A while back I asked Best Of The Web (BOTW) President Greg Hartnett about a change the directory had implemented, seems they added nofollow attributes to their Sponsored Link section.  Regular directory listings were still attribute free but sponsored links went pink.  I was curious to know why they made this change so I asked, here is what Greg responded with:

We’re always trying to make sure that we stay in the good graces of the spiders by following best practices for webmasters.  We’d debated for quite some time whether or not the Sponsored advertisers (as advertisers) should be treated the same as directory listings.

In essence though, the two are not the same – web directory listings are under the complete control of the editors while sponsors have flexibility in  category placement and marketing message.

Each site listed in the web directory adheres to our quality and editorial guidelines.   If the site passes our editorial process, it’s placed in the most relevant category in the directory with a proper description.  Our editors add thousands of sites weekly on their own, and submissions account for a minuscule percentage of the web directory listings – we certainly can’t say the same for sponsored listings.

To ensure the integrity of the directory we decided to add the nofollow tag to our sponsored listings.  We’re confident that it sends the right message to the spiders and provides them information in a manner that sets the stage for another 18 years

So basically, BOTW added the nofollow attribute to links in their Sponsored section because anyone (within reason) can purchase them.  Since links in their regular directory are subject to editorial review, they are ”clean” or free of the nofollow attribute. 

A lot of people ask if paying to be listed in a directory is considered a “paid link”, they worry it’s against a search engine’s terms of service (TOS) since money openly changes hands.  Any time the word “paid” and “link” are uttered in the same sentence people get a little nervous.  

In the past Google (specifically) said  said no , it was ok if the directory asked for a review fee provided the directory:

• “exercised editorial discretion”
•  didn’t yak about having a certain PageRank
•  wasn’t registered on an expired domain and reborn as a directory or
•  allowed you to drop unrelated anchor text with the submission.

Since all that was said eight months ago which is like 10 years in Internet life and with Google sending love notes and getting tough on paid link sources, I wondered if the “directory paid link” policy was the same.  So I wrote Google Engineer Matt Cutts and asked.  Here is our little Q&A:

Debra:   In the past Google/you have stated directories with strong editorial policies were OK to submit even if they required a submission fee to be reviewed.  Is this still the case?

Matt:     That’s still the case, but bear in mind that Google will ultimately decide which domains or directories to trust. Just because a directory claims to have strong editorial oversight doesn’t mean that it will meet Google’s criteria or that Google will trust the domain.

Debra:   If an editorially run directory offers a sponsored listing option, do you consider them (the sponsored links) paid links and against your TOS?

Matt:    Adding a nofollow attribute to sponsored links remains the best practice for any website.

I also wrote Bing for a statement but they did not respond to either of my emails.

Best of the Web turns 18 years old this week and to celebrate they are offering a rare 50% discount on all their submissions as a way to say thank you.  Here is the official verbiage:

A Huge ONE DAY SALE Featuring 50% Off All BOTW Products and Services

Use Promo code SINCE94 starting at 12:01am EST on 4/20 and receive an instant 50% off discount on all directory submissions, local listings, bundles and sponsorships. Submit as many sites as you want, as often as you want, but do it quickly because a sale this great can’t last more than a day!

Sweet deal and congrats to Best Of The Web on 18 great years! 

(I have permission from all parties quoted here to reprint their conversations)

from: Link Spiel

For more link building information, ideas and the occasional rant, visit LinkSpiel .

Recently, on Search Engine Land, Danny Sullivan wrote the following about G+:

Google’s held nothing back in trying to make Google+ successful. The company, which used to never advertise on television, now routinely seems to have commercials pushing its social network.

That surprised me, I was commenting just the other day I hardly see anything on prime time TV about G+.  The person I was chatting with (who lives in Arizona) said he hadn’t either.  Even before Danny’s article I have been noticing a lack of G+ branding on ads and such, even in cities like San Jose which is home to Google:

That image was taken in the middle of the San Jose California airport in February.  San Jose = home to Google.  How bizarre!  But the airport isn’t the only San Jose business not hosting G+ icons, take a look at the front page of their newspaper the Mercury News:

No Google logos in sight.

The NBC affiliate in San Francisco gets a gold plus, they do have  a G+ logo on the front page and after every story.  But it’s not all rosey here, of the 10 sports related articles I looked at, only one showed any number counts on the G+ icon and the highest number was 2.

