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	<title>The Link Spiel &#187; link building</title>
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	<link>http://www.linkspiel.com</link>
	<description>Link Building Tips &#124; Link Building Training &#124;Occasional Rant</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:24:02 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Four Engines, Four Ways To Generate Links</title>
		<link>http://www.linkspiel.com/2010/06/four-engines-four-ways-to-generate-links/</link>
		<comments>http://www.linkspiel.com/2010/06/four-engines-four-ways-to-generate-links/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:05:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Debra</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link building]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.linkspiel.com/?p=1107</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do you favor one search engine over another when building links? I have a favorite for general searching, but when it comes to link building, I don’t use just one. Ask, Bing, Google and Yahoo! each offers a unique set of search options, I use all of them for a wide range of results. Here’s [...]]]></description>
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			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkspiel.com%2F2010%2F06%2Ffour-engines-four-ways-to-generate-links%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkspiel.com%2F2010%2F06%2Ffour-engines-four-ways-to-generate-links%2F&amp;source=debramastaler&amp;style=normal&amp;service=bit.ly" height="61" width="50" /><br />
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<p><a href="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/SEL_Logo1.jpg"></a><a href="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/SEL_Logo2.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1110" title="SEL_Logo" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/SEL_Logo2-300x53.jpg" alt="" width="274" height="51" /></a>Do you favor one search engine over another when building links? I have a favorite for general searching, but when it comes to link building, I don’t use just one. Ask, Bing, Google and Yahoo! each offers a unique set of search options, I use all of them for a wide range of results. Here’s a handful of linking techniques from each engine I’ve had luck using!   I&#8217;m going to use the term &#8220;CFL light bulbs&#8221; in all my examples, let&#8217;s start with Ask&#8230;</p>
<p><strong>Ask.com</strong></p>
<p>After doing a general search, take a look at the “<a href="http://www.ask.com/web?q=cfl+light+bulbs&amp;qsrc=0&amp;o=0&amp;l=dir">Related Questions” listed on the right side </a>of the results page.  The questions listed  provide great ideas for new content topics and resources in submitting content. Take a look at what they&#8217;re showing for &#8220;CFL light bulbs&#8221;:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ASK.png"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1111" title="ASK" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ASK-300x237.png" alt="" width="300" height="237" /></a></p>
<p>Since people are actively asking these questions, creating content in response and posting it on your site is great link bait and smart marketing. </p>
<p> For the rest of the article, please visit  <a href="http://searchengineland.com/four-engines-four-ways-to-generate-links-44711">http://searchengineland.com/four-engines-four-ways-to-generate-links-44711</a>  And if you like it, <a href="http://sphinn.com/story/152530">Sphinn it here</a>!</p>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>How To Get More Links From Back Linking Competitors</title>
		<link>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/12/how-to-get-more-from-back-linking-competitors/</link>
		<comments>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/12/how-to-get-more-from-back-linking-competitors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:19:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Debra</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media Links]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[back linking competitors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debra mastaler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link popularity]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.linkspiel.com/?p=768</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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&#8217;re only going after what you see in back links, you may be leaving a lot of marketing power on the table.   Let&#8217;s take a look at this link building method and see how we [...]]]></description>
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<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-775" title="squeezeoj" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/squeezeoj-150x150.jpg" alt="squeezeoj" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<p>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&#8217;re only going after what you see in back links, you may be leaving a lot of marketing power on the table. </p>
<p> Let&#8217;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.</p>
<p><strong>Who&#8217;s on First?</strong></p>
<p>If you&#8217;re unfamiliar with the term or process of &#8220;back linking&#8221; it means to look at the inbound links to a specific webpage.  You can do this any number of ways, I tend to use <a href="http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/">Yahoo&#8217;s Site Explorer </a>(free) or one of the <a href="http://tools.seobook.com/">SEOBook </a>(some free, some not) arsenal of tools.  With the tool you can see who&#8217;s  linking to a page, what anchor text they&#8217;re using and what URL they are linking to.  All important stuff if you&#8217;re in the game to try and get links from the same sources.  Why?  Well, knowing <em>who</em> is linking to your competitors and/or the authorities in your niche is a good idea for a couple of reasons:</p>
<p style="PADDING-LEFT: 30px">1.  Inbound links influence rankings so knowing who is linking out helps you target them as a possible source as well and,</p>
<p style="PADDING-LEFT: 30px">2.  Inbound links drive traffic and expose brand, both necessary to build reputation.  If you&#8217;re looking to pimp your rep, you&#8217;ll want to get similar links.</p>
<p>OK, that&#8217;s pretty standard yada-yada but if we&#8217;re only looking at those back links as rank boosters and traffic streams we&#8217;re missing out.  Knowing  <em>who</em> is linking is good but understanding <em>why</em> they&#8217;re linking is better and the key to besting the competition.</p>
<p><strong>Use The Heck Out Of The Back Links You Find</strong></p>
<p>Once you&#8217;ve back linked a list of sites, look hard at the host sites and take note of <em>what</em> they&#8217;re linking to and <em>where</em>  those links are pointing.   If the links are pointing to a press release:</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">What did the competitor do to generate the release?    
