link building fundamentals: the art & science of building links by debra mastaler

#SMX 11D @debramastaler

Debra Mastaler Alliance-Link.com

Link Building Fundamentals

The Art & Science of Building Links


Link Building Is So Hard.


Getting people’s attention is hard.(really hard)


TutorialsPredictions

ArticlesMicrosites

InfographicsQuizzes Courses

VideoTop Ten

White papersPolls

QuoteseBooksDemos

Blog PostsComparisons

InterviewsStorytelling

ImagesRound Ups

SurveysCinemograph's

ComicsNew jacking

Opinion PiecesGiveaways

Coupons

TimelinesPin boards

Parody postsLists

Case studiesReviewsTweets

Slide decksNews jacking

How to


Smartphone users:

Spend less time browsing a site

Are less likely to perform desirable actions -- like linking L


Link Popularity

Links to Avoid

Penalties and Disavow

Tactics

Lightening Round

What We’ll Cover Today


Most Popular Search Engine? (2/2017)

Source: @Statistacharts


What Makes A Page Rank?

Paid

Featured snippet

ü Domain & page level links

ü Page level content (Title, tags, etc.)

ü Machine learning (Rank Brain)

ü Query click data

ü Site load speed

ü Location personalization

ü HTTPS

üAnother 197+ factors


Why Links are ValuableLink P pularity


What Is Link Popularity?

Link popularity (link authority) 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


Link Popularity

Quantity

Quality

Anchor Text

Relevance

There Are Four Components


Link Quantity The number of links pointing to a webpage from “outside” pages


Link Quality Determined by the authority of the host sites and sites linking to them.

My Website

Site ASite X

Site Y

Site B Site Z

PAGERANK™


§ Rank well

§ Topic expertise

§ Linked to frequently by trusted sources

§ Clicked on frequently

§ Relevant to the query

What Makes A Quality Page?


Relevance Establishes your topical and/or geographic focus

Business Coaching


Relevance Partner with similar sites

SomePuppyToLove

Peternity

Pawlooza

Costa Rica Vacations

Baby StrollersSaveACat

Petco


My daughter and my money go to Villanova University.

My daughter spends a lot of money buying college text books.

Visit www.poor-parents.org for more information.

Anchor Text An Endorsement of What’s To Come | Query Ranking Factor

Google…”anchor text influences the queries your website

ranks for in the search results.

…”anchor text helps define the theme of a

linked page”Bing


3 Pieces of Anchor Text Wisdom

§ Hyperlink when it makes sense, don’t over do it.

§ Make your anchor text conversational

§ Doesn’t matter what you do, if Google *thinks* your inbound

links are anything but editorial, you may lose.


1. Attract a large quantity of links from

2. Quality and

3. Relevant pages using smart and

4. Conversational anchor text

Your Goals When Building Links


Links To Avoid

Word.


Paid links

Large scale guest posting

Low quality directories

Footer links

Template links

Links Google Frowns On: From Google’s guidelines

Large-scale reciprocal linking

Spamming with press release

Blanket widgets and badges

Forced forum drops

Tee shirts for links


Flags and Footprints

Do not acquire a lot of the same links quickly

Avoid using same anchors over and over

Avoid linking with low quality pages

Use nofollow attributes on “sponsored links”

Avoid pages/sites hosting excessive reciprocals and template links

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

Avoid sites with excessive Adsense

Avoid sites with no Contact/About Us information's info


Questions To Ponder Before Placing Links

Is the page hosting your link ranking “well” in the search results?

Do they use no follow attributes?

Does the website participate in social media?

Is the website tied to a network?

Did you search “complaint” + URL/name of owner/site?

Does the site load quickly, come with HTTPS?

Is the other guy’s content relevant to

mine?


Penalties & Disavows


Penalty or Algorithm Update? Stinks either way.

Lost Ranking?(ouch!)

Affected by algorithm

changes/filters

Disappeared from search results

(poof!)

Manual penalty


Step 1 Pull backlinks from Search Console and at least one other tool

Step 2 Identify “bad” links, contact owner for removal

Step 3 Document everything you do

Step 4 Disavow if they won’t remove Or Hope Google really does ignore bad links

Disavow Anyhow


Link Building Tactics


4 Link Building Tips To Tape To Your Monitor

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

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

Have something worth linking to and the links will come.

Start with what works.


Tactic Benefits

§ Help position you as a credible source

§ Link with authority sources

§ Rarely change

§ Inexpensive

§ It’s not just content, content, content!

Foundational Linking Tactics

§ Reclaiming broken links

§ Reclaiming borrowed images

§ Resource pages

§ Image gifting


Resource Pages Find opportunities on government and academic outlets

“Links on this page will take you away from” + keyword

Keyword + “resources”

“Useful links” + keyword

“Helpful links” + keyword


Reclaiming Broken Links

Check My Links (free Chrome plug-in)

Focus on resource pages and guides first


Reclaiming Unlinked Images

“Image courtesy of” + URL/name34/9


Image GiftingGiving images to content that needs it!


Link Building Using Content

Tactics Best Practice

§ Go easy on keyword rich anchor text

§ Avoid blog networks

§ Look for complete About Us

§ Look for full Contact info

§ Keywords in the Title or Company name?

§ Reviews you write

§ Reviews others write

§ Media & press releases

§ Link roundups

§ Wikipedia


Back Linking Wikipedia For Links

Offer similar content


Reviews You Write

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

§ Issue press release for substantial reviews

§ Bundle reviews into ebooks

§ Create a video teaser for each review, add to YouTube

§ Great review? Consider promoting via Facebook ads


Reviews Others Write Use what other people have written to gain links

Search for older reviews

Back link, look for sources

Offer your “new and improved” review or

Write a comparison piece


Getting Links From The Media Via Interviews

HARO (Help A Reporter Out), plus+

§ SourceBottle.com (free)

§ PitchRate.com (free)

§ ExpertiseFinder.com ($)

§ MediaKitty.com ($)

§ ProfNet (prnewswire.com/profnet) ($)

Surveys Case Studies

Images/Video Factual rebuttal

Newsjacking


Back Linking Press Releases Back link press releases from major brands, find sources. Submit releases directly


Link RoundupsA collection of favorite posts from around the Web

1. Search queries 2. Add your content 3. Set an alert

Search Strings:Daily Link Roundup + keyword

Link Roundup + keyword

Weekly Link Roundup + keyword

Web Roundup + keyword

Set an alert and let roundups come to you


Lightning Round


Key Insights

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

§ Don’t scrimp on a copywriter.

§ 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”.

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

§ Lessen dependency on Google, look into search verticals like Trip Advisor and Yelp.


Key Insights, 2

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

• Follow key media on Twitter and LinkedIn. Engage and stalk their Lists!

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

• Local media outlets love, love, love interviews and factual content.

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

• HARO (Help A Reporter Out) and others great resources but be quick! <1 hours

• Forums are worthless for link building but priceless for finding influencers


Key Insights 3

Keep an eye on the sites ranking behind you.

Yes, that’s right, behind you.

They are webmasters looking to move ahead.

Watch what they are doing, follow on social media.

Load their domain/brand names in your alert services


LEARN MORE: UPCOMING @SMX EVENTS

THANK YOU! Debra Mastaler

www.Alliance-Link.com

link building fundamentals: the art & science of building links by debra mastaler

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