You may use this image in your ezine or website if you choose to publish my article. Click here to see the picture full-sized.--- Robert Fuess

Everyone who is trying to improve their web site's ranking wants 
backlinks. This is an essential ingredient to your web site 
promotion strategy. Some happen because the right person (a 
webmaster) stumbled across your web site and likes your content. 
But you can get many more links on other web sites pointing to 
yours - if only you ask them. One-way links (where they link to 
your page but you don't have to link back) are much more valuable 
to your web site promotion than link exchanges, and they often 
take the same amount of effort to obtain. Search engines rate 
these more heavily when evaluating your web site. These free 
backlinks can be obtained by politely asking the webmaster to 
make the addition of your web site resource.

Only if a webmaster requests a link exchange do I consider doing 
such. The web site promotion strategy I normally use is to start 
by asking for what I really want.


WHAT NOT TO DO:

Above all, courtesy and personal touch is a must with these 
emails. Don't make these requests appear too cold or canned. 
Don't be insistent or prideful.


GOOD WEB SITES TO REQUEST A FREE BACKLINK FROM:

Many times when you send out a request - even a polite one, you 
may get ignored. To minimize this scenario, use the following web 
site promotion trick: Find out who has given backlinks to your 
competitors. Then ask these webmasters to link to your web site. 
There are a few different tools out there that can help you with 
this. I would recommend using the backlink checker from Submit 
Express http://www.submitexpress.com/linkpop/ . You can also use 
it to monitor your web site, since you will seldom be notified if 
they do follow your suggestion and put in a link to your site. A 
good backlink checker is an essential tool for any webmaster 
interested in web site promotion.


FINDING WHO TO CONTACT:

Most web sites have a contact page or an email link to the 
webmaster. Search around.

(The following is assuming the web site you are researching is 
http://www.yourwebsiteurl.com )

Next try going to http://www.yourwebsiteurl.com/info.txt . This 
is an info page on the web site that many webmasters have. Also, 
try looking at Alexa information for their website. Many web 
sites have information on who to contact in their Alexa account. 
Here is the format. 
http://info.alexa.com/data/details?url=http%3a//www.yourwebsiteur
l.com/ Or you can click on this link and change the web site in 
the textbox at the top of this page.

If you still cannot find it, you could always make an educated 
guess. Many web sites follow webmaster@yourwebsiteurl.com or 
admin@yourwebsiteurl.com pattern for the webmaster. Also look for 
a "add your link" section or page. This may be on a links page or 
it may be elsewhere. If a web site has an established procedure 
for asking for backlinks you will always want to follow them. 
That is a courtesy they will expect.


WRITING THE EMAIL:

The subject of the email should make them want to read your 
email. Don't misrepresent the email purpose by pretending to be a 
long lost friend or say "Lottery Winner". No one likes to be 
duped. You may want to put a brief comment such as "I love your 
web site! May I ask you a question?". You want to attract their 
interest in a courteous manner and not look like you are being 
sneaky.


THE BODY OF THE EMAIL:

The first part of your email body should complement their web 
site somehow. Make this a couple of sentences. This is the most 
tailored part of the email. It also keeps your email from being 
thrown out automatically. Those who get a preview of the top 2-3 
lines of an email will see a complement - and may to read 
further. If they don't read it, your web site promotion efforts 
will not work.

Then, you should let them know how you found their site (what 
search engine and what keywords you used). Many webmasters find 
this to be valuable information, since it tells them what is 
working for their own web site promotion.

THEN you should politely request the honor of a link to your web 
site. (Or you may suggest your website as an additional resource 
. . . if your website has good resources or tools.) TIP: Not all 
those you contact will understand the term backlink. Just use the 
term "link". And especially don't mention the phrase "free 
backlinks". You don't want to imply that they could or should 
charge for them.


When you email other webmasters asking for backlinks, you should 
include the following:

 * The URL of where you want the link to go to

 * The suggested text for the link. This would be what you want 
   the link to look like to visitors on that web site. Make 
   sure that it encourages people to visit your web site and 
   appropriately represents what your site is about. Having a 
   keyword phrase in here is good - if you think the webmaster 
   will go for this.

 * A suggested description for the link. They may use this next 
   to the link or in the title attribute of the link.

 * The suggested HTML for the link.

 * The page you would like the link to be on. Normally this would 
   be a relevant page to your product or service. Sometimes it is 
   in their list of links on a separate links page. Only rarely 
   will this be the home page. 


The last part should thank them for their time and encourage them 
to contact you if they have any questions. This is a must! They 
did you the favor of reading the email.

In your signature, put your full name, your email address and 
your title (such as Webmaster).

THATS IT!

Ideally, I would recommend sending out the emails as you find the 
web sites. This keeps you from forgetting or losing interest in 
that site. Have fun with your web site promotion!
 

Robert Fuess is a veteran website designer who specializes 
in making dynamic search engine optimized websites.
http://www.SpiderwebLogic.com  | http://www.SchoolAndTeacher.com