The last 12-18 months of Google changes to content and link building practices have impacts far above simply just changing tactics or getting a Manual Action removed. It has turned many business owners to have resentment towards other website who have not yet been affected through the changes. (more…)
While the SEO world is holding its breath waiting for the “next generation Penguin update” or “Penguin 4″, I want to put the spotlight on the importance of a thorough link clean up. Not after you get the warning from Google but in good time before you do. Cleaning up your link profile might save you from a lot of work and lost business when the big update rolls out. (more…)
Thanks to the pesky Penguin update link building has arguably become tougher. Many of the methods SEOs used to use to build links are ineffective at best, or potentially downright dangerous at worst.
Can you still ‘cheat’ at link building and get away with it?
Depends on what you mean by cheating 
How about this: are there any easy ways to build links left?
Actually, I think there are. I’m not sure whether or not this really counts as ‘cheating’ at link building; but what follows are a bunch of methods to help you build links relatively easily. (more…)
Ever since Google announced the first iteration of the penguin update, future-proofing their SEO output has been a major focus for lots of agencies. Lots of us have seen signs of agencies frantically removing links (both high and low quality) and changing their approach in order to hide from ‘the penguin’.
In addition to the changes that Google has made so far, it’s fundamentally important for SEOs to be thinking ahead of the curve, in order to protect the work they’re doing for their clients and also their business.
The following tips are focused on what I believe Google will be doing in the not so distant future in order to improve the quality of their results and prevent websites from ranking through manipulating their algorithm. (more…)
Unfortunately I was unable to attend #linklove this year but the Distilled conference’s are some of my preferred simply down to the quality of the sessions. So like any self respecting SEO I was hooked on twitter and there was a particular session by Ian Lurie from Portant Inc on “Enterprise Link Spam Analysis” you can find full details on the session from our very own Gianluca Fiorelli by clicking the previous link.
Portant then released a white paper on “Google Declining Spam Tolerance.”
As one of the foremost experts in producing link bait, which attracts, persuades and influences, Lyndon will talk through how he draws on the principles of psychology to create content designed to attract links. Discover the real reason why people link and how to go about building a linkalicious, content building machine.
This how the Linklove 2013 live agenda presented the talk Lyndon Antcliff of CornwallSEO.com was giving this morning at the last Linklove organized by Distilled. (more…)
Recovery from a manual link penalty requires manual review of links. Lots of links. In this session, Ian Lurie will walk through an automated solution he built and how you can build something similar. He’ll also share insights about Google’s detection of suspicious versus legitimate links from a review of over 400,000 links across 100+ sites.
Ian Lurie, the “most acid” SEO blogger is on stage talking about Enterprise Link Spam Analysis, which something that usually translates into millions of backlinks to understand the nature of: easy, isn’t it?
That’s why Ian said to himself: “Let’s try machine learning”, which makes you feel like a moron. “How hard can it be?”: yes, Ian did himself that question! Ian presented many tools and links during his presentation. Luckily we can find them all in this bitly bundle. (more…)
As we wrap up LinkLove, Will takes us on a journey into the future to discuss what has changed, what is changing and what link building is going to look like in the coming years.
Will hates link building. But links are not dead. It’s link building that is in trouble. It is not a moral crusade thing, apart from very illegal spam stuff. But it is a question of sustainability. And Will is not even against taking risks, define as things that might not work.
He explains that all these thoughts he had made him decide this was the last Linklove. We have to move on, and Distilled will still talk about links in the next editions of Searchlove.
Before answering that question, if we want to be the SEOmoz of tomorrow we have to solve a problem, a big one, first. Stop doing what we have done until now. We broke directories, we broke forums, we took infographics, which as a tactic 150 years old, and ruined it.
Sometimes we broke it failing the purpose of the tactics, for instance creating infographics that were not infographics at all. Guest columns too have existed forever, and we transformed guest blogging into a spam practice.
