Why is it so hard to get decent backlinks?

People who have high authority websites, popular blogs, etc have often had to struggle for several years to build up their popularity. They understand the value of a high quality backlink, so they don't often give them away "for free".

More often than not, the most widely accepted way to get backlinks from a high quality blog or site is to write a great guest article that they can publish (with attribution - a backlink to your own blog/site).

The problem is that writing guest blogs is time consuming and there is no guarantee that the blogger in question will publish it. Building links like this is very slow and difficult - although, writing guest articles does have other benefits.

Fortunately, inbound links are becoming more socialized. Google does gauge social reaction to your content. +1s and tweets are much easier to get than genuine backlinks, so you might want to consider building a large social following to help boost your inbound links via social media.

Ultimately, your time is probably best served creating great content that regularly talks about or promotes influential people in your niche. This strategy works well because you are giving them exposure first (as opposed to asking them to spend time reading your content before deciding to publish or not).

Check out these articles that show you how to get influential people to talk about your content:

• Talking about other people is the most powerful way to get more traffic
• 3 best blog marketing tips for 2012