Two!  Dang.  Most looked like this:

As you can see here, Facebook 152, Google zip.  Facebook clearly scores with the NBC sports crowd.

My kids LOVE Chipotle so when they played this awesome commercial during SuperBowl, they wanted to share it with their friends.

Now, if I wanted to share it on G+ I couldn’t because they only offer Facebook, Twitter, Digg and Reddit options.  After a little searching I found most of our favorite national restaurants don’t offer a G+ icon:

Olive Garden
McDonalds (still the best fries)
Arties
Clydes
P.F. Changs

Ironically, Wendy’s does display the G+ icon on their home page, but unlike other sites, it’s not a share option.  The icon takes you to their G+ home page.

If I bounce back across the USA to small town Williamsburg Virginia, I find the local Rita’s promoting Facebook but nothing else:

And back home in Washington DC, our local paper doesn’t offer the G+ icon on the front or interior pages:

You’d think one of the biggest political rags in our nation would have a Google + icon to share news stories especially since Google recently hired former Republican Rep. Susan Molinari as the head of its D.C. office.  In addition, they recently scored as the official social platform and live stream provider of the Republican National Convention.   Politicans and the news go hand in hand, you’d think they’d have the G+ all over that one.

But…. they don’t.   Thing is, the Washington Post isn’t the only high-profile online media outlet not hosting the G+ icon.  They are also noticeably absent from the front and interior pages of:

• CNN
• NPR
• US News & World Report
• People Magazine
• Chicago Tribune
• Miami Herald
• PBS

Heck, a couple of them showcased MySpace and Tumblr but no Google +.  What is up with that?

There might be 100 million registered Google+ users but if the business and news community are not embracing the platform, it makes it hard to get involved. I’m not going to run to my G+ page and push a link every time I find something cool, the manual effort it takes to participate is not worth my time at this point.

As an online marketer who routinely uses the media as a way to build links and who also understands the algorithmic and marketing importance of social signals, not being able to click that G+ icon to either share a page or follow a company  -  sucks.

Google might have the users but they definitely don’t have the outlets supporting their platform.

from: Link Spiel

For more link building information, ideas and the occasional rant, visit LinkSpiel .

I was reading about the changes Google made recently to the way they return health related searches and of course the linkey senses started tingling.  Here’s the announcement:

I want to zero in on a statement in the blog post:

Our data shows that a search for symptoms is often followed by a search for a related condition.

Interesting.  If you have a website in the health niche this is a great hint about the type of content you can create to attract links and searches by Google.

For example, instead of searching for a “flat” term such as:   “migraine headache symptoms”

search on a related ”question” phrase such as:   ”why do I get migraines?”

Notice the different type of results.  Google equates “tension headaches”  and “sensitivity to light” as being related to the information I was searching for.  They’re trying to give me next-step information while answering my initial query.

Also note the additional questions they’ve given me to consider (highlighted in yellow), they are more basic than my original question but it’s good to know they’ve drawn a correlation to my initial question.

They are also great questions I can write content for since I know the questions are being searched on and Google acknowledges.  Great way to attract links and eyeballs in the future.  And an even better way to mix-up and use related anchors.

Not in the health industry?  This will still work, take the concept of “search for a related condition” into consideration and build content around it and/or get links from related pages.  If Google is doing this for health it’s only a matter of time before they launch elsewhere, I see related applications in finance and education.

This tweak to Google’s algo is an easy link marketing pill to swallow!

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from: Link Spiel

For more link building information, ideas and the occasional rant, visit LinkSpiel .

Have you ever been in a situation where you have a conversation with someone, walked away and then 20 minutes later thought  ”damn, I should have said”… <insert witty, super-snarky, something Tina Fey would say> comment?

I do, something like that happened to me this weekend.  I was irked at myself (again) for not having a better come back and while I was stewing thinking about the situation, my link building light bulb went off.

Can you use “follow-ups” or “come-backs” to generate links?  Most definitely, here’s a couple ideas:

1.  Have you seen a press conference where the reporter asks a question and then asks for a “follow-up” after hearing the answer?  Most of the time answers generate more questions and this second question is known as a follow-up.

You can use follow-up questions to develop more content which will attract more links.  For example, if you interview someone, do a second, follow-up interview with questions generated from his/her answers.  The interviewee is invested at this point and will help promote the second piece to continue the attention he/she has gotten from the first.

