The Future Value of Links
I am a big believer in Original Content.
This also relates to the Future Value of Links. I believe that as time goes on the websites that are easily automated to build links will continue to be devalued by the search engines. The thousands of article directories that have tons of duplicate content will just wither away. Many of the prolific junk publishing schemes are worthless right from the start.
However the Article directories and web 2.0 properties that only accept original content will continue to thrive. These are a lot of work to maintain and will become much more valueable over time.
The links in the Original content Directories are a lot more work to create and will continue to be valued.
There are several websites that only allow Original Content and that also allow you to post links. Ezine Articles, Xomba, Google Knol, most forums. I am working on this list to increase it.
Any website that only allows you to post original content will eventually rank fairly well and the link you are allowed to post on that site will rank well also.
