SEO or Search engine optimization is a process of designing or modifying a website with the intention of improving the sites ranking in search engine databases. The search engine optimization process involves many techniques and tricks, some quite straightforward while others can be a little underhand and could meet with search engine disapproval. There are a variety of methods involved in making a website as compatible and inviting as possible to search engine spiders, and link building is one of them.

There is such a thing as over optimization and an over zealous beginner to SEO can very easily find that their rapid fire link building has resulted in penalties from Google or other search engines. Your link building process should appear as 'natural' as possible. Bulk link buying and link farms are a big no these days.

Search engines such as Google have complex filters to judge the quality of inbound links. Though link popularity is the major factor in deciding your ranking, it is imperative that you build your links at a moderate pace and only link to relevant websites.

A link building strategy that adheres to search engine rules is important in order to hit the high page ranks. If you want to build up your links naturally and get in the good books of the search engines, follow the tips below:

- Try to have as many keywords as possible in the form of anchor text and subsequently reduce the 'click here' text to a minimum if you cannot do away with it totally.

- Many sites have links all in one place. This is not taken very kindly at all. Please make sure you spread your links as evenly as possible within the site.

- The gravest mistake you can make is trying to dramatically increase your links overnight. Links should be included gradually. A sudden jump in link popularity will only get your website flagged by the spam filters.

- It is imperative to focus on quality links - not just quantity. Do not allow links from casino, adult or pharmacy sites (unless you need to) since these sites are notorious for spamming.

- Make it a point to keep increasing your link volume at a gradual pace. Make sure that your links come from different websites.

- Creating multiple websites yourself and then linking them all together is not a very favored tactic. Search engines track IP addresses and your links should come from different locations.

- A combination of old websites and new ones can also work in your favor. Do not underestimate the importance of internal pages as they count in the SEO process as well. Always try and acquire back links or 3 way links for these inner pages.

- Submit your website to good and trusted directories on a long-term basis. The time limit and sandbox filters of search engines take this point very seriously.

- Links to advertisers and sponsors do not have much value. Try to gain inbound links from websites that provide high value content to surfers instead. Do this by providing high quality content on your own website that is regularly updated and always unique in order to provide your viewers and the surfers who frequently visit other sites with high quality content related to your niche. The uniqueness of the content on your site is crucial since viewers need new value on a regular basis.

There are numerous 'black hat' techniques that can blast your website to the top of the search engines in a very short time. Though these quick results provide short-term popularity and possibly sudden profits, the time spent at top will be short lived. You could get your site blacklisted by the search engines, which is the worst thing that could happen to a webmaster!

Do not aim for high velocity link building. A slow to moderate pace will take longer to yield results, but these results will last and can act as a platform to launch new and successful marketing campaigns.