Link building is the most important part of developing traffic for your website. Every site starts with a little code and a bit of content. Rising to the top of the internet ladder requires networking and getting lots of incoming links.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is that they forget the little guy. Too often I see high-profile sites turn down affiliate requests from small startups. Obviously, you can’t accept every link request that comes your way. However, it certainly doesn’t hurt you to show some link love to smaller sites.

For example, a girl started a music blog where she posts weekly updates about Japanese music. Definitely an obscure topic, and the site barely received any traffic. I agreed to do a link exchange with her from one of my high traffic content sites. What do I get out of the deal? For one thing, the satisfaction of helping someone else succeed. And in the long run, once she has developed traffic, she will be more generous in linking back to my site.

You have to think of it as an investment. Investing your outbound links in the smaller guys can greatly benefit you in the long run.