Off-the-Cuff Link BuildingApril 23, 2013

Chris Genge

About Me Started in … Never believed in building links Pressured to do linking for clients when

everyone else started doing it Starting pulling back around Panda and

Penguin time Today deal with all types of client’s

diverse range of optimization campaigns

Has this happened to you?

Maybe you can try this …

But we all know Google doesn’t care because they have their crime fighters to stop you

Just fix the problem … you know it was a bad idea to start with.

Remove the bad links …

Even if you didn’t build them ….• Another SEO Company!

• Or a “helpful” competitor!

And then get reincluded

It won’t be easy but it’s worth it!

Depth of Link Cleanup Use tools to analyze backlink profile:

Google Webmaster Tools Open Site Explorer Majestic SEO (connected to WMT) Ahrefs Other in house tools

Flag harmful links: Low PR, AC, Domain Authority Out of country links Link farm/Pure SEO value Not relevant to your market URL contains “link”, “seo”, “directory” etc. Domain name is random – weird letter/number combinations Keyword stuffed domain Multiple links to your site Too much keyword rich anchor text

Check Analytics Referral Traffic for these links

Use your discretion Is the page user

friendly? Would you trust

the page? Even if it looks

okay now – will Google find it spammy in the future?

Request Removal Contact site owner to request removal

or no follow of link. Contact page WHOIS lookup

Contact 2x then add to disavow file if unsuccessful

Building Disavow File Evaluation process should leave you

confident these domains provide very little to no value.

List domains or exact URLs Tell Google what happened and what

you have done to fix the problem by using comments in the file.

How long does Disavow take? 2 – 10 weeks to

get activated May take more

than one time If extensive

cleanup is in order add to the file over time

Reconsideration ChecklistAfter you have cleaned up and disavowed1. Tell Google what happened:

List violations and who is responsible Describe what you did to repair List contact with all webmasters Tell about Disavow link file

2. What did you do to ensure it won’t happen again?

3. Request Google reconsider your website. It may take several attempts

A New Industry

Is it still true that bad links can’t hurt you?!

Link Opportunities for Today “Creative link building

ideas” has 63.9 million Google results

Are there any original creative ideas left?

How do you help a client build links on a small budget or with little commitment or effort.

Strong General Approach List online assets (videos, photos, unique resources etc.)

Why would people link to you anyways ? List offline assets (customers, staff, networks)

How can you leverage the connections you have? Research competitors online resources

Do they offer something linkworthy that you could also offer? Research competitors links

What are people linking to? Can you find new link opportunities?

Research your own links Are any key topics or pages on your site missing? More

opportunities to new links on other related sites?

Key is to Strategize, Be Reasonable and Adapt Takes time. If idea isn’t working don’t be afraid to abandon.

No Quick and Easy Way Monitor brand mentions Ask for link in return for a discount or favor Find something that’s missing Businesses with customers you could provide value

to Publish new resources for your suppliers Get others to write a testimonial about your product Interview experts Infographics Sponsor events, non-profit, local organization Give scholarships that get advertised on EDU sites Teach customers to watch for link opportunities

Chris Genge

1-888-262-6687 ext. 705chris@1stonthelist.ca