60+ ways of building backlinks (& an interesting case study in ignorance, assumptions, & integrity)

Side note before I get into the backlinks: You'll notice a couple of faithful Warriors felt the need to call me out and accuse me of "copying" this list from another forum. It's all well and good to want to protect the integrity of the WF, and I do applaud that. What I find most frustrating though is even when confronted with the facts (that it was I whose content was stolen and shared, and not the other way around) these same Warriors have grown strangely silent and yet their accusations remain. There are some interesting lessons to be learned. I'll not share them here. I will though just encourage you to actually READ the thread (especially this or this) before you jump on the "Derek's a fraud" bandwagon of ignorance. (Another note: do I really need to define "ignorant"? It's not "stupid", and it's not necessarily an insult. It's just a lack of knowledge, and is definitely exhibited below). Lastly, It's crazy how QUICK these gentlemen were to call me out, but so slow to redact those same comments when shown to be in error. Anyway, life goes on, right? On with the show...

In my experience, two things have made all the difference in my online niche business:

1) targeting the right keywords.
2) building quality backlinks.

Building links can be tough though, right? Admittedly this is not an exhaustive list (and not all examples are equally effective), but below you'll find at least 60 or so ideas to help you get started building backlinks of your own.

1. Submit a guest post to other blogs.
2. Meaningfully comment on niche relevant blogs (in particular, “do-follow” blogs).
3. Start relevant, quality threads in forums and link back to your blog posts.
4. Link to your blog in your forum signature and contribute with quality content.
5. Social bookmarking through StumbleUpon, Digg.com, and others.
6. Provide testimonials for other marketers and provide your link when doing so.
7. Create a quality Squidoo lens.
8. Create a quality HubPage.
9. Participate in discussion boards such as Quora.com.
10. Make use of quality blog communities like BlogEngage.com and others.
11. Ask and answer questions on answer sites like Yahoo Answers with a link to your blog.
12. Interlink your own blog posts.
13. Exchange links with other bloggers in your niche.
14. Submit to quality blogging directories like BestOfTheWeb.org (Edit: http://botw.org)
15. Submit your blog to top website directories like SoMuch or Dmoz.
16. Find niche specific directories and submit to them as well.
17. Ask your friends with websites or blogs to link to you.
18. Engage with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
19. Submit RSS feed to aggregators and directories like RSS Network or Plazoo.com.
20. Make use of quality press releases and submit to sites like NewsVine.com.
21. Convert blog posts to PDF and submit to document sharing sites like DocStoc.com.
22. Interview leaders in your niche and give them permission to share the interview.
23. Ask other bloggers to interview you.
24. Submit your blog to blog communities like BlogCarnival.com.
25. Trade articles with other bloggers in your niche (similar to guest posting).
26. Make use of Google Groups and Yahoo Groups.
27. Create a Wikipedia page for yourself and your company and include resource links.
28. Submit your blog to .edu and .gov forums and blogs, especially their resources page.
29. Submit your blog to Technorati.com.
30. Run (and even join) a blog contest to attract more links.
31. Donate to charity sites, and many will link back to you.
32. Create GREAT content such as in-depth tutorials or free training guides.
33. Create SHARABLE content such as “101” posts, “7 ways to...”, hot trending topics, etc.
34. Create LINK BAIT content such as about celebrities or about something controversial.
35. Submit your image to image directories and include a link to your blog.
36. Make your blog posts easy to share, and reward people for doing so.
37. Submit your site to any local business directories.
38. Create quality content on About.com and link to your blog from it.
39. Create YouTube videos and submit to video sharing sites like Viddler.com.
40. Submit quality articles to article directories such as EzineArticles.com.
41. Create quality content on Wordpress.com or Blogger.com and link back to your site.
42. Offer lots of free downloads on your blog.
43. Update your blog regularly and this will help you gain traction and popularity.
44. Create a podcast and submit it to iTunes with a link to your blog from it.
45. Join the Better Business Bureau.
46. Make use of online classifieds like Craiglist.
47. Create a Firefox extension.
48. Buy older, established sites with already existing links.
49. Check competitors backlinks and try to replicate.
50. Create a simple software (or convert an eBook to .exe) and submit to software sites.
51. Create Memes.
52. Create eHow articles.
53. Create an infographic and submit it to sites like Visual.ly.
54. Find broken links and contact the site owner about replacing the dead link with yours.
55. Take advantage of Scoop It and get your content aggregated.
56. Submit your blog to website feedback sites like Concept Feedback.
57. Sign up for HARO and submit content for backlinks.
58. Create a small piece of audio and submit it to audio sharing sites likes Reverb Nation.
59. Paid banner ads.
60. Create good content about your site or niche and post it to Wiki sites like Wikia.
61. Make a “sponsored” donation on sites such as Clear Sky Chart and others.
62. Submit to Google Places.
63. …

Again, not an exhaustive list, but here's what I hope: I hope you see there are many more options that just spam blog comments or throwing up a spun article to an article directory.

Anyway, hope this helps.

Best,
Derek

P.S. - Maybe you have some more you'd like to add?