<p></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Can you develop a similar event or announcement and issue through the same channels?    
<p></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">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&#8217;s made public.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>Or, are the links pointing to a piece of content with  <em><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">W</span><span style="color: #800080;">O</span><span style="color: #008000;">W</span></strong></em> factor?  If yes,</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">What&#8217;s the piece about?    
<p></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">How did they launch it, via press release or through blogger outreach?    
<p></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Who thought enough of of the piece to link to it?   
<p></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Was the piece promoted on Digg, Twitter Facebook etc?</span></li>
</ul>
<p>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 <em>wow</em> content and promote it to the same sources.  (Tip:  info graphics are all the rage&#8230;)</p>
<p>This tactic isn&#8217;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&#8217;ve purchased  links does that mean you should do the same?  Tough question and there&#8217;s no easy answer.  No two sites are equal  so what&#8217;s working for one might not for another.  Look hard at those links and weigh possible consequences against the outcome. </p>
<p>Competitive research does show us who is linking to our rivals but it doesn&#8217;t explain <em>why</em>.   Look for the <em>why</em>, it will help you gain additional links and create new partnerships to host your link embedded content.</p>
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			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/12/how-to-get-more-from-back-linking-competitors/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
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		<title>Using Live Chat To Build Links</title>
		<link>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/09/using-live-chat-to-build-links/</link>
		<comments>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/09/using-live-chat-to-build-links/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:53:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Debra</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[asking for links]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link building]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.linkspiel.com/?p=718</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[  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 [...]]]></description>
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<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-719" title="chatty-cathy" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/chatty-cathy.jpg" alt="chatty-cathy" width="119" height="126" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Earlier this month the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125207251462486505.html">Wall Street Journal </a>ran an article on how businesses were using Live Chat to make incremental sales. </p>
<p>This bit caught my eye:</p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote><p> In late April, home improvement e-tailer<span style="color: #093d72;"> <span style="color: #000000;">Improvement Direct</span> </span>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. &#8220;We got flooded,&#8221; says Brandon Proctor, vice president of marketing. &#8220;We couldn&#8217;t believe how many chats we were getting.&#8221; In July alone, the company had more than 300 chats daily and converted them into sales at a rate of 9%</p></blockquote>
<p>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&#8217;s what I came up with:</p>
<p>1.  At the end of every chat have the operator ask the customer if they&#8217;d like to have a permanent discount code for the product you&#8217;re selling.  All they have to do is link to your site and you&#8217;ll send the code.</p>
<p>2.  If you have a product requiring assembly instructions or a &#8220;how to use guide&#8221;  provide these links in the chat.  On the pages hosting these &#8220;how to&#8221; guides, make a push to link to your site.</p>
<p>3.  Do an email blast to current customers annoucing the new chat feature on your site.  In the correspondence drop the &#8220;link to us&#8221; offer and include a giveaway as a thank you.</p>
<p>4.  Issue a press release annoucing the new feature and your company&#8217;s committment to customer service and using advanced technology.  </p>
<p>While it&#8217;s a good idea to look at everything as an opportunity to promote your website,  it&#8217;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>
<p>P.S.  If you&#8217;re interested in the technology, the article mentioned Meebo as a free live chat software and search on the phrase &#8220;live chat software&#8221; for the paid companies.</p>
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		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
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		<title>You Shouldn&#8217;t Use YouTube For Building YouLinks</title>
		<link>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/09/you-shouldnt-use-youtube-for-building-youlinks/</link>
		<comments>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/09/you-shouldnt-use-youtube-for-building-youlinks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:45:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Debra</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media Links]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debra mastaler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link popularity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[youtube]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.linkspiel.com/?p=671</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[          As a link builder I&#8217;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 [...]]]></description>
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<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-684" title="dont-do-it2" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/dont-do-it2-150x150.jpg" alt="dont-do-it2" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">As a link builder I&#8217;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. </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;"> Why?</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Videos on YouTube <em><strong>are on YouTube</strong></em> so any optimization effort you implement helps YouTube and not your website/pages.     
