A very short tip, but one that has been proving incredibly valuable to all of our clients of late.
When you think about attracting links organically, the process goes something like this:
- What content can I create that will naturally attract links?
- What format should I put it in for maximum share-ability?
- How can I promote it to reach the largest possible relevant audience?
For the very first part of that equation, a lot of link builders and viral marketers think about things like high quality resources or the "ultimate" guide to a particular topic group. However, in my recent experience, I've seen that link creation on the part of bloggers, journalists, site owners, and social media participants is less about linking to the "best" content, and more about linking to something because they get something in return. For example:
- Twitter users, forum posters and bloggers all like to link to things that will make their visitors/audience appreciate them and come back to them.
- Social media users want to vote on things that excite them, inspire them or amuse them (the last one appears particularly strong). The ease of consumption plays a big role here, too - the faster something is to digest and enjoy, the more Stumble thumbs, Diggs and votes it earns. More complex pieces don't earn that ability with the same ease.
- Site owners, particularly those in the SMB or personal website arena, are compelled to link to stories and content that backs up their point of view or reinforces a long-held or long-argued position.
- People everywhere want to link to things that show off how cool/impressive/important/interesting they are.
Use this psychology of online participation to your advantage. If you're a:
- Site catering to real estate professionals, rank the top real estate bloggers or top real estate agents
- Site that serves news stories, talk about the early adopters and discoverers of content and allow them to participate and get quoted - they'll reward you in the future with loyalty and links
- Site involved in e-commerce, reward your customers who run websites with discounts, thank-you's, and recognition
- Site that provides B2B services, provide partner badges or testimonials that make them look good
You can apply this logic to almost any business or content focus and benefit from the natural links that are created. You just have to remember the web isn't "fair" and people don't link to something because it's the "best." They link because it benefits them to do so - play to linkers' egos and their selfishness and you'll often have more success than if you appeal to their sense of altruism and sharing ethos. Remember that, more and more, site owners, bloggers and social media participants think of themselves as competitors for online attention - while they will still share "great content," they also sometimes get that nagging feeling that the greater it is, the worse it makes them feel about what they've produced.
This may seem like a cynical viewpoint to take regarding online psychology, but it makes sense and it brings links, so I'd be remiss not to share. Get to work incentivizing your audience and you'll see the links come pouring in.
Good post, I wrote about the concept of incentivized linking a little while ago on Youmoz. https://www.seomoz.org/ugc/social-media-viral-social-engineering-more-traffic-and-links-than-god
excellent headsmacking tip, Rand, I will try and employ such approach in a few sites I can think of in the new year. Thanks
nice headsmack! the difference between what is interesting to a business owner who wants to push more of their products and what types of articles that will get featured on twitter feeds & digg...
there can often be a large knowledge gap, and that can require research such as long-tail keywords and education on what past campaigns they have run that have been successful and why.
copying content from a partners site and posting it will not be enough to encourage links, also advising that you dont have any resources to undertake this task can also show signs that it will fail before it begins
a refreshing approach. thanks for sharing!
Great post and thank you for the good solid information. Linking is very important traffic getting strategy.Take care,Mike
Excellent post. In real estate activerain has been usingabove tactics very often to push realtors to create content and link to their profiles.
This is so true. Users are always commenting or 'spamming' on blogs and social networking sites to achieve something in return. They simply want to create reciprocal links and as a result, gain more traffic and better ratings. This article is particularly useful at addressing the main questions that need to be asked; before any seo work commences. Thoroughly planning on how to implement the correct standard of links and keywords will greatly improve your website and keep the customer updated at all times.
Nice post Rand.. we need to figure out what we are targeting and then do something for the targeted customer benefit to get the fruit :)
I Have a huge interest in this topic I`ll be cranking up some more pointers on how to tackle this issue .
To anyone who has said this stuff to someone, had them get that glazed look, then after reading Rand's post they go, "Oh, that makes so much sense!"
I feel your pain.
I know why you call it a headsmaking tip.
Even when you know this stuff, it's good to see it again.
Thanks Rand
Rand,
thanks for the insight. Especially appreciate how you dig into the segmentation - it's posts like this that get me thinking outside the box, yet also about tailoring solutions to niche markets.
Great Rand,
I think this is when SEO become an art. it's an art because we are dealing with other people. no exact mathematical equivalent or metric needed much here.
all we need to do is respecting other to be respected, in return.
This is a good one. It makes clear the psychology of the web and how we should remember it in our site design. Something I have not done but will now be aware of.
Thanks!
