'Net Features : backlinks

4 Backlink Myths Busted

Administrator — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:30:00 GMT

:: Travis Bliffen, Seo Proz ::

SEO is the magic of the digital marketing world with experts promising to pull rabbits out of hats for first-page search engine results. But as search engine providers continuously update their ranking algorithms, SEO success becomes an elusive and shifting science - even for those with all the tricks. So, how can you separate fact from illusion? Let's start by busting four backlink myths.

Myth: All backlinks should be created within content that is relevant to the page being optimized.

When a page or content goes “viral,” it is rapidly shared across both new and established blogs, social networks and the net as a whole. As a result, backlinks are created on a range of sites, many of which have absolutely no relevance to the content being linked. Therefore, even if your content is about, say, puppy dogs, if you create a link on a high-quality site about apples, the backlink is still advantageous for your search engine ranking. This doesn’t mean that spamming links all over the place is a good idea though. Natural link building involves creating backlinks in a manner that does not appear spammy, because the links are relevant in some way, but not necessarily to the content of the page. In our puppy dogs and apples example, perhaps there is a forum post where an apple grower is having trouble with his dog. While the content of the backlink site isn’t about the subject-linked content, the link would still seem natural and relevant.

Myth: All backlinks should be from PR2+ sites or better.

When we look at the nature of viral content yet again, we see links going up in all manner of places. You can’t stop PRzero sites from linking your content any more than you can force a PR9 site to link it. Nonetheless, the PRzero backlink is not going to sandbag your content’s search engine rank. When creating backlinks, the focus should not be the on PR status of the site, but the quality of the link itself. All backlinks should be considered from the perspective of a Web-goer. Ask yourself, if SEO didn’t exist, and all of my links were legitimate, “real” people, rather than crawler bots, would this link be something I’d click or does it look like spam? If you wouldn’t click it, don’t create the backlink. Common sense viewers generally won’t click links within sites that appear to be less than reputable. This may include porn sites, casinos, make-money-fast scams and link farms.

Myth: You should create this many backlinks.

The suggested perfect number of backlinks to improve search engine ranking varies, but more often than not it’s a lot—or as many as you possibly can. Truthfully, though, just how many backlinks you should create is a trick question, because you shouldn’t be creating them all. Viral content does not become viral because the creator links it hundreds of times, it becomes viral because the content is timely, high quality, and useful or interesting. The same way creating backlinks with the same anchor text every time or linking from the same site repeatedly can make a link look like spam, being the only person creating backlinks can as well. Instead of aiming to create backlinks, focus on creating content that encourages other people to do it for you.

Myth: High-link velocity will hurt your search engine ranking.

Falling under the old quality-is-better-than-quantity adage, it’s often suggested that backlink creation should be staggered as rapid link velocity makes a site look like spam. When content goes viral, however, it is indeed rapidly linked from all over the place, so if this rule is true, why aren’t all those pages sinking to the 150 page? While it is true quality counts more than quantity, if your backlinks are being followed and not just created it doesn’t matter how fast they appear. One hundred backlinks in 24 hours that nobody clicks might be seen as spam, but 100 backlinks that are getting active traffic are a seed to viral content. If your aim is to plant that seed, you need to mimic the process by which content becomes viral to the best of your ability. News and social signals play a massive role in the virility of content, so with a viral-style link building campaign, don’t forget to introduce the content to social networks and news feeds.

The truth about launching a successful SEO backlink campaign is just that, dismiss all the rules. Forget about the experts stabbing in the dark at the magic behind scoring the first page, and think like a real human being from the perspective of the people that you want to view your content. After all, it is people that make content go viral, and when content wins the people, it scores the first page of search engine results as a trophy.

Travis Bliffen is the founder of The Seo Proz a search marketing company located near Marion, IL. After working in the industry under the guidance of other search-marketing professionals, he launched The SEO Proz in early 2012. Since then he has worked with numerous local, national and international clients to improve their search rankings.

Don't Affiliate with Strangers!

Michael Garrity — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:55:00 GMT

Affiliate marketing does not have to be a lonely venture. While it may seem like a solo effort on the surface, there are actually many potential opportunities for affiliate marketers willing to get out there and make some friends.

As a publisher, it can be hugely beneficial to your business if you get out there and network to find other successful affiliates with whom to share knowledge and ideas with (and maybe more). Attending conferences or trade shows, sending emails or instant messages or even using social media to meet new contacts, are all great ways to establish communication with others in the industry and, hopefully, gain valuable insights.

It’s nice to have friends, but you may be wondering just how attending Happy Hour at an affiliate marketing conference can help you in the long run. So, you may be wondering, “Why network?”

The thing is, the ever-growing affiliate marketing industry is becoming more diverse by the day, and often affiliates will specialize in specific areas, such as SEO, PPC, email marketing and others. And since it is improbable that any one affiliate is an expert in all of these areas, making connections with other affiliates or affiliate managers, who have this specialized knowledge, can offer a great way to improve one’s own understanding of a topic, along with adding a resource that he or she can turn to whenever a question or problem arises.