<p></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">YouTube contributes to the pinking of the &#8216;Net/Web (uses nofollow) so any link you insert to guide people back to your site passes no link popularity. <br />
</span> </li>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">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.<br />
</span> </li>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Efforts to make a video go viral begin with the webmaster, not YouTube<br />
</span><span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #000000;"> </span></li>
<li> <span style="color: #000000;">It&#8217;s doubtful you&#8217;ll build a brand following on YouTube unless the public is already aware of your brand.      
<p></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #000000;">By-n-large people look  for information on a search engine first, they don&#8217;t search on YT for a place to buy baseball cards.  There is a reason Google has become a verb and YouTube a pastime.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">But the number one reason?</span></p>
<ul>
<li><strong><span style="color: #000000;">YouTube results bump web pages down in the general search results and web pages make sales , videos don&#8217;t!</span></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Want to see what I mean?  Look </span><a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;rlz=1R2GGLL_enUS336&amp;q=baseball+cards&amp;aq=f&amp;oq=&amp;aqi=g10"><span style="color: #3366ff;">her</span></a><span style="color: #3366ff;">e, </span><a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;rlz=1R2GGLL_enUS336&amp;q=mortgage+tips&amp;btnG=Search&amp;aq=f&amp;oq=&amp;aqi="><span style="color: #3366ff;">here</span></a><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #3366ff;">,</span> and </span><a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;rlz=1R2GGLL_enUS336&amp;q=solar+panels&amp;aq=f&amp;oq=&amp;aqi=g-e6g4"><span style="color: #3366ff;">here</span></a><span style="color: #000000;">  and notice how the videos are all ranking in the top five but the sites they represent &#8211; don&#8217;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.</span>   <strong><span style="color: #800000;">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.</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">So is using YouTube to build SEO  links a wasted effort?   Pretty much which is why I don&#8217;t recommend using it to increase your link popularity but I wouldn&#8217;t totally discount using the number two search engine on the Net to build awareness.  Consider doing this: </span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Make shorter versions of your video&#8217;s and insert on YouTube, longer vid stays on your site</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Create those shorter versions as teasers and as a lead-in to promotions/information on your site</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Be sure the start and ending frame of the vid include the URL to your website</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Optimize your YouTube listing with your keywords</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">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</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Encourage everyone you know to drop a comment/review on the video  (re/views help push your vid to the top for your keywords)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Create a video area on your site just as you would a media room and promote it to the media, your customers, vendors etc.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #000000;">Make the vid&#8217;s on your website available through Creative Commons, make full descriptions embedded with kw rich links part of your attribution.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">You need to decide what&#8217;s best for your site and if having YouTube video&#8217;s come up in the serps for your keywords is your goal, power to you.  But if you&#8217;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. </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Use YouTube or any image/audio hosting site wisely and they can be your greatest ally  and not a ranking enemy.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">(photo taken from </span><a href="http://www.zazzle.com/relax_dont_do_it_t_shirt-235981873307596759"><span style="color: #3366ff;">Zazzle</span></a><span style="color: #000000;">.  Buy a tee shirt!)</span></p>
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		<slash:comments>26</slash:comments>
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		<title>Link Building With Content Ideas</title>
		<link>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/07/link-building-with-content-ideas/</link>
		<comments>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/07/link-building-with-content-ideas/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:47:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Debra</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[linking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.linkspiel.com/?p=590</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[    Today&#8217;s edition of Resource Shelf  listed a report from PEW on how Americans were using the Internet to cope with the recession.  This bit caught my eye and got the link brain going: Some 69% of all Americans have used the internet to cope with the recession as they hunt for bargains, jobs, ways to [...]]]></description>
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<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-591" title="question" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/question-150x150.jpg" alt="question" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Today&#8217;s edition of <a href="http://www.resourceshelf.com/">Resource Shelf </a> listed a report from <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/11-The-Internet-and-the-Recession.aspx?r=1">PEW</a> on how Americans were using the Internet to cope with the recession.  This bit caught my eye and got the link brain going:</p>
<blockquote><p>Some 69% of all Americans have used the internet to cope with the recession as they hunt for bargains, jobs, ways to upgrade their skills, better investment strategies, housing options, and government benefits. That amounts to 88% of internet users.</p></blockquote>
