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.

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!)

If you’ve been doing business online for any length of time chances are you have a database of opt-in email addresses from customers, vendors, newsletter signups etc.  Here’s a way to use those email addresses to increase your inbound links and take your campaign viral.

The Set Up.

I get a copy of the Washington Post delivered to the house every Sunday.  I’ve been getting it for several years and renew my subscription via their website each January to ensure uninterrupted service.

Last week they sent  an email asking me to become a  Facebook Fan so I could connect with Washington no matter where I was.  Here’s what the ad looked like:

I  like the Washington Post but not enough to take the time  to become a Facebook Fan so I ignored the message and went back to work.  Too bad for them, not only did they lose an opportunity to gain a new Fan but they also missed the opportunity to use that ad as a viral magnet for links and traffic.

Strike One.  A Fan I Am – Not.

Keep in mind I’m a long-time subscriber to the paper which means they have my full contact information on file as well as my subscription history.   If that email had been incentivized with an extension on my subscription or discount on classifieds I probably would have taken the time to become a Facebook Fan.  But, the “incentive” to “connect to Washington” wasn’t enough to motivate me since I’m already connected through my subscription.  They should have come up with something better for current customers.

Strike Two.  Just Bad Links For You.

If I had designed that ad I would have offered an incentive to link as a way to stimulate the Facebook sign ups and increase my inbound links.  I doubt the Washington Post is concerned with their inbound link counts but since this is a link building blog and we’re learning what NOT to do , user bin, I’ll add this lesson to the mix:  if you’re going to email your customer base and ask for something, ask for a link while you’re at it.

People link when there’s something in it for them so think about what you can offer in exchange for a link.  It would have been nothing for the Post to give me a 60 day extension on my subscription or a discount on classifieds in return for a link.   Granted, a lot of their customers don’t have websites but  I’m betting there are a good number that do.  To add a simple link request line and a small incentive to an opt-in mailing list  just makes sense and is smart marketing.

Viral Opportunity Lost

Of the three strikes, I think this was their biggest.  The Washington Post  lost an opportunity to attract links, build brand and drive traffic  when they didn’t add a viral element to the email.   Adding a simple line like “pass this along to friends and family”  and including  a small incentive is often all the encouragement people need.

Use What You Have To Build Links

If you search on the term “email flyers” you’ll see a number of companies offering tools to create email ads like the one pictured above.  But unlike the Washington Post ad, be sure you include

• A  benefit statement.  Tell your prospects what’s in it for them
• An incentive.  Give them something special for doing what you ask
• Ask for the sale.  Ask for the link and suggest they pass the ad along
• Use loyalty.  Use your email list or partner with another company in your niche and use theirs.

Keep the ad short, dangle an incentive to link and ask people to pass along the offer.   If you do, the links will come leaving you more time to read the paper.

I sat at my desk for the longest time today trying to write a link building post  that used  the storyline from the TV show  ”The New Adventures of Old Christine“.  I love the show and wanted to draw a correlation between it and link building but it wasn’t meant to be. So I decided to forget about the show, tweak the title a bit and blog about how using old fashion offline advertising tricks could help in your link building efforts.

The more I thought about it, I decided my tweaked title might also be good for a piece on how using popular titles and catch phrases can draw attention to content and in turn, lead to links.  I mean, weren’t you just a little curious what I might spiel on after reading that title?  Just a little?

Then I thought about it even more and decided why only tweak  and use titles?  Why not use TV, movie or news  content and capitalize on their entertainment buzz?  “The New Adventure of Old Christine” is about a neurotic single mom who owns a weight loss gym and fights with her ex-husband about his much younger girlfriend.  That story line touches on a lot of niches, such as

• weight loss
• exercise studio
• dating sites
• marriage counseling
• mommy blogs
• parenting sites/blog

If you owned a site/blog in one of those industries you could create fun on-topic content and reference a scene  from the show to make a point or add sizzle.  Like this or this guy  or what I’m doing here. 

Even the acerbic American poet  Dorothy Parker  tweaked a line from William Shakespeare to make a little noise for herself:

Brevity is the soul of lingerie.

Cute eh? 

Now, if you’re reading this and thinking “No thanks old Debra, don’t want to get into copyright trouble” -  relax,  try it, you’ll like it.   I’m not suggesting you steal pictures or quote the show verbatim, merely use something from the show to complement a point you’re making.  It’s not necessary to come up with original, serious, fact-busting content for everything you write, injecting a light note, current event or reference to a popular television show is fine.  

 Heck it’s so easy a caveman can do it.

A little rant today.

