Everybody knows that one of the best sources of free traffic to your website is through the search engines. But how do you actually set out to get these free traffic? Well, for starters, you have got to be able to push your site high up the rankings of the major search engines.

It is no secret that one of the most vital determining factors of increasing your page rank and popularity is the number of relevant back links pointing to your site. And I am not talking about just a few back links here and there; I am talking about lots and lots of them. As they say, the more the merrier.

But you see, there is always a catch, because the search engines will never allow you to have an easy time getting a high ranking for your site. They require you to gain one-way back links from not just one or two webmasters, but from many different sources. And this is what you should aim for.

Below are some of the best Internet marketing strategies that you can implement in order to convince webmasters from all over the net to include a link of your site in their web pages.

1. Establish an Affiliate Program

This is by far the best way to encourage webmasters from all over the Internet to include your link in their web pages. Establishing an affiliate program will reward these webmasters a specified commission for every sale they make. One of the top Internet marketing gurus, John Reese, once said that if you are not using affiliate programs, then there is something seriously wrong with you.

Indeed, affiliate programs are the most efficient and the most expedient way of building your back links, and improve the page ranking of your site in the major search engines.

2. Viral marketing

Viral marketing is the next most effective way of gaining high quality back links. Viral marketing comes in many forms. Just take a look at websites like the highly popular Blogthings site which provides a constant dose of cool additions and features for blog users. Because of the very interesting nature of what it provides, the website garners thousands of visitors per day without even having to advertise themselves.

This is the true power of the word-of-mouth concept. MySpace grew the same way. Its system is viral in nature, and it expanded by nature as well. This viral marketing strategy does take some time, but I can assure you that your efforts will be rewarded exponentially.

3. Ask, and you will be given

If you never ask, then you will never be given, so be courteous enough to ask webmasters for some unilateral links. Mind you, there is no need for you to employ any rough house tactics, because most webmasters will be kind enough to attend to your request. You will be pleasantly surprised by the response you get for your requests.

So where do you start? You can do a search for high PR websites in reputable directories like those in Yahoo, and pick out those websites with high page rankings. Send the webmasters of these sites an email, or sign their online guest books. By doing these, you are effectively handing out your name card.

4. Offer free content for webmasters

In the Internet world, webmasters will always ask themselves this question: what's in it for me? So one of the better ways to ask a webmaster for a back link is to offer him something he needs for his site. So what does he need the most? Content. Every webmaster on the globe needs content, because content is king.

So what you can do here is to offer a webmaster free content in the form of articles. Write exclusively for him, but of course your topics must be relevant to his niche. This Internet marketing strategy works almost all the time, because who doesn't want free content?

5. Offer discounts for your services

If you are selling a product or service, you can tell the webmaster that you will offer his website visitors a substantial discount for using your services. Such an offer will be difficult for the webmaster to refuse, because his loyal visitors will always be game for discounted services.