The Art and Science of Building Links By Janet Driscoll Miller

Janet Driscoll Miller, President & CEO Marketing Mojo

LINK BUILDINGFUNDAMENTALSThe Art & Science of Building Links

@janetdmiller#SMX #13DCopyright 2017 Marketing Mojo

Copyright 2017 Marketing Mojo

#SMX #12D @janetdmiller



Linking Types

Inbound(Backlinks) outbound

internal



What We Will Cover:

• InboundLinks• LinkPopularity• UnnaturalLinks• PenaltiesandDisavow• Tactics

• OutboundLinks• InternalLinks



Algorithms & Link Popularity









Search Engine Popularity in the US

Google64%

Bing22%

Yahoo12%

Other2%





AuthorshipRemoved

“In the News”Box

PenguinEverflux

AuthorshipPhoto Drop

PageLayout

Panda4.1

Pigeon Expands(UK, CA, AU)

Payday Loan 3.0

Penguin3.0

UnnamedUpdate

Panda4.0

Pigeon

Pirate2.0

PaydayLoan 2.0

HTTPS/SSLUpdate

Most of the changes/filters added are done to help DEFINE, EVALUATE and RATE links and the pages they come from.

Imagefrom:www.blog.agriya.com



What Is Link Popularity?• Linkpopularitymeasuresthequalityandquantityof

linkspointingtoawebpage.

• Consideredanoff-pagefactor.

• Enginesweighoff-pagefactorsmoreheavilythanon-page.

• SLANG:LinkJuice,LinkLove,LinkPop,LinkEquity

ItisNOT justthenumberofbacklinkspointingtoawebpage.



Four Components of Link Popularity

Quantity

Quality

Relevance

AnchorText



Link Quantity Thenumberoflinkspointingtoawebpagefrom“outside”ordifferentwebsite/pages

YourWebpage(website)

WebpageA

WebpageB

WebpageC

WebpageD

WebpageE







Link QualityDeterminedbytheauthority/trust/popularityofthehostpages/sitesandthesiteslinkingtothem.



What Makes A Page “Quality”Characteristics:

• Rankwell

• Showtopicexpertise

• Answerquestions

• Trusted

• Linkedtofrequentlybytrustedsources

• Clickedonfrequently

• Highreliability

• Relevanttothequery



Relevance Whatisyourpagetalkingabout?



RelevanceInboundlinksfrom“similar”sitesbest



Anchor TextEndorsementofwhat’stocome

Anchortextistheclickablepartofthelinkyousee,itisaqueryrankingfactor

• MycompanyisMarketingMojo.

• I’macolumnistfortheAllThingsSEOcolumn forSearchEngineLand.

“…anchortextinfluencesthequeriesyourwebsiteranksforinthesearch

results.”Google

“…anchortexthelpsdefinethethemeofa

linkedpage”Bing



Anchor Text

• Hyperlinkwhenitmakessense

• Makeyouranchortextconversational

• Doesn’tmatterwhatyoudo,ifGoogle*thinks*yourinboundlinksareanything buteditorial,youlose.





Unnatural Links What to Avoid



Penguin Updates

• Penguinfocusesonlinkspam

• “Anylinksintendedtomanipulate PageRank orasite'srankinginGooglesearchresultsmaybeconsideredpartofalinkschemeandaviolationofGoogle’s WebmasterGuidelines.Thisincludesanybehaviorthatmanipulateslinkstoyoursite.”

• Now“realtime”• Updated9/23/2016• Previousupdatewas10/17/14





What Might Be Considered An Unnatural Link?

• Paidlinks

• Largescaleguestposting

• Lowqualitydirectories

• Footerlinks

• Templatelinks

• Large-scalereciprocallinking

• Massivepressreleases

• Blanketwidgetsandbadges

• Forcedforumdrops

FromGoogle’sguidelines







Avoid These Flags and Footprints

Donotacquirealotofthesamelinksquickly

Avoidusingsameanchorsoverandover

Avoidlinkingwithlowqualitypages

Avoidplacinglinksinnavigationandsponsoredareas

Avoidpages/siteshostingexcessivereciprocalsandtemplatelinks

Don’tmakedirectorylinks(evennichedirectories)alargepartofyourportfolio

AvoidsiteswithexcessiveAdSense

AvoidsiteswithnoContactorAboutUsinformation's





Questions To Ask Before You Link

Question Yes No

Isthepagehostingyourlink ranking“well”inthesearchresults?

Beencachedlately?

Dotheyusenofollowattributes?

Doesthewebsiteparticipateinsocialmedia?

Isthewebsitetiedtoanetwork?

Is thecontentrelevanttomysite?

Did yousearch“complaint”+URL/nameofowner/site?

Isthesitemobile friendly?



Penalties & Disavow



Google Penalty? Or Algorithm Update?Nothardtofigureoutbutstinkseitherway.

Disappearedfromthesearchresults

(poof!)

Amanualpenalty

Lostsubstantialranking(ouch)

Affectedbychanges/filterstoanalgorithm

IFYOURSITE:YOUEITHERHAVE:

OR OR



Manual Action NoticeGooglelovenotesinyourSearchConsole…notsolovely



Cleaning Up and Disavowing Links



ReconsiderationAskingGoogletoreviewyoursiteaftermanualpenalty(REQUESTAREVIEW)

Agoodreconsiderationrequestdoesthreethings:ü Explainstheexactqualityissueonyoursiteü Describesthestepsyou’vetakentofixtheissueü Documentstheoutcomeofyourefforts



Will Google tell you the links they count?



