Making money on the internet is something millions of people either want to do because it sounds like a dream come true, or want to avoid because it sounds like a big headache trying to figure out all of the internet's complexities. Some people will jump into it without knowing what they are getting themselves into, and others will carefully research everything they can before venturing into an online business.

Whatever you decide to do, you will find that there are so many ways to make money online, and so many different strategies that internet marketers use to get traffic to their websites that later translate into sales. It pays to do your reading and research first.

In this article I will be focusing on one strategy that will generate traffic to your site and help you make money online. That strategy is called "linking".

First of all, it's very important to consistently get your website links onto other websites and directories so that people can find your website and visit it to give you more traffic. The more links you have pointing back to your site, the better your Google Page Rank or PR will be, because this is a measure of how popular your site is and how many other sites link to yours.

I'm going to start off by describing the linking strategies I have been using in my online business because I know these best. The first strategy is called "reciprocal linking". Reciprocal linking means that you find other websites that you want to have your website link on, and you ask to exchange links. If they display your link on their site, then you will display their link on your website. This can benefit both parties if the content is similar in that you have each gained a new, relevant link.

You must be careful when using this strategy though. It's easy to exchange links with many sites, especially if you use something that automates the process like Link Machine, a program that I use and like. But if the content is not relevant to your site, it's not a great idea to exchange links.

It's also not a good idea to exchange links with sites whose PR is lower than your own, otherwise, their site will benefit by the increased PR, and your site may lose PR from their lower PR.

The second strategy is to get one-way links pointing back to your site. For this I use Link Directory Submitter, which allows me to easily submit my website's title and description to a list of directories whose PR is listed. In this case, it's okay to add your link to a site whose PR is lower than yours because it is not a reciprocal exchange, it is a one-way link pointing back to your site, and the more you have the better.

An even better way to get quality, one-way links pointing back to your site is to write and submit articles with your website link either within the article body, or in the resource box at the end, to publishers all over the internet. There seems to be no quicker way to get targeted traffic to your site than this.

Another good linking strategy for making money on the internet is to do a Google, MSN, or Yahoo search for keywords related to your website to see which sites get the top positions in the search engine listings. Once you find those top sites, click on them to see if they have any spots on their home page where you could add your link. Contact the web master of that site to let them know you would like to exchange links with them. If they say yes, then you know you will have a good chance of being placed higher in the search engine listings as well, which will bring more traffic to your site, and hopefully more sales too.

You can also try finding free or paid web directories that will allow you to add or submit your website's URL by typing your keyword in the search box in Google followed by "add URL" or "submit URL".

Finally, making money on the internet can be made easier simply by making posts in discussion forums on your website's topic which include your links either within the body of the post, or in the signature file at the end. This gets you good one-way links pointing back to your site.

If it's a popular forum that many people frequently visit, chances are people will read your posts and click on your links bringing you more traffic to your sites.

Be careful in forums not to post just to get a link, as this is considered spamming. You want to add value to the discussions taking place by offering some helpful advice and asking good questions. This is what makes people click, not just randomly posting your links and saying "click here".

Making money on the internet can be fun and challenging. The important thing to remember is that you have to perform each task consistently, on a daily and weekly basis before you will see any results. It can take time to build up your links, or have your links accepted into directories, but if you try to get a few new links every day or every week, then you are on your way to building a popular website that gets visitors and money in your pocket.