MKT 420 Week 6

Agenda

• Content Marketing• Content and Search• Linking and Link Marketing

Content and Links

• Content=Visibility and reputation online• Links=Higher search ranking

• Don’t seem connected but really are. Why?

Links

• Google looks at links as an editorial endorsement• Means the content is trusted and discovered

independently of search• Wants search to reinforce (an vice versa) user

discovery of content); If something is heavily linked to it must be good. Search engines confirm this by giving the page a higher rank

Page Rank

• Product name for Google’s original search algorithm• PageRank is still a part of the Google algorithm that

deals with search• Mysterious, complicated and difficult to understand

but bottom line is clear: The more links you have from trusted, reliable domains the better off your rank will be but…

• Google is very clear about the potential negative impact of the practice of buying links (even from trusted sources)

So where does this leave us?

• Links are important for ranking highly on organic search

• Quality, unpaid links that show connectedness to other websites are key

• In other words, some links have value and some do not

Valued Links--Direction

• Valued links can be outbound or inbound• Outbound makes the page more worthwhile

because it directs users to other valuable content• Inbound means your content is valued and others• Either way the preference is for links that are anchor

text not images or video. Why?

Valued Links--Relevance

• Links that come from or go to related topics are much more valuable

• A link for a restaurant to a food blog and vice versa is more valuable than a link to a blog about car

• Both have value but the ones that are related in terms of content are the most beneficial

Valued Links--Authority

• Links to and from content with higher authority are valued

• Information value chain• Authoritativeness is measured by trust rankings• Many SEO practitioners avoid links from trusted,

highly authoritative sites because they think the competition limits their visibility which is precisely why they are so valuable!

Valued Links--Trust

• Links to websites that have low trust are a negative search rank indicator!

• Trust is complex but usually tied to a site’s ranking in terms of credibility measured by popularity and other referring TLD’s

Link Value—Other Factors

• Diversity of source (the type of source linking)—Search engines like links from a lot of different things and website types

• Time (new or old?)—Search engines prefer older links as well as how fast the links appeared (link velocity—a bunch of links all at once is a red flag!)

• Link placement (prefer links in prominent places)• TLD’s--.edu and .gov most valued

Link Marketing

• Managing links can literally be a full time job—they are that important!

• Links are oftentimes kept in a database and evaluated over time by SEO managers

• The idea is to consistently and constantly build your links

So links are important…

• How do you get them?

Acquiring links

• Buy them• Reciprocal linking between sites• Emotional content• Valuable content• Business relationship

• The last three are most important and should form the basis of your content strategy

Content creates links

• Content marketing is the key to creating links• Content can be part of the website or a subdomain

that contains deep content (blog) either is valuable

Link campaigns=Content Campaigns

• What content can be added that will foster a belief that your site is entertaining, a trusted information source?

• Content is highly tied to reputation so it should be tied to mission/vision (makes it more authentic)

• When will it be published (content calendar) and what will it contain? Timeliness and relevance are keystone concepts in content marketing

Content marketing is not a quick fix

• Takes time• Requires persistence• Enormous amount of effort in building original

content

Important role of social media

What is content?

• Content is a huge universe• Images, memes, videos, blog posts, articles,

pictures, infographics, curated information, data/statistics, how to’s, quizzes, listicles, product reviews, etc etc.

Content building strategies

• In house • User generated• Guest posts• Social media• Syndicated (purchased or licensed content)• Viral content (this is the top goal of many

businesses especially new ones)

Credibility or Creativity?

• Key to content marketing is creativity and or credibility

• SMEs—What will be so useful in terms of expert advice that people will share?

• What will creatively capture people’s imaginations and compel them to share?

Product reviews and discussions

• Huge source of links• The more people talk about your products or

services online the more links you will develop• Mostly organic; Not much you can do beyond

encourage people to review and rate you and lurking on discussions

Identify sources of links

• Look at competitors (Moz, Majestic, SEMrush)• Brainstorm who will link to you based upon

relevance

Content Audit

• Look at content currently on your site• What’s useful? • Missing?

Develop an editorial strategy

• Audience• Budget• Calendar• Campaigns

Campaign Types

• Guest posting• Viral campaign (video, story, image or meme)• User-generated• Syndicated/purchased• In-house• Social media