2.  Having a second interview means you probably have a lot of content; once both pieces are live, break them down topically and use the interviews as reference material.  Create a new article around each topic, link back into the original interviews to support what you’re saying and promote for links.  Your new articles will gain links and attention and so will the old – double win!

3.  Two-part interviews can be seen as news worthy, be sure to tie in the subject matter with a current event (if necessary) and issue a press release announcing the addition of the interview to your website/blog.

4.  If you have a blog, go through your comments and look for hot topics and negative Nelly’s.   A “negative Nelly” (for me) is someone who disagrees with your position and says so by leaving controversial or inflammatory comments.

Publish rebuttal pieces and upload, make sure you contact the people inspiring the post and let them know its been published.  Hopefully it will prompt the Nelly to blog about your content or comment again which should draw more attention and traffic back to your blog.  (Note:If you’re thin skinned, this might not be a tactic for you).

5.  Having opposing views on a subject makes good news in some cases, ping the journalists/bloggers in your niche and show them your content.  Let them know it’s OK to republish your part if they want to, let them follow up with the other guy.

You may lose the snark fest short-term but keep in mind a good follow-up or come-back can generate publicity, traffic and links making you the ultimate winner!

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from: Link Spiel

For more link building information, ideas and the occasional rant, visit LinkSpiel .

I found this little card in the bottom of my strawberry container, it’s a promotional offer driving people to a website or asking them to call in and complete a survey in exchange for a $5 coupon by mail.  

For such a little card the promotion sure packed a huge marketing punch.  Is there a way to use something like this to build links, drive traffic and build brand trust?   You bet!

Little Package, Big Punch

I did not contact Driscolls to find out why they were running the  promotion but if I had to guess, it was done for product feedback.  Surveys are a goldmine as far as I’m concerned,  there is a lot you can do with the information and outreach potential they have. From a linking standpoint, surveys alone don’t generate much interest but the content you create from the survey can generate a ton!

If I was going to develop content from a survey, I’d break it down into three types:  media link bait, Infographics and industry reports.  Let’s look at each.

Media link bait

Can you answer ‘yes’ to the following questions?

•        Do you know at least four (4) journalists from four different news outlets in your industry?
•        Have you collected their stories to get a sense of their topics and writing styles?
•        Are you paying attention to where your competitors are being featured news wise?

If you can, great!  If you can’t, it’s homework time.   Most people think “press release” when we talk about  targeting the media and that’s fine for certain projects but if you want solid media links and to become the ‘go-to’ source for your industry, you need to identify influential media and how to get your content to them.

No two reporters are alike, some like being contacted, others don’t.  Most have “how to get in touch with me” type directions on their columns and blogs, read up on their preferences and follow through.  If all else fails, pick up the phone, call the publication and ask for their submission procedures.

The world is not always on fire or experiencing a market crash so sometimes, reporters go looking for news.  Survey results are great as factual support or as filler pieces, here’s a good example:

The fact Gen Y like hybrids is hardly news but outside the election and SOPA drama, there’s little to report on.  It’s why this piece made it to the home page of USA Today and BusinessWeek.  (at the time I wrote this)

Bottom line here — if you produce content backed by research and know where and whom to push it to, chances are it will be used and linked to.  People like facts.

Infographic link bait

I know I raised a couple eyebrows when they saw my infographic suggestion, I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan.  But other people are and the media (still) seems to be so I can’t ignore their potential for some industries.  (#willuseanythingforalink-whore)

Using your survey results you can create and pimp an infographic for educational, humorous or controversial attention.  How and what you develop really depends on the demographic using your products.  Even the strawberry industry promotes them:

Tip:  These type of niche infographics do especially well with trade publications.

Industry Reports

This is one of my favorite tactics, I use it on clients all the time and it always, always, always works.  Just ask Rae or Rand or anyone else that culls information from a number of credible sources and produces a research document for an industry, this technique link rocks!

When you write an industry report you need to expand your circle of expertise and pull in sources from outside your company.  Be sure to include a definition of your industry, bio’s of the people contributing, historical trends, and outlooks for the future.  Journalists and the people contributing like this and will link to it as a result.  Use your survey results to support trends, and/or a SWOT analysis so your company remains a focal point in the report.

