Presented by:Scott Polk

Founder - ObsidianEdge

Link Building RebootHot Strategies for More Traffic

The Link Audit

The Link Audit

Reasons• Preemptive … before you get a penalty• Penguin … devaluing of links• Penalty – Unnatural Link Notification• Algorithm Update

The Link Audit

Penguin … devaluing of links

The Link Audit

Penalty – Unnatural Link Notification

Data Collection

Link Audit: Data Collection

Utilize various sources of data• Google Webmaster Tools• LRT (Link Research Tools)• Ahrefs.com• Majestic SEO• Internal Link Acquisition Reports

The Link Audit: Data AnalysisDatapoints to look for• Unique Linking Domain Count• Links from penalized domains (PR0 – not in index)• Links with Exact Match Anchor Text• Sitewide Links (Footer – Sidebar)• Links from non-relevant content• Links from Article Directories & • Links from Traditional Directories• Links from same IP or C-Block• Hidden Links within HTML• Comment Spam (Follow & NoFollow)• MozRank, Alexa, Domain Authority

Link Audit: Visual Review

The Link Audit: Visual Review

• Relevancy – is this site relevant to your site?• Natural – does the link look natural?• Location – where is the link located?

What is a Bad link?

Link Audit: What makes a bad link?

Author Bio Links

Link Audit: What makes a bad link?

Non-Relevant Content vs Anchor Text

Link Audit: What makes a bad link?

Comment Spam

Link Audit: What makes a bad link?

Exact Match Anchor Text

Link Audit: What makes a bad link?

Scraper Websites

Link Audit: What makes a bad link?

Scraper Websites

Link Audit: What makes a bad link?

Penalized Websites – not in index

Link Audit: What makes a bad link?

Hidden Links within HTML

What to look for in a good link

Link Audit: What makes a good link?

• Relevancy

Link Audit: What makes a good link?

• Natural

Data Action Projects

The Link Audit: Data Action Projects

• Link Removal Requests– Manual vs. Automated Tools (Used automated tools to

create links? Got a penalty? Please learn from this mistake and do not use an automated tool)

• NoFollow – Link sending you traffic or part of brand strategy? Affiliate

Links to your site• Disavow– If a link cannot be removed via requests. Do not pay to have

a link removed• Affiliate Links

Link removal request

The Link Audit: Data Action Projects

Link Removal Requests

Manual vs Automated Tools

The Link Audit: Data Action Projects

Automated Software - Link Removal Requests• I am the owner of Google Plus

The Link Audit: Data Action Projects

Disavow

The Link Audit: Data Action Projects

Affiliate Links• Do NOT try to gain link equity from Paid Links– If it is an Affiliate Link then it’s PAID

• NoFollow• Custom Landing Pages– Create Custom 404 error page for Affiliates to link

to and use so the link equity will not pass

What’s Next?

Once you have cleaned the link profile, then submit your documentation to Google.

If under manual penalty for links, wait for response, if it is rejected repeat process

Once clear … start on Link Acquisition

Link Acquisition

• Organic Outreach of content – unique– Interviews / Thought Leadership– In-depth Articles

• Content Marketing– Infographics (image & interactive)– Videos

Link Acquisition

Do NOT fall for these

Link Acquisition

Do NOT fall for these

Scott PolkFounder/ CEOObsidianEdge

http://ObsidianEdge.com@scottpolk

scott@obsidianedge.com