Quickest way to build links?

[The_Kiwi_Man]

I'm in furniture e-commerce. I'm not new to e-commerce but I am new to SEO as I used to just hire everything out.

What is the quickest way to build or should I say earn links? So far I've just been contacting bloggers and I've built about 4 links through guest posts in the past month. The problem is I can't tell if this is good or bad. I also contacted a niche directory and they liked my content so they are going to include my website in their directory for free next week.

Should I continue doing what I'm doing?

Do I need to be more aggressive?

Suggestions?

Thanks guys.

[arjen.koedam]

In my opinion there are no quick or easy ways to build links after Google's Penguin update. 
A better question would be: "How to build the highest quality links?".

• or - "How to earn links from high quality sources?"

Also see:
http://moz.com/blog/google-algorithm-cheat-sheet-panda-penguin-hummingbird
http://www.hiswebmarketing.com/penguin-not-just-about-bad-links/ 
http://themoralconcept.net/pandalist.html (mainly about Panda, but also a few very interesting link related insights)

[KempRugeLawGroup]

There are widely varying opinions on guest posts, so be very careful with them. Even if you only do high quality posts on high quality sites related to your industry, they cannot be the sole focus of your link building campaign. I cannot tell you what percentage of guest posts links is acceptable (frankly, no one can for sure), but just make sure the majority of your links do not come from there.

Directories (on a general level) do not help a whole lot, but a nice niche one is fine.

I'm tempted to say "you should always be more aggressive," but that is only if you are sure your content is "high quality" (I know, that generic description frustrates me too, but I don't know how else to say it). You don't want to get someone willing to take a look at linking to your site, only for that person to be disappointed.

Lastly, put your top competitors' sites into OSE, and see who they are linking to. Evaluate what links they have that are good/bad/ugly, and see where you stand. You may want to go after some of the same ones, you may not. You may get some ideas for how to get similar links from better sites, as well.

For some people, link building is an absolute breeze...I find it the hardest part about SEO. But, just keep your head down, keep churning out quality RCS, and they will come.

Good luck and Happy Friday!

Ruben

[WickVideo]

I highly reccomend reading the Moz e-book: The Beginner's Guide to Link Building