SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Blogging, Social Media Marketing & Linkbait
...the sort of people who have been doing “new” SEO, or whatever you want to call it, that’s social media optimization, link bait, things that are interesting to people and attract word of mouth and buzz, those sorts of sites naturally attract visitors, attract repeat visitors, attract back links, attract lots of discussion, those sorts of sites are going to benefit as the world goes forward.
- Matt Cutts in an Interview from Friday, March 2nd w/ Gord Hotchkiss
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
An Introduction to Blogging
Technical Topics• Blog Software & Features• Optimizing the Blog
Fun Topics• Blog Content Strategies• Blog Promotion & Marketing
Blog Software & FeaturesHow to Choose the Blog that’s Right for You.
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Blog Software & Features
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Software vs. Custom-Built Blogs
Choose Blog Software
Easy Installation Handles Basic Functions Multiple Community Plugins to
Customize Choose Custom-Build
Allows for unique content serving methods
Easiest to customize specs & GUI Greatest flexibility for multiple uses
• WYSWIG Editors• Website Look & Feel • Delayed Publishing• Static Pages• Navigation Options• Archiving System• Comment Options
Anonymous Comments Moderated Comments Threaded Comments No Comments
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Publishing Considerations
Serve the Users; Serve the Engines; Rule the World
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Publishing Considerations
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Domain Use & Hosting
Bad:
company.blogspot.com companyblog.com blog.company.com
Good:
company.com/blog/ company.com/blog.html
Keep the blog as part of the site for maximum benefit
“Web 2.0” Companies like these are inconsistent about domain use, reducing their linkjuice and ranking power
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Keyword Research
Step 1: Decide on a Topic
Step 2: Write a Title
Step 3: Run KW Research
Step 4: Consider Re-writing title based on KW popularity
Step 5: Write content to fit the title and your intent
NOTE: Sometimes it pays to write catchy titles and ignore KW research – it's not necessary for every post
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Title & Meta Tags in Blogs
Blog titles should be reflected in the title tag
Compare stats on blog posts that receive heavy search traffic and consider writing compelling meta descriptions
Keep your brand name in your blog titles
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Blog URLs
Worst to Best:
yourblog.com/post/entry.py?answer=42098&topic=8914
yourblog.com/post/entry.php?ID=42098
yourblog.com/post/entry/42098
yourblog.com/post/entry/writing_good_blog_titles.html
yourblog.com/writing-good-blog-titles
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Leveraging Comments
Comments = Free Content For new blogs, turn off comments
– wait until you're popular Reward frequent commenters Offer incentives for comments
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
RSS Feeds
Sidebar Feed Options
Full Text VS. Partial Snippets
Feedburner – Track Feed Usage
Action Tracking – Measure Signups
Offer multiple feed options on the sidebar of your blog
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Action Tracking Through Analytics
Blog Actions to Track Feed Subscriptions Registration (to use
comments, create a profile, etc.)
Newsletter signups Ad clicks Browse Rate (number
of pages viewed per user on average)
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Blog Content Strategies
Blog Content StrategiesBut, Rand… What am I Going to Write About?
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Claiming a Unique Niche
More Popular Topics - More Need for Differentiation
Less Popular Topics - Broader Focus is Desirable
Niche coverage allows for broadening, and general coverage allows for specificity – pursue both
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Embedding More Than Text
Additional Content to include in blog posts Screenshots Photos Cartoons Logos Charts/Graphs Diagrams
A few of the images recently on the SEOmoz blog
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Multimedia Content
Videos (Youtube, Metacafe) Interactive Elements (tools, search boxes, polls) Audio Podcasts Flash Animations
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Deliver on Expectations
Create & Fulfill Expectations on: Post Frequency & Timing The Subject Matter of Posts News Events that Will be Covered Other Blogs Users Should Read Boundaries for Comments Frequency of Off-Topic Posts Level of Discourse & Language
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Brand Your Blog
Titling Blogs – Memorable, Descriptive Use your brand in press, on other sites, in interviews,
presentations, networking, when you comment, etc. Don't shill, and be aware of who/what you promote
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Blog Promotion & Marketing
How to Bring Eyeballs to the Site
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Community Participation
Comment on Other Blogs Build Relationships with
Other Bloggers Participate in Memes, Polls,
Events, Promotions, etc. Make Your Blog Interactive -
Let Users Suggest Topics & Ask Questions
Some blog communties are highly structured, others, less so.