Ranking Drop Due To Algorithm ChangeHowtodeterminewhichupdateaffectedyou

Check Google/Other Analyticshttps://www.rankranger.com/google-algorithm-updateshttp://moz.com/google-algorithm-change

Google Algorithm Updates History



Watch Your Rankings, Watch Your Backlinks

Watchyourbacklinkslikeyouwatchyourrankings.

Analyzeyourbacklinksandidentifypotentialtrouble.

Trytogetthemremovedwhenyoufindthem.

Disavowaslastresort.Justdoit.

Beproactive,don’twaitforaslapdown!



Backlink Tools



Accuracy of Google Search Console Data• GoogleSearchConsoleonlyprovidesasampleoflinks

Source:https://moz.com/blog/google-search-console-webmaster-tools-reliability



Ahrefs



Moz Open Site Explorer



Inbound Link Building Tactics



Three Link Building Facts To Keep In Mind:

Itislessaboutwhat youdoandmoreaboutwhere.

Linkshelpgetyourankedbutclicksshowyoudeserve tobethere.

Youneedtohavesomethingworth linkingtobeforethelinkswillcome.



Link Building Tactics We Will Cover:

FoundationalTactics

• Reclaimingbrokenlinks• Unlinkedmentions

ContentTactics

• Mediaoutreach• Roundups• Lists• Curators



Foundational Links:

Help position you as a brand expert and credible, factual source

Identify your brand in an ever-growing link graph

Puts you on credible/authority sources

Tend not to change

Inexpensive to acquire

Content marketing SHOULD NOT be your only link building strategy!



Reclaiming Broken Links

http://searchengineland.com/missed-link-building-opportunities-reclaiming-broken-links-268928



Another Broken Link MethodLookforcompetitorsbrokenlinks,offeryourcontent/linksasreplacement



Unlinked MentionsFindunlinkedmentionsofabrand/company/URL

Thesesitesmentionthecompany

(deftones.com)butarenothyperlinking

thephrase.

RankTank.com(freetouse)



Unlinked Mentions

• Notabigbrand?Noproblem.

• Findunlinkedkeywordphrases

• Findmentionsofout-of-businesscompetitors



Link Building Tactics Using Content



Link Building Is An Investment

• Makeyourcontentevergreen• Onceit’severgreen– youcansocializeitagainandagainandagain• Timely6weeksor6monthsdowntheroad• Don’tbuildcontentthatonlylastspermonth

• It’satimeinvestment=monetaryinvestment• Don’tletlinkbuildingbeanafterthought!



What type of content can I create to attract the most links?

&

What are the best distribution channels for my content so it’s seen by my target

audience?



Content Distribution Channels

Youare6xmorelikelytogetaclick-throughfromanemailcampaignthanyouarefromatweet.-

CampaignMonitor

• Emailcampaigns

• Media(press)campaigns

• Communitygroups(Chambers&Assn’s)

• Forums

• Socialnetworks

• Paidads(social)

• Newsletters

• RSS









Using Facebook and LinkedIn Ads For Exposure and (eventually) LINKS

• Targetjournalistsandinfluencersbyjobtitle,companyandADIthroughFacebookads.

• Greatwaytogetattentiontoyourcontent

• http://marketingland.com/social-media-agency-case-study-pr-psychographics-earn-wsj-article-156151



Using Reviews Others Write for LinksUsewhatotherpeoplehavewrittentogainlinks

Searchforolderreviews

Backlink,lookforsources

Offeryour“newandimproved”reviewasasourceor

Writeacomparisonpiece



List Posts• Peoplelovelongerlistposts

• Seewhat’salreadyoutthereandcreateadifferentnumberofitemsinyourlistpost.

• Makeeachlistitemshortandtothepoint

• Don’twritealongintro

• Includevisualelements

• Adda“clicktotweet”buttonaftereachlistitem.

• Breaklonglistsintocategories.

• Encouragereaderstoleaveanitemincomments,keepaddingtothelist.

• Repurposelistpostsintoe-books,useeachlistitemasachapter.



List Post Titles

HowTo___in#EasySteps HowtoFind___ HowtoGenerateMore___

ACompleteGuideTo___ Best___Ideas UltimateGuideTo____

Most PopularWaysTo___ # TipsForBusy____ Top#___Tips

#MistakesToNeverMakeAgain #AmazingSecretsOf____ #FoolproofTipsFor___#ThingsEveryoneShouldKnowAbout___ #EffectiveWaysTo ____ #SuperTipsFor___

# CreativeWaysTo___ The___Guide YouNeedToRead #LessonsLearnedAbout ___

#Predictions YouShouldPrepareFor Top#Useful____Ideas #Excellent Free___

The#___ YouNeedInYourLife #Incredible___ToolsandResources #Of TheBest___CaseStudies

TIP:Throwinanoutsidesourceortwowhencreatinglistposts,thepeopleyoufeaturewillhelppromoteyourcontent.

http://www.copyblogger.com/10-sure-fire-headline-formulas-that-work/







Using Curators For Links And Sources

Paper.li“paper.li+keyword”

RebelMouse“rebelmouse+keyword”

FlipBoard“flipboard +keyword”

• .



EveryoneknowsaboutHARO(HelpAReporterOut),thereareothers!

• SourceBottle.com(free)

• PitchRate.com(free)

• ExpertiseFinder.com($)

• MediaKitty.com($)

• ProfNet (prnewswire.com/profnet)($)

Getting Links From The Media

Journalistslikeresearchbackedcontent

SurveysCasestudiesImages/Video

FactualrebuttalsNewsjacking



Outbound Links









http://www.getrank.org/tools/link-extractor/



Internal Links





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Thank You!

JANETDRISCOLLMILLERPresidentandCEOMarketingMojo

434.975.6656x101

[email protected]

@janetdmiller +JanetDriscollMiller