Penguin Proof Link Building

Getting the Link Love

Driving Relevant Traffic to Your Site
Chuck Price
MeasurableSEO.com
Chuck@MeasurableSEO.com
@ChuckPrice518

Chicago • November 4–7, 2013 • #SESCHI @SESConf

Chicago | November 4–7, 2013 | #SESCHI | @SESConf

About your presenter
• Founder of Measurable SEO – A Digital Marketing
Agency Specializing in Organic Search Rankings,
Link Building & Google Penalty Recovery
• Regular Contributor to SearchEngineWatch.com
• Founder of the A-Town Rumble, a fundraiser to
raise awareness and find a cure for type 1
diabetes.

@ChuckPrice518


Link Building is NOT Sexy

@ChuckPrice518


Link Building is NOT Fun

@ChuckPrice518


Link Building (done correctly) is HARD Work

@ChuckPrice518


2013 Moz Survey
Search Engine Ranking Factors

@ChuckPrice518


And confirmed by Matt Cutts
“Links are still the best way that we’ve found to
discover (how relevant or important
somebody is) and maybe over time social or
authorship or other types of markup will give
us a lot more information about that.” – Matt
Cutts interview with Eric Enge on July 10,
2013.
@ChuckPrice518


Link Building Rules Haven’t Changed
Significantly over the Years

@ChuckPrice518


But the Algorithm Has
Panda, first introduced in February 2011, was an
algorithm update that used artificial intelligence in a
more sophisticated and scalable way than previously
possible.

Penguin, first introduced in April 2012, was an
algorithm update that identified, devalued and
penalized manipulative links and websites on a scale
never before possible.

@ChuckPrice518


Resulting in the “Google Paradox”
According to Albert Einstein, the
definition of insanity is doing the same
thing over and over again and expecting
different results.
The effect of certain types of content and
links on Google SERPs proved to be the
exception to this rule.

@ChuckPrice518


2010’s “Best” links & top performing content
just MIGHT be the cause of 2013’s Penalty
Some of the same backlinks that
were once responsible for
ascending to number one in the
SERPs are now responsible for
manual penalties.
In other words, doing the same
kind link building today, as in the
past can and will, yield very
different results

@ChuckPrice518


Knowledge Graph
• The Knowledge
Graph, forerunner
to Hummingbird,
was announced in
May 2012
• It's used by Google
to deliver search
results with
semantic-search
information
gathered from a
wide variety of
sources

> 500 million objects & 3.5 billion facts.
@ChuckPrice518


Relevancy now Matters
• It’s likely that knowledge
graph is heavily
incorporated into
hummingbird.
• Pre KG or Hummingbird a
search for car covers could
yield results split between
an accessory to protect your
car, tribute bands that
cover the group “The Cars”
and songs covered by The
cars.

@ChuckPrice518


This affects link value
• Suddenly, all of those
auto parts links coming
from fan sites dedicated
to the band, The Cars,
are now exposed for
what they really are:
unnatural and spammy
@ChuckPrice518


Things, not Strings
The Knowledge Graph and Hummingbird enables
you to search for things, people or places that
Google knows about and instantly get
information that’s relevant to your query.
• This is the first step towards building the next
generation of search, which taps into the
collective intelligence of the web and
understands the world a bit more like people do.
@ChuckPrice518


Link Building Implications
•Exact Match anchor text will
continue to be devalued as a
ranking Factor.
•Relevance has replaced
PageRank in choosing the best
linkbuilding Targets

@ChuckPrice518


Penguin Proof Link Building
Strategies That Drive Relevant Traffic

@ChuckPrice518


Link Building Starts at Home
• Panda was a game changer. For the first time, a
minimum level of content quality was necessary
to achieve top rankings.
• From a UX perspective, this was always
important, but now it's mandatory in order to
rank well.
• Leveraging your existing link juice and trust is
logical place to begin and is a no risk, yet highly
rewarding task.
• It all begins with a good website architecture
@ChuckPrice518


What Would Google Do?
• If Google
Operated Web
Based Businesses,
what would their
sites look like?
• This isn't a
hypothetical
question...
@ChuckPrice518


Navigate to GoogleVentures.com for
an Answer

Google Has invested in > 200 Companies
@ChuckPrice518


Google Is investing MUCH more than
just cash into these websites
• “...every VC has a mentor network these days.
We provide unparalleled (and real) access to
Google’s massive network of employees and
alumni”.
• Source:
http://www.googleventures.com/hands-on
@ChuckPrice518


GV is a great resource for competitive
or comparative analysis
Let's say you have a website that specializes in:
Custom Made Furniture - Home Decor - Custom
Jewelry-Custom Home Renovations- Made in the
USA
Then you have something in common with Google:
www.custommade.com
> 1.4 Million pages indexed

