Link popularity plays an important role in the success of your web site. Not only will it increase your traffic, but it will also help increase its ranking in search engine results. Several examples can be found of websites that are poorly optimized but still manage to get among the top 10 due to their link popularity alone. This is why it is so important to develop and build a solid link popularity strategy in conjunction with search engine optimization.

Although there are no magic tools to build your link popularity, there are five strategies you may want to consider:

1. Directory Listing
List your site in one or more of the major directories such as Yahoo!, Looksmart and Open Directory Project. Check if your site is relevant to a particular topic on About.com and submit it to that particular guide.

2. Type of Links
Concentrate on identifying links that are related to your site with the goal of quality links and not just quantity of links. What is important is that the most popular web sites on the Internet link to your site, and making sure that the links pointing to your site are relevant to your topic area.

3. Research
An important strategy is to start visiting the sites that are linked to your competitors, and write to them to see if they'll consider linking to your site. If you do not have time to do the investigation, consider hiring a high school or college student to do the research.

4. Alternative Fields
It is important to consider other fields related to your particular industry and concentrate on getting links from those areas. For example, if you sell cars, identify sites that offer related products, such as on-line driving lessons and car accessories.

5. Offer Incentive
Offer an incentive for relevant sites that link to your site. A good example is offering a discount on your goods or services. Also, be sure to have a graphic available that can be easily incorporated into their site. In addition, consider starting an affiliate program as this is an excellent way to boost link popularity.

What Not To Do:
Once you know the do's, it's important to also know the don'ts:

- Don't participate in link exchange programs or link farms, since Google and many of the major engines have expressed their dislike of artificially created link popularity. Participating in these programs may result in your site being banned from search engines.

- Don't bother with free-for-all-pages, since they only guarantee an increase in spam if you participate.

- Don't make the mistake of thinking that link popularity isn't important or necessary. High link popularity combined with search engine optimization will dramatically improve your site's overall ranking in search engines.

Summary:
The most important point to remember is that it is not the quantity of sites that link to your site, but rather their quality. In addition, don't rely on a linking strategy alone, but incorporate it into your overall search engine optimization strategy.