Simple Actions, Powerful Marketing

A promotion like this doesn’t have to run offline, you can do the same thing for your online business by creating a promotion and launching it through confirmation emails, product announcements or any other type of email contact you make with established customers.

The key phrase here is “established customers”; I wouldn’t run a survey promotion off a website,  you can’t be sure the people filling out the survey have actually used your product.   Granted,  I can’t be sure the people providing feedback through the strawberry promotion used the product but chances are they have since the special offer can only be found on the bottom of a berry container.

Link building is, and always has been about building links and gaining  trust.  Think about new ways to use factual information and your efforts will pay off in new links, traffic and brand trust.

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from: Link Spiel

For more link building information, ideas and the occasional rant, visit LinkSpiel .

I’ve been attending SEO and marketing conferences since 2002 and have amassed a huge pile of totes and backpacks as a result.

I use them all the time, mostly for groceries but I also haul around library books, gym clothes and gardening tools in them.  Not too long ago a woman stopped me in the grocery store and asked about the SEO totes I had piled in the front of my cart, she recognized one since she had attended the same show earlier in the year. Small world!

 I know I’m not the only one using my conference totes and backpacks at home, my friends do the same:

Christine Churchill and daughter Kaitlin. Tote in Kaitlin's lap is from the first SES conference Christine attended in 1999.

I’ve seen Christine use her backpacks around her ranch, she has them in the barn, in the horse trailer, in the shed, in her pickup and hanging from her saddle horn.  She definitely horses around with her totes!  (I’m here all week) 

Mat  uses his conference backpacks to leave home:

Mat Siltala bought luggage to match his SMX backpack. OK, not really but they do match!

Simon needs multiple backpacks  to carry around his stuff:

Simon Heseltine, AOL Bagman

If you’re saying “Yo Debra, enough with the cutesy images, where’s the link building spiel “, have no fear.  Besides having a little fun, I wanted to show how simple ideas and everyday items can be used to attract links.

Link To An Authority

While I used the images above as a giggle and intro to this post, I picked the bags because of the companies they represent.  Each comes from a well known and authoritative SEO/SEM conference,  I linked to them for a couple of reasons: 

• They help reinforce my credibility as a professional.  I have been speaking at SMX and SES for a long time and appreciate the fact they keep asking me back so I do whatever I can to help promote and support both shows. My totes post may be corny but the sentiment behind it is heartfelt both personally and algorithmically.  Sentiment analysis and the way it is being used to influence rank deserves another post but I’ll  leave you with a link for later reading. 

• Boosts my relevance factor.  Linking to the authoritative SEO conference sites helps establish where I belong topically and ties my site into the link graph.  Relevance is a major component of link popularity, by linking out I help reinforce my position topically and associate my content and anchors with terms used throughout the industry.

Use Images As Link Magnets  

I am frequently asked to share “advanced” linking building techniques, I always reply “there is no such thing as advanced link building.  I really feel that way, “advanced” is usually associated with ” more technical” or “less frequently discussed” which makes a tactic seem more advanced.   Using images falls into the “less frequently” category and by their nature, can be a little more technical depending on how you use them.  Here’s a couple ideas to try:

• Make Your Own ”Flickr”.  I do this quite a bit with images taken from client’s ecommerce sites, it is a great tactic for a B2B or retail site light in the written content department.  Create an image library on your website, add all your product images plus any other, publish your reprint requirements and promote to your users, through your niche forums and via press release.  You have a new channel, pimp it! A free image source is always well received, point your releases to the trade journals in your industry for added punch.   
• Optimize your images.  If the images are not yours, get permission from the people who own them, this is a big deal for both legal and marketing reasons.  Hover over the pictures on this post and you’ll see they are tagged and hyperlinked.  This is just good SEO as well as being polite, Google Image is still the second largest search platform in their stable.
•  Make an image video.  If you don’t have the time or resources to create a video, use your images to make one.  Search on the term “image to video” and you will find lots of companies with software or services to do it for you. Develop channels at all the video sites and promote as you would images.  Include a written transcript of each video and add them to your site so you benefit from the new content.

If I really wanted to stretch the tote idea I could ask Mat to create an infographic for me but there are only so many hours in the day  Point is, one little idea can be pulled and stretched into a lot of different linking techniques if you just look at everything with Betty Davis link building eyes.