<p>First off, the numbers the article references are huge, <strong><em>88%</em></strong> of American users are turning to the Internet to find certain types of information.  If that doesn&#8217;t scream &#8220;CONTENT and LINKS&#8221; to the enterprising webmaster I don&#8217;t know what does.</p>
<p>For newbies with no clue what I&#8217;m talking about, let me explain.</p>
<p>There are a <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats2.htm#americas">bunch of Americans </a>using the Internet to find solutions to problems.  If you have content that&#8217;s good and will help them, they may link to it and/or pass it along to others they know will benefit.  The excerpt above is pretty specific in what they&#8217;re looking for so your job is now a little easier in trying to figure out what to write.  To refresh your memory the specifics the article showcased were:</p>
<blockquote><p>they hunt for <strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">bargains, jobs</span></strong>, ways to <strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">upgrade their skills</span></strong>, better <strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">investment strategies</span></strong>, <strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">housing options</span></strong>, and <strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">government benefits</span></strong></p></blockquote>
<p>Is there a way you can write content on any of these <span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>subjects</strong></span> as it relates to what you offer?  I bet there is.  If people are actively looking for it, why not write about it  instead of another stupid top ten list ?</p>
<p>Here are a handful of  promotion ideas to get the link ball rolling:</p>
<p style="line-height: 14.25pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;">1.  E</span>mail your mother, brother,  sister and your current and past customers with a link to the article.  Encourage linking and ask they pass it on to others who may benefit.  (these people already like you so they&#8217;re prone to respond positively.  This is why it pays to be nice to siblings <img src='http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>2.  Write a press release announcing the new article, be specific in describing what problem/issue your article will discuss and provide solutions for.</p>
<p>3.  Be sure to include a quote/link to the PEW report as a credibility builder in the release.</p>
<p>4.  Be sure to include a quote/link to the PEW report in your article as well.</p>
<p>5.  Take a shorter version of the article and pimp it to a handful of bloggers in your niche. </p>
<p>6.  Include social media buttons like &#8220;share this&#8221; under the article on your site.  Encourage your mother, brother, sister and past/current customers to socialize the material.</p>
<p>7.  Tweet the link, encourage RT&#8217;s (RT = retweets.  Here&#8217;s a <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/04/16/retweet-guide/">how-to RT </a>article)</p>
<p>There&#8217;s more you can do but this should get you started.  <strong>With 88% of Americans searching for a specific type of information be the one they link to for answers.  <img src='http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Added:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Please read the comments with this post, someone brought up an article written on Search Engine Watch yesterday and I&#8217;ve responded since I think the article was a piece of crap.   Thanks ~  debra.</strong></p>
<p>&lt;div id=&#8221;scricode37963555&#8243;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</p>
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		<title>Encore Post &#8211; Tom Sawyer Would Not Link</title>
		<link>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/07/encore-post-tom-sawyer-would-not-link/</link>
		<comments>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/07/encore-post-tom-sawyer-would-not-link/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:34:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Debra</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing links]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.linkspiel.com/?p=573</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[  I spent a couple of days painting last week and was reminded of an old post I did in 2006  so I&#8217;m running it again.  ~ Debra &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;- I spent most of last weekend painting the living room, dining room, and hallway of a house we&#8217;re trying to sell. I had never understaken a paint [...]]]></description>
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<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1878/1895/1600/tom%20sawyer.jpg"></a></p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-581" title="tomsawyer" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/tomsawyer-144x150.jpg" alt="tomsawyer" width="144" height="150" />I spent a couple of days painting last week and was reminded of an old post I did in 2006  so I&#8217;m running it again.  ~ Debra</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-</p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I spent most of last weekend painting the living room, dining room, and hallway of a house we&#8217;re trying to sell. I had never understaken a paint project before so I wasn&#8217;t aware of the labor intensive set-up and prep work that needed to be done before the first coat of paint could go up. Even deciding on colors, supplies and types of paint before we started was a chore; new colors needed to complement those already in place, the paint had to be washable and within our budget&#8230; Nothing about this was easy.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial;">The goal of any link building campaign is to find, cultivate and keep a loyal base of quality customers linked to you. Tactics vary but the prep and research needed before implementing a link campaign are the same, even for simple programs like Directory submissions and article writing.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Use surveys, ask questions in all correspondence and of course review your stats often.<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">This information alone doesn&#8217;t net links but it does help paint a clear picture of what sites to target when link building. It also helps make the process of link research and planning a linking campaign manageable &#8211; unless you can schluff it off on someone else of course! <img src='http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' />  </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Market Segments.<br />
