Link Building Campaigns: 5 Foundations for Success

Link Building Campaigns: 5 Foundations for

SuccessBy Colby Stream

#SEJThinkTank@PageOnePower

Project Manager at Page One PowerMarried, miniature poodle owner,Enjoys home-brewed beers, Loves re-run marathons of “Doctor Who”.


Colby Stream @ColbyStream

1.In-house Individual2.Independent Contractor3.In-house SEO/Marketing Team4.Independent SEO/Marketing

Agency

Poll 1What best describes the scale

of your SEO efforts?


Link Building Campaigns: 5 Foundations for

SuccessBy Colby Stream


FOUNDATION #1Link Building is an

Upfront Investment


1.Link Building is an Upfront InvestmentIn Time


● First 30 days○ Gathering the contact name and

email of sites where you want a link.

○ Sending initial round of emails.○ Writing articles for publication.

Cory Collins

The transition here is a bit weird. I'd consider bringing slide 8 up. This isn't so much of a "link building is investment" point, but instead more of a count point to the idea of LB being an investment.I can see this being overcome by the presentation. These slides will only support your talking points. But as it stands now, just looking at the order of slides makes it appear to have a rough transition.



● By day 90○ You will have built your first 20-

30 links.○ Google will have indexed and

started attributing value from those links.

○ You will see little movement in rankings and traffic.



● By 6 months○ You can expect to see increases

in ranking and traffic, depending upon your level of competition.

1.Link Building is an Upfront InvestmentIn Personnel


● You need someone to train and manage the project.

● You need more than just a link builder. You need:○ Technical SEO Expert○ Content Creation Expert○ CRO Expert○ Research Expert

1.Link Building is an Upfront Investment


● Pro Tip: Communicate this mindset and expectation to the decision makers in your business.

Cory Collins

I'd consider moving this up. This seems like a beginning point, not an end point.Also, I'd love to see a bit more about the signs the investment is working:- Tracking thematic keywords- Tracking organic traffic - Tracking sitewide keyword rankings- Tracking conversion goals in GAetc.

I hope someone told them it’s going to take

six months to see lasting results.


Colby Stream

If we can prettify this graph, that would be awesome. I can give the numbers if that will be useful for design.But this is what I had in mind, based upon a client's cost and when they told me they would break even (from a year ago).The point I'd be making here is that we started seeing results right at the 6 month mark. I took about another 6 months of those results building to see a break even (and everything from that point on is pretty massive profit).Of course, my talk will include all the necessary caveats about how each campaign is different, [email protected] thoughts?

Cory Collins

Conceptually, I like it. I think you should make sure to include these thoughts in your conversation/presentation of this slide, and if you can include data/anecdotes from several clients all the better.In terms of the actual graph though, I'd shift things slightly. This graph implies there's literally 0 return until the 6 month mark, which is too strong of an assertion.If we're building relevant links, there should be tangible benefits before ranking increases. Things like referral traffic, branding, growing relationships, building future marketing opportunity.Nothing's ever black and white, and I'd speak to that in this slide. Show a few bumps in the graph, but make it clear the real investment takes time.Talk about the intangibles as well as the tangibles. Build the expectation that ROI isn't overnight, but it's expected, and that there will be signs of that investment down the line (some of the intangibles?).That's my 2 cents.

Cory Collins

One other thought: it might be fun to add in some sort of "expectation" line.Show where expectations can go wrong, especially if not corrected. That would allow you to tie back into the "what client's need to understand for a successful campaign" point.

FOUNDATION #2 Get Your Website

Link Building Ready


● Check Technical SEO○ Are you indexed? Plug site:[url] into Google○ Are your Title Tags / Meta Descriptions

Optimized?○ Does Google show Crawl Errors in Search

Console?

2. Get Your Website Link Building Ready


● Check Technical SEO● Link Internally

○ Pull all URLs from backend files○ Use Screaming Frog to identify orphaned

pages



● Be Indexed● Link Internally● Built Top-of-the-Funnel Content

○ Content must look and be authoritative



Just found out my new client’s site has crummy content


FOUNDATION #3 Understand Which

KPIs Matter


● Good campaign metrics○ Ranking increase across several keywords

■ Keeping landing pages in mind

3. Understand Which KPIs Matter


● Good campaign metrics○ Ranking increase across several keywords○ Number of average links across several months



● Good campaign metrics○ Ranking increase across several keywords○ Number of average links across several months○ Traffic increases

■ Google Analytics■ Third-Party Tool (suggest Piwik)



● Good campaign metrics○ Ranking increase across several keywords○ Number of average links across several months○ Traffic increases○ Leads resulting from traffic



● Subpar campaign metrics



● Subpar campaign metrics○ Domain Authority increases



● Subpar campaign metrics○ Domain Authority increases○ Bounce Time & Time On Site



● Subpar campaign metrics○ Domain Authority increases○ Bounce Time & Time On Site○ Ranking of one high-value, very competitive

keyword



● Good link metrics○ TrustFlow & CitationFlow



● Good link metrics○ TrustFlow & CitationFlow○ Website Presentation

■ Is it too advertorial?■ How well designed is the website?■ How well is the content written?



● Good link metrics○ TrustFlow & CitationFlow○ Website Presentation○ Engagement

■ Onsite & Social



● Subpar link metrics○ Any metric that you designate a “make it or

break it” metric



● Subpar link metrics is any metric that you designate a “make it or break it” metric.○ Domain Authority○ Number of links in articles○ Alexa Rank○ PageRank



Hey guys!

What’s a K.P.I. ?!?


FOUNDATION #4 Great Link Building

Involves More Than Link

Acquisition #SEJThinkTank

@PageOnePower

● Regular meetings and feedback between:■ Internal Upper Management and the

person overseeing the campaign■ The person overseeing the campaign and

the link builders■ Other departments and the link builders

4. Great Link Building Involves More Than Link Acquisition


● Regular meetings and feedback● Integration with PR and other departments

○ Link building absolutely cannot take place in a vacuum

4. Great Link Building Involves More Than Link Acquisition


Let me explain

when I say

more.


FOUNDATION #5 Links find their

own level


● You won’t be able to consistently or effectively build to product pages.

5. Links find their own level



● You will need to offer sites a compelling reason (a value proposition) to link to you.




● You will need to offer sites a compelling reason (a value proposition) to link to you.

● This means you need to consistently make your site better to get better links



But I thought

D.A. meant everything

.#SEJThinkTank@PageOnePower

1.Real Lasting Results Take Time 2.Your Website Must be Link

Worthy 3.Understand Which KPIs Matter4.It’s More Than Just Link

Acquisition5.Links Find Their Own Level

RECAP


1.Link building services2.White label agency services3.Link building training program4.Not at this time


Poll 2Would you like to learn more about

Page One Power?


Q&AModerated By

Brent Csutoras

@BrentCsutoras

Managing Partner & Chief Social Media Strategist, Search Engine

Presented By

Colby Stream

@ColbyStream

Project Manager, Page One Power

All background images used via Unsplash: licensed under Creative Commons Zero.Presenter photo courtesy of Page One Power.


Image Attribution

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/