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Rae - good eye. Sadly, link bait and social media somehow became intertwined by marketers who JDGI. When I linkbait I stay as far away from social media as possible. It is always about the content's intended audience, though. If the linkbait is "20 Most Goofy USB devices", then Digg is worth including as a channel. If the bait is "20 Cures for Geriatric Incontinence", then maybe not so much...
It's wonderful to see you mentioned the time it takes to do linkbait right. The research, concepting, creation and planning is where linkbait succeeds or fails. The links themselves are easy to grow if those steps are done well.
Story: Linkbait at any Cost?
Linkbait is the Paris Hilton approach to online marketing. Your site becomes famous for being famous, not for having any redeeming qualities. While I totally get it, and recognize the ancillary linking benifits, i.e., trickle down, spillover and me too, I worry about the collateral damage. More crap for engines to decipher and ultimately ignore. Me, I prefer my linkbait to be useful beyond the headline, and useful to the exact people a site was designed to reach. To each site its own linkbait, to each baiter his own internal compass.
You mean Martin Sheen wasn't the President?
As a case study in successful link attraction, this one's awesome. Can't dispute that. But the ultimate success or failure of any link attraction strategy isn't in the numbers of links or buzz created. It's in what you did with the links and the traffic, and why. Similarly, one of the unintended consequences of ad driven content is that the content gets created solely as a place to stick ad code, and thus creators are way too eager to do anything to attract traffic to pages where that code resides, so that that same of that traffic will leave that site after a brief and aimless visit, preferably via a link that when clicked makes the content creator a few pennies. Content that is just appealing enough to get someone to come by, but not so appealing as to keep them interested in anything for too long. This is SOP, and we all know it and encounter it every day. I've always felt it was ironic the herculean effort put into attracting people to a site, just to try and send it away as quickly as possible via an ad link, hoping to bank a nickle for it along the way, and then start it the circle all over again. Ads plus Linkbait is like an MC Escher painting. After you get over the artistic aspects of it, you realize the futility of it, and it becomes just about the $, and at that point I'd rather go sit on the beach.
HateThePlayer - Thanks for "keepin' me real", but if my goal was self promotion, I'da deep linked that beeyatch to specially created page on my own site that woulda been more blatant. Sort like what you just did for that blog you started all of 2 days ago. Hey, no offense, I'm just callin it like I see it. Y'know, keepin it real, jus' like you is.
That and of course anyone with even a halfclue knows by now that I have my own link analysis tools. I mean this approach I've used now for, um, 14 (freeking) years was such a secret, I needed a post here at SEL to help me, right?
If it will make you sleep better, or better yet, give you something else to blog about on day three of your illustrious blog, I'll log in and edit the story so you wont havta hatethisplaya. But I think you did long before you launched.
HateThePlayer - rather than wait I went ahead and removed the mention of "my scripts" from the article. I'm sure there was other stuff that bugged you, so if you'd prefer, send me a private email and I can do this faster. Oh, and what's a "hommie"?
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hommie
says that your word Hommie is...
Hommie:
1. A completely ridiculous misspelling of the word 'homie', used by wannabe hip hoppers who think they have a good vocabulary but haven't yet discovered that the two Ms together make an AWW sound on the O....
Is that right?
@Gab - the biotech company makes oncology testing equipment, so it's a really vertical market. I think part of the challenge has been that the overall biotech niche is filled with spammers and black hat stuff, so the signal:noise ratio is high. As for ROI, I was brought in by a consultant, so I'm not privvy to those metrics, but I would not be surprised if they have some data showing a top five ranking is worth X amount, based on their other product line web sites. The company has 20 or so sites. The one I'm working on is one of the newer sites.
Once upon a time this old school link builder anoyed the hell outta the young guns because
he kept harping on about how a web site's content was the ultimate driver of truly meritorious --and thus algoritmically useful-- links. Then eight years ago i wrote What Makes A Site Link-Worthy for ClickZ. Eight years old and as accurate today as then.
Aaron I thank you for making me feel less old today. Good stuff.
