Below is live coverage of the Links With Maximum Juice and Minimum Risk panel from the PubCon 2011 conference.
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Barry Schwartz:
10:11:37 am
We start in a few minutes
Barry Schwartz:
10:12:00 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:14:45 am
Loren Baker, Arnie Kuenn, Kenny Hyder
Moderator:
Jessica L Bowman
Moderator:
Jessica L Bowman
Barry Schwartz:
10:15:16 am
Kenny Hyder up first
Barry Schwartz:
10:15:47 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:16:51 am
Step one: Prospecting, find out where you want to get links from. I want links from related industries b/c no one in my industry has that.
Barry Schwartz:
10:18:29 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:18:36 am
Some examples for you in the image
Barry Schwartz:
10:19:04 am
Step 2: Finding these sites...
Barry Schwartz:
10:19:27 am
He uses advanced search operators, soloseo.com/tools/linkSearch.html
Barry Schwartz:
10:19:34 am
Look at blog directories, search on twitter
Barry Schwartz:
10:20:06 am
He looks for blogs, news sources, retailers and schools - but in short, look for the authorities in the industries. It varies by industry.
Barry Schwartz:
10:20:24 am
Do not look for forums, directories or basic lists - those are stuff he avoids.
Barry Schwartz:
10:21:33 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:21:35 am
Good luck reading that.
Barry Schwartz:
10:22:50 am
Next step is to contact these sites... Get their email addresses, figure out your budget for the links, email templates
Barry Schwartz:
10:23:26 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:24:30 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:24:59 am
Try to follow up with these people...
Barry Schwartz:
10:25:20 am
Next step is the negotiation and the link placement on the site.
Barry Schwartz:
10:26:20 am
Work with the brand so it isn't just a basic link but works within the site. Your site is a resource not just a web page.
Barry Schwartz:
10:27:27 am
If none of that works, then you always have $ to pay them.
Barry Schwartz:
10:27:46 am
Then link placement. Be direct, send them the html to use for the link and tell them how to use it.
Barry Schwartz:
10:29:26 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:29:26 am
It comes down to
Barry Schwartz:
10:29:46 am
Next up is Loren Baker
Barry Schwartz:
10:30:13 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:30:31 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:30:44 am
He started building links almost pre-Google PageRank
Barry Schwartz:
10:32:26 am
They did it for traffic and conversion purposes.
Barry Schwartz:
10:32:47 am
Then Google came along and everything changes with linking...
Barry Schwartz:
10:33:23 am
Everything became about exact match anchor text. Google created a marketplace for link acquisition. Linking went off track, it wasn't a form of marketing, instead, it is a form of manipulating Google results.
Barry Schwartz:
10:33:29 am
This doesn;'t work as well now.
Barry Schwartz:
10:33:46 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:33:47 am
So now we are back
Barry Schwartz:
10:34:20 am
Now you take the SNOW approach to link building
- Scale
- Natural
- Occurrences
- Widely
- Scale
- Natural
- Occurrences
- Widely
Barry Schwartz:
10:34:34 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:35:59 am
Look at your and and compare it to your competitors and affilaites and so on are doing.
Barry Schwartz:
10:36:26 am
You need to understand your existing links... What type of links point to your home page? Links point to your content? To your blog? etc
Barry Schwartz:
10:36:56 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:37:06 am
Love these slides, hence taking a lot of pics of them....
Barry Schwartz:
10:37:30 am
It is not about brute force and more about quality over quantity
Barry Schwartz:
10:39:01 am
Is the site something that would gain links. Make your site into a "link magnet" and this is where content marketing does.
Barry Schwartz:
10:39:24 am
Turning your site into a content library. It is about not just giving your audience a reason to visit the site but also share the site.
Barry Schwartz:
10:40:34 am
Target has a video library in their press room
Barry Schwartz:
10:41:05 am
Food Network does a ton on the blogging side
Barry Schwartz:
10:41:14 am
Top 10 lists are still great
Barry Schwartz:
10:41:30 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:41:35 am
It all started with the ten commandments :)
Barry Schwartz:
10:43:59 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:44:12 am
Also try infographics, people love it
Barry Schwartz:
10:45:00 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:45:40 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:46:08 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:47:09 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:48:22 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:49:16 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:49:42 am
Last up is Arnie Kuenn
Barry Schwartz:
10:55:27 am
Sorry had to jump out for 5 minutes back.. He is giving examples of how he got links...
Barry Schwartz:
10:56:49 am
Free ebooks attract links
Barry Schwartz:
10:56:56 am
Infographics attract links
Barry Schwartz:
10:58:44 am
Blogs with good content attract links
Barry Schwartz:
10:59:19 am
Barry Schwartz:
10:59:50 am
He asked the audience who hates link building and leave your hands up. He then took a picture and said, "I told my office I'd come back with leads."
Barry Schwartz:
11:01:45 am
Barry Schwartz:
11:02:56 am
Then see what works for your competitors... You can use Open Site Explorer or other tools.
Barry Schwartz:
11:04:23 am
Barry Schwartz:
11:06:02 am
Barry Schwartz:
11:08:24 am
Barry Schwartz:
11:08:43 am
Barry Schwartz:
11:09:13 am
Q&A time
Barry Schwartz:
11:10:51 am
None of the panelists use automated tools to get links
Barry Schwartz:
11:15:42 am
Next session in 15 minutes: Real World Low-Risk High-Reward Link Building