One of the comments left after my link building interview on SearchEnginePeople (thank you Ruud) made me raise an eyebrow.  It said:

Good advice but they are completely basic and well known . i always think whether their are some hidden secrets which make the link building very easy

Bold is mine . The comment was made in response to a list of link building tactics I supplied in the interview.

Whenever I speak at a conference or workshop,  people pull me aside after my spiel and ask if I’d share the “real insider tips” on link building.   Never mind the fact I had just spent the last 45 minutes on stage sharing how we use the media, customer surveys, website elements, RSS, directories, content development and offline sources to build quality links.

Nope,  they still think I’m holding out.  So they sidle up to me and start asking questions.  The conversation usually goes something like this:

Person:  Good talk Debra, got a few nuggets but  can you share a couple “easy” ”secret”  tips with me?

Me: Thank you for saying that.   Sure I’d be happy to share my favorite insider tip with you, it’s super super ”easy”, effective and can be summed up in one word!

Person: (laughs and breathlessly scrambles for a pen)  One word – oh boy this must be a great tip!

Me: Yep,  and best of all, it’s very inexpensive to implement.

Person: Really?  WOW!  What is it?

Me: Postcards.

Person: (blinks rapidly) Wait, what did you say?

Me: Postcards.

Person: (sounding a little confused)  Do you mean postcards.com?  Is that some incredibly high PageRank site with free dofollow links?  (gets breathless again)  How do you get them?

Me: Nope, I mean postcards as in those little paper things you send in the snail mail.  We use them as part of our link building campaign to increase email open rates.  That’s the ”secret” “easy” link building tip I have that works every time.

Now… some people press me for details and I’ll explain how we use the postcard to increase  our email open rates, build trust and brand.  It’s a “secret” communication weapon I’ve used for years and works everytime.   They get it, smile and leave happy.

But others don’t smile and don’t get it.  They’re convinced there’s a cache of  “easy”  ”secret” tactics known only to link builders and using postcards simply couldn’t be one of them.  I get asked about redirects,  widgets,  comment dropping and paid links  because people think these are link building “secrets”.  I’m not sure why but believe it has to do with the fact they’re not talked about as much and people equate them with some degree of difficulty since they’re more technically related.

As a result, user bin, some people assume these technical tactics are  more effective than the tactics in my presentation.   I kinda get that, I used to be under the same impression until I actively worked with these techniques.  Redirects are awesome and can point a lot of link juice in a short period but you still have to have the pages in place to redirect from.   Widgets work too provided you target the right demographic and have the money to get them launched.

I guess you could consider the technical tactics ”easy” since they’re (mostly) automated, dependent on scripts and require little if any marketing strategy.  They’re certainly faster than the tactics I recommend but fast doesn’t always equate to long-term and in marketing, you want long-term.

So… my two cents about this comment:

i always think whether their are some hidden secrets which make the link building very easy

No, there really aren’t any ”secret”  link building tactics, what you hear  is pretty much what’s out there.  But there is some secrecy around website sources and where to find them so the answer to the question is yes and no.    Focus on finding partner sites that have been:

online for a couple years
have been indexed
will allow links in content areas
use clean links
are host to your demographic
are in the major directories

And so on.  It’s going to be hard to meet all the criteria I listed so go for as many as you can.  If you do, you’ll find it “easy” to rank well no matter what tactic you use.  That’s the big “secret”. 

With money being a little tight these days, I thought a list of discount codes from the general directories, SEOBook, URLWire,  Fantomaster and others would be helpful.   

Let’s start with the directories:

UK Small Business Directory  For our friends in the UK
Coupon Code:  LS20-31/10
Discount:          20% of displayed prices
Promotion ends:    October 31  2009
General Comment:  Register a free listing, contact us with your discount code, and we will provide information on all upgrade options and reduce all fees by 20%
Contact:   http://www.uksmallbusinessdirectory.co.uk/contact.htm

RubberStamped
Coupon Code:    Pay for one listing in Rubberstamped.org, get a free listing in  BangDrum.com
Discount:  Two for one deal.
Promotion ends:  June 31, 2009
Comments:  Send email to editors@rubbertstamped.org after you submit to Rubberstamped.org and we’ll send instructions on how to submit to BangDrum.

Avia Directory
Coupon Code – thelinkspiel
Discount  – $20 off both regular and featured submissions.
Code Expires – May 31, 2009.

