It’s been an interesting week on a number of fronts so here’s a whole lot of something and just a tad of nothin’ as it relates to links…

Congratulations to Liana and her one year anniversary on the Women of Internet Marketing series, take a spin over there and give her a pat on the back.

Our friend Joost de Valk just released a new linking tool that brings back an overview of what anchors are being used in your in-bounds. It’s a Firefox extension called SEO Link Analysis. Definitely worth a check out.

There’s a good article here titled 10 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing Sucks by Andy Beard that has a lot of good points in it, of course I zero in on the linking specific comments and agree with all, but question number 2:

Topical Linking vs Strategic Linking

1. Link to a regular reader in your niche who doesn’t get much traffic
2. Link to someone in your niche who has never read your blog
3. Promote someone’s niche ranking list to get included
4. Included someone in your niche ranking list to get traffic
5. Link to like minded dofollow blogs because you get a link from their trackbacks

Even with a good analytics package, #2 may be tough.

Three good articles this week about links and link building issues:

* Link Building – In-House vs Outsourced by Justilien Justilien has links to a number of good posts on the topic in his blog post.

* How Changes to The Way Google Handles Subdomains Impact SEO

* Hide & Speak: Letting the Spiders Back into BY

We use subdomains/blogs/promotions in our linking efforts frequently; if you do the same the info/ideas in the last two posts will be extremely helpful.

Ok, now some blantant self-promotion which I’ve recently been told I don’t do enough of or do very well. (Thank you A and B you’re both right as usual).

The folks at GSINC put together a list of the Top 40 People Of SEO and yours truly was included. Thank you GSINC, I appreciate the hat tip but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE add Barry and Donna to your list.

Evan Carmichael did the Top 50 SEO Posts of the Year and highlighted my “Help! I’m New, I Need Links, What Can I Do? post.

You know what? That post took me about 20 minutes to write and has gotten more play than anything I’ve done in years. The posts I spend hours on and fret over are the ones no one looks at or says sh!t about! Goes to show you – DON’T OVER THINK THIS STUFF.

New daddy Wiep Knol ** launched his Link Value Results which shares the thoughts and opinions of a number of link builders (like ME ME ME and SEO’s on — link building. Congrats Wiep and Moniek on new baby Liam.

**Oh and how (un?) lucky is it for Wiep that his last name is Knol??

Enjoy the weekend.

Fetch / Sphinn

Besides the fact I’m old and have plenty of insurance, here’s why I’ll stick to link marketing and ignore future casting calls:

This little piece of video handiwork is my daughter’s book report. She wrote the script, the cuecards (in crayon since she couldn’t find any markers) and directed her dad (cameraman) her brother(cuecard guy) and me (sorry excuse for a talk show host). I’ll let you know what grade she gets.

Anyway……. enough schtick, there is some link building spiel here, read on.

Last week Justilien and Roger each wrote a piece on why it’s a good idea to build links in-house.

Scott Boyd of FusedNation countered with an interesting and colorful point of view on why you should out-source. While I don’t agree with some of his comments regarding link builders as professionals, I do get where he’s coming from and agree that linking can be tedious.

I’m not sure there is a right or wrong answer with this whole issue of out-source vs in-house but I do know this:

if you want to rank well, you need links. But if you want to succeed online, you need link marketing.

We tend to put blinders on when we talk about link building and look at it from a technical standpoint rather than a marketing or tactical viewpoint. Everything we do to get online is technically related. Web design, shopping carts, CSS, databases, stat programs, live chat, etc. All widgets/software used for instant interactive success.

But then… we hit the SEO/link building aspect and boom –not so instant, not so easy. It doesn’t matter if you outsource or keep this part in-house, this is where it gets hard for everyone.

So why is that? Even Justilen, Roger and Scott all agreed on this point – link building is hard. Why is this necessary evil we call link building so difficult for so many?

I believe part of the answer lies in the approach. Link building requires a technical and creative outlook, it’s the one aspect of online business you shouldn’t automate and can’t just upload for success. The techincal nature of your business needs to be put aside for good old fashioned sales and promotion skills. If your background isn’t in marketing or you’re not channeling PT Barnum, here’s where it gets hard for you.

I recommend a two-tiered approach starting with foundational linking and then branching into the custom work which can use tactics such as link bait, incentive marketing, traditional advertising etc.

Every business is different and requires a custom link marketing program if you want to attract quality links. There’s no cookie cutter approach here, everyone is unique from the smallest of online business to the big boys so your custom link programs need to be the same.

If you want to outsource, use these guidelines.

If you want to keep it in-house, look for people who understand the difference between being a short order cook and being a chef. Those are the folks you want to train to be your link marketers.

Fetch / Sphinn

Would you permanently tattoo a company’s logo on yourself in exchange for a set of tires? Apparantely more than 50 people have done just that with hundreds more on a waiting list. All for a set of Dunlops.

Recognizing their evanglists and understanding their motivations, Dunlop found a way to permanently advertise their brand to a hard-core audience by taking advantage of a hot trend:

Dunlop tattooers cut to the chase. They’re different; they’re all about driving and performance. They seek creative ways to express themselves, and they’re not afraid to show it….

Tattoos also are more mainstream, as increasing numbers of professionals, star athletes and celebrities seek the artistry of a tattoo….. A 2006 survey by Pew Research Center found 36 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds and 40 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds have at least one tattoo.

Not only did they take advantage of the tattoo trend, they used celebrity tattoo artists to do the work. Very smart. The promotion attracted huge publicity and set the bar for creative advertising without using traditional media. Very very smart since they know a portion of their customer base is anything but traditional. But it wasn’t the first time Dunlop had pulled a stunt like this:

In the past, Dunlop has created buzz here with treadheads, enthusiasts who had hair stylists shave tread patterns onto their heads for a chance towin a set of tires. Tattoos…seemed the obvious next step.

Again – brillant smart. Building on marketing momentum helps your advertising efforts reinforce one another. People start to eagerly anticipate your next promotion which helps keep you top-of-mind when they need what you sell.

So what does this have to do with link building? Well everything and then some. Obviously this type of promotion isn’t for everyone but you can use the concept to develop a kick-ass incentive promotion with links to your website being the net result.

Dunlop really had to know their target audience before launching this program; granted they had some experience from their treadheads gig but even then, they had to know it would appeal to the type of people who buy their products.

You can do the same by surveying your customer base and asking about lifetstyles as well as buying habits. Once you have an idea, look for a hot trend to incorporate and develop a promotion that interests them as people as well as customers.

For example, if you sell wedding favors capitalize on the blogging and social networking trend by offering to pay for hosting and a domain name so brides can develop a blog. Encourage them to showcase pre and post wedding adventures, photos, and videos and to keep blogging after the wedding on your dime provided they link back to your site.

For less than what most people in the wedding niche pay for a week’s worth of Adwords, you can have a year’s worth of on-topic links. The promotion can even be expanded into the huge network of wedding singers, photographers and coordinators that may not have a website.

Or get a tattoo, whatever works.

Fetch / Sphinn

Photo: Dunlop ‘Tats’: Las Vegas tattoo artist “Boom” fashions a Dunlop Tire tattoo on the arm of Fernando Diaz, an automotive enthusiast from Houston. This was the second trip to the Dunlop inking chair for the car customizer at the SEMA show. The tire brand is giving away free tattoos and tires to show attendees who register early. (PRNewsFoto/Dunlop Tires)