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Page 1: Link Building Fundamentals SMX West 2016

#SMX #14D @Matt_Siltala#SMX #14D @Matt_Siltala

LINK BUILDING FUNDAMENTALSSMX WEST 2016

THE ART & SCIENCE OF BUILDING LINKS

Matt Siltala | Avalaunch Media

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AGENDA

UNNATURALLinks

LINKPopularity

LIGHTNING Round

TACTICSPENALTIES & Disavow

RANKBrain

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Algorithms &LINK POPULARITY

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MOST POPULAR SEARCH ENGINE?Almost 70% of the world uses Google

ExciteLycos

AskAOL

BaiduYahoo

BingGoogle

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Total Market Share

Total Market Share

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Paid

Organic

Domain level links

Page level links

Page Level (Title, tags, content)

Mobile

Query data (long & short clicks)

Social media metrics

Location personalization

HOW ARE PAGES RANKED?Over 200+ factors contribute

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Most of the changes/filters are done to help DEFINE, EVALUATE and RATE links and the pages they come from.

AuthorshipRemoved

Aug 28

“In the News”Box

Oct 01

PenguinEverflux

Dec 10

AuthorshipPhoto Drop

Jun 28

PageLayoutFeb 06

Sep 23

Panda4.1

Dec 22

Pigeon Expands(UK, CA, AU)

Jun 12

Payday Loan 3.0

Oct 17

Penguin3.0

Mar 24

UnnamedUpdate

May 19

Panda4.0

Jul 24

Pigeon

Oct 21

Pirate2.0

May 16

PaydayLoan 2.0

Aug 06

HTTPS/SSLUpdate

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There are four components of link popularity…

LINK POPULARITY

Link popularity measures the quality and quantity of links pointing to a webpage.

Considered an off-page factor.

Engines weigh off-page factors more heavily than on-page*.

SLANG: Link Juice, Link Love, Link Pop, Link Equity

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LINK POPULARITYFour components and a lot of moving parts

QUANTITY QUALITY RELEVANCE ANCHORTEXT

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LINK QUANTITYThe number of links pointing to a webpage from different websites/pages

A

BD

E

YOURWEBSITE

C

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LINK QUALITYDetermined by the authority of the host sites and the sites linking them

XX

C

X

AXX

BXX X

YOURWEBSITE

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LINK QUALITYAll three engines have a formula to measure and compute quality

PageRank™ TrustRank NetRank

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Quality pages have unique characteristics, they show:

WHAT MAKES A QUALITY PAGE?The power of PageRank™ – Yep, it’s still around

Algorithms reward quality and factual accuracy*

AUTHORITY EXPERTISE TRUST

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RELEVANCEEstablishes your topical and/or geographic dominance

Costa Rica Vacation Rentals

Baby Strollers

Diamond rings

petfinder

wfmzpawlooza

huffingtonpost

app.pickering.cadonatenow.networkforgood

peternity

somepuppytolovesaveacat reseausecoursanimalmontrea

LINK: PETFINDER.COM

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RELEVANCERelevance is keyword, relationship and fact based

Relevance factors change constantly as the index grows

Your relationships may influence what is returned

Factual accuracy plays a part in determining relevance

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Anchor text is the clickable part of the link you see My son and my money go to The College of William & Mary My son spends a lot of money buying college text books Visit us at www.poor-parents.org for more information

Anchor text is a query ranking factor

ANCHOR TEXT An endorsement of what is to come

anchor text influences the queries your website ranks for in the search results”

GOOGLE

“ anchor text helps define the theme of a linked page”

BING

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Make your anchor text part of the conversation

ANCHOR TEXTHyperlink when it makes sense

Any links intended to manipulate… a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Additionallym creating links that weren’t editorially placed or vouched for by the site’s owner on a page, otherwise known as unnatural links, can be considered a violation of our guidelines.” - GOOGLE

Doesn’t matter what you do, if Google thinks your inbound links are anything but editorial, YOU LOSE.

