Link Birdies.

I have an e-path I travel every day. Starts with my email, goes to a line of forums, then a handful of blogs. From there I scan a couple of chat communities and end up at the freelance/employment boards.

Why the freelance boards? Well, I think it’s interesting to watch what people are hiring for and the descriptions they use to advertise those jobs. I watch the SEO community of course, but I also look at the industries my clients are in.

Think about it. If there suddenly was a trend in a particular industry to hire -- say -- videographers, wouldn’t you want to know why? Or if you started to see a descriptive term used in job postings, wouldn’t you investigate further?

For example, late last year the term “link bait” surfaced in SEOLand; within a couple weeks I noticed it was being used in descriptions on the job forums. Whoever was looking for experienced promotions people not only had a jump start on getting qualified people, they also had a head start on using and understanding there was a new “trend”.

Key words aren’t only found in wordtracker, the overture tool or whatever other software you use. Identify where the buzz breaks in your industry and be diligent in watching for trends.

Determine what hot new keywords are being used and then get them in your anchor text links and added as content on your website. Be a trend setter for terms so when the public starts to search, it will be your site that comes to their attention first.

Be an early link-bird and catch the best keyword worm!

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