SIPA ConferenceBlogger Relations & Linkbait

June 1, 2009Nan Dawkins

Success online requires:

• Good content (i.e., the audience wants it, likes it, engages with it)

• Ways to make it visible• Search engines• Influencers who let their communities know about it

Links are critical to visibility in both…

Links

Why are links important to search engines?• Links are votes for your site

• Search Engines count those votes as part of their ranking algorithms

Links

All links are not the same to a search engine• Search engines weight links based on relevancy &

quality of the site linking to you. • A link from an Influencer counts more (to an SE) than

a link from a less authoritative source

Links

Search engines weight links differently depending on the form of content.

-Video: The importance of a link from a Youtube video is judged based on tags, views, ratings, and comments (among other things)

-Images: domain authority and alt tags (among other things)

-Blogs:

Linkbait

How do you get more links? 1.) Find and grow your network of Influencers2.) Create Linkbait• Linkbait is content that draws/encourages links – from

Bloggers and elsewhere

Source: LifeHacker: Discover the .edu underground

Influencers

How to find them? Roll up your sleeves…

Influencers

Tools that find and analyze for you…

• Social Media “Buzz Monitoring” tools have become more affordable; many are web-based, easy to use

• Most provide features that allow users to map and monitor Influencers

• Radian 6, Onalytica, Brandwatch, ScoutLabs

Email me for a list: ndawkins@serengeticom.com

LinkbaitLinkbait that may resonate with Bloggers• Informational – Press Releases (careful here)

Linkbait

Linkbait that may resonate with Bloggers• Lists – i.e. “The top 13 accidents that happen at work”

Linkbait

Linkbait that may resonate with Bloggers• Contrary Blog Posts – Taking an opposite position to the

norm

• Attackbait – Taking the contrarian approach one step further

Linkbait

Linkbait that may resonate with Bloggers• Quizzes

Linkbait

Linkbait that may resonate with Bloggers• Emotionbait – Humor or fear

Linkbait

Linkbait that may resonate with Bloggers• Shockbait – Bizarre , strange & unusual

Linkbait

Linkbait that may resonate with Bloggers• Negative, shocking negative, shocking negative

scoop/investigative

Linkbait

Social Linkbait: Resonates w/Bloggers, encourages viral pass-along • Awards, Contests, Giveaways

Social LinkbaitRadiohead Remix Contest• Allowed fans to alter content; i.e., remix a song• Incorporated a voting element so encouraged viral in SN’s• Heavily covered by Bloggers and mainstream press

Social LinkbaitNature Conservancy Everyday Environmentalist• Tips generated by the community• NOT voted on (missed opportunity)

Linkbait

At the end of the day, the Linkbait that will resonate MOST with target Bloggers is the content that is important to the target audience• What does your audience really need? Useful information

and resources• Taking the time to understand your audience in the ONLINE

environment is critical…

Linkbait

The right Linkbait for you?

• What does your network of Influential Bloggers want?• Look at what’s worked in the past in your content niche• Understand what really resonates with your online target

audience and how they use social channels (Blogs & others)

• Where does your content fit/make sense?• Do you really want a link from this source? (brand, image,

credibility, etc.)

Linkbait

The downside…• Target Fixation: What were they thinking?• Bloggers answer to no one; can do harm as well as good• Don’t offend• Don’t lie• Make it a win/win (Bloggers not there to do your

marketing bidding)

Remember

The Internet is changing fast…• In the past, not everyone could “vote” for a Web page by

linking to it• Today, more people can vote with a link (Blogs, easy publishing

tools); however, users can “vote” in many ways• Ratings, clicks, tags, bookmarks

• Google launching new API to graph social networks across the Web

So what?

• The importance of “links” in the traditional sense may be a thing of the past as SE’s become more sophisticated at mapping the social web and using it to rank content.

“There’s a lot of expertise, knowledge and context in user’s social graphs, so putting tools in place to make “friend-augmented search easy could make search more efficient and more relevant.” Marissa Meyer, VP, Search Products & User Experience, Google

• A comprehensive Social Media strategy is probably the best linking program available.

Nan Dawkinsndawkins@serengeticom.com

June 1, 2009