Before you leave… If you are headed to SMX West in February and SES New York in March, please come by the Linking Bootcamps and say hello. My sessions are not for the faint of heart, I roll hard and fast jamming a ton of tips, techniques, and tools in the hour I have.  You will walk away with a great outline of tactics to use.

Christine and I are moderating each other’s sessions at SMX again,  she does a wicked smart keyword research and copywriting for search session so be sure to come by!

Thanks and see you soon!

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from: Link Spiel

For more link building information, ideas and the occasional rant, visit LinkSpiel .

The Content Marketing Institute in conjunction with Marketing Profs recently released a study showcasing what “worked” in 2011 in regards to B2B content marketing and what they project will work in 2012.

Two things in the report caught my eye:  the fact blogs showed a 45% increase and case studies showed a 32% increase in perceived effectiveness compared to last year’s report.

The change in percentages made me go back and read the report a second time and that’s when my linkey senses started tingling.  The fact blogs almost doubled in perceived value  and case studies increased by a third is telling IMO and great information to have as a link builder.

Why?  I have been known to say it’s not what you do that matters in linking, it’s where and I stand by that statement.  You can have the best information filled with keyword anchors but if you put that content in a crappy article directory or on a two-bit blog, you will get no algorithmic benefit, no traffic and no brand boost.  Heck, even if you have crap content sitting on those kind of sites you get no juice these days, Panda has taken care of that.   The report points out blogs are being used with increased frequency and that’s great information to have.

You also know what’s turning bloggers on in terms of accepting content.  An article titled

” The shopping habits of women over the age of 39“

sounds good and can be informative but market it as a case study and suddenly the information takes on a different light.

Think about it.  If you were a well-known (translation:  well or decently ranked) shopping blog or a news outlet looking for information on shopping habits, would you be more inclined to look at content labeled “article” or content labeled “case study” when researching for the story?  Take the actual article out of the equation for a moment, if you had to go by titles, which would you choose?

Goes without saying the content has to be kick-ass and a real case study or the Editor of the national news outlet and/or blog will never give you a second glance (might even burn you publicly) but that’s a subject for another post.  I know blasting the article directories and network blogs with content is still a viable linking tactic but I also know it’s getting much harder for those kinds of tactics to affect rank.  Add to it the ties Google is (supposedly) creating between G+ and rank and now it really is about what you say.  But don’t take my word for it, take a look at the report and note the uptick in white papers, print magazines, ebooks, it’s telling.  No where does it say short articles from the article directories showed an increase in use.

Everyone is running around yakking about “quality content” to the point its become a joke.  Well, fine, but keep in mind quality to you may not be quality to me so qualify it with a label and help make the content stick out.

So here’s something to consider when building links in 2012:  how you label your link-filled, quality content can affect where it’s hosted and who recommends it.  Having a case study sit in an article directory or a crap blog will do little for your rankings, having it on a national news site or well known blog however, will.   Try to incorporate a label in your anchors or the text around your link(s) so it’s associated with the content, like this:

Case Study:  The Shopping Habits of 39 Year Old (cough) Link Builder

Here are a handful of tips working for me:

• Tie your author bio to your Google profile as well as your website
• Link to internal pages of your site to support information in your case study/content.
• Don’t shy away from using keyword anchors,  just use them conversationally rather than making it obvious they were hyperlinked to produce juice
• Don’t rely on content generation to produce all your links.  Mix up your tactics, mix up your anchors.
• Point your anchors to pages within your site that have been optimized for those terms.  You’d be surprised how something so simple has a profound effect on your rankings.

Link building will be super competitive in 2012 and you’re going to need an edge to succeed.  Give it to yourself by developing and labeling the type of content marketers are looking for.

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Before I sign off, a personal note:

This is my last post for 2011, I can’t believe the holidays are around the corner and the New Year close behind.  I won’t be blogging until we come back in January but I will be posting all the cool marketing and link building tidbits I find (and I find a bunch of cool stuff!) to my Facebook and G+ account so come over and join the fun.

 I sincerely wish you and yours all the best in 2012.  Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

images courtesy Content Marketing Institute

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from: Link Spiel

For more link building information, ideas and the occasional rant, visit LinkSpiel .

In the spirit of the holidays, our directory friends in the US and UK  have offered readers of the Link Spiel limited time discounts and submission specials to their directories!

