Social Media Builds Inbound Links

1. How Social Media Builds Inbound Links and Higher Search Rankings Presented by: Arnie Kuenn, President Vertical Measures

2. My Background • Internet marketer for about 12 years • Formed Vertical Measures about 4 years ago • Primarily an internet marketing company, however everything is geared around link building & SEO • We have 75+ clients • About 25% of our business is outsourcing from SEO & Web Development Agencies

3. Search Marketing Is Critical • When someone types a keyword into the search box, there are only two possible outcomes: • They will find you. • They will find your competitor.

4. Two Search Marketing “Truths” • Organic search traffic can be so valuable, it can sustain an entire business. • Organic search rankings are something you can work to influence, but ultimately you do not control them. The search engine algorithms make that call.

5. What is SEO in 2009? • Search Engines are getting better & better every year at eliminating spam techniques. • They update the algorithms almost every week. Google: Made 160 changes in Q1 of 2009 • Quality backlinks became much more important this year, weak backlinks became almost worthless • Social Media “signals” are now a real factor

6. Why Invest In Higher Rankings? • 60% of listings in the #1 position will get a click! • Natural search results receive 250% more clicks than paid search • Natural search converts 30% better than paid search • Clicks are Free!!!

7. How Does it Work? Magic 3 step formula: • Create Good, Unique Content • Optimization each page you want to rank • Get Quality Inbound Links Bot or Spider

8. Search Engine Results Page (SERP) Indented Listing Local Listing

9. The Biggest Factor is Inbound Links • The best links: • From trusted sites • Have proper anchor text • Have varied anchor text • Are from many different domains • I am not too worried about: • Reciprocal • PageRank

10. Use Social Media to Get Links (and Rankings) • Blogs! (create content you can promote, RSS feed, links to others) • Facebook (your profile & fan page) • Twitter (your profile, tweets & retweets) • Linked In (your profile & business page) • Flickr (links from photo descriptions) • Other Social Profiles: MySpace,Naymz, FastPitch, Google, Spoke, Plaxo, etc. • Other Social Media Sites: StumbleUpon, Redditt, Digg, Propeller, etc.

11. Facebook Page • Not a lot of direct link benefit, but great from a “signals” standpoint. • Build fans and communicate with them. The links will come.

12. Twitter Profile • Direct link (no follow). Great from a “signals” standpoint. • Build followers and communicate with them. The links will come.

13. LinkedIn Profile • Direct text links (Do follow!). Change the text. • Build connections and update your profile. The links will come.

14. Flickr Pages • Direct links (no follow). Great from a “signals” standpoint. • Others might grab your photos and…. the links will come.

15. Others key sites… • StumbleUpon • Digg • Redditt • Propeller • Yahoo Buzz • Delicious • Niche sites (ex. Sphinn) • Signals & Secondary Links!!

16. Why Social Media? • 12% of our visitors come from social sites (~500 per month and growing) • More than double what we get from PPC • Helps with organic rankings & branding • Keeps the search engines coming back

17. Why a Corporate Blog? • The original social media • 24% of our page views come from our blog posts (~2,000 per month) • We make 2 new posts per week • Gives us a vehicle to post new link worthy content • Keeps the search engines coming back

18. It Starts With Good Content! • Build pages around your keywords • Add real value to the web visitor • Unique • Informative • Entertaining • Good for Social Media? • Is it “Link Worthy”? • Can you promote it?

19. Create Content & Promote It • Some ideas: • Lists • Videos • Case Studies • Comparisons • Satire & Parody • Interviews • Polls & Surveys • Contests (detailed example, next) • Promote it using social media!!!

20. Small Companies Can Run Contests! • Bridal Contest • Answer 3 questions: • Your engagement story • Your wedding day theme plan • What is special about your wedding that you shall win this free sponsorship? • Facebook Ad • Increased followers on Twitter through regular tweets

21. Big Companies Too! • Major hotel chain has us working 6 different promotions • Attend a Motor Sports event, get a discount • Visit Disney, get a discount • Attend LPGA event, get a discount • Go to a Little League Baseball game, get a discount • Multi-night stay, get Double Rewards • Multi-night stay, get $50 Gift Card

22. Even Link Building Companies! • Vertical Measures’ contest • Boost Your Juice • $5,000 Grand Prize and $1,000 for 2nd Place • Submit video or essay • 2 week duration • Recruited a panel of judges (who helped promote it) • Offered “socialize prizes” (Rebecca Lieb)

23. Our Contest Results • Over 700 references on Google for “boost your juice” AND “vertical measures” • Own all 10 results on the 1st page of Google for “boost your juice” (branding) • Over 600 visitors to just the contest page • Contest page became a PR3 in 30 days • Links from more than 30 different sites • Dozens of new leads for link building services

24. Thank You! My Contact Info: Arnie Kuenn arniek@verticalmeasures.com twitter.com/arniek www.linkedin.com/in/arniekuenn www.facebook.com/verticalmeasures www.VerticalMeasures.com