Eric
IMO the anchor text would not matter in this example. The collective inbound link families
of both sites would trump a IBL parent site's single page anchors. Looking at it from the searcher's perspective, the searcher doing that search will likely find that CDVEA site before finding an individual busness's site, becasue the CDVEA site has a strong inbound link family, and probably always will have a stronger inbound link family than any one business site would. Note that the page Google shows at pos #1 is this one http://www2.cadvbe.org/search?query=graphic
So our searcher finds the CDVEA site at Google first, and proceeds to it where he then finds the company he wants to do business with via the CDVEA directory. Anchors or not, the searcher would find the CDVEA site, and thus find a graphic designer.
All of this is gut feel, hunches, and stuff I've noticed over time. I have no empirical data to support it. I figure Google has 300 PhDs working on this stuff, and if I, with my degree in beerbong, can notice it, then Google can, has, or will.
bwelford - I didn't say I was trying to coin a new term, and I don't give a shi* if anyone ever uses it. USP, ULP, LB, MLD, who cares. The point is I see cases day after day after day where people miss some of the very things that make them different. I had a client that's a reknowned piano builder. They didn't see the link potential that they -and only they- had from a historic and educational perspective. They focused purely on the commerce aspect of link building. You may be lucky enough that to be so skilled that to you this is a basic strategy, but not everyone is as brilliant as you are. Me, I'm just honored that somebody with your obvious genius takes time from your busy day to comment here and thus help me better understand the foolishness of the approach I've been using all this time.
Eric
ibrian - in the middle of the article is an example client site and an example link target site.
The site:
The National Safe Boating Council
http://www.safeboatingcouncil.org
The target:
Ocean County Library Boating Safety Resources
http://www.oceancounty.lib.nj.us/Link2Topic/boating_safety.htm
I'm sorry this extremely vertical real-life example was too pedantic and that I didn't explicity write about how this specific example might spark some creative thinking which would then spark some creative searching which would then lead one to find even more high value targets like the exampe target. The client was extremely excited to receive a targeted list of 200+ boating safety links pages I found hosted at high trust government and public library web sites all over the US. In future columns I will try harder to provide more detailed examples :)
-Eric
Barry - what did I not describe? Is link week supposed to be pure tutorial, opinion, advice, or what? The gist of this column is that best practices for link building have to vary by project, and I include examples why as well as a real-world example. Since the only thing I seem to be good at anymore is pissing people off, or worse, boring them, please help me to understand where I can add value? I'm serious. Tell me what aspects of link building you want to know about. I'll do everything I can to deliver, and if it sucks, we can all urge Danny to replace me. I asked Danny to include Debra and Rae in LW because hearing from me 52 times a year would put anyone to sleep. It appears that even 26 is too many.
If your feeling is that it's time to dust off my own blog and keep my boring ho-hum thoughts on my own site, I understand. Will do.
OK, let's give this a go. I just created a Link Building Best Practices section on my site, using blogger becasue it's so easy/quick. I will try not to bore you. Comments as to the specific topics you'd like to see me cover are welcome. I can add to it over the coming years and hopefully provide a little value.
Eric Ward's Link Building Best Practices
http://www.ericward.com/bestpractices/
I admire guys like Jim B. and hear what you are saying about things like IP ranges and link hubs. Here's my dilemma. I don't care an iota about IP ranges or link hubs if the intent is to manipulate rank, because I don't believe in that practice. It's a Best Practice Catch-22. Somewhere someone knows the "best practice" for it, but for me there is no best practice for any tactic that has as an objective to fool an algorithm. That said, for truly excellent content/resources, my style of link building will accomplish the same thing, but not because of a technical manipulation. When you seek links from the highest trust venues only willing to link to the highest value content, and if your content meets their criteria and earns a link, then good things happen, one of which is higher rankings. Maybe the truth I need to embrace is that my personal best practices are only applicable to a very narrow type and quality of content, and for the majority of readers of what I write, they are useless. As TheMadHat said when he channeled Tyler Durden, The first rule of link building is?
I think then it's best to take individual and specific questions regarding best practices at the new Link Building Best Practices Q&A mentioned above.
Story: Life, Death, and Links
Hey at least for a change that Google result didn't have a wikipedia entry in the top 5. That alone is remarkable :)
-e
Story: Life, Death, and Links
Part of the inspiration for this column was looking over my Mom's shoulder while shied tried to use the default search box on her default AOL start page. She has heard of Google, and when I asked her why she didn't use it, she said she thought she was. For her the entire search experience is synonymous with google. She had no idea she was using a different index and algo. I was trying to show her how to do some research for specific topics related to my Dad's situation, so she could feel a bit more clued in. Sadly, it was futile until I took her to Google, where her same searches yielded far more useful results. She had no idea she could control which engine she used.
