Request Links from Websites that Link to Your Major Allies and Opponents

Some of the easiest (and most important) places to seek links are from webpages that already link to your allies and opponents. These are the link referrals that contribute to the high rankings of comparable websites, so you will need to get referral links from many of those same webpages.

To find links to an ally or opponent's URL, precede your search at Yahoo with "links:".  For instance, if you wanted to find all of the important websites that link to Planned Parenthood's home page, here's how:

At the time this chapter was written, Yahoo reported that 28,800 webpages link to http://PlannedParenthood.org.  Fortunately, Yahoo lists those referral pages in approximate order of importance to influencing search engine rankings. So, prioritize your link requests by starting at the top of Yahoo's search results and work downwards.

Note that some of the webpages that link to your allies and opponents will be closed to updates, including adding your link. The most common reason for shunning updates is that the webpage features the online version of a newspaper article that was published months or years ago. In most cases, the reporter can't or won't update the article to include your link. However, don't treat that as a dead end. Instead, use the discovered article as an opportunity to seek an exclusive link in fresh content. Contact the reporter, who has demonstrated interest in your issue, to pitch her with news or at least a new angle that could earn a link to your website.