@ChuckPrice518


Internal Linking Structure

@ChuckPrice518


Myth Buster:
Detailed Footer Links are NOT SPAM

@ChuckPrice518


According to Boston.com: “Google Ventures sent in one of its research

partners, Michael Margolis, a developer … after the makeover, Custom Made
saw a 200 percent jump in the number of people logging in to start projects

100% increase in SE traffic

Source: http
://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2012/02/06/google_ventures_gives_start_ups_cash_an
/
@ChuckPrice518


On-Page / Interlinking Takeaways
• Internal links can have a BIG impact, as you control everything from
location on the page to the anchor text.
• Use the Home page extensively. Google consistently rewards sites
with extensive JS top Nav & big fat footers
• Use OSE to identify your most powerful sub-pages
• Interlink power pages to your most important (target) pages
• Use Bread Crumbs
• Use an interlinks plugin if you have a wordpress site
@ChuckPrice518


Focus External Link Building Efforts on
• Editorial links – links requiring human
intervention and approval.
• Links that Are relevant – links on pages where
the readers would have a genuine interest in
your website, too
• Links on Trusted / Authority Websites. Steer
clear of low quality “Made for Guest Posting”
Blogs
@ChuckPrice518


Just a few of the “Right” Links can get
the job done
If you know
where to look
and How to get
them.

@ChuckPrice518


Quality Links
• “Ask Yourself, Would you want this link if
there were no Google?” – Eric Ward

• The best links are the ones that you
would love to have, even if links had no
role in search rankings

@ChuckPrice518


Link Schemes = Trouble

According to the Webmaster Guidelines, the following are Link Schemes:

•
•
•
•
•

Buying or selling links that pass PageRank
Using automated programs or services to create links to your site
Linking to a site for the sole purpose of getting a link back
Building a link networking for the purpose of linking
Large-scale article marketing or guest posting using keyword-rich
anchor text
• Buying advertorials or articles that include links that pass PageRank
• Creating & Distributing Press releases with optimized anchor text
Recently Removed from the Guidelines:
• “Linking to web spammers or unrelated sites with the intent to
manipulate PageRank”
• Links that are inserted into articles with little coherence
@ChuckPrice518


Step One
Assess the
current
situation:

@ChuckPrice518


Optimize Existing Links
Export Your Links
Separate the <a>noText<a> back
links
Sort by Rank
Reach out to Webmasters where
links appear on high value pages
and ask for A/T if appropriate

@ChuckPrice518


Mining Competitor Backlinks
• Everybody Does it – You need to do it better.
• Don’t settle for the “same” link as the
competition.

@ChuckPrice518


Use a Search Query to Find the most
relevant page(s)

Check the top results for Linking Opportunities
Develop an outreach Strategy

@ChuckPrice518


Drill Deeper – Find Pages that are
similar to the Top 10 Results

@ChuckPrice518


Mine those Backlinks

@ChuckPrice518


Free Links from Google ~ sort of:)
• Reclaim Links that you already “own”
• Use GWT to discover broken links
• Go to GWT, click on your website, then
“Crawl" then "Crawl Errors" in the left Nav. A
list of urls and response codes will appear at
the bottom of the page
• "Repair" the broken links by using a 301
redirect
@ChuckPrice518


Research competitors – the Macro perspective
Identify what your competitors are doing and emulate
the “best of”...
•
•
•
•
•
•

Do they have a press release strategy?
Are they submitting their site to niche directories?
Are they utilizing content marketing?
Are they performing Blogger outreach?
Are they building partnerships or sponsoring events?
Are they buying links?
@ChuckPrice518


Reverse engineering assets
• This approach is akin to reverse engineering backlinks
• Look for “Link Worthy” content ideas.
• Link Worthy ideas are found on urls with lots of
BackLinks from unique domains
• Could include great articles, info-graphics, widgets, etc
• Chances are, if this type of content attracted links for
your competitor, it will be successful for you, too.

@ChuckPrice518


Turning Citations into Links
Look for urls that mention your brand & brand variations but are not linking to you

@ChuckPrice518


10000 Search Engine Queries for your
Link Building Campaign
The most exhaustive list of
search engine queries
commonly used to find
potential linking partners
can be found at
SEO Takeaways

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Find industry resources
Find guest post opportunities
Find Link Reclamation Opportunities
Find niche blogs
Find Interview Opportunities
Find sites where you can list your website
Find non-profit organizations which accepts donations
Find blogs which review products
Find Industry Specific Q & A
Find blogs which accept sponsored/paid reviews
Find Industry Specific Social Profiles
Find Google Public User ProfilesFind
Chamber of Commerce Site
Find primary and secondary education institutions
Find Higher Education institutions
Find Library Sites
Find Research Council Sites
Find government institutions
Google Advanced Search
Google Search Operators for Images
@ChuckPrice518


Reverse (Solicit) Guest Posting
There are many advantages to having guest bloggers contribute to
your site:
• Getting free expert content that can rank for targeted keywords
• Potential for new followers, more traffic and potential leads.
• Seasoned bloggers frequently link back to previous works
• Use tools like Followerwonk to find prospective authors in your
niche with a strong social following.
• You can also do a simple Google Search (inpostauthor:"Author's
Name").

