I agree with the adage that any link is better than no link at all and the rumours that search engines punish off subject links is really a misnomer, however, there are a couple of things to think about:-
1.Search engines whilst not punishing off subject links do not rate them as highly as on target links. So you may work very hard at gaining those links for very little effect.
2.Since the Jagger 3 update to Google the importance of inbound one way links to your site has rocketed.
Like many others you will probably check your search engine rankings regularly and from time to time be dismayed to find sites with a far less link popularity pushing your site further and further down the ladder to obscurity.
The answer?
Well you have to look at the quality of those links and where they come from. The search engines just love one way links, they also love directories and Google loves you to have links from sites with a good PR value. Look at those sites with less backlinks than yours who are beating you in the march up the search results and I guarantee you will find lots of links from directories
Links from directories are loved by search engines because the directories rank well, have generally been around a while you have control of your anchor text so it isn't the same every time and you can make sure your keywords are right in there.
Gaining links from directories can be a costly affair, however there are many free to list directories with high PR to get you started, but you may find to get top rankings you will have to also use some of the paid alternatives at some time.
Below is a list of some of the most important directories :-
You can find a much more comprehensive list and management tool for free at vaious sites around the internet. Just search for free directory submission.
