Link Building Monthly (a curated reading list of link building articles) launched and hit in-boxes last week. I am posting the first few editions so that readers can get an idea of what is contained before they sign up. The newsletter is free and 100% spam and advert free. I respect every sign-up and don’t allow anyone to have access to your details – so you won’t suddenly end up receiving emails from a random company selling cheap seo or little blue pills. After a few months access to the reading list will only be by email newsletter: sign up now and then you don’t miss an issue. Check the Blue box to the right.
BTW any article suggestions and feedback of what you would like to see in here is much appreciated, just leave a comment below and I will respond.
>> Link Building Reading List: February 2012
Non-google Link Strategy: An Example of Stealth Link Marketing
by Eric Ward
Link building has evolved so much and IMHO good link builders are now link PR people – looking for promotional opportunities and strategic partnerships wherever they may be. This great, quick read article gives an example of a Florida scuba company and how they looked for link opportunities outside of the SERPs for brilliant payback results. Think outside of Google for link opportunities for long lasting results.
(861 words – 3 min)
9 Free Tools For Link Discovery and Content Creation
by Julie Joyce
A quick read which delivers a few ideas of free tools. I love tools so am always keen to pick up any new tool links. A basic article but cites a few good resources, the real gem of this piece is the link at the bottom where Julie says ‘(for a bigger one look here)’ make sure you click through for a fantastic resource list to bookmark.
(1,205 words – 4 min)
Backlink Data – Who is the Best Provider of Them All?
by Branko Rihtman
Another link building tool article which compares OSE from SEOmoz, MajesticSEO, Ahrefs and Link Research Tools. The article checks number of provided links for a requested url, the percentage of dead links and the percentage of unique links for 3 urls. I always find it interesting how the different providers deliver a wildly different data! Plenty of graphs and data tables to make this easy on the eye. Useful insight if you are looking for a backlink checker to replace Yahoo Site Explorer.
(1,897 words – 7 min)
How Google Evaluates Links
by Dave Naylor
and 40 Changes for February
by Google Search Blog
Google has announced changes to it’s algo and the big money is on anchor text losing relevance as a metric. Surprisingly I have not heard much said online about the recent changes apart from what Dave says here. First read the Google article to get up to speed with the recent changes rolling out now and then read Dave’s article which speculates as to what might be changing in the link evaluation algorithm. A quick read to get you thinking about where link strategies will need to focus in the future.
(1,211 words – 4 min)
link Building: Tips for Getting The Most Out of Exclusive Content placements
by Paddy Moogan
If you are into authority outreach link building then this is a must read so you can understand how to tackle the conundrum of a site wanting your content exclusively. This throws up the potential problems of having your outreach put on hold while they make up their mind and limits the amount of places and links you were hoping for a great piece of work. Paddy walks you through how you can still leverage your article on a an exclusive placing basis and get plenty of exposure. Quick read.
(849 words – 3 min)
How to Train a Link Builder
by Peter Attia
Nothing too radically exciting with this post but it is a great reference if you are in the position of hiring a new person in your team and need to start training them up as a link builder. Walks you through the stages of what to throw at them and when. Of course most people want to train staff in their own peculiar ways but if you are new to hiring this could help you out.
(2,373 words – 8 min)
Throw Away Your Form Letters (or Five Principles to Better Outreach Link Building)
by ipullrank
Mr King has a big following and offers a great read in his own personal flair. Love it or loath it link builders know a lot about outreach (or they should) so this is worth reading for tips on improving your outreach email approach: basically every email should be personalized. Spend more time researching your prospects and you can vastly improve your conversion rate on link hits. I would highly recommend books like Dale Carnegie Win Friends and Influence People and Robert Cialdini Influence for improving your communication skills – which are the fundamentals for a link builder. I have read plenty of how to craft an outreach email for link building type articles and IMHO this one is head and shoulders above anything I have seen. Plenty of cute graphics to break up the long read and even finishes with a bonus infographic as a reward for getting to the end. Must read.
(3,469 words – 12 min)
Buying Links is Shallow, Short-Term Thinking. Buying blogs? Now That’s a Strategy.
by Rand Fishkin
In-depth blog post from Mr SEO himself – now this is some seriously strategic thinking that impresses the pants off me. Not often you get fresh ideas on the SEO blog circuit so this is the gem of the month. The general concept here is looking for blogs related to your site and make them an offer of bringing their blog into yours and then continuing writing the great content. It’s not that dissimilar to Google hoovering up all the startups in a desperate bid to find a social media hit but with a much higher success rate (remember Wave anyone?). Yes, there are many complications and potential contractual nightmares nailing this one (and you have to have the spending power) but it’s fresh thinking and IMHO an amazing idea. Also contains a nicely illustrated example to make it idiot proof.
