Search engines view links at votes, with some votes counting more than others. To get high quality links (that help your site rank better) you need to participate in the social aspects of your community and give away valuable unique content that people talk about and share with others. The below Google TouchGraph image shows a small graphic representation of sites in the search field that are related to SeoBook.com based on linking patterns.

In this post Matt Cutts suggested that Google is getting better at understanding link quality. Search engines want to count quality editorial votes as links that help influence their relevancy algorithms.

Link building tips

* try to link to your most relevant page when getting links (don’t point all the links at your home page)
* mix your anchor text
* use Yahoo! Site Explorer and other tools to analyze top competing backlinks
* don’t be afraid to link out to relevant high quality resources

Link building strategies

* submit your site to general directories like DMOZ, the Yahoo! Directory, and Business.com
* submit your site to relevant niche directories
* here is more background on directories and SEO
* if you have a local site submit to relevant local sites (like the local chamber of commerce)
* join trade organizations
* get links from industry hub sites
* create content people would want to link at
* here is a list of 101 useful link building strategies

Brand Building

Brand related search queries tend to be some of the most targeted, best converting, and most valuable keywords. As you gain mindshare people will be more likely to search for your brand or keywords related to your brand. A high volume of brand related search traffic may also be seen as a sign of quality by major search engines.

If you build a strong brand when people search for more information about your brand and other websites have good things to say about your brand, these interactions help reinforcing your brand image and improving your lead quality and conversion rates.

Things like advertising and community activity are easy ways to help improve your brand exposure, but obviously branding is a lot more complicated than that. One of my favorite books about branding is Rob Frankel’s The Revenge of Brand X.