There have been a lot of changes on the web since I wrote the first edition of "Power Linking Your Way to 1 Million Hits" in 2002. Back then I told everyone that the only thing that will never change, despite search engine shake-ups and search technology improvements, is that links will always be the most important part of any website promotion campaign.

In fact, the people best able to withstand major changes and shifts in the search engines that affect their rankings are the people who have a broad, multi-faceted marketing campaign.

In order to weather any drops from single-sources of traffic to your site, you must have a lot of irons in the fire (links). People you have targeted as your best prospects should be able to find your site virtually everywhere they surf.

Web site owners who rely solely on search engine ranking are leaving 90% of the marketing pie on the plate! For long-term stability and steady, predictable traffic, you simply must broaden your reach and utilize a host of different publicity tactics in order to keep sales up.

One of the most effective tactics I talk about is article publishing. It is also one of the most misunderstood and abused tactics I teach. If you don't get it, don't do it. Below is my explanation of why we write articles and other short publications in the first place.

Publishing and Syndication of Your Articles

A lot of people miss the boat on this one. And it's too bad that many people see that articles and other published works are important, but they don't produce quality work, therefore their work doesn't get picked up by big web sites and newsletter owners.

You see, most people focus on article publishing as a way to get a link published to their site. (Solely for search engines to find) Problem is, once they have syndicated their article to tons of free content sites, all they have at the end of the day is a link pointing to their site.

No one is READING the articles! Why? Because, honestly, they are terrible. Or they are just short of being blatant ads. People pick up on an amateur article within the first sentence or two and move on. Didn't you write your article to get traffic?

Produce shoddy work and there is no click on the link. There is no traffic produced. The webmasters who focus totally on getting links as a tool to increase their pagerank in Google are missing the point entirely.

The point of Power Linking and all the tactics in the system was never to get high search engine rankings. Getting ranked well in the search engines was and still is a BY-PRODUCT of a properly executed Power Linking campaign.

When I talk to my clients about getting links, what I am talking about is getting links placed in places where human beings will see them and click on them. Not just link directories which are created solely for boosting link popularity with Google.

So when you publish an article, take the time to think about what people in your market need or want to know and give it to them. And write a GOOD article!

Linking is not just something that looks like this: www.power-linking-profits.com. Real linking is networking and making connections with future customers on an emotional level through your publicity pieces.

Linking is about respect. You gain respect by being published and being seen as the expert in your field. And it goes without saying that your published work needs to stand up to basic quality expectations of savvy readers in your target market.

Come off looking like a hack who is only interested in getting a link published at the end of their cruddy article, and you lose all respect. So even if someone does click on your link, they have reservations about you right off the bat before they even get to your site. This is no way to sell products and services.

If you remember nothing else, please remember this: No matter what linking method you work on this week, keep in mind that the most important links of all are the links intended for real people to see and click on!

Get linked in content directories and on web pages that get hit by as many of your target prospects as possible. And link to get traffic, not search engine rankings!

People focus too much on search engine marketing. If you do your job as a marketer, you will naturally rank high in the search engines. There is no need whatsoever to focus your marketing campaign on search engines entirely.

Focus your marketing efforts on people, your customers, and you will have what I call "Natural Search Engine Rankings." You see, Google wants the most relevant results. That's where their bread is buttered. Well, what I have been trying teach thousands of customers all this time is that you need to focus your marketing campaign on your customers so that you are the MOST relevant site on the net in your market.

Don't worry about Google. They WANT you to be #1 if you deserve to be. How to be #1? By marketing to your customers directly on sites they surf the most and being the natural relevant result in their search.

Good search engine rankings will follow a great marketing campaign. By the time you get your #1 position on Yahoo though, you should have so much traffic and sales because of a properly implemented marketing campaign that you hardly notice you finally made it!

That's the REAL power of linking.

Copyright 2004 Jack Humphrey