Isnt SEO all about On Page Stuff SEO

Isn’t SEO all about On Page Stuff?

SEO Without Link Building

On Page SEO Summary • • Establish Relevance! Can’t compete for a term without it Critical to SEO But how do the search engines decide which relevant pages to show first in the results?

Links Are Like Votes in an Election

Who Rank’s First? Joe’s Book Store

Algorithmic Ranking Factors

Links Are Not Created Equal Killer Link 1 #1! #2 Web Site A Link 1 Link 2 ……. . … 1, 000 Search Results Web Site B

The Flow Of Page. Rank All pages have a tiny, amount of Page. Rank Pages gain Page. Rank from links that point to them

The Flow Of Page. Rank X Passable Page. Rank F(X) The page can pass only a portion, f(x), of it’s Page. Rank to other pages

Page. Rank is Split Evenly Between the Links on a Page X Link . 5 0 * ) x ( F F(x)*0. 5 Not 100% true, but a good working estimate

Page. Rank is an Iterative Algorithm Page B Page A F(x)*0. 5 F(y) Link y F(x)*0. 5 Link X y Page C

Google Toolbar • View Page. Rank of current page, once turned on. • Available for: – Firefox – Internet Explorer

Toolbar Page. Rank 10 Google Sampling of Homepage Page. Rank Ratings • Not the same as “Real” Page. Rank • Logarithmic scale from 0 to 10 • Assigned to web pages, not sites • Still, a useful metric 1 0 8 Amazon 9 E ebay F 7 6 5 F O R T 4 2 3 Relative number of pages with PR rating Disney Gap Culligan Boston Store

Google Says they use Page. Rank to Crawl

Role of Relevance Casino Gambling Low Value Online Prescriptions Your Page (Used Ford Mustangs) High Value Car and Driver Magazine Ford vehicles. com

The Concept of Authority All Websites about Used Cars A A A

Search Engines Do Not Count All Links • Links they can’t read: – Encrypted Java. Script – In an i. Frame • Links on pages that they can’t crawl – Can’t find – Marked as No. Crawl in Robots. txt • Links marked with No. Follow Attribute

Editorial Citations • • The algorithm is based on editorially given links You aren’t supposed to buy votes! Must earn the links with quality content/tools/… Citations from relevant trusted authority sites count the most

Why do People Link? Graphic by SEOmoz

Link Building Methods The 8 Basic Kinds of Link Building

#1 – Manual Requests 1. Develop list of relevant sites 2. Research who to contact (and how) 3. Send an email (or call) requesting a link Will you link to us? Hmmm Scalability Value Downsides: Hard to scale Use: For high value link building

#2 – Competitive Research 1. Use tools to see who links to your competition 2. Pursue top targets manually 3. Research competitor link building strategies How did he get so big? Scalability Value Downsides: Hard to scale Use: For high value Link building, to understand competition

#3 – Distribute cool tools 1. Create a cool tool 2. Allow other web sites to include it on their site 3. Embed a link back to your site Cool Tool Your Site 3 rd Party Site Link Back Scalability Value Downsides: Success uncertain Use: If you have unique and compelling tools

Making Content Easy to Share

#4 – Linkbait and Viral Campaigns 1. Create unique, killer content that everyone wants to link to 2. Let market influencers know about it 3. Watch the links roll in Blog Social Site Viral Content Media Hobbyist Scalability Value Downsides: Success uncertain Use: If you have unique and compelling content

#5 – Content / Data Syndication 1. Create content others may want to place on their sites 2. Offer it to other sites 3. Require links back in return Your Content Or Data Your Site Links Back Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Scalability Value Downsides: finding partners Use: If you have unique and compelling content

Infographics Example

Guest Posting • Find sites that accept guest posts – <your-market-keyword> “guest post” • Determine what content they might want • Contact them and offer them that content • Write it and deliver it – Write high quality stuff – the effort will pay you back in the long haul • Get one or more links back

#6 – Link Reclamation 1. Get a list of 404 errors found by the search engines 2. Determine which ones are from bad external links 3. Request list or 301 redirect 404 Page Your Site Broke n Link Fixed Link Good Link Source Scalability Value Downsides: Hard to scale Use: Always, it’s easy

Google Webmaster Tools 404 Report

Strategies to Avoid

#1 – Exchanges and Trades 1. Research relevant sites 2. Figure out how to contact them 3. Suggest trading links Dude, wanna swap links? Hmmm Scalability Value Downsides: Search engines can discount Use: Only with quality relevant sites

#2 – Buy the Links 1. Research relevant sites 2. Figure out how to contact them 3. Suggest trading links Hey Dude, Want some dough? Hmmm Scalability Value Downsides: Search engines want to discount Use: Never

Finding High Page. Rank Pages

Google Directory • Pulls from DMOZ • Ordered by Google’s Page. Rank.

Link Building Tools

Yahoo! Site Explorer Directionally indicative within ~50% Not necessarily followed & in a somewhat random order

SEOmoz’ Open Site Explorer

Open Site Explorer Data updates monthly from the Linkscape web index (approx. 60% the size of Google/Bing) Highly Correlation w/ Rankings

Open Site Explorer Poor Anchor Text Spells Opportunity

Link Intersect Find sites that link to multiple competitors, that don’t point to you.

Top Pages Find which pages are earning links (your own & competitors) 404 s? Reclaim them!

Majestic SEO

What is that Link Worth?

