Link Popularity Part 1 got you off to a good start. In Part 2 we'll discuss…

Step 4) Action Plan: Unleash Your 4 Secret Weapons
Step 5) Contact and Ask!
Step 6) Do It Smart - Make It Easy

Let’s dig in!

Step 4) The Action Plan: Unleash Your 4
               Link Popularity Secret Weapons

Here are the four secret weapons you need and how to use them:

If you haven’t already install the Google Toolbar. It’s free and easy to set up.

Then visit the first potential link partner’s site and grab it’s PageRank (PR). This gives you a good idea of the quality of a site’s inbound links.

PR of 4 or better? Good. Add it to your list.

Next use Alexa's Traffic Ranking. Go to the site, insert your target site’s URL and hit enter.

Scroll down to the Site Stats. You’ll see the Traffic Rank as well as a count of inbound links. Click on that number of inbound links. Viola! - a ready made list of even more potential linking partners - straight from Google.

In less than 60 minutes, even if you skim the PageRank/Traffic Rank cream of the crop, you’ll have a sizeable list of quality non competing web sites to contact.

Go to Better Whois and grab the email address of the "UDM" or Ultimate Decision Maker. Or the person who can approve or reject your link request.

Finally wouldn’t you love to know when your site has been linked to? TrackEngine.com will do so free. Simply combine this tool with AltaVista’s or Google’s who’s linking to you feature (link:www.YourDomainName.com) and you’ll be alerted when new links are added.

Step 5) Contact and Ask!

When visiting the site, if you find a links page go with the program and add your site.

However if you come across a site with excellent PR, that mirrors your theme and no apparent links page, invest the time to analyze it send a personalized link request.

Don’t beat around the bush. Your email should be short and to the point. Mention some standout feature or something you found helpful on the site.

Also cite a good reason to link to you, i.e. tell them how their visitors will benefit.

Just keep in mind highly ranked high traffic sites probably get buried in link requests. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Step 6) Do It Smart - Make It Easy

Next, create a cut and paste HTML snippet for the sought after link and include it in your email. Use the fact that Google pays attention to the text of inbound links to determine your site’s reputation.

To show what I mean, here’s how a mountain bike site might approach it.

POOR Link Text: "Stop by my <.link>page<./link> on mountain bikes"
GOOD Link Text: "Stop by my page on <.link>mountain bikes<./link>".

A subtle but important difference if you want to rank well for the term "mountain bikes".

Another reason to provide a link snippet is all the webmaster has to do is cut and paste. You want to make it so simple the other person doesn’t even have to think about it - just do it.

Well, there you have it. You now have a good idea of boost your link popularity. Six simple steps and the tools you need to succeed too.

Step 1) Content Counts
Step 2) DMOZ It!
Step 3) Prioritize to Capitalize
Step 4) Action Plan: Unleash Your 4 Secret Weapons
Step 5) Contact and Ask!
Step 6) Do It Smart - Make It Easy

Persist in your quest for links. Then stand back and watch as your page ranking and link popularity soars.

FREEBIE: Got Links? Link Popularity Special Report

Sadly I can’t cover all the ins and outs of strategic linking in 500 words or less. But I do cover it in more detail in my 20 page PDF special report. It’s even got screen shots, three sample contact emails I use, more specifics on using TrackEngine and one or two clever guerilla tactics I obviously can’t reveal here. To grab your free copy simply go to the Link Popularity Special Report page, enter your email address and you’ll be emailed download instructions.