an article, submit it to as many publishers who are willing to post it on the web.

Submission to Directories.  This is a very tedious exercise which must be accomplished manually.  The titles and provisions should be applicable to the directory which you will be submitting it to.  Some directories charge fees while others do it free of charge.

Joining Forums.  This is something you could also try, although not as a first option.  However, if people come to know you for your genuine advices that really work, then this could probably lead them to your site and will benefit you with better traffic.