</strong></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong><br />
</strong></span>After it was all over I decided that link building and painting had a lot in common &#8211; you have to invest a lot of time and sweat equity in the set-up to see an effective end result.</p>
<p>Regardless of the link tactic used, if you <strong><span style="color: #800000;">stay connected with your customer you&#8217;ll find link success</span>. <span style="color: #800000;">If you have a good handle on the who, what, when and where of your customer base, you&#8217;ll be able to find partner sites with similar characteristics and a similar customer base to secure links from. Go where your buying public frequents when they&#8217;re not buying from you, get links from those sites.</span></strong></p>
<p>This means you need to be very familiar with the people buying your products in order to determine their common characteristics. Break it down by market segment and look for commonalities. For example:</p>
<p><strong>Demographics.</strong> Age, income, gender, etc.</p>
<p>     Are your client&#8217;s baby boomers? Women? Hispanic?</p>
<p><strong>Geographics.</strong> Physical locations. States, countries, zip codes etc.</p>
<p>     Sales trends to the South? 90210 zip code?  London or New York City?</p>
<p><strong>Lifestyle</strong>. Are your customers animal lovers, tree huggers or sports enthusiasts?</p>
<p>Look for trends, patterns, and reoccurring themes from your customer base. Ask for feedback often and keep an eye on the major lifestyle publications and blogs within the different demographic segments for signs of change or fast breaking news and use what you find to either create content that will attract links from your customer base or get links from the popular sites. </p>
<p>At least with painting there is a beginning and an end.  With link building &#8211; not so much <img src='http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>Using Viral Email To Build Links</title>
		<link>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/06/using-viral-email-to-build-links/</link>
		<comments>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/06/using-viral-email-to-build-links/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2009 06:35:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Debra</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backlinks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debra mastaler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[email promotions]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[viral link building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[viral links]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;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&#8217;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 [...]]]></description>
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<p>If you&#8217;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&#8217;s a way to use those email addresses to increase your inbound links and take your campaign viral.</p>
<p><strong>The Set Up.</strong></p>
<p>I get a copy of the Washington Post delivered to the house every Sunday.  I&#8217;ve been getting it for several years and renew my subscription via their website each January to ensure uninterrupted service.</p>
<p>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&#8217;s what the ad looked like:</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-562" title="washington-post2" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/washington-post2.bmp" alt="washington-post2" /></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Strike One.  A Fan I Am &#8211; Not.</strong></p>
<p>Keep in mind I&#8217;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 &#8220;incentive&#8221; to &#8220;connect to Washington&#8221; wasn&#8217;t enough to motivate me since I&#8217;m already connected through my subscription.  They should have come up with something better for current customers.</p>
<p><strong>Strike Two.  Just Bad Links For You.</strong></p>
<p>If I had designed that ad I would have offered an incentive to link as a way to stimulate the Facebook sign ups <em>and</em> 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&#8217;re learning what NOT to do , <a href="http://userbin.com/">user bin</a>, I&#8217;ll add this lesson to the mix:  if you&#8217;re going to email your customer base and ask for something, ask for a link while you&#8217;re at it.</p>
<p>People link when there&#8217;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&#8217;t have websites but  I&#8217;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.</p>
<p><strong>Viral Opportunity Lost</strong></p>
<p>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&#8217;t add a viral element to the email.   Adding a simple line like &#8220;pass this along to friends and family&#8221;  and including  a small incentive is often all the encouragement people need.</p>
<p><strong>Use What You Have To Build Links</strong></p>
<p>If you search on the term &#8220;email flyers&#8221; you&#8217;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</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>A  benefit statement</strong>.  Tell your prospects what&#8217;s in it for them</li>
<li><strong>An incentive</strong>.  Give them something special for doing what you ask</li>
<li><strong>Ask for the sale</strong>.  Ask for the link and suggest they pass the ad along</li>
<li><strong>Use loyalty</strong>.  Use your email list or partner with another company in your niche and use theirs.</li>
</ul>
<p>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.</p>
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		<title>The New Link Adventures Of Old Debra</title>
		<link>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/06/the-new-link-adventures-of-old-debra/</link>
