Well folks, you asked for it, you got it: After last Friday's vidcast about cloaking was such a big hit, "Whiteboard Friday" is going to be a regular feature.
This week, following in the footsteps of Rand's multiple posts about attracting the Linkerati, we're bringing you a concise video recap of why targeting Linkerati is important to your SEO efforts.
By: Scott Willoughby
Whiteboard Friday Vidcast - "The Linkerati Kid"
Online Advertising
The author's views are entirely his or her own (excluding the unlikely event of hypnosis) and may not always reflect the views of Moz.
Savvy moz readers (those who enjoy 80s movies, anyway) will pick up on Scott's subtle-yet-kick-ass "Karate Kid" pun in this post's title...
Oh Rand...if only you could catch a fly with chopsticks...
I wonder if my "Crane Kick" will get me some links? :)
Nice video.
If the crane kick won't, then this sure as heck should.
Get him a body bag Johnny!!
Rand-son, inner focus is the key to optimization.
This joke is now over. :)
Links on... Links off...
Very very smooth!
Too bad I can't really watch this video.. I live in China and Ifilm apparently isn't to fast over here.. Really the only service that is fast is Youtube.. So its unfortunate that while you take enough time to create this video you don't utilize a service that can properly get it out there.
Hi King--Maybe you could ask SEOmoz to post it on YouTube, too.
Or how about a transcript of the dialogue? Web Pro News includes a transcript under their videos, so viewers can read what was said if they don’t want to watch the video. I usually do both. I read the transcript first then I watch it, depending on who they have as a host.
This would be a good SEO move too because it would give more text for Google to devour.
Christina
A transcript wouldn't be too bad, but I would much prefer to view the actual video! Hopefully they end up viewing our comments and add their video to Youtube.
Like you said Rand "A little basic", but perfect!
Sending this link over to my buddy that just got into the field.
Thanks! O yea ... Happy Friday!
Good video. Very good way to wrap up the weeks Linkerati discussion! I will be eagerly awaiting next Friday's Whiteboard Friday!
This is a great resource to refer a client to, instead of spending your time on that yourself. Thanks Rand for making our lives a bit easier. :)
A video says more than a thousand words, way 2 go. Bravo.
Excellent feature! Thanks for taking the time & effort. Charles Knight
I am an seo salesman converted into a web developer since the first of the year. I am more into the creative aspect of the business. As the video above is very basic this form of communicating the information is very helpful, Thanks.
seomoz is taking seomoz advice seriously... you are building linkwothy content... nice video...
Nice job on that one! Not sure if that "Linkerati Kid" actually ends up being a kid though...
It is also nice to see good SEO topics done on video - the Linkerati will likely want to link to videos with quality content!
Great job with the video! :)
I've been reading your posts about Linkerati, and I find them great. I hope to learn more about them. Thanks SEOmoz! :)
This is a little self-indulgent, but it is closely related and I think it adds to the conversation so please forgive me. At the same time I was reading Rand's set of articles I got caught-up in the anti-thesis as stated at SMSX and echoed on Rohit Bhargava's blog.Let go of the Technorati obsession. With so much attention these days on "linkbaiting" and other dodgy methods that bloggers are using to amplify their ratings and rankings on Technorati, this piece of advice is particularly important. Yes, getting linked on Slashdot or having a popular article on Digg or Techmeme is great. But focusing on your content and not on winning the high school popularlity contest that can be the blogosphere is a much wiser decision.When I read "linkbaiting" and other dodgy methods I began seeing red. Linkbait is dodgy? I responded that this is not an either/or choice. To become successful as an online presence or personality you must accomplish both Then last night I shared a couple ideas of how to create audience and authority building content.
By the way, Kathy Sierra who was on the SMSX micro-brand panel and a keynote speaker shared her fantastic slide presentation. Her blog is great too.
To be fair, anti-thesis is a strong word. I cannot state that Bhargava, Sierra or any of the SMSX micro-brand panel members disagree with Rand. The SMSX panel was micro-focused on micro-brands, and it all boils down to creating great reader content. The disconnect I perceive is about building multiple audiences with intention.
