Isn’t SEO all about On Page Stuff?

SEO Without Link Building

On Page SEO Summary Establish Relevance! Can’t compete for a term without it Critical to SEO But how do the search engines decide which relevant pages to show first in the results?

Links Are Like Votes in an Election

Who Rank’s First? Joe’s Book Store

Algorithmic Ranking Factors

Links Are Not Created Equal Web Site A Web Site B Killer Link 1 Link 2 …….. …1,000 #1! #2 Search Results

The Flow Of PageRank All pages have a tiny, amount of PageRank Pages gain PageRank from links that point to them

The Flow Of PageRank The page can pass only a portion, f(x), of it’s PageRank to other pages X F(X) PageRank Passable PageRank

PageRank is Split Evenly Between the Links on a Page X Link F(x)*0.5 Not 100% true, but a good working estimate

PageRank is an Iterative Algorithm X Link F(x)*0.5 F(y) Link y y Page A Page B Page C

Google Toolbar View PageRank of current page, once turned on. Available for: – Firefox – Internet Explorer

Toolbar PageRank Not the same as “Real” PageRank Logarithmic scale from 0 to 10 Assigned to web pages, not sites Still, a useful metric Culligan 0 ebay Google Amazon Disney Gap Relative number of pages with PR rating EFFORTEFFORT Sampling of Homepage PageRank Ratings Boston Store

Google Says they use PageRank to Crawl

Role of Relevance Your Page (Used Ford Mustangs) Casino Gambling Online Prescriptions Car and Driver Magazine Ford vehicles.com Low Value High Value

The Concept of Authority A A A All Websites about Used Cars

Search Engines Do Not Count All Links Links they can’t read: – Encrypted JavaScript – In an iFrame Links on pages that they can’t crawl – Can’t find – Marked as NoCrawl in Robots.txt Links marked with NoFollow Attribute

Editorial Citations The algorithm is based on editorially given links You aren’t supposed to buy votes! Must earn the links with quality content/tools/… Citations from relevant trusted authority sites count the most

Why do People Link? Graphic by SEOmoz

The 8 Basic Kinds of Link Building Link Building Methods

#1 – Manual Requests 1.Develop list of relevant sites 2.Research who to contact (and how) 3.Send an (or call) requesting a link Scalability Value Downsides: Hard to scale Use: For high value link building Will you link to us? Hmmm

#2 – Competitive Research 1.Use tools to see who links to your competition 2.Pursue top targets manually 3.Research competitor link building strategies Scalability Value Downsides: Hard to scale Use: For high value Link building, to understand competition How did he get so big?

#3 – Distribute cool tools 1.Create a cool tool 2.Allow other web sites to include it on their site 3.Embed a link back to your site 3rd Party Site Cool Tool Link Back Your Site Scalability Value Downsides: Success uncertain Use: If you have unique and compelling tools

Making Content Easy to Share

#4 – Linkbait and Viral Campaigns 1.Create unique, killer content that every- one wants to link to 2.Let market influ- encers know about it 3.Watch the links roll in Scalability Value Downsides: Success uncertain Use: If you have unique and compelling content BlogMedia Social SiteHobbyist Viral Content

#5 – Content / Data Syndication 1.Create content others may want to place on their sites 2.Offer it to other sites 3.Require links back in return Scalability Value Downsides: finding partners Use: If you have unique and compelling content Your Content Or Data Site 1 Your Site 2 Site 3 Links Back

Infographics Example

Guest Posting Find sites that accept guest posts – “guest post” Determine what content they might want Contact them and offer them that content Write it and deliver it – Write high quality stuff – the effort will pay you back in the long haul Get one or more links back

#6 – Link Reclamation 1.Get a list of 404 errors found by the search engines 2.Determine which ones are from bad external links 3.Request list or 301 redirect Scalability Value Downsides: Hard to scale Use: Always, it’s easy 404 Page Your Site Fixed Link Good Link Source Broken Link

Google Webmaster Tools 404 Report

Strategies to Avoid

#1 – Exchanges and Trades 1.Research relevant sites 2.Figure out how to contact them 3.Suggest trading links Scalability Value Downsides: Search engines can discount Use: Only with quality relevant sites Dude, wanna swap links? Hmmm

#2 – Buy the Links 1.Research relevant sites 2.Figure out how to contact them 3.Suggest trading links Scalability Value Downsides: Search engines want to discount Use: Never Hey Dude,Want some dough? Hmmm

Finding High PageRank Pages

Google Directory Pulls from DMOZ Ordered by Google’s PageRank.

Link Building Tools

Yahoo! Site Explorer Directionally indicative within ~50% Not necessarily followed & in a somewhat random order

SEOmoz’ Open Site Explorer

Open Site Explorer Highly Correlation w/ Rankings Data updates monthly from the Linkscape web index (approx. 60% the size of Google/Bing)

Open Site Explorer Poor Anchor Text Spells Opportunity

Link Intersect Find sites that link to multiple competitors, that don’t point to you.

Top Pages Find which pages are earning links (your own & competitors) 404s? Reclaim them!

Majestic SEO

What is that Link Worth?