		<comments>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/06/the-new-link-adventures-of-old-debra/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:21:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Debra</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[attracting links]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[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  &#8221;The New Adventures of Old Christine&#8220;.  I love the show and wanted to draw a correlation between it and link building but it wasn&#8217;t meant to be. So I decided to forget about the show, tweak [...]]]></description>
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<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-523" title="old-christine1" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/old-christine1-150x150.jpg" alt="old-christine1" width="150" height="150" /><br />
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  &#8221;<strong>The New Adventures of Old Christine</strong>&#8220;.  I love the show and wanted to draw a correlation between it and link building but it wasn&#8217;t meant to be. So I decided to forget about the show, tweak the title a bit and blog about how<a href="http://www.linkspiel.com/2006/11/promotional-link-placement/"> using old fashion offline advertising tricks could help in your link building efforts.</a></p>
<p>The more I thought about it, I decided my tweaked title might also be good for a piece on how <a href="http://www.linkspiel.com/2008/01/silence-of-the-link-lambs/">using popular titles and catch phrases can draw attention to content and in turn, lead to links</a><strong>.</strong>  I mean, weren&#8217;t you just a little curious what I might spiel on after reading that title?  Just a little?</p>
<p>Then I thought about it <em>even more</em> and decided why only tweak  and use titles?  Why not <a href="http://www.linkspiel.com/2007/09/turn-boring-into-links-link-links/">use TV, movie or news  content and capitalize on their entertainment buzz?</a>  <strong>&#8220;The New Adventure of Old Christine</strong>&#8221; 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</p>
<ul>
<li>weight loss</li>
<li>exercise studio</li>
<li>dating sites</li>
<li>marriage counseling</li>
<li>mommy blogs</li>
<li>parenting sites/blog</li>
</ul>
<p>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 <a href="ttp://www.engadget.com/2008/12/01/the-simpsons-mocks-m-apple/">this </a>or <a href="http://run4change.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/weigh-in-results-and-last-nights-biggest-loser/">this guy</a>  or what I&#8217;m doing here.  <img src='http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Even the acerbic American poet  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Parker">Dorothy Parker </a> tweaked a line from William Shakespeare to make a little noise for herself:</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Brevity is the soul of lingerie.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Cute eh? </p>
<p>Now, if you&#8217;re reading this and thinking &#8220;No thanks old Debra, don&#8217;t want to get into copyright trouble&#8221; -  relax,  try it, you&#8217;ll like it.   I&#8217;m not suggesting you steal pictures or quote the show verbatim, merely use something from the show to complement a point you&#8217;re making.  It&#8217;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.  </p>
<p> Heck it&#8217;s so easy a caveman can do it. <img src='http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>The Only Link Building Secrets Out There Are The Ones You Don&#8217;t Listen To</title>
		<link>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/05/link-building-secrets/</link>
		<comments>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/05/link-building-secrets/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2009 06:59:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Debra</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backlinks]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[link building interview]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
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				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkspiel.com%2F2009%2F05%2Flink-building-secrets%2F&amp;source=debramastaler&amp;style=normal&amp;service=bit.ly" height="61" width="50" /><br />
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<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-455" title="sharing-secrets1" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/sharing-secrets1.jpg" alt="sharing-secrets1" width="203" height="126" />A little rant today.</p>
<p>One of the comments left after my <a href="http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/ruud-questions-debra-mastaler.html">link building interview </a>on <strong>SearchEnginePeople </strong>(thank you Ruud) made me raise an eyebrow.  It said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>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</p></blockquote>
<h6>Bold is mine . The comment was made in response to a list of link building tactics I supplied in the interview.</h6>
<p>Whenever I speak at a conference or workshop,  people pull me aside after my spiel and ask if I&#8217;d share the &#8220;real insider tips&#8221; 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.</p>
<p>Nope,  they still think I&#8217;m holding out.  So they sidle up to me and start asking questions.  The conversation usually goes something like this:</p>
<p><strong>Person</strong>:  Good talk Debra, got a few nuggets but  can you share a couple &#8220;easy&#8221; &#8221;secret&#8221;  tips with me?</p>
<p><strong>Me:</strong> Thank you for saying that.   Sure I&#8217;d be happy to share my favorite insider tip with you, it&#8217;s super super &#8221;easy&#8221;, effective and can be summed up in one word!</p>
<p><strong>Person:</strong> (laughs and breathlessly scrambles for a pen)  One word &#8211; oh boy this must be a great tip!</p>
<p><strong>Me:</strong> Yep,  and best of all, it&#8217;s very inexpensive to implement.</p>
<p><strong>Person:</strong> Really?  WOW!  What is it?</p>
<p><strong>Me:</strong> Postcards.</p>
<p><strong>Person:</strong> (blinks rapidly) Wait, what did you say?</p>
<p><strong>Me:</strong> Postcards.</p>
<p><strong>Person:</strong> (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?</p>
<p><strong>Me:</strong> 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&#8217;s the &#8221;secret&#8221; &#8220;easy&#8221; link building tip I have that works every time.</p>
