Google Places could be considered a heavy weight champion in the competitive SEO ring. This simple tool can give your business a major leg up in Google’s search results if executed correctly. Businesses that don’t even rank in the first three pages in Google’s organic search results can still be displayed on the first page via Google Places. Google Places aka Google Maps is the answer to get your company visible amongst local search inquiries. Does your business have a Google Places page, and are you using it to its maximum potential?

There are literally hundreds of ways (black hat, muddy hat and white hat) of getting great backlinks. Here I have highlighted a few simple methods that anyone can employ to achieve high-quality, long-lasting links:

1. Asking business partners/associates or suppliers for a link from their website (with the correct anchor text)

2. Seeing where your competitors got their links from, and trying to get links from similar sources.