Link Building In 2016

1. Link Building In 2016 @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

2. Is Link Building Finally Dead? Not even close… As a matter of fact domain and page level link features where voted as the two most influential ranking factors in the latest MOZ survey. So let’s put the “link building is dead” nonsense to rest before it gets started in 2016. If it isn’t dead, it must be evolving then…right? @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

3. Evolve or Die • Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt. Only by being open to change will you have a true opportunity to get the most from your talent. • - Nolan Ryan @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

4. The Changing Landscape of Link Building As you know, Google is on a quest to help rid the internet of evil spammers who are claiming valuable real estate in the SERPs without …..GASP….. • Without having quality content • Without creating user focused sites • Without offering any real value to the users All while engaging in • Keyword Stuffing • Content Scraping • Automated Link Building all from their seat smack dab in the middle of a bad neighborhood. @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

5. Penguin Came to Save the Day Way back in 2012 Google unleashed the Penguin update to eliminate those spammers once and for all… Since releasing the Penguin update in 2012 Google has made several updates and late last year Google stated that this algorithm was going to be in a continual state of optimization. I think this was a nice way of letting us know we wouldn’t be getting many updates on algorithm changes. The latest update, which is scheduled to roll out by the end of this is supposed to make Penguin a real time Algorithm, meaning penalties can come and go at anytime. @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

6. Penalties in Real Time? • That’s right. If you are slipping, an angry penguin may be lying in wait to penalize your site. • But… • If you see the err of your ways and repent for your link building indiscretions, your site could regain rankings just as quickly as they were lost. • Anyone else thinking this sounds tempting to spammers? • Let’s think about this, I can spam a site to the top of the SERPs and if it gets penalized, I can remove some of the links and see how my site reacts, then just repeat the process until the site is permanently penalized or removed. • Are we going to see a resurgence in churn and burn sites as a result of real time Penguin or will spammers be stopped before they can gain a foothold? Only time will tell. @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

7. Why Type of Links Should I Strive For? Link building in 2015 is easier than in the late 90s …but… Attaining high value links is time and resource intensive. All of your link building efforts should meet one of the following goals: -Creating a Greater Brand Presence • Generating Targeted Referral Traffic - Increase the DA & Topical Trust Flow of Linked Site @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

8. Finding Link Opportunities & Creating Links • Competitor Link Analysis • Content Research/Identifying Linkable Content Charectaristics • Outreach Based Link Building • Brand Signal Link Building Tactics • Social Link Building • PR & Organic Coverage @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

9. Competitor Link Analysis What – Identify the top links of each of your competitors and devise a strategy to recreate those links. Why – Because it is simple and effective. How– Moz and Majestic or Ahrefs Moz – Moz offers a tool that allows you to identify which sites link to your competitors but not to your site, this is an extremely fast and simple way to start your link target list 2. Majestic or Ahrefs– When you are looking for a complete picture of your competitors link profile, Majestic and Ahrefs are two of the most up to date and accurate tools available. @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

10. Content Research & Development • What – You can spend an eternity dreaming up topics to cover and the content may still be a flop. By looking at a snapshot of curated data, you can easily identify hot button topics in your niche. • Why – If you develop content on a topic that people are engaging with, you can not only identify hot topics, you can also see who is engaging with that content, simplifying the process of creating and initial outreach list. • How - Buzzsumo is a tool that analyses the top content on websites or by topic. Let’s say you wanted to pitch an article to Huffington Post, you could use this tool to see which content performed best on their website, giving you an idea of what type of content/topics you should cover. As another example let’s say that you want to add a blog to your website and promote it through outreach. You can use this tool to see who socially shared and linked to similar content, in just a few minutes you will have a nice sized outreach list. @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

11. Outreach Based Link Building • What – Outreach link building is a simple concept but get placements on authority sites can be a very time consuming and labor intensive process. • Why – Since the late 90s Google has given value to editorially placed, contextual, do-follow links. Building an outreach strategy that focuses on authority sites in your niche is truly an evergreen link building tactic. • How –You either make guest posts on another site or you ask another site to link to your content. • If you are looking for guest posting ideas, Buzzsumo is the go to tool and as mentioned, it can be great for creating an outreach list as well. • If you are looking for people to link to content on your website, Semrush and Ahrefs/Majestic are the best tools. • The competitor feature on Semrush allows you to pull a list of the top 20 sites for your target keyword, then run that list through Majestic/Ahrefs and create a master list of sites linking to related content, you of course have to weed out the low quality sites but then you are ready start your outreach. @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

12. Link Building Via Social Channels • What – The natural progression of outreach, interacting online is a modernized version of networking. Link building is a lot like outside sales, familiarize prospects with your brand, offer great value propositions, and stay top of mind. • Why - Sending outreach emails can be effective but putting a face and presence behind your message separates you from people sending out generic emails in bulk. Again, think like a salesperson. • How – LinkedIn Sales Navigator allows you to add prospects to a watch list and notifies you of their updates & events. Equally useful, there is a “lead builder” feature that allows you to do a custom search of LinkedIn based on job title, seniority, company size, and more. Again think like a salesperson, follow and engage, build rapport, then make a personalized request for a guest post or link, even better when it is timed with a recent update they make. @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

13. Brand Signal Link Building • What – Creating signals that tell Google you are a real business, not someone who is simply trying to manipulate their algorithm with links for quick rankings. • Why - In 2012 Google filed a patent that was approved in late 2014. This patent was most noted for the indication that Google looks at “implied” links( unlinked mentions) when evaluating the quality of a site. If implied links count, we can certainly argue that no-follow links also add value. • How – Secure your brand name of social media and popular web 2.0 sites. Services like KnowEm allow you to easily claim your brand name on around 500 popular social and web 2.0 style sites. Create profiles on niche specific sites (i.e Houzz for contractors). Upload Branded content to sites like Slideshare, videos to YT, and Infographics to niche sites. @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

14. PR & Organic Coverage • What – Sharing your story or message with others in a compelling manner which entices them to share, link to, or further cover your story. Simply put, getting people to talk about your business. • Why – Links, traffic, and brand signals. Remember, implied links count, brand signals count, and links are the foundation of rankings. Press coverage allows you to cover all three. • How – My Radio Guest and Haro are two of my go to resources, both allow you to view guest requests and reply with your pitch. Take about 30 minutes each day to respond to relevant queries and you may be surprised at just how many links and mentions you can generate monthly. • Local press coverage can also be extremely valuable so don’t forget to network with and reach out to local (even smaller) news sources, they often have a lot of trust and can help with local rankings as well. @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

15. Bringing It All Together • One of the biggest mistakes I see is people being afraid to do anything for fear of getting their site penalized, if you are in that boat, here are simple steps for getting started effectively. • - Identify the top 10-20 competitors for each of your target keywords, then pull their link profiles with Majestic/Ahrefs and combine them into a single sheet. Eliminate low quality links and sort them by link type, i.e directories, guest posts, press coverage… • - Submit your site to relevant directories, citation sites, create profiles on niche specific sites and claim your listings across popular sites with a service like KnowEm • - Identify your competitors guest post links and use Buzzsumo to identify the most popular content on those sites, use that to create content to submit or post on your own site. If pitching high value guest posts, use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to engage prospects. • - Use free services like Haro to creating regular brand mentions and unique links to your site. @theseoproz | stellarseo.com

16. Questions? Travis Bliffen StellarSEO.com info@stellarseo.com @theseoproz | stellarseo.com