Recently, on the SEOBook Community Forum*, this question was asked:

I built too many incoming links too quickly and tripped a filter sending me from about #17 to #95. Whoops! Not being much of a link builder historically, this has never happened to me before. Is it possible I could just wait it out? I will have some natural links coming in over time to sort of balance things out … it might not kill me since #17 wasn’t too great to begin with. 

Great question!  The topic of tripping filters comes up all the time, let’s take a look at it.

You have a website, it’s been around a while, has a good number of pages in the index and ranks decently for your primary keywords.  You did a little optimization and link building when you launched it so it has a handful of links plus a couple you picked up while you’ve been online.  Other than that, you’ve done almost nothing to the site and things have been OK ranking wise. 

Now life is good until one day you notice your little site with its handful of inbound links has slipped in the search results.  You also notice your competitors are actively marketing their sites and moving up in the rankings  while  you’re moving down.  Life goes from good to crap in a link heartbeat! 

So you decide to quickly fight back by aquiring a large number of one-way links all pointing to your home page.   Then you sit back, rub your hands together gleefully and wait to see your little site climb back up in the serps.

And you wait.  And wait.  And wait some more.  

Then this happens:   

“sending me from about #17 to #95″

Oh crap.

What the heck is happening?  Was I slapped with some +99 , over optimization, under-the-radar, anti-brand, bad neighborhood, they don’t like my hair penalty?  The bad hair thing aside, probably not.  You just tripped a link pop filter and have been tweaked for too many links too fast. 

Search engine algorithms are mathematical equations, you can’t add new numbers to the mix without another part of the equation being affected.   The little site had a history of being a little site with a handful of links so when big changes happened, red flags go up.   All of a sudden the numerical equation behind the  site changed dramatically which caused the site to tank.   When you add a lot of inbound links quickly and nothing else changes in and around your historically quiet site,  you should expect to see either no-or-downward movement.  That type of link growth isn’t natural unless you’re doing something  promotionally to build  links. 

But you’re not doing anything to the site except adding links.   There’s no new content, no increase in search queries, no media mentions (media = social and traditional),  no nothing.  Hoards of people don’t just give away links to a single site/page unless they’ve been asked/paid to do so,  so the engine assumes the links haven’t been acquired editorially and either ignore them or slaps you down. 

Ouch.

At some point time passes and you either add content/traffic/media or the time filter wears off and you see a little improvement in your ranking. Or maybe you don’t because you weren’t smart enough to figure out what was going on when you added those links to begin with so you kept adding MORE. 

The concept of link popularity is simple.  Link quantity, quality, anchor text and relevance all factor into the equation, change one of them dramatically without balancing the rest and the single biggest component of the ranking algorithm will start to scream and throw up flags.  Keep in mind link popularity is also balanced  by 199 additional ranking factors some of which include content, domain age, load rates and search referral traffic.  ALL of these things need to be considered when adding links to a web page/site.

Even for big/branded/competitive sites.   They “get away” with being able to add more links because what they do have established (their reputation, content, traffic, links, involvement in the media) continues to work for them.  Small sites lack that insulation so they need to be careful and remember balancing content, traffic, and links is key.

*The SEOBook Community Forum is  a paid membership platform and part of the SEOBook Training program. 

All of the lists are valuable but IMO, the best list comes from Ask.com. Why? Because they list the top questions people used as search queries on  Ask.com. The list is divided  by category and includes the top ten questions asked. Here’s an example of one of the categories:

This kind of information is priceless when it comes to SEO and link building for a couple of reasons:  …. (read the rest of the article here on Link Week/Search Engine Land)

We talk a lot about back linking competitors/authority sites as a viable linking method and for the most part it is, but if you’re only going after what you see in back links, you may be leaving a lot of marketing power on the table. 

 Let’s take a look at this link building method and see how we can squeeze more link juice out of back linking our competitors and authority sites.

Who’s on First?

If you’re unfamiliar with the term or process of “back linking” it means to look at the inbound links to a specific webpage.  You can do this any number of ways, I tend to use Yahoo’s Site Explorer (free) or one of the SEOBook (some free, some not) arsenal of tools.  With the tool you can see who’s  linking to a page, what anchor text they’re using and what URL they are linking to.  All important stuff if you’re in the game to try and get links from the same sources.  Why?  Well, knowing who is linking to your competitors and/or the authorities in your niche is a good idea for a couple of reasons:

1.  Inbound links influence rankings so knowing who is linking out helps you target them as a possible source as well and,

2.  Inbound links drive traffic and expose brand, both necessary to build reputation.  If you’re looking to pimp your rep, you’ll want to get similar links.

OK, that’s pretty standard yada-yada but if we’re only looking at those back links as rank boosters and traffic streams we’re missing out.  Knowing  who is linking is good but understanding why they’re linking is better and the key to besting the competition.

Use The Heck Out Of The Back Links You Find

Once you’ve back linked a list of sites, look hard at the host sites and take note of what they’re linking to and where  those links are pointing.   If the links are pointing to a press release:

• What did the competitor do to generate the release?    