Thought- and useful article, but commits a linkability mistake itself: if you create content that can stand on its own, make it look like genuine standalone content. Don't make it seem like it's just a small, relatively unimportant part of something bigger ("Tip #10").
These Headsmacking pieces have been great Rand!
I think you hit the nail on the head with this one. Everyone wants to feel important (SMB to CTO) and if you can somehow cater to that need without pandering then you're heading in the right direction.
We've definitely had success in the past using the last two points and I think they are especially important (e-comm and b2b). Adding that extra value through discounts or incentives and a feeling of association or inclusion through recognition and badges really increae that "loyalty factor" that is so critical.
Rand, one of you best posts in awhile. Sometimes we forgot about the easiest link building tactics.
Great advice. This is the number one question I get asked when I tell people they need links to their site. Trouble is that when you give them the answer it all seems too difficult for them and invariably they don't take it up. This is particularly prevalent in established companies who understand the importance of the web but can't get their heads around how to achieve it.
I think the off-putting thing for most clients (at least in my experience) is that it takes them too much effort and thought to generate any content they think would make people want to link to them. People often try to hard to create, as Rand says, the "best" content out there in order to get links, but as Rand has touched upon, this is very rarely necessary.
Absolutely brilliant in it's simplicity... yet again.
Fantastic post Rand!
The best things are often the most simple. Great post Rand, as always!
Thanks for the advice.
One thing I've tried with some success is offering people very simple advice, ie write a meta-description or get your 404 page out of the SERPs, when I ask for a link. I see this as another way of incentivizing it.
Cheers Rishil for pointing this one out to me. Rand, a good post. It hightlights and focuses a lot on the social / phychological side of the web. I am guessing very soon Oxford university might start offering MBA courses in web phychology. Perhaps there is a market there for you guys. Perhaps SEO MOZ could / should start offering officially recognised MBA / HND certified style certificates. Since about 5 years ago people have been talking a lot about the need for qualifications in search. If you do take me up on this idea though don't make it easy, we need to cut 90% of the crap / idiots out of this industry.
Why did I get thumbs down :(
Certification, Qualification has been a topic of discussion here and Rand has come out pretty strong on the "Against" side.
Having an open forum (like SEOmoz) between SEOs has been a better idea. Consider how many changes have taken place in Search in just the past few months. You would be"qualifiying" people on out dated information.
In general the industry itself is still in the very early stages of development. Rand has given it considerable thought and decided it's not in the best interest of the industry at present. He's been at it a while and has his reasons.
PS don't worry too much about a thumb down now and then. Just keep reading and commenting, eventually you end up with more up than down ;p
Thanks very much for taking the time to explain all that. When you explain it like that then I guess makes a lot more sense. I suppose also there are a number of certs like Google Qualified, Yahoo, Omniture etc that you can get.
Perhaps one way to qualify ones self, to differentiate your self from others is to gain these product specific qualifications.
It definatly does move fast and there is probably very little in way of academic papers of root theories to describe online marketing other than those which you would cover doing a BA or MBA in Marketing.
Another route for Search Marketers to consider, one that I am considering my self actually is also the MBA in Management. SEO is a great skill, and yes you can be self employed or an affiliate and make a lot of money. But perhaps if you want to make it to a very senior level as an employee in a large organisation then a good undergrad degree, 5 - 10 years in search and then a great MBA from Harvard of LBS somewhere like that would probably give you a better ROI on you education. As CEO of Ogilvy claimed (rightly or wrongly at SMX London) SEO is perceived to be a small industry so doing a wider degree and then specialising through your experience in the work place might be the answe.
Thanks again sly-grrr
great post ...guys/randfish could you help please
I use a web builder call moonfruit which is predominantly flash based and i am trying to improve my sites ranking ....my budget is low and i dont want to buy directory placements etc...
so i thought i would reciprically link my website to gain some pagerank ....blah blah blah..
- here comes the problem .... i cannot direcclty enter html code in the builder....but i can enter linking addresses https://etc.etc.etc
i think i can also add things like target and <> icons in there as well ....
i recently wanted to link exchange with someone when entering these codes in full i got errors
here are 2 examples
https://nostringsadults.com/exchange/in.php?id=26086'><img src=https://londonmaleescorts.info/#/escortlinks/4532286412r/7608.gif
https://escort-stars.com" target="_blank">
<img border="0" width="468" height="60"
src="https:// londonmaleescorts.info/#/escortlinks/4532286412r/468x60_02.gif
alt="Escort-Stars.com London & UK Escort Directory"
your thoughts gentlemen please ....