Reasons for Link Building
Now that we've discussed Link Properties we'll look at reasons to build links. Search Engines aren't the only ones that see links to your site. Web surfers visiting sites also click on these links, generating direct traffic to your site (this is one of the common reasons to build links). Now the importance of quality links become more obvious! Web surfers are unlikely to click links from low quality, spammy sites. People's attention spans are short and substandard content is normally disregarded.
In Search Engine Optimization most link building efforts are geared towards improving a site's search engine rankings. Search engine algorithms try to emulate human response in analyzing web pages, trying to establish link value, so that high ranking pages aren't spammy or devoid of value. Hence it makes sense to focus on quality links rather than quantity. This will ensure you'll get a higher volume and better quality traffic from pages that are popular and relevant to your content.
You gain visibility, branding & influence by participating in the community around your market niche. Write and post articles, comment on blogs, be active on social networking media sites & groups. People will start seeing your website as an authority, recognising and respecting your image and brand. They'll start referencing you and linking to you as a resource. This in turn will bring web traffic, search results, exposure and a gain in web cred.
Next we'll look at a few General Link Building Tips