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“Hands On Approach to Link Building”
Peter van der Graaf
Workshop
1. The importance of links2. Three stages of link building3. Link requirements
-- Coffee break --4. Strategy planning5. Execution6. Monitoring and continuing relations
Today’s programme
Are links really that important?
1. The importance of links
• Technical guidelines– Is the site readable and understandable by
machines?
• Content in text or other formats– What is this content piece about?
• Opinions of others– Is this source important?
SEO ingredients
The ideal situation
A hands on approach to link building
2. Three stages of link acquisition
1. Preparation and research
2. Link bait creation
3. Distribution
Logical steps
Preparation and research
3. Link requirements
• Good links have RAT– Relevance– Authority– Transfer
Characteristics of a good link
Relevance
Domain authority
Linkpower transfer
1/3
1/12
1/2
1/8 nofollow
• Link profile: The full collection of incoming links
• What is a natural link profile buildup?– Both masses and authorities– Both relevant and irrelevant– Both perfect and seemingly worthless– Don’t depend too heavily on one type
What is a link profile?
Acquisition timing
link acquisition
ranking effect
quick link acquisition
time
normal link acquisition
time
social media links
time
• Value is reduced for single link or all similar links• Link source could risk penalties (not the target)
• Common unnatural characteristic– Block duplication
• Bigger block, more pages, more sources = more certain• Certainty determines dampening strength
– Round Robin• Link network without external links• Single ownership/hosting/etc.
Unnatural links
Analyzing your link profile
• Where should you spend yourlink building effort?
• Desired search terms– Search volume and chance of conversion– Conversion value and ROI timeframe certainty
• Theme clustering– Linkbuilding effect is broad!
Link building goals
Link building effect on search phrases
any dedicated page will rank
dedicated page high in navigation or some link building required
link building needed
heavy link building needed
authority links
broad thematic links
very specific links
required effort from current situation
• Screening a top-10– Chance on a top-10 position?– Top-10 requirements?
• Additional amount• Theme of additional links• Authority or masses
Competitive analysis
many toolbarslimited sources
Potential link partners
1. Finding potential link partners
2. Categorizing them by possible approaches
• Current– Links– Partners– Name occurences
• Scoring for search term(s) (narrow or broad)• Linking to your competitor• Generic authorities
– Sites like big companies, press and news, government, charitable organisations andsocial platforms
• Set alerts for future articles
Finding potential link partners
• What person is behind this website?• What do they already link to?
– Bing “linkfromdomain:domain.com”– Can I provide a simular type of
information/trade?
• How competitive are they with me?• Would the same approach work on the
entire group?
Categorizing link partners
Back in ... minutes?
-- Coffee break --
• Existing links• Search terms• Competition• Best link partner groups
What is your situation?
What makes us linkable?
4. Strategy planning
• Get the mindset of a link builder– Example strategies for any industry
• Choosing the right strategy for the right job– Managing budget, link partner type, reputation
risk and chance of success
Strategy choice
Strategy: Cold mailingDear webmaster,
I love your website and would like to know if you’d want to place a link to mine.http://www.mysite.com
If needed I can place a link back to you. This will help your ranking in Google.
Kind regards,
John Doe
$Hello Mike,
It seems we’re both Yankees fans and I agree Girardi should be replaced. Keep up the good work on your baseball blog.
I just created a plugin that would be perfect for your loans website (loans.info). It instantly shows interest rates for all mayor banks and is very easy to implement. I placed helpful instructions on http://www.mysite.com/plugin.htm
Let me know if you need any help or would like additional features in the next version.
Kind regards,
John Doe
Strategy: Cold mailing (personalization)
% s
ucce
ssfu
l req
uest
s
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Travel client Finance client Casino client
Dear webmaster,
Hello John,
I'm a … fan too
Strategy: Optimizing existing links
Strategy: Link trade
• Can you arrange an uneven trade?• Promotion vs link value
– Give promotion (testimonial), link not always needed
– Make sure you recieve link value– Yes, reciprocal links are dampened!