Excellent; that really drove the point home. Some people have the power to create links, and sometimes you have to target those people to get results. Just like "connectors" in networking; there are just some people who know how to make connections, and getting to know them will reap more benefits than chatting up the people who stay home and watch Yu-Gi-Oh all afternoon.
Next week, can you do it in high definition? Make Rand go into make-up two hours before the shoot. I'm afraid I need things a little more crisp in order to better understand the material here...but keep the Optimus Prime gun. That's classic. You can sell it on E-Bay just before season 1 is released on DVD.
Great vid!
Really liked that you stepped back and looked at the broader, traditional advertising channels. I've reiterated that a few times in my comments the last few days on the linkerati posts.
I think it helps paint the bigger picture, but more important, it can be absolutely crucial in helping to educate clients and bridge that gap of understanding the real power of potential of a website, SEO, and search marketing in general.
As we've discussed throughout the week, one of the challenges may be that the linkerati varies within each industry and some may be harder to connect with than in others, and some industries have much more powerful linkerati.
But I think it is also important to remember that this isn't just some fancy spamming technique to attract links. We're not looking to necessarily get links from the linkerati as a whole, though in some cases that might be relevant and beneficial, but the linkerati within our targeted subset of users.
This way you aren't trying to deliver "apples" to your users,and "oranges" to the linkerati where there will be a complete disconnect to your target audience. Instead you are trying to deliver big, bold, exciting "APPLES" to your audience.
I think it all comes back to the quantity vs. quality issue. It is easy to get caught up in the quantity and the getting links for links sake without paying consciousness to where those links come from and in delivering content that will attract those quality links.
oh, and thanks for the clarification on the gun... I was thinking that was Googlebot's penalty gun that is used to zap websites with!
I liked the step back too. Sometimes it helps to see the forest and not get lost in the trees.
I think the 'linkerati' series is a good reminder there is more than one audience for your content. Ideally the same piece of content will appeal to all different audiences, but realistically you might have to focus certain articles more towards one group than another.
I agree it's not about delivering apples to one and oranges to another. Maybe it's more about delivering a fruit salad, which sometimes is heavy on the apples and sometimes heavy on the oranges, but there's still enough of the other to make both apple and orange lovers happy.
This week's music is actually my favorite song from my favorite band, "Guns of Brixton" by The Clash.
Cool! Stop the catbox man. ;)
Careful. The sheep won't like it.
I thought it was 'lock the cashbox'
Was the pointer thing in Rand's hand a miniature rifle or something?
It's the laser blaster that goes to his giant Transformer, Optimus Prime.
Ohhh! Cool.. is that supposed to add to the subtle theme.. all of these creative artistic clues .. you guys should be in Hollywood.. :)
did you mean Bollywood? ;-)
Hey now
Yeah even Bollywood... although I don't watch movies from either wood
Just waiting for Matt Cutts to crash in the door... How YOU gonna come?
Cheers
Guns of Brixton is one of my favorite songs too. Then I went to Brixton in South London and was terrified. It gave me a completely new understanding for the song. Scott, if you have a chance to go to Brixton, do it, just during the day and at high speeds. :)
Hooray for Whiteboard Friday! I’ll be looking forward to a new segment each week.
Hate to be pushy and ask for more, but is there a way you can collect these segments under one special link? It’d be easier to send my friends to see them if they were grouped together.
By covering a subject that was first presented in a blog, the vidcast provided a nice verbal and visual review.
We were actually talking about that a little bit on Friday. If I can sweet-talk Matt into it, we may create a video or multimedia content section and put all of this video nonsense in there.
Something as simple as adding a new 'Video' category in the sidebar might work if you don't want to create a new section for the site.
Yeah, my thoughts exactly
That's what I meant.
"How do I get me some links?" AWESOME
Smart SEOs target the linkerati, I think thats the crux exactly, all of us have the sites, blogs etc... that we know we want a link from to help us in our specific market. I'm hoping linkerati shows up in the American Heritage Dictionay and fast!
((darn it scott, I almost had it))
Are you using a microphone? You might want to think about a clip on mic if you're not already using one.
Word to the wise: Hokey linkbait and ancient linking techniques are no substitute for a good blaster at your site--er, side.