TIP: we all know that a link from a popular website is worth more than one from a dead site. so, one trick that's worked for me is to have GOOGLE TELL ME what site has the highest PR for any keyword.
THEN narrow it down to ONLY the sites that I can leave a comment on with my very own RELEVANT backlink.
HOW? GOOGLE query string: "keyword" AND "post a comment"
Note... you got to leave a comment that IS relevant AND makes the site owner appreciate you... he can always trash your comment otherwise. Make it worth it for him to keep your comment.
Hey, that's a good idea. I always considered those websites on page one to be my competitors. I never really considered that they can work for me, too. I've already posted a few juicy links on a site or two. Thanks!
I noticed you said leave comments but do word press trackbacks have the same effect. If so I think this would make for a much faster process I could use keywords on my own site and we wouldn't have to walk on the borderline of spamming to get the traffic.
I could be wrong but was told that anywhere you post your own link on sites that are not yours it does not count as a baclink, because they can see it wasn't the one who owns it who posted it. You may get some traffic that way but no backlink to help your PR unless the owner ads on one of his main pages.