@jeb512

My Link Building Story

@jeb512

My Experience

The first million visitors are the hardest

@jeb512

What You Need

A good story What does your site offer that's unique?

The most… the only…. the largest

What problem does your site solve?

Basic writing & persuasion skills Industry knowledge Basic on-site optimization

Crawler-friendly

Good URL structure

Page optimizations (good unique titles, meta tags, kw density, etc.)

@jeb512

Our Strategies

Content Promotion Link Requests PR for Link Building

@jeb512

Srategy 1: Content Promotion 1.0

What we did Forums Usenet news Emailing friends Printable flyers and postcards to apt renters Link exchanges Industry associations Awards Directories “Do follow” site sponsorships (quasi paid link)

@jeb512

Content Promotion 2.0

What I'd do today... Biz dev (n-way link exchanges with trusted partners) Blogging Twitterhawk (Twitter search + automated Tweets) Widgets Relevant “do follow” blog comments Facebook Connect (announce users’ activity to

friends) Wikis Indirectly-Paid Links (contests, donations, paid

reviews)

@jeb512

Strategy 2: Link Requests

Co-citation/hubs .edu sites Similar category, not competitive

@jeb512

Link Requests: co-citation/hubs

A site that links to multiple of your competitors Free way to find...

Google search: linkdomain:competitorA.com linkdomain:competitorB.com -linkdomain:yoursite.com

Paid way to find... SEOBook Hub Finder SEOMoz Linkscape

@jeb512

Link Requests: .edu sites

.edu's are high authority Webmasters will add legitimately

valuable resources Google search:

linkdomain:competitorA.com linkdomain:competitorB.com -linkdomain:yoursite.com site:.edu

Research, research, research Understand who you're contacting

Who is responsible? Web editor, web admin, department secretary, director of department

@jeb512

Link Requests: similar category sites

Find related sites that don't compete

Your site likely has 2 topics

My topic: apartment + city Real estate > Rentals > Apartments US > State > City

Go up 1 conceptual level and combine: City + Real Estate

Give us a link, get free ad impressions “Join our directory of realtors who help Denver first time

home buyers!” Self-serve system to generate the correct geo-specific

anchor text + deep backlink

@jeb512

Link Requests: How To Pitch

Research site owner – find a person

Track your prospects

URL, PageRank, name, email, Twitter ID, Linkedin Personalized email

“Hi Mary, I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction... who is responsible for the Dept of Urban Studies website?”

BE HUMAN

Use multiple channels (Linkedin, Twitter, Email, Phone, US mail)

3 tries, 2 channels, then move on

Tools: Twellow, Zabasearch, Broadlook Diver

@jeb512

Strategy 2: PR-SEO

PR for Link Building Blogger outreach

@jeb512

PR-SEO – PR for Link Building

Coverage in mainstream media Newspapers and TV

Very high influence links Reporters expect to be pitched

Website owners and bloggers may get huffy

You don't always get a link Approach many Pitch your website, not your company

Bloggers often cover news stories

@jeb512

PR-SEO – Finding Reporters

Find reporters via news monitoring Be creative “your landlord” “apartment

rents” “vacancy rate” “facing eviction”

Look for competitors & complements: Zillow, Trulia

Segment your contacts Real estate beat reporters local/natl, Tech reporters,

Multi-family industry trade press, Lifestyle/personal finance, Local interest, Startup/Web 2.0

@jeb512

PR-SEO – Finding Reporters

Tools Google Alerts, Topix.net, Technorati, Trackur,

Vibemetrix, Filtrbox Factiva (historical news), free via APL

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/databases.htm

EBSCO (industry trade pubs), free to UT students

@jeb512

PR-SEO – Reporter Research

Research and record Name, email, phone, publication, category,

city Relevant story Recent coverage

Tools Daylife

Media Bistro

Vocus/Cision/PR Newswire

Search: twittering journalists

Broadlook Diver

@jeb512

PR-SEO - Pitching

When you find a reporter... Short intro/elevator pitch for your site (100 words)

When you have news... Do NOT send one-size-fits-all press releases

Write a version for each segment Email each reporter personally, 1-line informal

intro Paste your segment-specific story at the end

Tools Bad Pitch Blog

@jeb512

PR-SEO What to Pitch

News is... Major company news – round of VC, big client win New product features

Apartments + Sex Offenders + Google Maps Industry Calendar + Google Calendar Top 20 Best Cities for X Whatever is new/shiney (Facebook, iPhone/Android

app) Someone else's news where you're relevant

Zillow home valuations ... “What the Neighbors Pay” Evergreen research tools – rent pricing trend

graphs

@jeb512

PR-SEO - Blogger Relations

Rules of Engagement #1 Must be personalized & relevant #2 Follow instructions

Sometimes giving bloggers stuff is ok (never ok for reporters)

#3 Build a relationship Comment on their blog (add value) Find, follow, and engage via Twitter Email them via their preferred method

Beware of the the PR blacklist Lifehacker, Chris Anderson

@jeb512

Additional Resources

Laura's presentationhttp://www.slideshare.net/LauraAlter/linkbuilding-presentation

Wiep.net, The Perfect Link Request

http://wiep.net/talk/link-building/link-request-email-template/

WebInkNow, How to Pitch the Mediahttp://www.webinknow.com/2007/02/how_to_pitch_th.html

@jeb512

BuzzStream for Link Building

CRM for link prospects Automates contact info & metics research Create campaigns based on advanced

searches Tracking outreach Tracking payments Backlink checker Team coordination/sharing

@jeb512

The Link Building Process

Find Prospects Review siteResearch contact

info

Research metrics

Record inspreadsheet

Personalizedoutreach

Record inspreadsheet

Check for link

Make outreach list

Lookup previousoutreach

@jeb512

The BuzzStream Process

Find Prospects Review site BuzzMark It

Personalizedoutreach

AdvancedSearch

@jeb512

BuzzMarker

Prospects Existing links Paid links

@jeb512

Link Prospect CRM

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Advanced Search

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Outreach Tracking

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Track Link Payments

@jeb512

Backlink Checker

@jeb512

Thanks!

Free private beta invites for SEO Meetuphttp://kl.am/M7

Jeremy BenckenCo-founder, BuzzStreamjeremy@buzzstream.comTwitter: @jeb512

Note, capital “M”