@ChuckPrice518


Use Co-Citation
Co-citation is the steroid to Link Building
SEO Co-citation Core Concepts
• Link juice flows backwards as well as forward
• Good websites link to other good websites
• The words around your links matter
• Use Anchor Text for co-citation to signal
Google about the page theme / topic

@ChuckPrice518


Source: Jayson DeMers

@ChuckPrice518


Co-Citaion Finder

@ChuckPrice518


Get image links
• If your website is designed in CSS, submit it to
CSS directories like CSS Mania,
Best Web Gallery or CSS Elite.
• TinEye is a reverse image search engine. You
can use it to track down websites using your
images. If you find an unlinked image, ask for
a link.
@ChuckPrice518


Broken links
• Broken link building (dead link building) involves pointing out a
broken link on a website and asking for a link to your website as a
replacement for the bad link.
•

Highly Scalable – the web is filled with bad links. Tools like the
Broken link Finder help to identify opportunities.

•

High conversion rate – you are offering a compelling reason to link
to your website and have helped to fix an error.

•

For details on how this works, see the Quicksprout tutorial:
Black Belt Broken Link Building
@ChuckPrice518


Replace Outdated Content With Fresh

@ChuckPrice518


Niche Content Marketing
• Create content targeted to your niche for outreach.
• Crawl your target site (The one that you want a link from) looking for
outbound links and broken links.
• Look for patterns in the content that is being linked to. Create content in
sync with the pattern that you find.
• Create “Better than original” content as a replacement for the broken
links. A copy of most anything worth recreating can be found in the
Wayback Machine
• This tactic is often used to acquire .edu backlinks.
@ChuckPrice518


How to guides and tutorials
• “How to” guides and tutorials are extremely
popular and can attract tons of links ~ especially
video tutorials.
• It's no accident that YouTube hosts over 6.6
Million tutorials.
• Don't let the cost or complexity deter you – the
payback is too good to pass up.
@ChuckPrice518


Resources & Links pages
Create content that:
• is evergreen
• can be continuously updated
• can target industry head terms
Example: Jason Acidre’s “SEO strategies resources page”
• Targeting the keyword “SEO strategies”.
• Consistently ranking in the top 3 SERPs for the past 2
years
@ChuckPrice518


Create a Glossary of Terms
• Search for “keyword niche glossary” and find what is
out there. Create a master list from the glossaries that
already exist, and consolidate these ideas.
• The longer the glossary is live, the more “authority”
and backlinks it acquires. You may need to update it
occasionally, but unlike many forms of linkbait, it never
gets stale.
• Interlink the Glossary Terms to your target urls
@ChuckPrice518


Using Seasonal content for Link Building
Plan ahead and start your
SEO early. Remember,
you need to start the
process months before
the actual season

Seasonal + Data = Infographic

“Seasonal” content will
attract natural links for
years to come, so keep
it active.
@ChuckPrice518


Using National Holidays & Events for
Content Marketing
Winner in this category:
Pumpkin Giving Birth:Posted to Facebook
by Blessed Birth Doula Services. This is a
great example of creative and linkworthy
content for a difficult niche.

@ChuckPrice518


Egobait
• Appeal to market influencers by writing a
flattering commentary in a blog post ~ one
they can't resist linking back to.
• For ideas, check out:
• How I Got an 80% Success Rate on My Latest
Outreach Campaign By Anthony D. Nelson
@ChuckPrice518


It worked for Pathik!
EgoBait for Links ~ It really works!
One tactic for getting links that I covered in my presentation at SES Chicago was ego
bait. The process is a very straight forward one: Appeal to market influencers by
writing a flattering commentary in a blog post ~ one they can’t resist linking back
to.
One key component to ego baiting is to make sure that the target finds the bait. One
great way to accomplish this is through twitter, with a tweet like this:
“@chuckprice518 Thanks for your help w/ my post: Link Building Strategies for 2013
from #SESChi bit.ly/USZzS4″
This tweet came from Pathik Bhatt, who was paying attention in class that day, when
I promised that I would link to anyone that wrote something nice about my
presentation. Rather than risk leaving this opportunity for a link in the hands of a
Google Alert, he took a proactive approach and EARNED a link.
Nice job, Pathik – keep up the good work
http://www.measurableseo.com/egobait-for-links-it-really-works/
@ChuckPrice518