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YOUR GOAL WHEN BUILDING LINKS:

QUANTITYof links

QUALITYpages

ANCHORSconversational

RELEVANCEaudience

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UnnaturalLINKS

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Paid links

Large scale guest posting

Low quality directories

Footer links

Template links

“UNNATURAL” LINKS What the search engines (especially Google) want you to avoid

Large-scale reciprocal linking

Press releases

Widgets & badges

Forum drops

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Do not acquire a lot of the same links quickly

Avoid using same anchors over and over

Avoid linking with low quality pages

Avoid placing links in navigation and sponsored areas

WHAT TO AVOIDAvoid these flags and footprints

Avoid pages/sites hosting excessive reciprocals and template links

Avoid sites with excessive Adsense

Don’t make directory links (even niche directories) a large part of your portfolio

Avoid sites with no Contact or About Us info

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THINK BEFORE YOU LINKQuestions to ask

Is the page hosting your link in the search index?

Been cached lately?

Do they use nofollow attributes?

Does the website participate in social media?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Does the webpage rank for relevant keywords?

Is the website tied to a network?

Is the content relevant to my site?

Search “complaint” + URL?

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Penalties &DISAVOW

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GOOGLE PENALTY OR ALGORITHM UPDATENot hard to figure out but bad either way

IF YOUR SITE:

OR

YOU EITHER HAVE:

OR

a manual penalty

affected by changes/filters to an

algorithm

disappeared from the search results

lost ranking

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MANUAL ACTION NOTICEGoogle love notes in your Search Console … not so sweet

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MANUAL ACTIONSTwo Types: site-wide and partial

Unnatural links pointing to your site

Hacked site

User generated spam in your blog/forum

Thin content with no value

Cloaking/spammy redirects

Hidden text/keyword stuffing

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RECONSIDERATIONAsking Google to review your site after manual penalty (request a review)

A good reconsideration request does THREE THINGS: 

Explains the exact quality issue on your site.

Describes the steps you’ve taken to fix the issue.

Documents the outcome of your efforts.

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RANKINGS DROP DUE TO CHANGE IN ALGORITHMHow do you determine which search engine update affected you?

CHECK GOOGLE &Other Analytics

GOOGLE ALGORITHMUpdates History

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STEP

01

STEP

02STEP

03STEP

04STEP

05

Pull BacklinksUse links from WMT and at least one commercial tool.

Audit BacklinksList unnatural links in spreadsheet

Contact InfoUse a tool like URLProfiler to pull email from list of unnatural links

Reach OutAsk to removeRepeat after 10 daysList no responses (provide details!)

DisavowAsk Google not to take low-quality links into account when assessing.

It takes Google some time to process the information you’ve uploaded, (weeks!), these links will continue to be shown in your Search Console.

DISAVOWCleaning up and disavowing links

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Watch your backlinks like you watch your rankings!

RANKINGS DROPWatch, watch, watch

BE PROACTIVE, DON’T WAIT FOR A SLAP DOWN!

Analyze your website’s backlinks and identify what caused your rankings drop.

Once you identify the links, try to remove them.

Disavow the ones you cannot get removed.

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Link BuildingTACTICS

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It is less about what you do and more about where.

Links help get you ranked but clicks show you deserve to be there.

You need to have something worth linking to.

REMEMBER THESE 3 SIMPLE FACTSIn link building

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QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU LINKAnd some tools to help

Does the page rank well?RankRanger AuthorityLabs

Does the site have a varied backlink portfolio?

RavenTools SEOBook Tool Set OSE

Cache date recent?CachedPages (free)

Content relevant to yours?Buzzstream

Inbound links use a wide variety of anchors?

MajesticSEMRushBacklinkWatch (free)

Lots of social signals from several networks?