Strategy: Link trade
Provide additional value fortheir visitors
Strategy: Visitors
Strategy: Visitors - information
Strategy: Visitors – discount
Strategy: Visitors - tool
Provide additional value for webmasters or site owners
Strategy: Webmasters
• “I want the link exactly like this: ...”• Make sure there aren’t any paid link signs
– Other links are notorious buyers?– Block type duplication?– Best: site-wide link to an exit-page
Strategy: Webmaster - money
• Alternative form of paid link– No recurring fee!
• Own product sample (ex. for online review)
• Desirable gadgets (ex. i-pad)• Sponsored conference tickets
Strategy: Webmaster - goods
• “If you place this link you’ll recieve ...”• For the masses (ex. Blogs)
Strategy: Webmaster - discount
• Big news portals are generic authorities• Every industry has specific news sites• Competitors might show industry news
• Editorial news vs gathered news– Give scoops and additional assistance– Spread through newswires– Spread through news feeds
Strategy: Press - news sites
Strategy: Press - research
• Reduced or no branding (goes for all linkable content)
• Links from slightly competing sites?• Links from journalistic sites?• Who links to one brand recieves more
requests
Strategy: Satellite - impartial
• Offer an arena for two sides to combat in• Make sure both sides keep interested• Connect a search term to each battle• After reaching critical mass the platform
will run by itself
Strategy: Satellite - social platform
Strategy: Satellite - protest
• Value is in the eye of the beholder• Opportunities can be found in many places
– Bankruptcies– Old campaigns or events– “site:2009.com”
• Current positions can be taken over• Some activities may trigger resets
Strategy: Domain buying
When is a strategy the right one?
Strategy choice
• Risk (range determined by client)
Would they risk a good reputation?• Budget (maximum determined by client)
What revenue could a top position bring them?• Chances of success (desires determined by client)
How certain must a successful outcome be?• Link type (need determined by link profile and competition)
Does ranking require masses or authority?• Potential link partner softspots
What influences your strategy choice?
Reputation riskgo
od b
ackg
roun
d in
form
atio
n
vira
l
pres
s re
leas
e
Reputation risk by strategy
satellitesite-viralsatellitesite-protest
satellitesite- impartialacompetition
linktradesatellitesite-social platform
pressreleaseresearch
coldmailinggoodbackground information
optimizingexisting linkspaid links
trade-discounttrade-sample
trade-productforvisitors-discount
forvisitors- lotteryforvisitors- tooldomainbuying
Budget and effortop
timiz
ing
exis
ting
links
paid
link
s
rese
arch
Budget and effort by strategy
paid linksacompetition
trade-productdomainbuyingtrade-discounttrade-sample
forvisitors- lotteryforvisitors- tool
satellitesite-viralsatellitesite-protest
satellitesite- impartialsatellitesite-social platform
pressreleaseresearch
goodbackground informationforvisitors-discount
linktradecoldmailing
optimizingexisting links
Certainty of a successfull outcome
dom
ain
buyi
ng
cold
mai
ling
impa
rtia
l sat
ellit
e si
te
Chances of success by strategy
paid linkstrade-productdomainbuyingtrade-discounttrade-sample
forvisitors-discountlinktrade
optimizingexisting linksforvisitors- lottery
forvisitors- toolsatellitesite- impartial
researchacompetition
satellitesite-protestsatellitesite-social platform
pressreleasegoodbackground information
satellitesite-viralcoldmailing
• Link partner group (small scan on search term)
• Risk, budget and certainty• Possibilities• Concrete strategy
What is your situation?
From strategy to links
5. Execution
• Link bait creation
• Distribution– Creating contact lists (most strategies)– Reaching possible link partners– Administration for successrates
Stages of execution
• Required skillsEmpathy, copywriting skills, research skills and media knowledge
• The ideal link building team– Mass mailing team (personalization vs cheap
labour)– Strategist (overall and for callscripts)– Client/company representatives
• Administration for discounts and such• Webmasters for mutual promotion• Content managers for linkable copy
• Outsourcing?
A link building team
Monitoring and continuing relations
6. Relations
Good relations build great links
• Re-usable assets?– Meet industry trendsetters
• Continuing placement and importance?– Maintain relations with important link partners
• Changing focus?– Would someone edit your existing link?
• The testimonial effect?– Existing links grow links!
Can you apply this to your website?
Questions?