why every marketer needs a new link building strategy
DESCRIPTION
Why Every Marketer Needs a New Link Building Strategy. Arnie Kuenn's presentation to the MnSearch organization in Minneapolis on 4-24-12.TRANSCRIPT
Why Every Marketer Needs a New Link Building StrategyARNIE KUENN, PRESIDENT, VERTICAL MEASURES - @ARNIEK
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
About Your Presenter…
• President of Vertical Measures - Offering SEO, Link Building, Social Media & Content Marketing Services
• Instructor for the Content Marketing Institute & Online Marketing Institute
• Author of Accelerate! Move Your Business Forward Through the Convergence of Search, Social and Content Marketing
Available on Amazon
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Few Questions…
• How many of you are SEOs?• How many of you are link builders?• How many of you hate link building?• How many of you are here to learn the secret
to easy, powerful link building?
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Why Invest In Search?
• 93% of all buyers online or in stores use search prior to making a purchase
• 86% of searchers conduct non-branded queries.
• 94% of buyers click on organic links versus 6% on paid links for branded queries.
Sources: GroupM, Did-it, Enquiro, and Eyetools.
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Optimization – Core Elements
• Content is found through social media and search engines – so optimize it!
• Web pages, News, Local, Images & Videos1. Links pointing to your content2. Titles & title tags (viewed in results)3. Description meta tag (viewed in results)4. Image alt text tags 5. H1 Tag (headline tag – only one!)6. URL structure (short & include KW’s)7. Page load times
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Search Optimization Elements
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Biggest Factor is Still Inbound Links
• The best links:– Are from trusted sites
– Have proper anchor text
– Have varied anchor text
– Are from many different domains
– Determined editorially
• Some standards to look for:– Link within relevant content
– Page that receives traffic & is cached
– Page that has inbound links
– Do Follow
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
What are Bad Links?
• Multiple links to same site from same page • From same pages that have PPC – porn, pills and
casino links• Non-relevant or spammy footer links• Links from networks• Links on obvious links pages• Forum or blog comment spam• Too much exact anchor text
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Manual Link Building
• Identify low hanging fruit– Internal links– Blog & forum participation (next slide)
• Ask your clients & suppliers for links!– Offer t-shirts, gift cards, discounts, etc. – Or even a good old fashion reciprocal link
• Article or blog post placement • Purchase or rent links (caution!)
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Google’s Discussions in Search
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Manual Link Building• Link Recovery or Reclamation • Widgets or Badges• Competitive research for similar content
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Manual Link Building
• Use search operators to find opportunities– allintitle:hiking boots– allinurl:hiking boots– allintext:hiking boots– hiking boots guest blog post writer– hiking boots submit article– hiking boots submit post– hiking boots submit blog post
http://bit.ly/7waysKW
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
More Search Queries…• Industry/Niche+Jobs (e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=graphic+design+jobs)• Industry/Niche+Jobs+City (e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=zookeeper+jobs+florida)• Industry/Niche+Employers (e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=publishing+employers)• Industry/Niche+Recruiting (e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=financial+recruiters)• City+Job+Board (e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=denver+job+board)• City+Job+Postings (e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=denver+job+postings)
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/nonintuitive-search-queries-resources-for-link-building
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Guest Authoring
• Guest Author (e.g. https://www.google.com/search?q=%22guest+author%22)
• Industry/Niche+Guest+Author (e.g. https://www.google.com/search?q=recipe+%22guest+author%22)
• Industry/Niche+Guest+Writer (e.g. https://www.google.com/search?q=fashion+%22guest+writer%22)
• Industry/Niche+Guest+Contributor (e.g. https://www.google.com/search?q=scifi+%22guest+contributor%22)
• Industry/Niche+Guest+Editorial (e.g. https://www.google.com/search?q=cars+%22guest+editorial%22)
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Link Attraction for Great Backlinks!
• Links are given freely based on content that is so good, that it gets referenced on many websites.
• Create Interesting, Fun, Engaging Content– Quality Links from a variety of sources– Natural, editorially given links– Generate traffic to your website– No Risk!
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Many Types of Content Attract Links
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
They Don’t All Have to Be Grand Slams
Here are several “non-brand” examples….
Hit a bunch of singles!
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Videos Attract Links
5,473 backlinks from 54 unique domains
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Interviews Attract Links
133 backlinks from 47 unique domains
35 backlinks from 16 unique domains
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Free eBooks Attract Links
208 backlinks from 57 unique domains
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Contests Attract Links
282 backlinks from 36 unique domains
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Infographics Attract Links
77 backlinks from 33 unique domains
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Lists Work Really Well
147 backlinks from 43 unique domainshttp://www.verticalmeasures.com/link-building/top-100-link-building-resources/
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Solid Blog Posts Attract Links
1,173 backlinks from 510 unique domains Grand
Slam!
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Key Findings
• Posts with videos included will attract almost 3 times more ILDs than a plain text post.
• Posts with all three media types (videos, images, and lists) will attract almost 6 times more ILDs than a plain text post.
• Posts with between 1800 and 3000 words will attract more than 15 times more ILDs than a post with less than 600 words.
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
What About Social Media?
• Mentions & Shares are signals (especially G+)• Citations influence the rankings for your website• Provide Backlinks (but short term value)• Helps with promoting content to get additional
links (link attraction)
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Link Attraction - Summary
• Be patient and keep producing engaging content
• Don’t count on the viral effect, you can’t force it
• Think long-tail and solve your customers problems with your content
• Promote the good stuff• Do the math!
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Wrap Up
• Backlinks and social mentions are critical to search rankings
• Try to split your link building efforts/budget– 50% Manual Link Building– 50% Link Attraction through content
development and promotion• Optimize Your Content!– Title Tags, Meta Descriptions and H1 are critical
• It’s all about engaging content now!
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Thank You!
PAID FOR BY THE COALITION FOR BETTER WEB CONTENT
APPROVED BY ARNIE KUENN
@ArnieK #MnSearch@ArnieK #
Contact: 888-476-1881 www.VerticalMeasures.com
More Traffic. More Leads. More Business.
Questions?