Want an easy backlink to your site? Become a motor mouth. Really. Allow me to explain…

Many blogs reward their Top Commentators with a shout out in the side bar. You’ve probably seen them on some of your favorite blogs, or maybe even use the feature on yours. The concept is simple: the more comments you post, the more likely you’ll end up on this list. And this list usually includes a hyperlink back to your site (the one you’ve included in all your comment forms).

How’s that for cool?

The best part is that many bloggers don’t set this feature to “NoFollow.” Whether it’s on accident (I’m sure there are a few) or by design (I’m willing to bet that most people fall into this category), the point is that YOU can get even more benefit out of leaving comments on your favorite websites – something you should be doing anyway, if not, read my Why Blog Commenting Rocks post.

… And if this whole backlink discussion sounds like a doctoral Latin presentation, check out What Are Backlinks?

An Easy Backlink Menthod

I really love the Top Commentator plugin for a number of reasons. But in terms of backlinks, it’s a super-amazing-awesome way to get some quality love to your website in a very short amount of time – while helping the original blogger build a community at the same time. Win-win. I’ll cheers to that!

What’s so amazing about leaving enough comments to end up in the Top Commentators shout out? Two BIG answers:

1. Most comment forms are set to “NoFollow.” It’s a geeky web term that I’ll go into some day, but the point is that Google (theoretically) won’t give the same amount of backlink love to NoFollow links. However, the Top Commentators plugin is NOT usually set to NoFollow, which means you get crazy good love… Like a puppy!

2. A Link From Every Page In The Blog. The sidebar plugin runs on every single page, which means it shows up on every single page within the blog – meaning you’re getting a backlink from every teeny tiny corner of the other person’s site. A regular comment, on the other hand, is relegated only to the page/post you commented on. Imagine if the blog is super huge, say, 300 posts and pages… that’s a lot of backlinks!

The best part is that becoming a “Top Commentator” is super simple: just keep on commenting like you normally do. If you’re the type that doesn’t leave comments – I used to be that type – than I’d highly recommend giving it a shot. Not only are you building backlinks to your site, but you’re also building friends.

And who doesn’t need more friends?

On a related side note: I love the blogging circle that has developed between Search Engine Viking and several other blogs. We frequently read each other’s stuff, leave comments, recommend links sometimes even email back and forth. And it would have never developed had I not broken out of my lame little shell and started leaving comments… Just food for thought for those of you who haven’t bit the bullet and started commenting yet.

Limited Lifetime

Such an awesome tip couldn’t come without a catch, right? Sort of. The only catch here is that most of these Top Commentator blogs automatically reset after a predetermined amount of time, usually at the start of every month. So if you want to keep the link love flowing, you’ll have to keep commenting over the long haul – it’s not a “set-and-forget” strategy.

But all in all, you won’t find an easy backlink strategy any easier than by ranking high in Top Commentator sidebars throughout the Internet.