But it’s not all about just meeting other affiliates. Anyone operating in the affiliate marketing field represents a potential goldmine of new and useful information based on their unique experiences, which could aid in significantly improving your own practice. Plus, the more people you know, the more indirect connections you’ll be making thanks to all the people they know, which is a great way to quickly extend your circle, and your potential resources.

Being an expert networker is also a great way to add content to your affiliate site, as well as increase the number of backlinks you accrue. For instance, if you meet affiliates in your niche (or a similar industry) you can ask them to submit a guest post or sit in on a podcast to share their expert advice with your audience, which is beneficial for both of you and can provide links for both sites. This kind of exchange presents a multitude of opportunities. It’s also much easier to ask someone to swap links or share content if you’ve already built a solid relationship with them.

Of course, like any good relationship, an affiliate network partnership relies on give-and-take from both participants. You should also be able to offer up actionable, worldly advice and engage in a dialogue with your contacts. Brainstorming and sharing ideas is the best way to help everyone involved get the most out of your networking efforts.

SEO Quick Start Guide to PR-Based Backlinks

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:30:00 GMT

Say what you will about the value of social media in driving brand awareness and website visits, it is search marketing (and SEO in particular) that still receives the most significant share of attention from Web professionals. It remains a struggle, however, to obtain links – those online citations of Web properties that search engines use to determine popularity and relevance when ranking sites and pages on search return lists. You need links – now more than ever – but you also need a strategy to acquire them.

For that, you’ll need to do one thing very well – learn how to network (and work) like public relations professionals.

PR folks, at least the best ones, know what it takes to get a backlink. In a way, they are the original link builders. And for that we can say thanks. Thanks because there are well-documented approaches a Web professional interested in building links can mimic.

Press releases, of course, have a long history on the Web and while their value may have been diminished once everyone figured out that a sub-$100 press release could generate hundreds of links, they still do quite well in driving an initial level of interest and establishing a base of relevant, yet lower-quality citations. With so many scraper sites on the Web, however, and with a clearer understanding of what and how search engines define value in the virtual eyes of users, we can extend our PR to more sophisticated approaches.

The Power of the Byline

Once upon a time, having your client pen a bylined article for publication in a trade magazine would make you a public relations master. The power of a byline provides credibility, authority and awareness and there is still an immense amount of interest by PR agencies to secure these placements – even as the tide has turned nearly fully digital.

As it stands today, there remains no better way to generate some buzz and build links to a Web property than through guest-blogging. While there is most certainly a time-commitment involved, and prioritizing which sites deserve the most attention is imperative, engaging in guest-blogging and old-school byline writing will definitely earn you some backlinks. In some cases, lots of them.

To get started, simply search for available opportunities using queries such as "write for us," "submit post," and "become a contributor" along with the keywords that you would like or need to be associated with. For example, I would use “become a contributor, digital marketing.” You might just be surprised at the number of high-quality sites that are openly recruiting writers. Take a look and prove me wrong if you can.

Networking through Networks

Public relations professionals are master networkers. Not only do they seem to know everyone, they also know what everyone does and more importantly what everyone needs. The Web has improved networking several times over, so if you’re looking to build links to your Web property, start networking with journalists and reporters where and when they need you. How do you do that?

Several free subscription services on the Internet bring together reporters, bloggers and authors looking for answers to specific questions and support on articles/stories that are actively in production. In some cases, those seeking support are under deadline so if you are fast and helpful, getting links through these services is a snap.

Free services/sites such as HARO, Reporter Connection, PitchRate, Flacklist and the paid service ProfNet are the most popular – if not the most effective – ways to earn links to your website. The services typically follow a similar pattern: reporters ask questions about very specific topics; others respond if the questions relate to their area of knowledge or experetise. Then the reporter credits you and your Web property as a source, usually via a backlink. Bingo. We’ve got links!

While there is no guarantee you will receive coverage (such is life in the PR industry) even a few mentions can generate a great response in relation to building links to your Web property. Take the challenge seriously and you will be rewarded many times over with high-value links that can and will influence search ranking position.

The Best Backlink Checker

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:15:00 GMT

Checking the number of inbound links to a website is an important task for those responsible for search engine optimization. Share your opinion on the best backlink checker you've come across on your Web travels and test out a service we've found that we're sure you will enjoy.

Perhaps my personal favorite of all of the backlink checkers I have come across is the one provided by Smart PageRank. The tool quickly checks the anchor text used on inbound links, the PageRank of the pages, and even detects whether the link is a nofollow or not. One possible improvement of the service might be to include sorting so that users of the tool could find the highest PR sites quicker, but all in all it is an excellent tool and one you should definitely bookmark for future use.

What's your favorite free backlink checker?
Share your opinions now by submitting a comment below!