<p>Now&#8230; some people press me for details and I&#8217;ll explain how we use the postcard to increase  our email open rates, build trust and brand.  It&#8217;s a &#8220;secret&#8221; communication weapon I&#8217;ve used for years and works everytime.   They get it, smile and leave happy.</p>
<p>But others don&#8217;t smile and don&#8217;t get it.  They&#8217;re convinced there&#8217;s a cache of  &#8220;easy&#8221;  &#8221;secret&#8221; tactics known only to link builders and using postcards simply couldn&#8217;t be one of them.  I get asked about redirects,  widgets,  comment dropping and paid links  because people think these are link building &#8220;secrets&#8221;.  I&#8217;m not sure why but believe it has to do with the fact they&#8217;re not talked about as much and people equate them with some degree of difficulty since they&#8217;re more technically related.</p>
<p>As a result, <a href="http://userbin.com/">user bin</a>, 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.</p>
<p>I guess you could consider the technical tactics &#8221;easy&#8221; since they&#8217;re (mostly) automated, dependent on scripts and require little if any marketing strategy.  They&#8217;re certainly faster than the tactics I recommend but fast doesn&#8217;t always equate to long-term and in marketing, you want long-term.</p>
<p>So&#8230; my two cents about this comment:</p>
<blockquote><p>i always think whether their are some hidden secrets which make the link building very easy</p></blockquote>
<p>No, there really aren&#8217;t any &#8221;secret&#8221;  link building tactics, what you hear  is pretty much what&#8217;s out there.  But there is some secrecy around website sources and where to find them so the answer to the question is yes <em>and</em> no.    Focus on finding partner sites that have been:</p>
<p>online for a couple years<br />
have been indexed<br />
will allow links in content areas<br />
use clean links<br />
are host to your demographic<br />
are in the major directories</p>
<p>And so on.  It&#8217;s going to be hard to meet all the criteria I listed so go for as many as you can.  If you do, you&#8217;ll find it &#8220;easy&#8221; to rank well no matter what tactic you use.  That&#8217;s the big &#8220;secret&#8221;.  <img src='http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>Directory Discounts &amp; Link Building Service Promotions</title>
		<link>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/05/directory-discounts-and-link-building-service-promotions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.linkspiel.com/2009/05/directory-discounts-and-link-building-service-promotions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 May 2009 05:56:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Debra</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debra mastaler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[directories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[directory coupon codes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[directory discounts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[directory submissions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link popularity]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[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&#8217;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 [...]]]></description>
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<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-402" title="piggybank1" src="http://www.linkspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/piggybank1.jpg" alt="piggybank1" width="229" height="152" /><br />
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.   </p>
<p>Let&#8217;s start with the directories:</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.uksmallbusinessdirectory.co.uk/submitbus.asp"><strong>UK Small Business Directory</strong></a>  For our friends in the UK<br />
Coupon Code:  LS20-31/10<br />
Discount:          20% of displayed prices<br />
Promotion ends:    October 31  2009<br />
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%<br />
Contact:   <a href="http://www.uksmallbusinessdirectory.co.uk/contact.htm">http://www.uksmallbusinessdirectory.co.uk/contact.htm</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.rubberstamped.org"><strong>RubberStamped</strong></a><br />
Coupon Code:    Pay for one listing in Rubberstamped.org, get a free listing in  BangDrum.com<br />
Discount:  Two for one deal.<br />
Promotion ends:  June 31, 2009<br />
Comments:  Send email to <a href="mailto:editors@rubbertstamped.org">editors@rubbertstamped.org</a> after you submit to Rubberstamped.org and we&#8217;ll send instructions on how to submit to BangDrum.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.avivadirectory.com/"><strong>Avia</strong> <strong>Directory<br />
</strong></a>Coupon Code &#8211; thelinkspiel<br />
Discount  &#8211; $20 off both regular and featured submissions.<br />
Code Expires &#8211; May 31, 2009.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.greenstalk.com"><strong>Greenstalk</strong></a><br />
Coupon code:   green5<br />
Discount:  $20 of a lifetime listing<br />
Promotion ends:   July 31, 2009</p>
<p><a href="http://www.global-weblinks.com"><strong>Global-Weblinks<br />
</strong></a>Coupon code:  Alliance-Link<br />
Discount:  15% on all submission types<br />
Promotion ends:  December 31, 2009</p>
<p><strong>DirJournal.com<br />
</strong>Coupon code:  LinkSpiel<br />
Discount:  25% on all listings<br />
Promotion ends:  June 30, 2009</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ewilla.com"><strong>eWilla Directory</strong></a><br />
Coupon code:  LINKSPIEL<br />
Discount:  $5.00 off standard listing submission<br />
Promotion ends:  August 31, 2009</p>
<p><a href="http://www.botw.org"><strong>Best Of The Web</strong></a><br />
Coupon code:  BOTW15<br />
Discount:  15% on all BOTW products (this includes UK directory and Blog Directory)<br />
Promotion ends:  May 31, 2009</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sezza.com"><strong>Sezza Directory</strong><br />
</a>Coupon code:  sezza<br />
Discount  $10 off lifetime listing<br />
Promotion ends:  July 31, 2009</p>
<p><a href="http://www.site-sift.com"><strong>SiteSift</strong></a><br />
Coupon code:  deal21<br />
Discount:  Buy 2 Get 1 Free<br />
Promotion ends: May 31, 2009</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ezilon.com"><strong>Ezilon </strong></a><br />