Things have changed. Just think what Eric Schmidt told about the ranking power of verified profiles by authorship. Will knows how there is people already thinking about how to trick it. Simply don’t do it, again.
Do you know one thing? Celebrities are better than us, brands are better than us.
Let’s stop worrying about the IP, stop about C-block, anchor text, being misquoted, nofollow links… stop calling it link juice.
In the intersection between content and technology we can find content strategist, while in the intersection between content and fame we have PR and, finally, in the intersection between fame and technology we can find CMOs.
We must think, as link builders, that we are technological marketers. We must start thinking about earning attention instead of shares. We must measure links based on engaged visitors (Analytics Dashboard: source > full referer > landing page and include referral as medium in filter), not other values.
Finally, Will gives us homework, which is inspired by Entrepreneurial Design by Gary Chou and that is based on this idea: make ourselves uncomfortable.
Not extrovert? Get a journalist to run a story based on your tip. Physically call 3 journalists and tell them your story and tip. Or present to a board or to a public of 200+ people. Or negotiate with a salesperson, or record a screen cast or webinar.
- Sell something door to door, or make 10 cold calls.
- Run a live usability test: buy a stranger a coffee and ask them to find something. See what they do.
- Not technical? Install a web server. Build a tool or contribute to an open source project, which is easier than ever with things like Github.
- Make something and sell it online end-to-end. Set up the payment processor yourself.
- Not creative? Film and edit some video. Make a graphic. Make an interactive graphic. Build a wire frame or remove someone from a photo.
= Write for a publication you’ve previously bought (bonus point for calling yourself a “published author”).
If we combine knowledge about content, Technology and “Fame” we can become the real web marketers, the real SEOmoz of the future.
The third session of the day, is from Distilled’s very own Hannah Smith who gave the audience some great tips on how to build links.
What has changed, is that link building has got real, you cannot get away from it. Hannah spoke about “Sustainable ways to building links”, lots of tips. It is worth doing, but it is hard.
Hannah is jealous of Rand, he builds links in his sleep, writes a blog post, hits and go to sleep. This does not work for everyone. (more…)
#LinkLove kicks off in a new venue this year and the first speak to take to the stage was Wil Reynolds. Wil’s presentations are always interactive and interesting and this morning’s did not disappoint.
Wil Reynolds spoke about “Head Smackingly Simple: Post Conversion Link Building Tips”. He started the presentation asking us “What if getting the link was not the finish line?” Wil said that getting the links is the start of something bigger, don’t just be happy by getting that one link. He demonstrated his point by going through a lot of case studies to show how getting the link is not the end of the story. If the concept of building links was a stair stepper then what would you do?
We have tested Fresh Web Explorer, the new mentions tool from SEOMoz. Do we love it?
Fresh Web Explorer (FWE) is the newest addition of SEOMoz tools. It is no secret to the people who know me that I both love, praise and use these tools on a daily basis. Some even accuse me of having a major small crush on Rand Fishkin, the way I go on about “his tools”. In other words, my hopes for this new addition are high.
FWE is a mention tool that ”lets you research and compare mentions and links to your domain using the power of the Freshscape index”, a “30 day index of 4.3 million feeds (and counting).” FWE is not real time, but pretty close, there’s a new Freshscape index every eight hours. (more…)
We’re at SES London 2012 – so here is the first in our series of posts this week.
Link Building in a Post Penguin World
Moderator:
Bill Hunt, SES Advisory Board; President, Back Azimuth Consulting
Speakers:
Kevin Gibbons, UK Managing Director, BlueGlass Interactive
Paul Madden, Owner, Automica Limited
Links have existed long before Google, we just didn’t think in those ways. Links prior to the art of Linkbuilding as we know it existed were earned not necessarily placed via news, web portals, open directories and general web content.
Along came Page Rank > Money – and we have eventually ended up with a post panda apolcalypse launching a host of theories, ‘much needed’ cleanup, and the start of a different way of thinking when it comes to link building. (more…)
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