Weekly Link Roundup - April 20, 2008

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Lots of great articles this week that I thought would be helpful to everyone involved in Internet marketing and making money online. Enjoy.

The Triple Threat Interview: Stuntdubl, Graywolf and Sugarrae on Independent Webmastering
Gab Goldenberg is an up and coming SEO who had the chance to interview 3 SEO superstars at SMX West: Michael Gray, Todd Malicoat, and Rae Hoffman. That’s a pretty impressive lineup and I’m sure one day we’ll be saying the same thing about Gab. The conversation centered around independent webmastering and how each of them creates content and develops link bait for their personal projects. I highly recommend everyone aspiring to make money online read this, whether or not you’re interested in SEO.

How to Get Piles of Links, Subscribers and Comments
Skellie continues to impress me with the level of detail and effort she puts into her posts. This one includes 18 ways to get links, 10 ways to get subscribers, and 9 ways to get comments for your blogs. Value packed post that is sure to give you some new ideas to grow your blog.

Building a Popular Social Media Profile: Seven Essential Characteristics
Social media is undeniably one of the best methods to gain attention, build a brand, and bring traffic to your sites. Maki of Dosh Dosh surely knows his stuff in this area as he has established himself on the top networks like StumbleUpon, Digg, and Sphinn. Building a popular social media profile is no easy task but the tips Maki gives in this article will put you on the right track.

Widgetbait Gone Wild
Probably one of the most effective link building strategies is to develop a viral widget that people will willingly place on their sites. The widget links back to the target site and builds authority and rankings, but as this case study suggests, it’s important to be subtle with the link anchor text and to shut up if it’s super successful.

Sitelinks at last
It looks like Google performed a major update to the sitelinks feature, the list of additional links placed under authoritative domains in the search results. Even Winning the Web received this feature this time around. Do a search for “winning the web” and you’ll see what I mean. Some of the links are a little funky right now but they should work themselves out as the site continues to grow.

The Dark Side of Online Success…Part I
Want to achieve online success and start a business on your own? It sounds great, I know, but there definitely is a “dark side” that you need to be prepared for. Super affiliate Amit Mehta provides some tips on things to watch out for once you’re working from home as your own boss. The Dark Side of Online Success…Part II

The Value of Small Daily Incremental Improvements
Building a website is hard work. It’s easy to get discouraged and to lose patience if results can’t be attained in the near future. Aaron Wall emphasizes the importance of growing in a growing marketplace and using your time and efforts efficiently to reach small incremental goals that build up in the long term. Keep at it folks.

Website Traffic Series Part 4: Faking A Website Sale
Faking a website sale? Hm, interesting idea. I know for a fact that blog sales get a lot of attention these days and listing your site (even if you don’t intend on selling) can get you a lot of visits and exposure. This tactic probably isn’t the most ethical and could do a lot of damage to your reputation if you’re caught. But still it’s definitely an option if you’re willing to take a risk with a shadier method.

SEO is Not Free Traffic
This is a fantastic article that debunks the myth that SEO is free traffic. Sure, there’s no immediate cost for listing your site in the organic search results but that doesn’t mean SEO is free or has no value. In fact, thousands of large companies are putting millions of dollars into SEO and you should be investing your time and resources into learning the field to drive targeted traffic to your sites.