Before you go after the local high school, the Chamber of Commerce, or even a prominent blogger in your niche, make sure that your site is full of link-worthy content. This includes
fresh, relevant text and images that are easy to navigate.
Ellis also says that the way you draw attention to links--by highlighting logical keywords and not using a "click here" marker--can go a long way to ensuring that your links will be effective without degrading the user experience.