Austin SEO Meetup 4/1/09 with BuzzStream
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Transcript of Austin SEO Meetup 4/1/09 with BuzzStream
@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
@jeb512
Advanced Search
@jeb512
Outreach Tracking
@jeb512
Track Link Payments
@jeb512
Backlink Checker
@jeb512
Thanks!
Free private beta invites for SEO Meetuphttp://kl.am/M7
Jeremy BenckenCo-founder, [email protected]: @jeb512
Note, capital “M”