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Blogging Q+A
Topics
Blog Software & Features Optimizing the Blog Blog Content Strategies Blog Promotion & Marketing
More questions? Just ask [email protected]
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Social Media Marketing
Rule the SERPs Control your Brand Get Link Love
Show the Community You're a Participant
Build Traffic from Alternate Sources
Influence Traditional Media
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
How Social Communities View SEO
SEO = Perceived Spam
In fact, SEO helps these communities to grow and spread by creating content and contributing
An SEO must be mindful of the community and respect the establishment
This Gentleman Pretty Much Sums it Up
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Control Your Brand Before Others Do
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Build Link Popularity
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Rule the SERPs
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Creating Successful Profiles
Use your website's name or a single person's name from the website.
Create robust profiles – use a consistent photo and take the time to create content at each site
Comment at and build relationships with other site users – go for popular/well-linked-to pages on the site for your comments/interaction, as these will give you the most link weight
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Sites to Target
www.seomoz.org/article/social-media-marketing-tactics
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Social Media Marketing Q+A
Topics How Social Communities View SEO Controlling Your Brand Building Link Popularity Ruling the SERPs Creating Successful Profiles Sites to Target
More questions? Just ask [email protected]
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
An Introduction to Linkbaiting
How to leverage the web's most powerful linkers into sending traffic, links & higher rankings to your site.
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
What is Linkbait & Why is it Valuable?
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Meet the Linkerati
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Linkerati Dominate Linking on the Web
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
How Does Linkbait Help You Rank?
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
How Does Linkbait Help You Rank?
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Samples of Successful Linkbait
Make Fun of College Students; Get Links.
Worst College Mascots Article on Drivl.com
Launched via Digg Sports 128,000 Pg Views 2,000+ Referring Domains #4 for “College Mascots” 200 New RSS Subs
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Samples of Successful Linkbait
Celebrity Nudity Awards on Drivl.com
Launched via GorillaMask 100,000 Pg Views 400+ Referring Domains #5 for “Nudity” 250+ Searches/Day
Naked Never Gets Old
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Samples of Successful Linkbait
21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic
Launched on SEOmoz 75,000 Pg Views 250+ Referring Domains #1 for “Increase Blog Traffic” 75+ Searches/Day Speaking Gig from Stanford
Drug Identification Chart Launched via Digg 100,000 Pg Views 300+ Referring Domains #1 for “Ilegal Drugs” 500+ Searches/Day
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Samples of Successful Linkbait
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Content Strategies
Lists (best of, worst of) Lists of tips, how-tos, problems, benefits, resources Teaching resource (how to) Humor, Irony Controversy Interviews Breaking News Product Review Poll Results / Data Results Aesthetic Beauty Tools Comprehensive Reviews Great Insight Many, many more...
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Linkbait Launching Portals
CRITERIA: High Visibility Sends Big Traffic Right Demographics Potential to Go Viral
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Digg.com
2mil+ Visits Daily Tech & Web Centric 50-100 Votes Req'd 10-30K visits avg 1000+ Links per
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Reddit.com
500K Visits Daily Broad in Scope 20-40 Votes Req'd 4-10K visits avg 600+ Links per
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Netscape.com
250K Visits Daily News Centric 20-40 Votes Req'd 4-8K visits avg 300+ Links per
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Del.icio.us/Popular
1mil+ Visits Daily Developer Centric 20-30 Votes Req'd 2-6K visits avg 250+ Links per
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
StumbleUpon Toolbar
3Mil+ Users All Subjects 70%+ Thumbs Up 500-5,000 visits (cont.) 25-250 links
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Popular Blogs & Sites (Editorial)
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Rules for Linkbaiting Safely
IP Tracking Geography Groups Profile Identification Spam Submissions
SES Munich 2007 | Linkbaiting, Social Search Marketing & Blogging
Linkbaiting Q+A
Topics
How Linkbait Can Help Websites Rank Identifying the “Linkerati” Link-Worthy Content Linkbait Launch Portals Linkbaiting Safely
More questions? Just ask [email protected]