Free Online Tools
• Everyone loves tools –
especially when they are free
and they are useful. Aaron
Wall of SEOBook.com has
leveraged his free tool suite
into a link Juggernaut
• http://tools.seobook.com/
@ChuckPrice518


Sponsorships Opportunities that Yield Links
• Blogging contest: Require participants to post about the
contest on their blog & link back to you, the sponsor.
Typical Cost $25 - $50
• Clubs: Do a search for “Keyword” club (This may require a
little bit of creative thinking and stretch in relevance).
Many of these clubs will be happy to have you as a sponsor
and link to your site. Typical cost $50
• Events: Do a Google search for “Keyword” sponsors
needed and you will find no shortage of sponsorship
opportunities. Typical cost $100 - $200
@ChuckPrice518


Donate to charities & non profits
• Run a search for “donators page” and
“donations page” and you will be presented
with a virtual menu of options for
organizations to donate to.
• Typical cost $100 - $200
• Karma: Priceless:)
@ChuckPrice518


Using Scholarships for .K12 and .edu Link Building
• Scholarships can easily
become link magnets for .k12
and .edu backlinks. Award a
moderate scholarship in the
$300-500 range and begin
your outreach to every High
School and College that may
be interested. The scalability
of this one is off the chart and
the conversion rate is
incredible. Not to mention
that you are doing a good
thing.
@ChuckPrice518


CustomMade Scholarships
• CustomMade empowers individuals who believe in buying custom
and disrupting the system of buying mass-produced, impersonal
and low quality goods. That’s why we want to hear from students
who are passionate about custom and empower them with
scholarships to further their career.
•
•
•
•
•
•

Check out our current 2013 academic scholarship opportunities:
"Why buy custom furniture?" scholarship
"Why buy custom jewelry?" scholarship
View 2012 academic scholarship recipients:
"Consumer advantages of buying custom furniture" scholarship
"Consumer advantages of buying custom jewelry" scholarship
@ChuckPrice518


Local Business Groups
• Links from the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
and the Chamber of Commerce are great for
both link building and Trust Building.
• Consider your membership fee as a cost of
doing business. Not only do you benefit from
some powerful links, but you're building trust
and adding a new source of local traffic.
@ChuckPrice518


Create a Library of Free images
• There are tons of
bloggers who are in
need of free images ,
so having a private
gallery of images
related to your niche
is guaranteed to
attract links
@ChuckPrice518


Be a Parasite
• Distribute content (targeting long-tail search
terms) on user-generated content sites that
have high search share and Trust
• Pages hosted on UGC sites like Youtube,
Slideshare, Pinterest and Scribd (among
others) have better search-ranking power,
based on their Domain Authority - especially
for long-tail keywords.
@ChuckPrice518


Answer Questions

Find online discussions that are relevant to what you are marketing (forums, Q&A sites like
Quora, & blog comments). Post only relevant information (not overtly promotional).

@ChuckPrice518


But My Competitors are Spamming
Like crazy! What do I do?

@ChuckPrice518


You might ask yourself

@ChuckPrice518


Understanding Spammers

@ChuckPrice518


You Make Your Own Luck
• Hard core spammers aren’t in it for the long
term. Their philosophy is to churn and burn.
Ranking for a few weeks, days or even hours
in some cases can be very lucrative. You Can’t
compete with them and you shouldn’t try
• Unless you are willing to burn your website to
the ground, don’t even consider coloring
outside of the Google Webmaster Guidelines.
@ChuckPrice518


The Black Hat Trick de jour

Making Links with no Domain Authority Work
• Leech off / abuse YouTube’s Authority
• Create Multiple Google Accounts & Videos
• Optimize Descriptions with KW Rich Anchor text

• Link “Doorway” Videos to Main Video
• “Build” a Spam Backlink Profile. In the case
study, Alex used 3 Mixed PR links, 10K forum
links, 600 Bookmarks and Ranked #1 in 3 Days
@ChuckPrice518


Think Mobile
Consider incorporating an app like
Sendola or a script that lets website
users send your contact details to
their phone, instantly

@ChuckPrice518


Page ONE with NO Links
Introducing Bing Boards
They’re trying something new at Bing, to
see what happens when they bring
boutique content to the first page of
search results. The goal is to inspire and
delight - and connect users with creative
people who share their passions and
interests.
Request an invite:
http://www.bing.com/boards/

@ChuckPrice518


Who exactly is creating Bing Boards?
• At the moment, Bing is working with a small
group of food and lifestyle bloggers, experts
and social influencers
• Over time, Bing says they'll evaluate and
determine how to broaden and evolve the
offerings
@ChuckPrice518


Questions?
I would love to hear from you

@ChuckPrice518

Penguin Proof Link Building

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (16)

Similar to Penguin Proof Link Building (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Penguin Proof Link Building