Natural Links help boost rankings - this everyone knows. But rather than turn to spammer techniques what can you do to obtain quality links that will maximize your exposure?

1. Be Original. Do your research - just like an expert. Your site's content must be current, accurate, informative and easy to navigate. When possible you should offer free tools and unique services.

2. Utilize RSS. Take advantage of free online tutorials. Learn how to control content syndicated opportunities.

3. Tool Swap. Invest the time and money to get this tool on your site. Offer others to put the tool on their site with a link back to yours. "Reciprocal tooling." Make the offer simple by providing a cut and paste code. Rotate the link text in the tagline for each download.

4. Blogs. Seek out popular blogs in your industry or better yet start one of your own.

5. Online Forums. Participate in forums in your industry. They provide a good way to get to know people whose links you desire. Don't start the conversation with a request for a link; ask for help with a question, and when you get a response express your gratitude and appreciation. Once you establish a relationship, people are more willing to help you by providing a link.

6. Write Articles for Syndication. When writing an article or post, make the byline link back to your site. Many syndication sites will list your bio with a link back to your site. With thousands of article repositories out there make sure you find reputable sites where your article will be read. This builds your credibility and reputation as an "expert".

7. Public Domain Content. Government sites are a great soure of content. While .gov sites are views as authoritative they are not-copyright-protected. Much of the content on government sites is not indexed in the search engines, so by using this content, you make it indexable. Check the external links on government sites. See what sites they link to and build one yourself that's better, and then ask the government site for a link.

8. Manage Internal Linking. Larger sites have an internal linking advantage. While internal links are as valuable as external ones, they can still add up. Content is King. Keep adding content to your site and your internall linking will improve your rankings.

9. Donate to a Charity. Charities often list their donors online with links to the donor website. Not only do you get a quality link, you are helping a good cause, too.

10. Don't EVER bulk email link requests! This sort of marketing screams spam. Even if you do not get hit with legal action for spamming the consequences are far worse. Your domain could be blacklisted by the Search Engines, your Internet Service Provider could drop you, and your servers could be shut down. The short-term gains are not worth the long-term consequences.

Conclusion: If you are going to ask for a link, be specific and outline the benefits to the Webmaster you are contacting. Rather than sending out spammy bulk emails, send a personal email providing information about your site and the potential benefits it can offer.

Don't pull links if you don't get the reciprocal. If you like the information on their site then link to it for the benefit of your site visitors. You aren't just asking for a link. You want build a mutually beneficial relationship and quality site information.