Quantitative Metrics # of Linking Root Domains to URL # of Linking Root Domains to Domain Homepage PageRank vs. Domain mozRank URL PageRank vs. URL mozRank # of Links to the Page (Yahoo!, GG Blogsearch, Open Site Explorer) Twitter mentions (Backtweets.com )

Subjective Metrics Brand name reach/recognition Quality of other links on page/site ( Bing - Linkfromdomain ) Attainability and Effort Jumping through Hoops (via WKA on Flickr)

Social Media Optimization Leveraging Social Media to Create Buzz and Links

The Power of the “Linkerati”

Social Media Value PR Channel, much like TV and radio – People use social sites to consume content – Provide useful content and spread your message Customer service channel – Comcast’s Frank Eliason Market Testing / Feedback Oh yes, and links …

Value of Social Links Most do not pass PageRank However, PageRank is not “all” Regular social media placements could be a trust signal – Feeds “query deserves freshness” – However, fades with age The true SEO value is in the signal to influential humans that see you there – And the links that they give you!

Wikipedia If you can, obtain a profile page on Wikipedia – Links to your site do not pass link juice – Builds credibility with media and others Don’t go add it yourself! – Against Wikipedia guidelines – Become a contributor, add lots of value, make friends, establish credibility, then suggest it Must meet notability test Suggest relevant category tags Monitor article changes (trackengine urlywarning).

Wikipedia Summary Wikipedia Scalability Value Downsides: Time investment Use: Only if notable Benefits: Builds Credibility Brings traffic Your Name This guy must be the real deal Play by the rules

Digg / Social News An article that makes the Digg home page: – Can get tens of thousands of visitors – Can get hundreds, or thousands of links Getting there is the hard part Create great content – Use Digg to research other articles on your topic area that have made it Target the audience (13 to 28 year old males) Befriend or hire a top Digger

Digg Strip away commercial links while promoting on Digg Friend popular Diggers. Better yet, get a popular Digger to submit your story. Time your presence on the Digg front page for daylight hours Craft a killer title using this formula from Muhammad Saleem: number + adjective + key phrase – E.g. “13 Most Chilling Haunted Hotels” or “16 Incredibly Unconventional Hotel Rooms”

Digg Summary 16 most… Scalability Value Downsides: Miss rate high Use: If your site lends itself to the right type of content Benefits: Traffic Links Your Article Digg Home Page Tons of Visitors Tons of Links

StumbleUpon Build relationships / subscribers Use “Send to” function in toolbar Subscribers will view your stuff Always get some traffic If it becomes popular …

Wow! This Is great StumbleUpon Summary Scalability Value Downsides: Lots of singles Use: If you generate great new content on an ongoing basis Your Cool Content Traffic Stumble Upon Your Site SU Community Benefits: Traffic & Some Links

YouTube Post great videos on YouTube The videos on YouTube get most of the links Consider developing additional videos that you how on your own site Consider creating a microsite and making the microsite URL your username. Run a contest and recruit popular YouTube users to enter. Their submission will get pushed out to all their subscribers

YouTube Summary Create Great Video Scalability Value Downsides: Home run ball Use: If you have a killer concept for a video Benefits: Branding Traffic & Some Links You Tube

LinkedIn Add 3 links to your public profile Search for influencer’s LinkedIn profiles – Use InMail to contact them – Much higher open rate than Add a LION (LinkedIn Open Networker) or two to your network. – Try to find a “promiscuous sneezer” – Use the TopLinked.com list. ( Add address to your “professional headline”

LinkedIn Summary LinkedIn Profile LinkedIn Community Scalability Value Downsides: Labor intensive Use: To build high value contacts Benefits: Spread ideas Reach thought leaders Bypass spam filters

Facebook Create a fan page or group or both Use fan pages to build long term relationships – Fan pages get indexed – Use Facebook ads to build audiences faster – Must have a hook Use groups for quick discussions and viral activity – Groups are limited to 5000 members Customize your fan page or group Update regularly!

Facebook Summary Traffic Your Site Facebook Community Scalability Value Downsides: Requires Commitment! Use: Build traffic, links, and reputation Benefits: Branding, Traffic & Some Links Fan Page Group

Twitter Pick a good account name (memorable) Customize your background Follow people with lots of followers – Many will follow you back – Now you have a channel for your tweets – Cater to that channel! Use hash tags for Twitter search Include URLs and references where appropriate Contribute regularly

Twitter Summary Traffic Twitter Account Your Site Twitter Community Scalability Value Downsides: Requires Commitment! Use: Build traffic, links, and reputation Benefits: Branding, Traffic & Some Links

Blogs Write unique and compelling stuff Interact with other bloggers. – Comment on their blogs – Link to their good stuff from your blog – Get to know them – DON’T SPAM them Build an audience through these relationships In time, people will link back to you

Blog Summary Your Blog Blogoshpere Scalability Value Downsides: Requires Commitment! Use: For links and relationships Benefits: Links and Relationships Web Links

Proceed with Care! Social communities do not like to be “used” People in the communities take action So do the social media properties themselves Play nice! Be a member of the community Contribute to the community And it will pay you back

Thank You! Eric (508)