Have fun this holiday season!
Top Searches Can Attract Top Links
The search engines have been publishing their “Top Searches” lists for 2009, so far I’ve collected lists from Bing , Yahoo!, and Google. Other sites posting “top” searches are ESPN, Snopes, and my favorite, Yahoo’s Top Video’s (warning: time killer!). I set my alerts to catch these lists because they spark ideas for link bait and content development we can use to attract links.
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:
Top Questions Asked About Pets
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)
How To Get More Links From Back Linking Competitors
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.
Building Links “Outside The Box”
You often hear people say “think outside the box” when it comes to building links, its a way to say “do something different” or ” be creative”. But what exactly is ”the box” and how do you ”think outside” it when it comes to links?
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!