(1,413 words – 4 min)
How to Creatively & Effectively Build Links Using Public Data
by David de Souza
This is almost too good to share (I seriously considered keeping this to myself!) if you have any interest in using infographics to link build then this is a MUST read for you. Brilliant resource on places you can source data. Best post this month for finding data sources.
(1,246 words – 4 min)
Kicking Off a Link building Campaign with Questions
by Claire Carlile
Beware the gratuitous use of sexy images of biscuits strewn through this article! if you are starting out in link building this article is an excellent resource to give you ideas for what questions you should be asking your client before you can start a campaign. Short read, to the point and a very useful set of questions.
(1,058 words – 4 min)
Google Plus Box Ranking Factors Report
by Ian Lurie
With the major changes happening in Google from the introduction of SPYworld link builders need to keep a close eye on what’s happening with Google+. Ian Lurie (a highly entertaining writer, one of my faves) has put together in-depth article of research conducted over the last few months on the impact of Google+ and SERPs. I am keeping a close eye on where Google are going with Google+ SPYworld and personalized rankings and highly recommend you do the same to keep ahead of the game with link building strategies.
(3,212 words – 11 min)
>> Not to be Missed from January:
Future of SEO: Change, Convergence, Collaboration
Andy Betts
Search and SEO is going through major changes with the convergence of SEO and social media which has presented a new era in online marketing strategies. Much talk recently has been centered round content marketing being more integrated with SEO (something I have been preaching for ages). This article is an oversight of the current changes and how the industry will deal with the maturity of the SEO. Plenty of graphs to illustrate.
(3,278 words – 11 min)
The End Of Link Building as We’ve Known and Loved it
Eric Enge
Another reflection on how link building is changing inline with the big SEO changes. Eric Enge talks about how we need to be changing our link building habits from one dimensional to a 360 degrees approach to encompass social signals and community participation (hmm, sure I said that somewhere!). Don’t get left behind by still focusing on old school link building – social media and link building are becoming more integrated in 2012.
(1,359 words – 5 min)
Strategic Link Building: Why You Don’t Need to Outrun Lions
David Klein
Two men walking through the jungle come across a lion, one man takes a pair of running shoes out of his back pack – the other man says ‘you will never out run a lion’ the other man replies ‘I don’t need to outrun a lion, I just need to outrun you’. A perfect analogy for ranking competition in SERP top slots. In-depth article which looks at measuring competitor backlink profiles for ‘online shopping’ in .com.au, .co.uk and .com results using the Majestic SEO tools. Learning from competitors link profiles and how you can replicate this for your won success. Plenty of graphs and data tables.
(4,450 words – 15 min)
24 SEO Experts Discuss Links vs Tweets
Jon Cooper
The best link industry experts discuss what impact links will still have on rankings in the future and the rise of importance of the social signals such as twitter, facebook and the new kid google+. Eric Enge makes a great point that 85% of the US population are not active on facebook which has a huge impact on how much relevance a social signal should have. Eric also points out a social signal is very easy to gain – a link , especially from an authority source is hard work. Why would Google devalue such a metric? Plus links pass traffic for a much longer period than a tweet can so they are invaluable for referral not just for ranking. Worth a read just to see the impressive list of experts rounded up in one article, must have taken a lot of cat herding to do that.
(7,123 words – 23 min)
Words per article is calculated pasting article into word and using the word-count tool. Reading time is calculated from an average reading time of 300 words per minute).
>> Must Read Link Building Productivity Tips:
Link Bait Guide from Distilled
Using Blogrolls to Expand Your Link Prospecting List from Distilled
17 Ways to Accelerate Links to Your Link Bait by Garrett French
Competitor Backlink Analysis in Excel from SEER Interactive
Broken Link Building by Wil Reynolds at SEER Interactive
Link Builders Gmail Productivity Setup by John F Doherty
The Power of Using Lists for Link Building by Paddy Moogan
What Makes and Effective Link Builder by Justin Briggs
The 7 Principles of Bulk Outreach for Link Building by Garrett French
The New School of Link Prospecting Keyword Research by Garrett French
If you enjoyed this article and found the curated list a useful resource then sign-up for the monthly newsletter and you will continue to receive every issue. The lists will only be published on the blog for the first few months and will then be email access only. Don’t miss out.
