Re: How to rank in the top 10?
This is just my opinion, but I don't think the key to ranking is backlinks. That is a good way to get referrals, but not high listing in search engines (at least, that isn't the only factor). And the referrals are only good if your target audience is seeing them. For instance, if I saw your link on a site, I wouldn't click on it because I am not interested in a football forum (no offense intended).
I run a motorcycle forum, and I have like 0 backlinks and my PR is only 3 on my homepage and 2 on my forumhome page. As of right now, I am number 27 in google for the term "motorcycle forum" (there are about 4 million hits for that term), and I am on the front page (number 10) for the term "sportbike forum". The secret isn't backlinks. The secret is quality content. Fill your site with quality content that matters to football lovers, and google will make the association and eventually give you ranking.
Search engines are getting smarter and smarter. If all you are doing is working on backlinks and metatags, then you are doing exactly what 44,600,000 other football forum websites (according to google)are doing, and frankly, you won't stand a chance.
Think about what a football lover would say out loud. Are there any search terms in that sentence that you can use to your advantage? Build quality content around that term... not only will you eventually land a ranking, but people will actually return to your site because you have good content (uniques are great, but how long are your visitors staying? are they returning?)
Later this summer I will start working on backlinks; I am in no hurry though because I think that they only play a small part when it comes to getting to the top of the search lists... even google will tell you that PR means less and less these days.
Just my opinions, and best of luck!
BTW, I will create a sig block here, and then I will officially have 1 backlink! (unless this site uses "nofollow" tags... lol)
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