I - Linkest not to seek favor from false idols*
(*I heard from an authority trust hub that Google is not a false idol)

II - Those who link in exchange for gold are link whores*
(*linking when only in exchange for a return link is marginally slutty)

III - Thou shalt not social link thine own site*
(*nor create fake social media accounts for the same purpose, nor shall thee tag it for Technorati using the word "awesome", nor will thee send an email to all employees telling them to digg the corporate homepage, nor ask your children to teach you what the heck MySpace is so you can link drop...ONE EXCEPTION: It is completely acceptable to include a couple of those cute little share, add, tweet, stumble, etc., buttons on your own content.  There's a million of em. Go ahead, try this one  . 

IV - If thou beginest thy link request email "To whometh it may concern", it shall hastily be deleteth

V- Thou shalt not refer to content as link bait, any more than thou shall refer to your site's users as carp

VI - Thou shalt study or analyze, but not covet, thy neighbor's links*
(*or if thou doest covet them, only the ones from highest trust TLDs, and shame upon thee who volunteers to be webmaster at his child's school and then adds invisible anchor text footer links to his company site.

VII - Thou shalt not use the name Matt Cutts in vain*
(*at least not publically)

VIII - Just because you thinketh MS LIVE! bing search is stupideth does not giveth thee permission to link spameth them

IX - If thou has truly reformeth, beg forgiveness via this formeth

X - The link schemer may eat today, but the link farmer eateth from a bountiful table for a lifetime

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Most recent...
“ Eric follows the right link building approach. He's interested in links that are given based 
on merit, and those are the links that stand the test of time”
—Matt Cutts, Google

2006
“ Eric Ward is THE authority on links” 
—Danny Sullivan, SearchEngineLand.com

2000
“  Those who want the job done right by the best in the business flock to Eric Ward and count themselves lucky that the maestro isn't booked into the next millennium” 
— Jim Sterne, Inc. magazine

1995
“ Thanks for the great work on our launch, Eric. Your efforts and report were excellent”
— Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com
 

Contact Eric Ward