With the Google PR update supposedly planned for later this month, it’s important to make sure you have all of your bases covered come home run time. I’m not a big believer in directory based backlinks, but, nobody is going to tell you that a directory based backlink will necessarily be bad for your time. Sure it’s important to watch out for directories that are spammy and generally not very reputable with Google, but, for the most part having a directory backlink is not going to be the downfall of your website.

That being said, there are much better ways to build backlinks. Post on forums with a signature link to your site. Leave comments in high traffic blogs with your name linking to your website. The possibilities are endless.

The best way to get quality backlinks is to put something on your site that others find interesting enough to link to. Post a good tutorial or a step by step for an experiment you are doing. Bring in outside players and post an interview (hard to get people to cooperate with this of course, but, if you can pull it off with reputable people you will get a good response.) Viral marketing is the best way to build a wide array of backlinks. If you create a stir that people want to see then guess what? They will most likely show others. Buying links is a good way to increase your backlink numbers, but, if you are on a budget or trying to save your money for better things, the best way to get linked to is by creating something unique and interesting.