Enjoy the directory discounts and spread the word! :)

Alive Directory (www.alivedirectory.com)

Discount amount – 20% off all listing types
Promotional code -  LS20
Promotion ends – January 31, 2012
General comments –  Promo code valid on all listing types

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Avia Directory  (www.avivadirectory.com)
Discount Amount – $20 off annual and permanent listings
Promotion code – holidays11
Promotion Ends – Closed

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Best Of The Web (www.botw.org)

Discount amount -  15% off all listing types
Promotional code -  BOTW15
Promotion ends -  March 1, 2012
General comments -  Promo code is good for everything including the UK Directory, blog directory and BOTW Local

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Biz-Dir Business Directory (www.bizdirbusinessdirectory.co.uk/)

Discount amount – 50% off
Promotional code – bizsave for regular listing
Promotional code – dirsave for featured listing
Promotion ends – Closed

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CanLinks  (www.canlinks.net)

Discount amount – 25% on regular and feature listings
Promotional code – LSP25
Promotion ends – Closed

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DirJournal  (www.dirjournal.com)

Discount amount – 20% off all listing types
Promotional code – LS20
Promotion ends – January 31, 2012
General comments -  Promo code valid on all listing types

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Ezilon (www.ezilon.com)

Discount amount – 30% off
Promotional code – s1z8v
Promotion ends – January 27, 2012
General comments – Visit their helpdesk under “Contacts” for assistance with submitting sites

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Family Friendly Sites (www.familyfriendlysites.com)

Discount amount – 20% Permanent listing
Promotional code – follow directions under General comments
Promotion ends – Closed

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GreenStalk (www.greenstalk.com)

Discount amount – $20 off lifetime listing
Promotional code – green
Promotion ends – March 1, 2012
General Comments – Discount good on lifetime listing

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MasterMoz (www.mastermoz.com)

Discount amount – $20.00
Promotional code – spiel2011
Promotion ends – Closed

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RaveGambling (www.ravegambling.com)

Discount amount – bogo  (buy one get one)
Promotional code – RGLS2011
Promotion ends – Closed

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Rubber Stamped (www.rubberstamped.org)

Discount amount – bogo  (buy one get one)
Promotional code – n/a
Promotion ends – Closed

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Sezza (www.sezza.com)

Discount amount – $10 off lifetime listing
Promotional code – sezza
Promotion ends – March 31, 2012
General comments – Discount off a lifetime listing

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Web-Beacon (www.web-beacon.com)

Discount amount – bogo  (buy one get one)
Promotional code – WBD241
Promotion ends – June 1, 2012
General comments – When paying for the first submission via Paypal, add the discount code and URL of your second site to the box on the Paypal page.

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Web World Index (www.webworldindex.com)

Discount amount – 25% premium listing
Promotional code – LinkSpiel
Promotion ends – March 31, 2012
General comments –  To receive the 25% discount use the 2CheckOut option on the payment page -> http://www.webworldindex.com/ads.html  This option allows you to enter the coupon code ‘LinkSpiel‘. After you enter the coupon code click on the ’Update Cart’ button.

If you have questions about any of the promotions listed here, please contact the directory.  Keep an eye on this page for updates, additions and promotion ending dates!

Before you leave, a favor?  If you have a minute I would appreciate if you’d Like my new Facebook page (thanks to Chris Gilchrist at HitReach for designing it ) and add my new G+ page to your circles. I always “circle” back.

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from: Link Spiel

For more link building information, ideas and the occasional rant, visit LinkSpiel .

Recently, an SEO/friend asked me to help him with a back link analysis, he had been contacted by a very panicked former client who needed help. The two had worked together for a number of years before the client brought his SEO in-house so the SEO was familiar with the site and responsible (in part) for its ranking success.

About two years ago (my friend was gone by this time) the client decided to sell space on his site.  He had been solicited repeatedly by link brokers and finally gave in. He started with two text links in the footer and then added two more a couple months later.  The links were to sites in ancillary industries, they used creative keyword anchors and blended with the content. The client was being well paid for their placement so when nothing happened, he added four more for a total of eight text links in the footers.

Life was good, the client was ranking in the top five for most of his terms and he came through Panda unscathed. The fact he wasn’t hurt by Panda isn’t surprising, the site has been online since 2003 and is an e-commerce property with a very strong back link profile.

