Advanced Link
Building
7 Tips and tricks that will help
you build serious authority in
Google
Stephan Spencer
Co-Author of The Art of SEO; Author of Google
Who Am I?
• Author of Google Power Search,
Co-author of The Art of SEO,
Co-author of Social eCommerce
• Founder of SEO agency Netconcepts
• Sold Netconcepts to Covario in 2010
• Lived in NZ for 8 yrs, returned to US in 2007
• Invented an SEO technology called GravityStream
• Launching SEO training at ScienceofSEO.com
A Blog is an Asset
SEO: So simple even a
child can do it!
My daughter,
blogger & SEO.
$5 - $30 / day
passive income.
Started when
she was 14.
7 Tips for Link Building
• Tip #1: Go for both links and likes
• Tip #2: Don’t mis-place the content
• Tip #3: Target the right audience
• Tip #4: Employ a “power user”
7 Tips for Link Building
• Tip #5: Don’t pull the plug
• Tip #6: Systematize your outreach
• Tip #7: Gather “intell”
#1: Go for Both Links and Likes
• SEO underpins your social media “strategy” and
vice versa
• Viral spread on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
Pinterest, StumbleUpon, reddit, etc. is an
intermediate step to reach bloggers/influencers
• Social signals are corroborating signals
• End game should be to get links to your main site
– Example: Old Spice’s fake websites
#2: Don’t mis-place the content
• Remarkable content needs a home where it
will attract the most links to your main site
– Microsite? Depends.
– Social media like YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook?
• External links are nofollowed L
– Third party site like HuffPo or Buzzfeed? Possibly.
– Your blog, on your www subdomain? Yes!!
#3: Target the right audience
• Your customers or the linkerati?
• Social media mavens or the linkerati?
– Social scores (Klout scores, link karma) vs link
authority (mozRank, Citation Flow, Power*Trust)
• You don’t even need to link to it yourself if
it’s too edgy
#4: Employ a “power user”
• To seed your remarkable content into social media
– Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, reddit…
• To get the snowball effect going, so it goes viral
• Power users have much greater reach than you
• How do you get one (or more) in your corner? Cultivate
relationships, baby!
http://searchengineland.com/the-social-media-underground-22030
#5: Don’t pull the plug
• Site moves require a 301 redirect, not a 302!
• Decommissioning a site? 301 it, don’t 404 it!
• Site redesigns can wreck havoc
– Careful not to “anti SEO” the HTML markup, microdata,
layout, internal linking structure, URL structure, etc.
– Or to create “duplicate content”
– Or to break the XML Sitemaps, robots.txt, redirects, etc.
– Examine your 404s and server errors carefully!
Mentosintern.com
turbotax.intuit.com/
taxrap/
#6: Systematize your outreach
• Outreach to the linkerati in a semi-automated,
scalable way. Use workflow and automation!
• Prospecting (w/ authority metrics)
• CRM
• Templates (w/ personalization)
• Moderation queue
• Follow-up
• Pipeline
http://searchengineland.com/scaling-systematizing-link-building-190469
Pitchbox.com
Pitchbox.com
#7: Gather “intell”
• Establish a baseline and track your campaign’s
success
– Google rankings (AuthorityLabs), Link growth (Google
Webmaster Tools, LinkResearchTools, Open Site Explorer,
Majestic SEO, Ahrefs)
• “What gets measured gets managed”
• Your competitors can teach you a lot
– Where to get links, how to flow PageRank, what not to do
LinkResearchTools.com
LinkResearchTools.com
LinkResearchTools.com
LinkResearchTools.com
LinkResearchTools.com
LinkResearchTools.com
LinkResearchTools.com
Now What?
• What can you do tomorrow that will improve
your link building? Write down 3 things.
• To follow me on Twitter: @sspencer
• To contact me:
[email protected]
• To request a free 10 minute strategy call,
e-mail [email protected]
