avoiding penalties from outdated link building practices by kaila strong
DESCRIPTION
SMX Advanced 2014 Session #SMX #14A - 25 Link Acquisition & Auditing Issues For The Advanced SEO Avoiding Penalties From Outdated Link Building Practices By Kaila Strong @Cliquekaila Of Vertical Measures For more on SEO and link building visit http://searchengineland.comTRANSCRIPT
www.VerticalMeasures.com
AVOIDING PENALTIES FROM OUTDATED LINK BUILDING
PRACTICES Kaila Strong, Sr. Director of SEO Services
@cliquekaila
#SMX #22A
ABOUT YOUR SPEAKER
• VerticalMeasures.com
• Phoenix, AZ
• Search, Social & Content
Marketing Agency
• 5+ years at VM
• Clients Fortune 500 & SMBs
VerticalMeasures.com |
25 LINK ACQUISITION AND SITE AUDIT ISSUES
1.Preventative
2.Link Earning
3.Site Auditing
VerticalMeasures.com |
www.VerticalMeasures.com
MUCH OF WHAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING
DOESN’T WORK ANYMORE AND IT
MAY GET YOU PENALIZED
@cliquekaila
www.VerticalMeasures.com
• Guest blogging
• Comment links
• Forums
• Article marketing
• Press releases
• Social media profiles
• Automated links
• Link wheels
• Reciprocal links
• Exact match anchor text
• Black hat tactics
• Paid links
• Blogroll links
• Paid reviews
• Advertorials
• Content Placements
SCALABILITY > QUALITY
@cliquekaila
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
Link Building is DEAD
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
Or at least the way most have been doing it is…
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
ISSUE #1 You cannot build links the “old” way without
getting penalized today.
www.VerticalMeasures.com
Lots and lots of links isn’t the
secret.
That bread has gone stale.
@cliquekaila
www.VerticalMeasures.com
Time or money?
Content or leverageable assets?
Great product?
Engagement with customers?
Link earning isn’t right for you.
@cliquekaila
DON’T HAVE
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
ISSUE #2 Brand Mentions w/o Link
Preventative or Pre-Emptive Measures
www.VerticalMeasures.com
Tactic
Positive Brand Mention w/o Link
Use of social media
DA 84 PR 7
Live in 2 1/2 Weeks
http://bit.ly/BrandMentions
#2 Brand Mention w/o Link http://www.chicagobusiness.com
PREVENTATIVE
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
ISSUE #3 EDU & GOV Link
Attraction Link Earning & Preventative
www.VerticalMeasures.com
They couldn’t possibly want to link to your site…
or could they?
#3 EDU & GOV Link Attraction
PREVENTATIVE & LINK EARNING
www.VerticalMeasures.com
GOV’s and EDU’s link out if it makes sense!!
#3 EDU & GOV Link Attraction
PREVENTATIVE & LINK EARNING
www.VerticalMeasures.com
@cliquekaila
#3 EDU & GOV Link Attraction
Common Reasons EDU & GOV’s Outlink
• Events
• Sponsors
• Interviews
• Student Resources
• Career Resources
• Curriculum Resources
• Alumni Bios
• Historical References
• Boards/Certifications
• Local Government
• Chamber of Commerce
• Electronic Records
• Related Links
• Safety Resources
• Education Resources
• Nutrition Information
• Hero Spotlights
• Veterans
• Non-profits
• Eco-friendly
• Business Directory
• Utilities
• Free Resources
• Travel and Tourism
• Associations
• School/Job/Residence Transfer Information
• Community Involvement
www.VerticalMeasures.com
@cliquekaila
#3 EDU & GOV Link Attraction
Common Reasons EDU & GOV’s Outlink
• Professional Development
• Faculty Pages
• Dissertation Scholarly Article
• Topical Resource
• Job Partners
• Student Projects
• Local Attractions
• Accreditation
• Libraries
• Franchise Agreements
• Permits
• Emergency Numbers/Hospital Information
• Volunteer Opportunities
• Venues
• Donors
• Expert Resources
• Conferences
• After School Programs
• 501 (B) Corps
• Board of Trustee
• Camps
• Contests
• Giveaways
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
ISSUE #4 Resources & Lists
Link Earning & Preventative
www.VerticalMeasures.com
Tactic
Resource Page
INURL:LINKS
DA 91 PR 5
March 18 Requested
April 24th LIVE
@cliquekaila
#4 Resources & Lists
• Centers for Ethics
• Articles about ethics
• Code of ethics
• Resources about ethics
PREVENTATIVE & LINK EARNING
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
What resource and list pages exist in your
industry?
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
INURL: +
“Industry Keyword” +
Site:
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
ISSUE #5 I can’t convince
webmasters to give me a link.
LINK EARNING
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
• Find the right contact – use advanced search commands!
• Cast away any and all DOUBT
• Avoid using the word “link”
• Test, test, test!
• Brainstorm with your team: Turn No’s into Yes’s Meeting
• Think outside the box to offer value
• Follow up
• Consider social media 1st: follow, subscribe, wait and then contact
#5 Outreach Best Practices to Convince Webmasters
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
ISSUE #6 Should I preemptively
prune and disavow links if I am not in penalty?
PREVENTATIVE & SITE AUDIT
www.VerticalMeasures.com
• If it ain’t broke don’t fix it?
• There are experts who do it successfully!
• Penalty today doesn’t mean no penalty tomorrow
• Future proof your backlinks!
• Consider testing
There were two cases we uncovered where preemptive disavow submission was done and within a week a penalty
notice was received by Google.
@cliquekaila
PREEMPTIVE
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
ISSUE #7 Quality Control issues with BLA, Pruning and
Disavow Process
SITE AUDIT
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
ISSUE #8 Sometimes Google says links are bad… and they
take back their word
SITE AUDIT
www.VerticalMeasures.com @cliquekaila
www.VerticalMeasures.com
• Old link building is dead
• Use prevention tips!
• You can still earn links today
• Work smarter with outreach
• Clean up bad backlinks regardless
• Set up QC procedures EVERYWHERE
• Sometimes Google is wrong – sorry Matt!
SUMMARY
@cliquekaila
www.VerticalMeasures.com
CONTACT US TODAY! 888.476.1881 VERTICALMEASURES.COM [email protected] Kaila Strong, Sr. Director of SEO Services @cliquekaila