She's 80, and I bet this isn't all that uncommon for older folks.
Eric
Story: Will Trade Links For Sex
I have tremendous respect for Stephan, Shari, and Matt, and have known them all long enough and well enough to call them friends. Spoken with all of them over the years on panels, etc. I think they were all still in college when I started, the whippersnappers...
So...with all due respect, I can say from very specific experience that for some sites, sculpting PR makes absolute perfect sense, while for others, it makes no sense whatsoever. I have sculpted, siloed, and funneled sites to improved rankings, and I have done the same with no effect. I've also seen first hand with my own sites that #1 rankings can occur with zero attention paid to sculpting or architecture. For me the argumet isn't whether you should or shouldn't. It's recognizing the individual scenario and nuance for each site and understanding when they call for sculpting as a viable strategy or not. And that's not always easy.
Eric
I helped zillow during the initial launch with some linking analytics consults, but back then the nofollow/sculpting tactic wasn't part of my role.
-Eric
To the haters,
I was interviewed for the book and honored to have been asked. I don't think I'm any kind of hero and sure the premise is corny. Heroes are my 85 year old father who doesn't know who he is anymore and my 84 year old mom who now wipes his ass for him.
So quit whining and ranting just for the blog links, and find a reason to be happy. Look at the sky, go to the effing beach or have a beer. Do whatever it takes to quit hating.
I've now been at this link buildng/web publicity stuff for 14 years, and I still work for a living as a one person business, in a garage office, for any size client, big or small. I've taught linking to people at Proctor and Gamble as well as mom and pop dot com. I've given away hundreds of hours of free training sessions and advice to non-profits over the years, and still do so when it's feasible.
I'm no hero, I'm human. I try hard, I succeed, I fail. I move on and try again. I'm proud to be asked to participate in that book, and look forward to showing it to my parents, who have never been online, because they will know it means I done good, and that will make them proud.
Is that ok with you, haters?
Eric Ward
Excellent points Rae and welcome to LinkWeek!!
The best content in the world is meaningless until
someone knows about it, and more importanly, links
to it. Until then, it's just files on a server, growing mold.
Eric
I was thinking that in addition to the editorial filters, I'd include a summary of how to go about getting the link itself. A step by step. For those who are already savvy enough to be reading SEL, this may not be too helpful, but for those who don't have time to bounce from blog to blog and don't know when a link opportunity is presenting itself, it could be useful. I was thinking it would be free, not fee based, or just donation driven. I could run it off wordpress, tag each how-to with keywords, and then it would be self archiving, plus as they age and rot, I could prune them. Later, if it actually has legs, I could password protect it or feebase it to keep spammers form ruining it.
eric
Below is an example of what I'm envisioning. Obviously this one is only of value to people in this this specific niche, but that's good, because some will be of value to everyone, while others will be nichefied. The topical opportunities that do not apply to your particular situation can simply be ignored. The idea is to have a steady stream of these you can pursue or ignore based on the relevance to your site(s). I'm also thinkiing about keywording it so you only see the ones you want to see.
WardReport - Link Opportunity Alert
Spotted: High trust link opportunities
Subject Area Tags: Aviation, Aerospace
Site Name: SkyControl
Site URL: http://www.skycontrol.net
Short Explanation of Opportunities
1). Any aviation event with a web site can be listed here FOC (free of charge)
2). Any aviation web site issuing a press release can submit it here
3). Any aviation web site can submit to their topical directory
4). Paid links / banners
5). Editorial partnerships
Of special note:
Are you a professional in aeronautics or space? Are you originating a project in one of those fields? Are you a member of a company, an organisation or an association and wish to edit some news or releases in a widespread aeronautical media? Feel free to contact them to become a Skycontrol editorial partner at edition@skycontrol.net
Please let me know what would make it better. One crucial point I need to make is these
link opportunity alerts will only be available to members who request them. I can't have the venues I identify spamhammered with viagra submissions :)
Story: Don't Call Me Linkbait