Greenstalk
Coupon code:   green5
Discount:  $20 of a lifetime listing
Promotion ends:   July 31, 2009

Global-Weblinks
Coupon code:  Alliance-Link
Discount:  15% on all submission types
Promotion ends:  December 31, 2009

DirJournal.com
Coupon code:  LinkSpiel
Discount:  25% on all listings
Promotion ends:  June 30, 2009

eWilla Directory
Coupon code:  LINKSPIEL
Discount:  $5.00 off standard listing submission
Promotion ends:  August 31, 2009

Best Of The Web
Coupon code:  BOTW15
Discount:  15% on all BOTW products (this includes UK directory and Blog Directory)
Promotion ends:  May 31, 2009

Sezza Directory
Coupon code:  sezza
Discount  $10 off lifetime listing
Promotion ends:  July 31, 2009

SiteSift
Coupon code:  deal21
Discount:  Buy 2 Get 1 Free
Promotion ends: May 31, 2009

Ezilon
Coupon code:  EZSpromo2S
Discount:  $20 off regular fee
Promotion ends: July 20, 2009
Comments:   Our editors will be  glad to review and list your website within 48 hours. Do not forget to send the promo code above and your website information after submission using the following contact form. http://www.ezilon.com/contacts/helpdesk/

BizDir Business Directory - Based in the UK
Coupon code:  bizsave  50% off regular listing
Coupon code:  dirsave 50% off featured listing
Promotion ends:  May 31, 2009

Massive Links
Coupon Code: Y2I5HJ12
Discount amount: 50% = $44.99. These are permanent listings.
Date promotion ends: May 31, 2009

Conference Discount

Search Engine Strategies – San Jose
URL: http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/sanjose/  
Discount: 15%
Promotional code: SJ15AL
Date discount expires: none 

Tools

SEOBook Training Program

Get access to more exclusive SEO tools, our online training program, and the top SEO Community (where Debra is a moderator) and save 25% off your first month as a new SEO Book subscriber
Discount URL: http://www.seobook.com/debra-mastaler-rocks
Discount ends: May 31, 2009

Here’s some of the tools being offered:   hub finder ( http://training.seobook.com/hubfinder ) – finds topical hubs that are good link source candidates + local rank tool ( http://www.seobook.com/localrank-tool ) – crawls top Google search results, and then finds links to top ranked sites from other sites that also rank in the local set  + competitive research tool ( http://www.seobook.com/seo-book-competitive-research-tool ) – find out which pages on a competing site are getting the most valuable search traffic so you know which pages to promote with your internal site link structure and with your external link building efforts.

URWire –

URLwire is a discreet and highly regarded news service for announcing meritorious Web content to the right people.  Sites announced on URLwire must offer useful, unique, or educational content, or show off the capabilities of the web in some way that is obvious and real. The mission of URLwire is to help your high quality content attract high quality links from trustworthy sources, like online site reviewers, bloggers, editors, writers, vertical web guides, social linkers, etc.

Discount offered:  Second annoucement at no charge.
Promotional code:  LSUW
Promotion ends:  August 31, 2009

Code Monitor

CodeMonitor™ is a free web tool for monitoring, notification, and comparing web page changes made by your web marketer, client, programmer, or a competitor. CodeMonitor checks web pages daily for changes and gives you a side-by-side code comparison.

Tool is free with no expiration date.

Receptional Suite of Tools

My friend Dixon Jones from Receptional Internet Marketing  is offering a selection of completely free web based tools designed primarily by Receptional Internet Marketing for their own use>  He’s opened  a number up for public consumption. A useful link tool is the ability to compare the relative strengths of two domains’ back links according to Yahoo’s data – taken from Yahoo’s API. The tool splits the back links down by domain type and whether the links
are to the homepage or deep links.

Tools are free to use but require signup.  No expiration dates.

10 Links A Day

The 10 Links A Day offers you publication of your articles across a vast network of platforms to assist you in your link building efforts. (And yes, it’s 100% white hat!)
Discount offered:  10%
Promotional code:  9LS05TR5110
Promotion expires:  May 15, 2009
General comments:  No duplicate content issues as each article only gets published once. Up to 3 links per article.  Premium mode allows for offline upmarking and bulk upload – upload and forget. Also, see the bonuses  for powerful article writing software (full version free license included) and other goodies.

Majestic SEO

Majestic SEO is a backlink and anchor text database where you can get detailed reports about your competitors backlinks and anchor text.  Tool is free with no expiration date.

That’s it!  Keep an eye on the expiration dates and If you have questions about the directories/companies listed here, contact them directly.  Until next time – happy linking!

Description: Designed for both search novices and marketing veterans, you’ll learn search essentials, and find immediate feedback on improving site visibility and usability. Whether you’re a search industry beginner or veteran, SES San Jose will help improve your digital marketing arsenal. [Book Now]