With more and more web sites appearing on the internet on a daily basis, competition in your field of expertise is most likely getting stronger. You cannot afford to be complacent with regard to spreading the word about your web site. It is critical that your site features prominently with the search engines and one criteria that many search engines look at, is the amount of sites linking back to you.

Many sites will link back to you if you offer a reciprocal link, but I know I don't want my site filled with all sorts of banners and buttons, with content that may not even be of interest to my visitors.

What if I told you there was a free way to get hundreds of web sites to link to you absolutely free without a reciprocal link? Interested?

Think about it. You're a webmaster. Don't you love it when somebody writes to you telling you how great your site is, how useful they found the content, how original the design is etc etc. I know I do! Many webmasters, in order to give their sites credibility and their visitors confidence, have testimonial pages. These testimonial pages usually include not only the testimonial received, but the source with a link back.

To benefit all you need to do is scour the internet for sites with testimonial pages and send your comments to the webmaster concerned. If you have good things to say, the webmaster will naturally want to share those comments with his or her visitors and will more than likely include your testimonial on the testimonial page.

The best thing about this is that it is absolutely free and well worth the effort as most testimonials are permanent, thus giving your site a permanent free link back.

Be creative in your testimonial and honest. Word your comments in such a way, without being too obvious, as to motivate any readers to visit your site. Don't say wonderful things about a site if you don't really feel that way about it, rather move on to a site that appeals to you. Remember your own credibility is at stake here - associate your self with sites you want to be associated with!

For example, here's a testimonial I might write to a company offering internet marketing services:

"I'm the webmaster for Wade's World and understand the realities and difficulties involved in web site marketing. As we obviously want to provide our clients with a top rate, yet cost effective service, I found the content on your site, especially the Promotion section, to be extremely beneficial. It is apparent that a lot of work in design and development has gone into your site. Your content is original, the overall design looks great and your site is easy to navigate. I have bookmarked your site and will be back often. Thanks for a truly great service!"

In time you should have hundreds of sites linking back to you. Your site name will be seen by visitors all over the internet and more importantly, your ranking with the search engine's should be very much improved!

About the author: Holly Janion is webmaster for Wade's World Ltd, a UK web design and internet business solutions provider. For an example of Holly's work, the WWW Treasure Hunt, at http://www.wwwtreasurehunt.com is her latest creation. To contact Holly, e-mail webmaster@wadesworld.co.uk