Link Building

1. Link Building Winning With Google

2. New Development At Google Last week Google announced SearchWiki Users rate results upand down the SERPS http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/searchwiki-make-search-your-own.html

3. The Mindset Web is the web because of a series of links.  The Internet is social. A means of sharing information and connecting.  Recent estimate = 57 trillion links on the internet.

4. The Value of Links Every link = degree of trust and authority reputation = text For link equity must not be no-follow

5. Equity And Reputation No. of links = Authority & Equity Text of link = Reputation image link = authority, but not reputation

6. Search Engines Want links to be honest relevant recommendations. The wisdom of crowds.

7. Problem is... People will try to influence results to their wishes. So just as in political elections nations have developed ways to limit one vote to one person. Search engines have to try to emulate this. To do this they have to detect the ways that people are able to cast multiple votes.  Eg linking schemes, multiple sites, throwaway blogs etc.

8. Not All Links Are Equal Most relevant links tend to be in body text. Sidebar links generally are static across site and due to friendship or affiliate/advertising relationship, so less relevant than something talked about in body. Pages change in ranking, trust and authority. High quality, but undiscovered sites can become more valuable than they seem to be now.

9. Unnatural Links Hacked sites Blog comment spam Guestbooks etc Content sharing/Throwaway blog links Reciprocal links Paid Links

10. Paid Links Can buy links through bloggers, high traffic sites reviews etc your domain will be viewed with suspicion and so other links may be ignored. Directories

11. Avoid Tricking Search Engines Search engines have hundreds of people working full time to detect and remove all these tricks from influencing search results.  They hold summits and conferences where they share their findings and initiatives.  To keep updated follow; Mattcutts.com/blog

12. So how to build links. If the web is a series of links.  And you want more links. Become a more prominent part of the web and spread out your network.  Everyday you should be found in more and more of the places that conversations about your subject are taking place.

13. Places To Expand Your Presence Blogs Websites Forums Social Networking sites Podcasts Video Sharing sites Content Sharing Sites Image Sharing sites Press Releases Product review sites

14. The More You Do, The More You Become Known Everything that you do does two things. It introduces you to new people, some of whom have websites/blogs or other influence in your marketplace.  The second thing is it leaves another trail to you in the form of links. The more people keep coming across your name, the more they believe you to be a more dominant player in your marketplace. And so you create authority and trust and so you get talked about more.

15. Depth vs Breadth Few people continously come up with new insights/techniques So syndicating same ideas in different places/formats/forms increases market penetration.

16. Presence = Probability Remember Page Rank is based on the probability to someone randomly stumbling about the web finding your page. So their equation is geared up to measure your presence and reputation. Therefore everything you do brings you links. Even no-follow links have some value. PPC lead people to your site. Some people aren't in the market to buy, but are looking for ideas, for affiliate programs, for Consultants or Partners and for industry sources. So can lead to links from blog posts, forum comments, reviews and polls etc.

17. Promotion vs SEO Create lots of promotions and aside benefit will be extra links.  More revenue =  more promotions =  more links.

18. Don't Go Bust If links cost money they reduce profitability and there's a point where you have to stop competing because it becomes too expensive.  If getting links make a profit or at least break even, you'll have more resources to promote more and so generate more links.

19. It Gets Easier At The Top Once get more traffic, link building becomes easier because more visible and more credible.

20. Where Are You Now Check links in Yahoo Site Explorer & Google Webmaster Can also use tools such as SEO Elite to analyse links Free tools; gregboser.com/downloads Backlink Analyser  tools.seobook.com

21. Tools Help Analyse; unique sites unique C Block sites Outbound links on the page Inbound links Site traffic levels

22. General Rule of Thumb more inbound links  + more pages indexed  = outrank competition

23. Two Types of Linkbuilding; Authority = quantity Reputation = anchor text quality.

24. Tip For Link Targets Find where competition is getting their links from.  Analyse what people are linking to and why Need an edge, competitive advantage.

25. Link Building Strategies Campaigns For Links

26. Content Sharing Sites As explained last week. Create pages on sites such as Squidoo & Hubpages Randomly link them together to increase authority and link to own domain content pages. Not Home Page.

27. Good Starting Place Because seems unnatural to get authority links to a new site. Instead appears content is being found and linked to. Then it is more natural to gain other links.

28. Remember; Google etc monitor pattern of acquiring links Too good, too soon, can appear unnatural. Steady growth beats feast and famine.