Coupon code:  EZSpromo2S<br />
Discount:  $20 off regular fee<br />
Promotion ends: July 20, 2009<br />
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. <a href="http://www.ezilon.com/contacts/helpdesk/">http://www.ezilon.com/contacts/helpdesk/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.bizdirbusinessdirectory.co.uk "><strong>BizDir Business Directory</strong> </a>- Based in the UK<br />
Coupon code:  bizsave  50% off regular listing<br />
Coupon code:  dirsave 50% off featured listing<br />
Promotion ends:  May 31, 2009</p>
<p><a href="http://www.massivelinks.com"><strong>Massive Links</strong><br />
</a>Coupon Code: Y2I5HJ12<br />
Discount amount: 50% = $44.99. These are permanent listings.<br />
Date promotion ends: May 31, 2009</p>
<p><strong>Conference Discount</strong></p>
<p><strong>Search Engine Strategies &#8211; San Jose<br />
</strong><strong><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: Arial;"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">URL: <a href="mhtml:{7FD41872-0766-49C1-ADD2-F76C29C603A0}mid://00000312/!x-usc:http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/sanjose/training.php"><span style="color: #0000ff;">http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/sanjose/</span></a>  <br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: Arial;"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Discount: 15%<br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: Arial;"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Promotional code: <strong><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">SJ15AL<br />
</span></strong></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: Arial;"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Date discount expires: none</span></span></strong> </p>
<p><strong>Tools</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://training.seobook.com/">SEOBook Training Program</a></strong></p>
<p>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<br />
Discount URL: <a href="http://www.seobook.com/debra-mastaler-rocks">http://www.seobook.com/debra-mastaler-rocks</a><br />
Discount ends: May 31, 2009</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s some of the tools being offered:   hub finder ( <a href="http://training.seobook.com/hubfinder">http://training.seobook.com/hubfinder</a> ) &#8211; finds topical hubs that are good link source candidates + local rank tool ( <a href="http://www.seobook.com/localrank-tool">http://www.seobook.com/localrank-tool</a> ) &#8211; 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 ( <a href="http://www.seobook.com/seo-book-competitive-research-tool">http://www.seobook.com/seo-book-competitive-research-tool</a> ) &#8211; 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.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.urlwire.com">URWire</a> &#8211; </strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Discount offered:  Second annoucement at no charge.<br />
Promotional code:  LSUW<br />
Promotion ends:  August 31, 2009</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://polepositionweb.com/roi/codemonitor/index.php">Code Monitor</a></strong></p>
<p><strong></strong><br />
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.</p>
<p>Tool is free with no expiration date.</p>
<p><a href="http://labs.receptional.com/"><strong>Receptional Suite of Tools</strong></a></p>
<p>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&gt;  He&#8217;s opened  a number up for public consumption. A useful link tool is the ability to compare the relative strengths of two domains&#8217; back links according to Yahoo&#8217;s data &#8211; taken from Yahoo&#8217;s API. The tool splits the back links down by domain type and whether the links<br />
are to the homepage or deep links.</p>
<p>Tools are free to use but require signup.  No expiration dates.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://10LinksADay.net/">10 Links A Day</a></strong></p>
<p>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&#8217;s 100% white hat!)<br />
Discount offered:  10%<br />
Promotional code:  9LS05TR5110<br />
Promotion expires:  May 15, 2009<br />
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 &#8211; upload and forget. Also, see the bonuses  for powerful article writing software (full version free license included) and other goodies.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.majesticseo.com/comparedomainbacklinkhistory.php"><strong>Majestic SEO<br />
</strong><br />
</a><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: Verdana;">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.</span></p>
<p>That&#8217;s it!  Keep an eye on the expiration dates and <strong>If you have questions about the directories/companies listed here, contact them directly</strong>.  Until next time &#8211; happy linking!<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: Arial;"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Description: </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small; color: #999999; font-family: Arial;"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #999999; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">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, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small; color: #000080; font-family: Arial;"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">SES San Jose </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small; color: #999999; font-family: Arial;"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #999999; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">will help improve your digital marketing arsenal.</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small; color: #000080; font-family: Arial;"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> [<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><a title="http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/toronto/registration-details.html?code=sip15&amp;utm_source=sip http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/toronto/registration-details.html?code=ca15odc&amp;utm_source=onedegree" href="mhtml:{7FD41872-0766-49C1-ADD2-F76C29C603A0}mid://00000312/!x-usc:http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/sanjose/?utm_source=alliancelink"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Book Now</span></a></span></span></strong>]</span></span></p>
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