Turn "Boring" Into Links Link Links

Link building is like anything else in life, if you approach it with blinders on you'll miss all the good stuff - and look pretty silly to boot. Sometimes you just have to think outside the box and take a risk even if you're in an industry that's not known for producing punchlines...

This post has moved to http://www.linkspiel.com/2007/09/turn-boring-into-links-link-links/

Have A Link Laugh Or Two

Too much serious around here today so - hope something here makes you laugh while you pick up an idea, tip or new source.

How I Grew a 12 inch Penis by Eating Carrots

[Men and their envy issues. Notice what was capitalized in that Title and what wasn't ;] Jokes aside, the series of copywriting tips is pretty solid.

Revenge of the Blog Muse: Stop Being An Ass

Amen Terry, Amen.

Andy's Supreme List Making Skills Highlighted.

Andy...friend...come back to the five and dime Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean. Love the lists, like your opinion more :)

When Is A Directory So Much More Than A Directory?

When it's a search engine???

It's great when nice things happen to good people:

Yeah !! for everyone here. Change is a good thing and there's no lack of it right now in SEOLand. Some for the better like this and then some for the...well... not so good. But no downers here, cuz this is a happy day for my buds.

Have a great weekend.

When Does It Cease to Be Link Marketing And Become Link Spam?

This little blog gets a fair amount of traffic and its share of spammy comments. I turned comments off a while ago when my irritation surpassed the novelty factor but brought them back when I decided to be a good blogging neighbor and embrace posting, linking out and comments even though they could be a pain to manage.

I get the usual "great info, thanks for sharing" or "very useful post" type comments that are not only unimaginative, but also a dead giveaway you’ve been hit by drive-by blog spammers. They almost always come from off-topic sites which I just delete.

But lately I've been noticing a number of comments pop up on posts I made 18 to 24 months ago sitting on URL's with a bit of PageRank showing. Even though I know these comments are being strategically placed, they're so well written I can't help but be impressed. These aren't the moronic "very useful post" type comments you see brought in by the auto bots but thoughtful well written pieces of marketing prose. They're longer, detailed and use shared keyword phrases found in my blog posts and in the Title or content of the site the link points to! Someone's been thinking here.

And like their spammy cousins, these link drops are from businesses in unrelated industries sharing keywords. For example, someone recently submitted comments on a post I did in early 2006 titled Nascar Links . The guy left a well written paragraph which incorporated keyword terminology from my blog post plus a couple of his own. The link he left pointed to a strategically optimized site for Nascar products.

My post had nothing to do with Nascar, it just used terminology and people associated with the sport. I feel fairly certain this was a human generated link drop and not something done by an auto-bot given the tone and depth of the comment. Someone had to read the post and figure out a way to incorporate what I said with their keywords. Really, it was pretty slick. (I'm taking notes ;)

And while I thought the post was savvy from a SEO perspective, I reluctantly acknowledge the link drop wasn't made as a good blogging neighbor. It was a calculated move done to affect rank. If I had left the comment up there, could someone have reported me under the new snitch rules? After all, the link was purposely put in place to manipulate Page Rank.

So I wonder... for all those bloggers out there who have open comments on aged sites with Page Rank showing, are they unknowingly setting themselves up to be reported as a link scheme? Does the fact this tactic was done through blog comments make it less a marketing tactic than cold-calling for links from blogs and websites?

When does it cease being a marketing tactic and move into link spam?

I was poking around Google Images today and I came across this post:

http://www.industrialsearchenginemarketing.com/blog/2007/02/14/v-names-matches-made-in-search-marketing-heaven/

It was done a while ago so I'm late to the dance (as usual) but it's pretty funny all the same especially if you think about some of the matches!

V-Names: Matches Made In Search Marketing Heaven

"It’s Valentine’s Day! A day for love, decadence, and… humor hooks? We just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to...play “match maker” with our favorite names in
search...And all in good fun, too**..."

Here They Are : V-Names : Our Crazy Eight!

