Fastest link building campaign planner ever (8 different campaigns in minutes)

Posted by Ken McGaffin on 03 December 2010

In this article Ken McGaffin shows you how Link Builder gets your link building project off to a flying start by creating ready made campaigns for you. You’ll be starting to approach quality link prospects within minutes.

“Link prospects”, the sites that you’d like to get a link from come in many different types and you can’t use the same approach for each type. The approach you’ll take with a directory listing should be very different from the approach you take for an important blog or news site in your industry.

Use the same blanket approach to all your link prospects and your success rate will be pretty low. However, customize your approaches and your success rate will increase dramatically.

1) Blogs

Description: Blogs are easy to set up and are usually written by a single individual (though there are some exceptions.) Blogs contain lots of fresh content and links and are therefore popular in search engine results.

Best approach: A personal approach is important and rather than just ask for a link, you should seek to build a relationship with the person behind the blog. Start by commenting on interesting posts, summarize them and link to them from your own site. Monitor content of blogs that are of interest to you by signing up to their RSS feed.

Example of a blog link to Wordtracker:

Econsultancy.com: Nine common SEO campaign mistakes

Plan your blogging campaigns with the Link Builder tool

2) Trusted sites

Description: These include links from government sites (.gov), academic sites (.edu, .ac.uk) and to a lesser extent non-profit organization sites (.org). Trusted sites are difficult to get links from because they generally have a high level of bureaucracy, very high standards or are simply reluctant to link out to commercial businesses. However, because they are so difficult to get, links from such sites may be valuable.

Best approach: You need to put time and effort into getting such links. I remember that once I had to go to a government office and present and answer questions from two officials before eventually getting a link. So the task is not an easy one but I think the best approach is to become involved with local government or academic organizations. That might simply mean supporting an economic development initiative or jobs program, or taking part in research. From my experience being energy efficient, recycling or following green principles are some of the best ways to attract attention and win support of government or academic sites.

Example of trusted site link (a .gov) to Wordtracker:

WebContent.gov: Using Keywords to Achieve Search Engine Optimization

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3) Directories and lists

Description: These vary from dedicated directories such as Dmoz.org, Business.com and JoeAnt.com to a whole variety of top 20, best of and recommended lists of resources that are regularly published by site owners, bloggers and journalists. In some cases the listings are paid for, in other they are entirely free. Such lists provide an immediate opportunity for new link builders, and is often the place where many people start.

Best approach: Directories are in the business of publishing links to other websites so approaching them should be a no-brainer. However, there are a number of things to look out for:

• Don’t blanket a large number of directories at the same time – spread your submission over time and allow your profile to build up slowly. All directories have guidelines – make sure you read them carefully and follow their instructions to the letter – otherwise you will waste your own and the directories time.
  
• Do your preparation in advance – prepare short, punchy and keyword rich descriptions of your site – go for 10-word, 20-word, 50-word and 100-word descriptions of your website. Then you can slot them in as appropriate
  
• Use a variety of keyword-rich linking text to your site whenever you get the opportunity.

Resource lists are informal collections of links published by an industry expert or blogger. Usually the authors of such lists will invite new suggestions and contributions. Do so in a direct and brief manner.

Example of a category link to Wordtracker:

Organize directory link building submissions with a no-risk free trial of Link Builder

4) Media

Description: Newspapers, radio and tv stations, and magazines now have a significant online presence to complement their printed or broadcast editions. They’ve been joined by an army of exclusively online media outlets, podcasts and video blogs and offer great link building opportunities.

Best approach: I could write a whole series of articles and a book on this subject. Indeed, I have done – you’ll find them at http://www.wordtracker.com/academy/online-pr . To get such links you link to be newsworthy and two tactics work very well:

• Make yourself available to reporters and become a source of ready quotes. Sign up for the excellent HelpaReporter.com and you’ll see what journalists are looking for.
  
• Learn how to write and distribute press releases through sites such as PRWeb.com, PRNewswire.com and BusinessWire.com.

Example of such a category link to Wordtracker:

Washington Post: Five SEO Secrets to Make Your Site More Visible

Approach media sites for links with the help of the Link Builder tool

5) Shopping

Description: The shopping category is made up of sites that are primarily interested in buying and selling on the web. They range from shopping directories through to resource lists and recommended products.

Best approach: Be businesslike in your approach and remember that these sites are interested and cater for people who want to buy products.

So:

• Be direct about your products and where you can emphasize the benefits that your products bring to customers
• Offer special deals or pricing geared to the audience each of these sites have
• Highlight the advantages you have over competitors.

Start planning your ‘shopping sites’ link building campaign in minutes with a free 7-day trial of Link Builder

6) Social Media

Description: Social media sites allow the sharing and spreading of a wide variety of material – articles, ideas, opinions, videos, links, news, content, offers and much more. They’re hives of activity where huge numbers of people interact.

Best approach: The most important part of social media is the social bit – taking part and interacting with others. This spreads your message and builds relationships, and that can be powerful ways to promote your business and generate links for your website. You’ve got to explore and find out which social media sites work best for you. You could start with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn and others. Look out for social media that is specific to your industry – and take part!

Example of social media link to Wordtracker:

Squidoo.com: Learn how to build a website

Make planning your social media campaigns easier with Link Builder

7) Jobs

Description: Finding jobs, recruiting staff and other employment related issues are a popular topic on the web. It therefore presents a useful niche of sites that list jobs, CVs and recruitment advice.

Best approach: This is a niche opportunity and perhaps not for everyone. However, if you do have regular vacancies, then it may well be for you. Here’s some guidelines:

• Be honest – only use such sites when you have genuine opportunities or career advice to offer. A well written job description is essential.
  
• Recruitment sites usually charge a fee for listing a vacancy so make sure you budget for that.
  
• If you do use such sites and have successfully found new employees through them, write a short case study and let the site concerned know – that might be enough to win you a link!

Example of such a jobs link to Wordtracker:

SmallBusinessComputing.com: How to hire a good SEO expert

Take a free 7-day of Link Builder to assist with your recruitment site campaigns

8) Business

Description: Business sites related to business advice, exhibitions, summits, conferences and other business events are good places to pick up links. They will often list and link attendees in order to promote their event, and they often lead to editorial opportunities from people who have attended the event.

Best approach: Running events can be an absolute nightmare for the organizers. If you can offer any help to make their lives easier they’ll be very grateful and that of course leads to opportunities for links. So here’s what to do:

• Be helpful to the organizers whenever you can.
  
• Always meet deadlines for submitting your details or company description for any publications. Organizers have to spend a lot of time chasing up essential information. Even better, respond as soon as you get a request – if you reply early, you’ll be remembered by the organizer.
  
• Most events encourage participants to submit press releases and company brochures for distribution – make sure you do so.
  
• Look for good value sponsorship opportunities – even better if you can offer a ‘gift-in-kind’.
  
• Be prepared to talk to experts or journalists who are looking for people to interview and good stories to tell.
  
• After the event, give honest testimonials. Let organizers know right away the benefits you gained from attending.

Example of a business link to Wordtracker:

GTMS.com: 2009's Online Marketing Summit: 7 Key Takeaways

Click here for assistance from Link Builder with your business website project

9) Other

There are some URLs that simply do not give any indication of the type of site. This article with the URL - http://searchenginewatch.com/3628184 - doesn’t give many clues and it’s hard to classify automatically.

SearchEngineWatch: There’s more to keyword strategy than the long tail

You’ll find many similar examples in the ‘Other’ category. We’re working to improve our categorization of these sites and make the feature even more useful.

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