But change happens and earlier this summer the site took a nose dive. Scared, the client turned to his old SEO friend who in turn, called me for a second opinion. After carefully reviewing back links, his analytics, hosting information and a couple other things, we both agreed the footer links caused his fall.

Why?  For starters, he didn’t just fall a couple of spots, he was no where to be found. We’ll never know for sure but I suspect someone did a spam report after noticing the footer links and the site was pulled as a result. When that happens it’s usually because:

1. there’s been a change to the ranking algo, or
2. pages linking to you went away, or
3. your site had hosting issues and went offline, or
4. you’ve been whacked by a reviewer/spam report/dmca notice

His inbound links didn’t change, he wasn’t offline, we heard nothing about an algo change or a DMCA complaint so it had to be reviewer/spam report.   Once we knew what didn’t happen, we came to the conclusion the eight footer links were causing the problem.  We convinced the client to remove the links, let us submit a reconsideration request and launch an awareness campaign to keep the traffic coming.  We then sent him off to increase his Adwords spend and got to work.  About 45 days later, after much groveling and the promise of a first-born child, the site popped (way) back in the serps.  Whoo hoo.

Here’s two interesting things about this little situation:

First, when the SEO told the client we thought the footer links caused the problems, he didn’t buy into it right away. Those footer links were on his site for several years and never caused any problems, he couldn’t believe eight little links were the cause of his downfall.   The SEO and I had nothing concrete to base our assumptions but since we ruled out everything else and know how much the engines dislike paid links, figured they were the problem.  Of course after the reconsideration request sparked dialogue with the search engine, he came around but initially it was a tough sell and that really surprised me.

Second, links in the footer area pointing to unrelated websites not only look out of place, they are easy for your competitors to spot.  Whenever I hear about footer links I’m reminded of this video Google Engineer Matt Cutts made:

 …”we do reserve the right to treat links in footers a little bit differently. For example, if something is in a footer it might not carry the same editorial weight because someone might have set up a single link and it might be something that’s across the entire site whereas something that’s in an actual paragraph of text is a little more likely to be an editorial link. So we do reserve the right to treat those links differently in terms of how we consider them for relevance, how we consider them for reputation, how much we trust them, all those sorts of things.”

Personally I would never take chances with my bread and butter sites especially if they were ranking well.  The client site I talked about earlier?  His site never rebounded to the top five, it’s in the top 20 now which is a huge difference traffic and income wise. The change affected his bottom line and forced him to cut staff hours and design updates.

I’ve long associated reconsideration requests with jail and probation; you do the crime, you do the time and then you’re watched and monitored down the line.  Once a website/page is flagged and goes through the reconsideration process, it’s highly unlikely the page is just turned loose, I’m sure there is some algorithmic stigma attached which means you’re going to have to work harder and smarter for a very long time to get back on top and stay there.

Having to do reconsideration requests is a huge time suck and causes needless stress, don’t make it easy for your competitors and the algos to be link finks, avoid buying or selling footer links.

Image from zazzle.com

from: Link Spiel

For more link building information, ideas and the occasional rant, visit LinkSpiel .

Wow.  According to ComScore:

• 1 out of every 6 minutes spent online is spent on a social networking site
• 1 out of every 3 display ads appears on a social networking site
• ½ of the total U.S. Internet audience visits a social networking site in a given day
• The average Internet user views more than 2,000 display ads on social networking sites each month

Great data to support creating an advertising program to push link marketing campaigns.

Develop ads to drive people to your content/blog; once they are there, capture email addresses and ask for the link at the end of each article.

Offer incentives as a way to sweeten the “link to us deal” and include social media buttons so visitors can share what they find on your site.

From the looks of the ComScore data, Facebook is the place to advertise at the moment but don’t stop there.  Ask (survey/poll) your customers about their online surfiing habits and advertise on these sites as well.  They don’t all have to be ”Facebook” types, smaller more niched sites work and send targeted customers at a lower price.

Use popular advertising channels to push people to your site and hook them with a clever link marketing program once they are there!

Before you go….

Check out the new Alliance-Link company page on Facebook, I’m dropping SEO, marketing, public/media relations, advertising and cool stuff in general I like and find helpful on the FB page.   I surf all day and find some pretty amazing info so LIKE the page and check it out!!

And thanks to Jill and Mat for helping me get the Facebook page up and running. 

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from: Link Spiel

For more link building information, ideas and the occasional rant, visit LinkSpiel .