29. Article Distribution Write 600-1,200 word article.  Best quality will rise up rankings. Might want to write on more general topics, gain interest Link & ad in resource box, bio Best article directory = ezine articles Isnare.com,article announcer = distribute articles

30. Creating Link Bait Needs to be great quality.  Impossible to sell rubbish. What could you create that people in your market would find so useful that they would send people to you so they can use it free; How to plan a wedding? How to budget your finances? Power list/Rich list/Media contacts 100 best plug ins Top 10 myths in...

31. Possible Link Bait/Viral Ideas Facebook applications Firefox Ad-ins Widgets - http://sproutbuilder.com/ software Wordpress Plug-ins/Themes Quiz Spreadsheet tools 30 day challenge Tutorials Resource Lists Reports

32. Obvious Backlinks Software can then be distributed to hundreds of software download sites with links back to you. Plug ins get directory listings and so on.

33. Additional Tips Content/tools must be of great quality to create wow factor or won't spread. Add in viral/tell a friend scripts to make it easier to spread. Build anticipation, create excitement.

34. Have to Promote It Have to sell even free stuff.  Go to Giveaway of the day and read comments for an idea of impression free junk makes. People value time and get angry if it's wasted. Collect Names & get permission. Link for free content is ok. Hidden links or misleading links = observed by manual reviewer how will they view it.

35. Viral Marketing Hotmail, videos word of mouth magnified by easier sharing. Depends on copulation rate = Ave no. of people referred per viewer More than 1 = potential for viral growth Difficult for most people However general concepts useful for everyone Basically boils down to having something genuinely innovative, easily understood and removing friction Read the Tipping Point and Made To Stick

36. Directory Submissions Mainly add PR to site because link to Home Page and so spreads to other pages through internal links. Major Directories pass trust because have editorial standards and so your site has passed first obstacle. DMOZ – Primary directory, but very difficult to be included. Look for category with Editor. Don't try more than once within 6 months. Yahoo - $299 with no guarantees. Possibly worth it for traffic anyway and powerful endorsement. Check standards and follow guidelines. Site must be of good quality or excluded. If relevant for more than one category, pick one with least other sites .

37. Other Good Minor Directories; Best of The Web Gimpsy GoGuides Jayde Skaffe Starting Point

38. Before Paying For Listing; Check category page where you will be listed is indexed by searching google for; info: full url

39. Find Topical Directories; searchengineguide.com  http://www.isedb.com/html/Web_Directories/Specialty_Directories/ or by searching topic directory topic directory suggest/submit etc Possibly multiple categories

40. Blogging Extra content Internal links Builds relationships with Readers and fellow Bloggers RSS Newsfeed builds links Anchor text links to own pages in RSS feeds leads to spreading more links across the web. Building Relationships leads to new projects, people talking about you and collaborative efforts.

41. Find The Connectors In every market, there are the people who direct people to helpful information.  Can find them because they will link to multiple sites in your topic area. Then attract attention to pages that would most cause them to be interested in you/link to page. To find these use Hub Finder at; tools.seobook.com

42. Find The Water Cooler Find the gathering places, social networks, blogs and forums. By commenting and genuinely helping you will become respected and people will become interested in you and your site.  Use Google Alerts Technorati Google Blogsearch Digg Stumble Upon Odeo Youtube

43. Social Networking Facebook 132million users Twitter Ryze LinkedIn Youtube Digg Stumbleupon

44. To Be More Available, Yet Productive Use Hellotxt.com or  http://ping.fm/ to update all your profiles simultaneously

45. Using Facebook Build Groups And Pages Import blog posts as notes Use status updates to involve people Get involved in relevant groups

46. Create Your Own Social Network Facebook Pages Ning.com Buddypress Drupal

47. News/Industry Blogs Submit articles etc. Contact Journalists/Bloggers

48. Or Become The News Blog Start your own news or commentary blog. It gives you a platform and authority.  Blogs are becoming the new magazines. This gives you the ability to go out and contact the most influential people in your market and contact them for comments or interviews.

49. Easiest Ways to Get Links/Attention From Industry Leaders Publish an interview with them Give award/rank them in a survey on the most authoritative/influential people in your market.  Think Times Rich list/ Hollywood Power list for your Industry. Blog about them/their post Comment on their blog repeatedly with insights, points.

50. Public Relations To work again, you need to have something newsworthy. PrWeb, Send2press Paid vs free = announcing vs whispering Don't worry about keywords.  Focus on content. Getting picked up could be huge Keyword in link at end of release Outsource if necessary