SendibleBuzzsumo

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Un-Linked Mentions

Citation Building

Resource Pages

Image Gifting

Image Galleries

Content SourcingAuthor Prospects & Curator Mining

Repurposing Content

Link Roundups

LINK BUILDING TACTICS

Reclaiming Broken LinksContent Outreach(on your site & content you

send away)

Content Marketing Tactics: Foundational Tactics:

Credibility Links

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LINK BUILDING TACTICS: CONTENT MARKETING

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Foundational Tactics:

Reclaiming Broken Links

Un-Linked Mentions

Credibility Links

Citation Building

Resource Pages

Image Gifting

LINK BUILDING TACTICS

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Help position you as a brand expert and credible, factual source

Identify your brand in an ever-growing link graph

Puts you on credible/authority sources

Tend not to change

Inexpensive to acquire

Content marketing SHOULD NOT be your only link building strategy!

FOUNDATIONAL LINKS:Links get you ranked but clicks show you deserve to be there

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Tactic twist: 404 pages

FOUNDATIONAL LINK TACTICS: RECLAIMING BROKEN LINKSTools: Citation Labs | Ontolo Tools | Check my Links (Chrome plug-in) | Fix what’s broke

Ontolo Tools:

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Find unlinked mentions of your brand

Contact webmaster

Ask for hyperlink

NOT A BRAND?

Find unlinked keyword phrases (where it makes sense)

Find mentions of out-of-business competitors

FLT: UNLINKED MENTIONSTalkWalker | RankTank TalkWalker

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.

Find #1 site ranking for your keywords

Copy their name, address and telephone number

Search using quotes

Results are potential sites you can add your information to.

“excel spreadsheet” + citation building

Use competitors to find sources to add your site to

WhiteSpark

TIP

FOUNDATIONAL LINK TACTIC: CITATION BUILDINGTools: WhiteSpark (Mentions of a business by name, address & telephone number)

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Establish trust signals:

FOUNDATIONAL LINK TACTIC: CREDIBILITY LINKSEstablish trust, set expertise

Chamber of Commerce

Industry Associations

Better Business Bureau

Wikipedia*

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Your keyword in url: LINKS

Your keyword in url: RESOURCES

“USEFUL LINKS” your keyword

“HELPFUL LINKS” your keyword

FLT: RESOURCE PAGESFind opportunities on academic & government outlets

Tool: SoloSEO (no charge) use ‘recommended” function

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Search for blog posts and magazine articles using your keywords.

Offer photo at no charge

Own the photo!

FOUNDATIONAL LINK TACTICS: IMAGE GIFTINGGiving the gift of an image to an article that needs it

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Fun images help sell content

Creates memorable content

Stimulates linking!

FLT: IMAGE GOOD, CINEMAGRAPHS BETTER Also known as a .gif

Make your own http://makeagif.com/

Backlink topical gif’s found in directories:http://giphy.com/search/gif-directory

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LINK BUILDING TACTICS: USING CONTENT

Content Outreach (on your site & content you send away)

Image Galleries

Content SourcingAuthor Prospects & Curator Mining

Link Roundups

Repurposing Content

Content Marketing Tactics

Repurposing Content

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Do not over use keyword anchors in posts/articles/biosHyperlink conversationally.

Avoid blog networks.

Do not partner with a blog/site not using social media (especially Google Plus and Twitter)

Do not partner with a blog/site that does not have an active About Us page.

BEST PRACTICE: USING CONTENT TO ATTRACT LINKSDon’t over do the anchors

L

I

N

K

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WHAT IS HOT IN CONTENT OUTREACH?Know what your audience wants to read & where they are reading it

LISTS VIDEOINFOGRAPHICS SURVEYSROUNDUPSPRODUCTReviews

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Written reviews with images are most frequently linked to(the longer the better)

Keep best reviews on your site, promote from there, unless…

Issue press release for substantial reviews

Target social networks for distribution

Bundle reviews into ebooks with email paywall

Reviews dominate on YouTube

CONTENT TACTIC: PRODUCT REVIEWS YOU CREATEHighly sought after written & video content, taps factual

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Search for older reviews

Back link, look for sources

Offer your “newer” review as a source, or

Write a comparison piece

CONTENT TACTIC: PRODUCT REVIEWS BY OTHERSUse what other people have written to gain links