• Can you develop a similar event or announcement and issue through the same channels?    

• Run a snippet from the opening paragraph of your competitors press release and look for locations hosting this content.  Contact those sites and offer an exclusive before you run one of your press releases through a media services like PRWeb.  Bloggers and media outlets like having information before it’s made public.

Or, are the links pointing to a piece of content with  WOW factor?  If yes,

• What’s the piece about?    

• How did they launch it, via press release or through blogger outreach?    

• Who thought enough of of the piece to link to it?   

• Was the piece promoted on Digg, Twitter Facebook etc?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you have many opportunities to find new outlets to host your content.  Get busy writing a different/better wow content and promote it to the same sources.  (Tip:  info graphics are all the rage…)

This tactic isn’t always a bed of roses, sometimes we  find tons of crappy (translation:  paid) links pointing at our well ranked competitors.  If  it appears they’ve purchased  links does that mean you should do the same?  Tough question and there’s no easy answer.  No two sites are equal  so what’s working for one might not for another.  Look hard at those links and weigh possible consequences against the outcome. 

Competitive research does show us who is linking to our rivals but it doesn’t explain why.   Look for the why, it will help you gain additional links and create new partnerships to host your link embedded content.

Good questions but hard to give stock answers to so I went looking for an example to illustrate the point.  Found a good one after reading a press release today from the Cable & Telecommunication Association for Marketing.  Let’s take a look at how ”thinking outside the box” can help you find credible  resources and build links.

Recently the  CTAM  released a report analyzing four generational groups and their online behavior.  No surprises overall save one as it relates to the Mature (age 65+) market.  Here’s some of the findings:

Seniors aged 65 and older (also referred to as “Matures”) have made the Internet an integral part of their everyday lives. In a recent study, 77 percent report that they shop online. In fact, Matures lead all other generational groups when it comes to this online activity. They regularly use email (94 percent), go to the Internet to look up health and medical information (71 percent), read news (70 percent), and manage their finances and banking (59 percent). Matures also turn to the Internet for gaming, approximately half (47 percent) of online Matures regularly play free online games.  

Bold in red mine because it’s the part that raised an eyebrow and got the link brain going.  People 65 and older are playing games online? At first I was surprised since I equate “online games” with things like WarCraft and WhackAToad  but then I remembered hearing how intellectually stimulating activities such as crossword puzzles, SuDoku and word search have the potential to keep Alzheimer’s at bay in older people and it made perfect sense.    Here’s where the “thinking outside the box” kicks in.

Developing a widget for a crossword puzzle, or daily email blast would be easy, helpful and a great passive tool to expose your brand to a segment of the market with a lot of disposable income.  If you’re catering to this crowd, create the puzzle (do something different)  and make a lot of noise (be creative) when doing so:

• Launch a media blitz
• Take out an ad in on/offline magazines
• Get involved on social networking sites like Eons, ThirdAge
• Get involved on blogs like Aging Hipsters 
• Co-partner with another company selling to same demographic, drop puzzles in items e/mailed 

The demographic itself may not link since they tend not to have websites  but all the organizations who cater to them – will.   This is the “thinking outside the box” part. 

The real secret to good link building isn’t about redirects or directories or librarians, it’s about opening the box and looking beyond the obvious for opportunities and openings.   Might be time to start unpacking!

Earlier this month the Wall Street Journal ran an article on how businesses were using Live Chat to make incremental sales. 

This bit caught my eye:

 In late April, home improvement e-tailer Improvement Direct Inc., of Chico, Calif., used a chat feature on its site to converse directly with customers about its products and services. The response was overwhelming. “We got flooded,” says Brandon Proctor, vice president of marketing. “We couldn’t believe how many chats we were getting.” In July alone, the company had more than 300 chats daily and converted them into sales at a rate of 9%

Way to go Improvement Direct!    Since I suffer from link tunnel vision I immediately started to wonder how I could use the live chat application to get people to link.  Here’s what I came up with:

1.  At the end of every chat have the operator ask the customer if they’d like to have a permanent discount code for the product you’re selling.  All they have to do is link to your site and you’ll send the code.

2.  If you have a product requiring assembly instructions or a “how to use guide”  provide these links in the chat.  On the pages hosting these “how to” guides, make a push to link to your site.

3.  Do an email blast to current customers annoucing the new chat feature on your site.  In the correspondence drop the “link to us” offer and include a giveaway as a thank you.

4.  Issue a press release annoucing the new feature and your company’s committment to customer service and using advanced technology.  

While it’s a good idea to look at everything as an opportunity to promote your website,  it’s not a good idea to go overboard and become a pest asking for links.    Keep the number of times you ask to a minimum and use  the elements with the highest visibililty for a better chance of link building success.

P.S.  If you’re interested in the technology, the article mentioned Meebo as a free live chat software and search on the phrase “live chat software” for the paid companies.

As a link builder I’m not enamoured with YouTube and do not recommend using it as a primary way to build links or as an integral part of your SEO program. 

 Why?

