I just received the Search Engine Facts newsletter in my mail which comes with a very nice guest article from Stoney deGeyter (Pole Position Marketing). I have no idea what polepositionmarketing.com is good for but the guest article is a nice call for ongoing action in the link love section of SEO.

Reciprocal links are (still) not dead

Reciprocal links are not dead. Weren't dead before. Aren't dead now. I know it and you know it. But for just a second let's pretend otherwise.

A while back there was quite a bit of scare mongering going around the SEO industry about how reciprocal links were dead. I had a potential client once tell me that so-and-so-big-name-in-the-SEO-industry told them that reciprocal links were dead. I've said this before and I'll say it here again.

There is nothing wrong with reciprocal links. It's all about how you use/implement them that matters. No, reciprocal links are not dead and now I have the proof.

Last year I decided to run my own test so I could refute what I already knew to be true. Yeah, I know who cares about reciprocal links now, right? (...)

Source / Read the rest of the article here: Reciprocal links are (still) not dead

Just read the whole thing and go on to link back to people you like and make sure that the linked sites offer quality to your readers.

My good old three golden rules

Basically the onpage SEO is what it always was:

1. See every single permalink article in a blog as ONE single website which has to build up link love and reputation for a very narrow subject. My tip: Use internal keyword linking if you don't do it yet. Every single keyword will result in an internal keyword search result page (with excerpts!) pointing back to the main article.
2. Don't have too many links on every page (the typical sidebar) linking everywhere. Make your internal links for the article (keywords, categories) show up first followed by the article body containing valuable external links.
3. Show link love and receive link love but make sure that the landing page content fits to the ONE single page or article.

Side Kicks (building external links)

And I still love my article 10 Tips for More Blog Traffic which is one of the best ways to create external backlinks with a high authority yourself.

The important comment backlink

Never forget when commenting on another blog that it is always worth the extra seconds to post a fitting backlink and not only a link to your homepage!

Looking for a bit of weekend reading? Here are some of my picks:

Maki at Dosh Dosh provides a comprehensive guide to influencing powerful social media users. It's a necessity if you want to gain attention and web traffic.

Traffic, of course, is a requirement professional blogging - that is, for earning our living as bloggers. But Chris Garrett writes at Blog Herald about three non-financial reasons for blogging. At least two of them, networking and opportunities, can lead to other paying work, of course. And the third, enjoyment of writing, reflects your passion, which in turn can help establish your authority on a subject.

Chris also reflects on his blog about Darren Rowse's recent giant Problogger giveaway. Darren has his own thoughts, but what I found very interesting are the comments on Chris' and Darren's posts. If you're thinking about doing a giveaway on your blog, these comments are worth a read.

While you're over at Darren's site, check out the comments in the post Get Something off Your Chest. If you feel like it, post a comment about something that's been on your chest about blogging.

Darren is of course one of the founders of the b5media blog network. If launching a network is something on your wish list, first consult David Peralty's 46 Things to do Before Launching a Blog Network.

Running a network can be stressful, but then so can blogging. Skellie at Daily Blog Tips offers six step for stress-free blogging.

Another stressful activity is public speaking, for some people. Ryan Imel writes at Copyblogger about some things he learned about establishing blogging confidence from a recent business presentation he gave to a group of investors.

You may have noticed "The Performancing Top 20" over in the right sidebar. Each day we're ranking the top 20 premium pMetrics blogs according to site visitors and listing them, along with page rank passing links. That's one more great reason to become a pMetrics premium subscriber.

Worried that you won't crack the top 20? Just do a little site promotion, write a few articles for Performancing (along with some links to your blog), and market your blog like a pro. The more you promote, the more you'll see visitors, and the more likely you'll get some link love from Performancing!

By cracking the top 20, your blog will receive a free, one-way PR 7 link. A killer incentive for a killer product;-)