1. Rand Fishkin + Vanessa Fox = Vand Fishfox
2. Lee Odden + Debra Mastaler = Lebra Oddmaster
3. Darin Babin + Amanda Wattlington = Amarin Babwattle
4. Todd Malicoat + Rebecca Leib = Tribeca MaleLobe
5. Matt Cutts + Jill Whalen = Jatt Whalecutts
6. Danny Sulivan + Jane Copeland = Janny Dopeland
7. Bruce Clay + Shari Thurow = Artist Formerly Known as Brushy.
8. Jim Boykin + Jennifer Laycock = Jimmifer Boycock

Had to ping Jennifer and point out her new moniker. Not to be outdone, Jenn came up with a couple of her own:

Matt McGee + Lisa Barone = Misa McBone

Stoney deGeyter + Kalena Jordan = Kaloney DeJoyter

Mikkel deMib Svendsen + Liana Evans = Likkel de Evansden

Here's my lone entry: (not feeling particulary creative today)

Greg Boser + Wendy Perisall = Grendy Poser

THIS is why I never get around to updating my website.

No Ink Trail On These Newspaper Links

The hub-bub over buying links really started to gather steam about two years ago, that's when I seem to recall see/hearing the search engines go public with their dislike of the technique. It really heated up after someone suggested the advertisers on the O'Reilly network were spamming the engines and the Berkeley College newspaper was singled out as an example of advertising gone bad.

The whole situation soured me on using newspapers as a source to find links but I had a re-think the other day after I read a report from the Newspaper Assn. of America where over 59 million people or 37.3 percent of all active internet users visited an online newspaper site in the second quarter of this year.

The report went on to quote the NAA’s President as saying:

These (newspaper) sites continue to adapt to evolving consumer demands, frequently allowing user comments on articles and offering thought-provoking blogs to complement the journalistic excellence that makes newspapers a community's most trusted resource.

My linkey senses started tingling after I read the last part. With all those people visiting a "trusted source" I decided I needed to move past any issues I had with newspapers and go look for opportunities.

I couldn’t find a list of the online newspapers used in the report but did come across a slightly older study (Nov. 2006) done on the Top 100 Newspaper Web Sites. I pulled the top three papers and decided I'd try looking for links I didn't have to pay for. Here's some of what I found:

The New York Times.

· Offers a detailed media kit that explains the hows and why of advertising on their sites. Very helpful in figuring out which pages have high traffic counts.

· Of the papers I checked, The NY Times has the largest list of blogs and bloggers. They break them down by category making it easy to find and pitch them on articles and stories.

· Under Classifieds there's a directory to add your business to, no signs of pink links here.

The Washington Post.

· In addition to offering a media kit, The WP has a blog directory. Check out the blogroll under Network Members, I'm sure you'll recognize a couple of people.

· The City Guide offers local businesses the opportunity to add a listing. Links in both the blog directory and the City Guide are clean, all the pages checked were listed in both Yahoo and Google.

USA Today

· Has a so-so media kit and a couple of internal directories, but none show a meter of green.

· Check out the site map, it's detailed and lists columnists/bloggers by category for easy contact.

· Best feature on this site is the USAToday community.

As a USATODAY.com member, you can participate ... by contributing your own comments and reviews throughout the entire USATODAY.com site. Interact with our expert journalists...Connect with other readers...Create your own blog. Upload photos. Find and interact with people like you.

The community is free to join.

Having a topical blog on a site like USA Today makes sense, editors looking for sources, quotes and links tend to turn to people from their home site first since there's a bond of commonality established. If you want to become known for a certain something, this is a good way to do it.

I spent a total of about 20 mintues on the three sites to pull the information listed here. Some of it isn't a cut and dry submission opportunity but overall, the sites can be easily mined for free linking opportunity.

Del.icio.us / Digg

Surveys, Pity Parties and Links.

Over on Search Engine Land this week I had a post about customer surveys and how I use them to build links. I wasn't too happy with the way the piece turned out, it lacked "flow" and was a little choppy in some places. On top of that, I managed to leave out a couple of points I wanted to make and didn't elaborate on the survey tools I use. Doh!

In fairness, I was in bed with a fever of 102 when I wrote it but still - no excuses as I know well in advance when it's due yet always wait until the 11th hour to write it. Thankfully Chris is a great editor!