• Videos on YouTube are on YouTube so any optimization effort you implement helps YouTube and not your website/pages.     

• YouTube contributes to the pinking of the ‘Net/Web (uses nofollow) so any link you insert to guide people back to your site passes no link popularity. 
   
• While traffic from YouTube can be beneficial, you have to optimize the content on YouTube like any other in order for people to find it.  This is time better spent elsewhere.
   
• Efforts to make a video go viral begin with the webmaster, not YouTube
    
•  It’s doubtful you’ll build a brand following on YouTube unless the public is already aware of your brand.      

•  By-n-large people look  for information on a search engine first, they don’t search on YT for a place to buy baseball cards.  There is a reason Google has become a verb and YouTube a pastime.

But the number one reason?

• YouTube results bump web pages down in the general search results and web pages make sales , videos don’t!

Want to see what I mean?  Look here, here, and here  and notice how the videos are all ranking in the top five but the sites they represent – don’t.    Yes the exposure is nice but where is there opportunity to make a sale??    Throw in local search results and images showing up and it can take a while to get to a static search result.   If your goal is to make your website an authority in your industry/niche, you should house and promote the videos on your site, not YouTube.  This will help with algorithmic authority, branding and traffic.

So is using YouTube to build SEO  links a wasted effort?   Pretty much which is why I don’t recommend using it to increase your link popularity but I wouldn’t totally discount using the number two search engine on the Net to build awareness.  Consider doing this: 

• Make shorter versions of your video’s and insert on YouTube, longer vid stays on your site

• Create those shorter versions as teasers and as a lead-in to promotions/information on your site

• Be sure the start and ending frame of the vid include the URL to your website

• Optimize your YouTube listing with your keywords

• Be the first one to leave a comment/review under your vid, include the URL to your website and explain a longer more detailed version of the vid exists on your website

• Encourage everyone you know to drop a comment/review on the video  (re/views help push your vid to the top for your keywords)

• Create a video area on your site just as you would a media room and promote it to the media, your customers, vendors etc.

• Make the vid’s on your website available through Creative Commons, make full descriptions embedded with kw rich links part of your attribution.

You need to decide what’s best for your site and if having YouTube video’s come up in the serps for your keywords is your goal, power to you.  But if you’re in business to make a profit and plan to use video to attract links, know the links you point at YouTube will have little to no effect on your overall rankings. 

Use YouTube or any image/audio hosting site wisely and they can be your greatest ally  and not a ranking enemy.

(photo taken from Zazzle.  Buy a tee shirt!)

I came across a social media  service today called SayNow;  they give away free telephone numbers people can call to hear personalized recorded messages from their favorite celebrities.

Once they’ve heard the message fans can leave a note for the celebrity and the celebrity can either answer personally or broadcast to his/her “followers”.    Right now the service is entertainment and athlete dominated but that’s changing as anyone can sign up for a number and start calling.  SayNow allows you to make your calls public or private, integrate with Twitter, Facebook and MySpace  and send out mp3, photos or text messages.  With  over 10 million registered users, SayNow has some impressive numbers if you consider they had five million in November 2008. 

My linkey senses went all tingly as I started thinking about how I could use this tool to deliver a targeted message and drive links naturally.  I came up with two ideas to start:

1.  Since the tool is integrated with Twitter and Facebook, tweet your SayNow telephone number and encourage your  followers to call in.  Create a welcome message and include

 an incentive redeemable at your site

 a retweet request  of your SayNow account  and most importantly

 a  request to link to your site. 

2.  I’d also recommend you:

write a press release announcing your SayNow telephone number, include info on the incentive program

email the press release to current customer and vendor list as well as your association and Chamber memberships

issue release through service such as PRWeb

highlight being an early adopter of the concept (make yourself look smart!)

encourage people to “fan” your SayNow account to receive automated updates

 If you sell to the teen market, this might be a service to try since teens are known to be into cell phones.  From the NYTimes:

But studios and stars are turning more heavily to the phone as a marketing tool as new services like SayNow pop up; cellphones become more ubiquitous; and evidence grows that their most crucial customers — teenagers — are not all that enamored with the likes of Twitter. A voice message is more intimate and authentic than a status update.

 And even if you don’t, marketing your SayNow telephone number to your customers, your Twitter followers and your Association  can put any future link building promotions squarely in their hand-held telephones   Hey it’s free, what do you have to lose?

No link building post here, just a HUGE air punch for William & Mary, they beat
The University of Virginia (UVA) this evening in an exciting season opener in Charlottesville.  It’s the first time WM has beaten a FBS (football bowl school) school since 1998 so KUDOS to the green and gold.  Go Tribe!!

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It’s common knowledge certain markets are harder to build links for than others. For the most, part highly competitive industries are tough because they’ve been worked to death, but less competitive markets can also be difficult because of the demographic behind them. Such was the case for a client we took on awhile back in the financial services industry. He sold a very niche product in a very competitive industry, known to be populated by busy corporate executives. He came to us with a new website which needed back links to support ongoing SEO, build his company brand and drive traffic to the site. No small feat considering the market he was in.