1

2

3

4

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SEARCH FOR:Daily Link Roundup + keyword

Link Roundup + keywordWeekly Link Roundup +

keyword

Identify blogs/sites in your niche doing roundups, contact the owner and show your very best content

Set an alert and let roundups come to you

LINK ROUNDUPSA collection of favorite posts from around the web

Ask to have your content included in the roundup

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LINK ROUNDUPS

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CONTENT TACTIC: IMAGE GALLERIESLet news media & publishers know. Conceptual, factual, & historical images

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CONTENT TACTIC: FLICKR GALLERIESUse Flickr to find images to backlink, or host your image gallery

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CONTENT TACTIC: RECLAIMING IMAGESAsking webmasters to link to images they “borrow”

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CONTENT TACTIC: CURATOR MININGGet your content added to curation outlet, use to find new sources

Paper.li“paper.li + keyword”

Rebel Mouse“rebelmouse + kw”

FlipBoard“flipboard + kw”

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CONTENT TACTIC: USING PINTERESTLook for sources to host your content, look for writers, get yourself pinned

47%RECOMMENDED

RATE

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Tool Tip: https://drive.google.com/templates

CONTENT TACTIC: AUTHOR PROSPECTINGFind the writers, find the sources, hire them to write for you

FREELANCEWRITER

+ KeywordEDITOR

+ KeywordCONTRIBUTOR

+ KeywordCOLUMNIST + Keyword

GUIDE + Keyword

WRITER+ Keyword

AUTHOR+ Keyword

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CONTENT TACTIC: TRANSLATING CONTENTTranslate or add subtitles to audio/visual content, promote on media/social networks, look for “multicultural” and “international”

WEBINAR PODCAST VIDEO

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In-depth article with images. Evergreen piece.

PRODUCT REVIEW Create presentation on

each section, add to SlideShare.

PRESENTATION SOCIAL MEDIA SNIPPETS

Each blog post covers a section of

the review.

MULTIPLE BLOG POSTS Create infographic

using steps in product review

INFOGRAPHICExtended G+ posts, Tweet

series, posts on FB

CONTENT TACTIC: REPURPOSING CONTENTReach wider audience, attract links, drive more traffic, avoids duplicate content issues

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LightningROUND

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Keep the key components of link popularity in mind when building links.

Don’t scrimp on a copywriter.

Make sure your links sit on mobile friendly sites/pages.

Invest in SEO/link tools after using free trials.

Create evergreen content that has been personalized for your target audience.

Add email capture to everything, look into “content for a tweet”.

Create “Knowledge Vault” quality content, Rank Brain.

Site uses nofollow but the link is worth having? Point it to your social profiles for traffic.

LIGHTNING ROUND: INSIGHTS 2015

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Contests, sponsorships, scholarships, etc – all good ideas but one-off, time sensitive tactics.

Follow key media on Twitter and LinkedIn. Engage!

Fax press releases directly to media, forget the press release submission outlets.

Local media outlets love, love, love interviews.

Media doesn’t link out except when they have to. Images are that exception.

HARO (Help A Reporter Out) great resource but be quick! <3 hours

HARO not the only site of its kind, do “similar” search

LIGHTNING ROUNDGood tips

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Keep an eye on the sites ranking behind you.

Yes, that’s right, behind you.

They are the webmasters looking to unseat you, they want your spot in the serps.

Watch what they are doing, follow on social media.

Load their domain/brand names in your alert services.

LIGHTNING ROUNDMy best tips

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#SMX #14D @Matt_SiltalaMATT SILTALAAvalaunch Media

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

THANK YOU! - HENRY FORD

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https://www.netmarketshare.com/search-engine-market-share.aspx?qprid=4&qpcustomd=0

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/03/get-more-complete-picture-about-how.html

http://www.bing.com/webmaster/help/webmaster-guidelines-30fba23a

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1502.03519v1.pdf

http://makeagif.com/

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2014/03/pinterest-encourages-shoppers-with-new-gift-feed.html

http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/flickr-stats/

RESOURCES


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