Anyway, here's the couple of things I forgot to mention:

1. Survey's with the greatest return are those that offer an incentive. When we tell people up front they'll get a special offer at the end for taking it, the completion percentage grows substantially.

You can expand on this idea and ask the respondents to opt into a list of continuing survey takers. You'll have a ready made list of people to take additional surveys, focus groups and opinion polls.

2. Keep the survey short, then shorten some more. Five questions is about right, over 10 is too many. Always include a spot for people to write comments.

3. I've been more successful in getting surveys filled and returned when they are included at the end of the confirmation email or anytime up to 3o days after the product has been shipped. This gives people time to use it and if satisfied, praise it.

Or not. Even negative comments have value.

4. Keep a list of the customers that have taken the survey and re-reward them during the holidays with a special note and discounts on your merchandise. Always suggest they link to your website in addition to using the discounts/treats you've sent their way.

5. Send the survey results to your list of survey takers. People like to see outcomes.

Which survey tools do I use? There are a couple I like for various reasons but I tend to go with SurveyMonkey because it's easy to set up and monitor.

Getting Peached Could Be The Pits

A copy of Axandra News hit my inbox today and in the weekly newsletter they had a piece on

"How your competitors can sabotage your website rankings".

They listed off a couple of nasty tricks that could be done to you like:

"1. Your competitors might create spam under your name"

and

"3. Your competitor might send a copyright complaint "

and

"4. Your competitor might create duplicate content"

But it was this one that caught my eye:

"2. Your competitors might peach on you"

Hmmm.

The site originates in Germany so I'm fairly sure this is a translation gone wonky but - as someone who learned the hard way you don't say "kick them in the" and then continue with the word "fanny" unless you want to suffer endless jokes, jabs and outright finger waggling, I'm curious to know how peach translates to ratting someone out in German.

Anyone?

Dances On Tables and Links Part Time.

Who's up for having beers and dinner on Friday July 20 in Old Towne Alexandria? If that's YOU, then click here and get the info.

Can't make Friday night? No problem. Since there's potential to sleep off the calories and alcohol in our system, we've decided to get together again the next day for lunch. With mimosa's. Or Bud Lite if you're like me.

So come on, join us! The Philly crew is coming down as well and you'll get to see my new blonde hair which I'm not too sure about. Although it might not matter after a couple of mimosa's -- or Bud Lite if you're like me.

Table top dancing starts at 10. See you then.

Junior Link Goes To College

Via MediaPost:

"At an estimated value of $10 billion, some feel News Corp. has gotten all the mileage it can out of MySpace, which skeptics say is fading in light of the resurgence of rival Facebook."

Could it be all those kids on MySpace have grown up and headed off to college? Or if the info in this article from the BBC is accurate, they're out working...

MySpace users tend to get a job after finishing high school rather than continue their education.

Afterall, who's going to pay for that high speed connection now the free high school ride is over?

Either way, it's interesting to note that life online emulates life off, kids grow up and move along, whether it's out of moms house or off their social network. So it makes sense Facebook is picking up steam, LinkedIn is enjoying growing membership and Eons was created.

It also makes sense the fickle and tech savvy youth of today could be waiting for their favorite network to implement something like Vizster, a proposed visual social network created by two UCBerkely researchers using data they experienced and pulled from Friendster. You've always been able to see your friends on the networks but now you can see their's too. Hey LinkedIn, are you listening?

The link point to all this is - if your products are demographically targeted, you need to move along with your group and look to the next big congregation point for potential advertising and linking spots. Kids grow up and adults change interest, know where they're going and why, meet them when they get there.

Even if what you sell isn't focused on a particular type person (who doesn't like chocolate?) think ahead. Get involved in sites like Trendwatching and keep an eye of what's being talked about. Be proactive and link ahead.

Utility Linking

What is utility linking? It's the process of looking for specialty directories or related websites by searching on established phrases like "submit URL" or "add a site" plus your keywords.

The good people at SoloSEO created a tool that does a lot of the work for you. Insert a keyword, pick an engine and go to town looking for sites to add your link to.

http://www.soloseo.com/tools/linkSearch.html?keyword=

It's time consuming but you'll get a handful of links out of it.