Quantitative Metrics • # of Linking Root Domains to URL • # of Linking Root Domains to Domain • Homepage Page. Rank vs. Domain moz. Rank • URL Page. Rank vs. URL moz. Rank • # of Links to the Page (Yahoo!, GG Blogsearch, Open Site Explorer) • Twitter mentions (Backtweets. com)

Subjective Metrics • Brand name reach/recognition • Quality of other links on page/site (Bing - Linkfromdomain) • Attainability and Effort Jumping through Hoops (via WKA on Flickr)

Social Media Optimization Leveraging Social Media to Create Buzz and Links

The Power of the “Linkerati”

Social Media Value • PR Channel, much like TV and radio – People use social sites to consume content – Provide useful content and spread your message • Customer service channel – Comcast’s Frank Eliason • Market Testing / Feedback • Oh yes, and links …

Value of Social Links • Most do not pass Page. Rank • However, Page. Rank is not “all” • Regular social media placements could be a trust signal – Feeds “query deserves freshness” – However, fades with age • The true SEO value is in the signal to influential humans that see you there – And the links that they give you!

Wikipedia • If you can, obtain a profile page on Wikipedia – Links to your site do not pass link juice – Builds credibility with media and others • Don’t go add it yourself! – Against Wikipedia guidelines – Become a contributor, add lots of value, make friends, establish credibility, then suggest it • Must meet notability test • Suggest relevant category tags • Monitor article changes (trackengine urlywarning).

Wikipedia Summary This guy must be the real deal Wikipedia Your Name Benefits: Builds Credibility Brings traffic Play by the rules Scalability Value Downsides: Time investment Use: Only if notable

Digg / Social News • An article that makes the Digg home page: – Can get tens of thousands of visitors – Can get hundreds, or thousands of links • Getting there is the hard part • Create great content – Use Digg to research other articles on your topic area that have made it • Target the audience (13 to 28 year old males) • Befriend or hire a top Digger

Digg • Strip away commercial links while promoting on Digg • Friend popular Diggers. Better yet, get a popular Digger to submit your story. • Time your presence on the Digg front page for daylight hours • Craft a killer title using this formula from Muhammad Saleem: number + adjective + key phrase – E. g. “ 13 Most Chilling Haunted Hotels” or “ 16 Incredibly Unconventional Hotel Rooms”

Digg Summary 16 most… Your Article Benefits: Traffic Links Digg Home Page Tons of Visitors Tons of Links Scalability Value Downsides: Miss rate high Use: If your site lends itself to the right type of content

Stumble. Upon • Build relationships / subscribers • Use “Send to” function in toolbar • Subscribers will view your stuff • Always get some traffic • If it becomes popular …

Stumble. Upon Summary Your Cool Content Wow! This Is great Stumble Upon Benefits: Traffic & Some Links SU Community Traffic Your Site Scalability Value Downsides: Lots of singles Use: If you generate great new content on an ongoing basis

You. Tube • Post great videos on You. Tube • The videos on You. Tube get most of the links • Consider developing additional videos that you how on your own site • Consider creating a microsite and making the microsite URL your username. • Run a contest and recruit popular You. Tube users to enter. Their submission will get pushed out to all their subscribers

You. Tube Summary You Tube Create Great Video Benefits: Branding Traffic & Some Links Scalability Value Downsides: Home run ball Use: If you have a killer concept for a video

Linked. In • Add 3 links to your public profile • Search for influencer’s Linked. In profiles – Use In. Mail to contact them – Much higher open rate than e-mail • Add a LION (Linked. In Open Networker) or two to your network. – Try to find a “promiscuous sneezer” – Use the Top. Linked. com list. (http: //www. toplinked. com/top 50. html) • Add email address to your “professional headline”

Linked. In Summary Linked. In Profile Linked. In Community Benefits: Spread ideas Reach thought leaders Bypass spam filters Scalability Value Downsides: Labor intensive Use: To build high value contacts

Facebook • Create a fan page or group or both • Use fan pages to build long term relationships – Fan pages get indexed – Use Facebook ads to build audiences faster – Must have a hook • Use groups for quick discussions and viral activity – Groups are limited to 5000 members • Customize your fan page or group • Update regularly!

Facebook Summary Fan Page Group Benefits: Branding, Traffic & Some Links Facebook Community Traffic Your Site Scalability Value Downsides: Requires Commitment! Use: Build traffic, links, and reputation

Twitter • Pick a good account name (memorable) • Customize your background • Follow people with lots of followers – Many will follow you back – Now you have a channel for your tweets – Cater to that channel! • Use hash tags for Twitter search • Include URLs and references where appropriate • Contribute regularly

Twitter Summary Twitter Account Benefits: Branding, Traffic & Some Links Twitter Community Traffic Your Site Scalability Value Downsides: Requires Commitment! Use: Build traffic, links, and reputation

Blogs • Write unique and compelling stuff • Interact with other bloggers. – – Comment on their blogs Link to their good stuff from your blog Get to know them DON’T SPAM them • Build an audience through these relationships • In time, people will link back to you

Blog Summary Your Blog Benefits: Links and Relationships Blogoshpere Links Web Scalability Value Downsides: Requires Commitment! Use: For links and relationships

Proceed with Care! • • Social communities do not like to be “used” People in the communities take action So do the social media properties themselves Play nice! Be a member of the community Contribute to the community And it will pay you back

Thank You! Eric Enge eenge@stonetemple. com @stonetemple (508) 485 -7751 http: //www. stonetemple. com/blog http: //searchengineland. com/author/eric-enge http: //searchenginewatch. com/sew_author_fullarchive&author=3624376 http: //www. seomoz. org/users/view/18040 http: //www. instantetraining. com/ http: //artofseobook. com