by Angela on April 21, 2009
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Any link builder has been there. You’ve been working on a project for a client (or in-house) and you feel like you’ve been getting nowhere for quite a while. New links are not rolling in like they were at the beginning. Your rankings have plateaued. And, let’s face it, you’re bored.
What do you do?
I’ve been there. Without a doubt, I’ve been there. And there is definitely something to do about it. Whenever I hear someone on my team say, “I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find any more relevant leads” I know we have a problem for two reasons.
- Link building never ends. Link building ends where the internet stops. I haven’t found that place yet so there’s still work to do.
- Nothing stays stagnant and that includes strategies. If you’re still using the same link building strategy that you set up 18 months ago, it’s time for a new strategy.
Given those two statements, let’s look at some options.
Reassess Your Initial Strategy
Like I said before, strategies that are months (or worse, years) old are in need of some revisions. Why? Because the online space changes everyday. Don’t believe me? Take a quick peek at this little tool we call Twitter and tell me that the internet is the same as it was a year ago. Ask Google how different things were after a year or two of operation.
That’s one beautiful thing about the internet; things can change. Fast. So go back to your strategy and evaluate your goals. Are they still relevant? Which ones have been met and which ones need to be changed? Better yet, establish some goals if you haven’t already. I’m not just talking about #1 rankings for keywords. What milestones do you have in place? Number of links to a certain page or to a site as a whole? Traffic goals? What about goals in regards to brand searches? Set these up and then figure out a plan to get there. If you do a thorough evaluation of your strategy and it still stands, move on. But don’t assume that it’s fine and not bother to check it. Do the footwork even if it says that you’re still on the right path.
Identify Keywords
This really falls into two categories:
- Are the keywords that you’re targeting in your campaign still the “right” ones to focus on? Have searching trends shifted so that your initial keywords are no longer valid? Are there new ones that you haven’t touched yet?
- Identify the keywords that haven’t budged in awhile. If the answer to this one is “all of them,” pick some priority keywords and craft micro (or “mini” if you prefer) strategies to craft some focused link building tactics.
List Your Pitfalls (Chances are, there’s more than one)
Ask yourself a very simple question:
Why aren’t people linking to my / my client’s site?
Could it be your approach in your emails? Lack of content on the site? Too broad of a target market for link leads? Too niche? Too competitive? Create a list and see what you come up with. Be realistic. In fact, be brutally honest in your assessment. It will only help if you look at things in the right context. From there, come up with action plans to change your issues.
Lack of content = Content Strategy
Bad Email Requests = Change Your Approach
Too Broad of a Market = Pick a Niche and Move Forward
I think you get the point.
Have (Another) Brainstorm Session
I love link building brainstorm sessions. Take the information you’ve garnered from the first few steps and have another session (I’m assuming you’ve already had one). I already covered this topic in another post (pretty thoroughly, if I do say so myself) but the point is, get some fresh people in the room and hash out some new ideas.
First, understand that this post is not meant to be a fix-all. This is just a snapshot of my methodology. And it certainly doesn’t apply to every industry or site out there. I would be insane to make such a broad statement. But perhaps bits and pieces of this coupled with your own ideas would help kick things back into gear.
Photo Credit: http://www.markmallett.com/blog/wp-images/dead-end.jpg
by Angela on February 13, 2009
Link buiding strategies from what I’ve seen are largely the same. Same old tactics, same old approach. I’m not a big fan of this because every project is different. Every industry is different and even if you have two projects in the exact same industry, the clients aren’t identical, so why treat them that way?
I know that any team I have been a part of has had an exceptional strength in strategizing for a link building campaign. Why? Because we have excellent brainstorm sessions. So I’m going to share our secrets on how to have a great brainstorm session for laying out link building strategies.
So here we go. Without knowing what you’re getting into when you call link building brainstorm session, you could be in for some trouble. Here are my top tips for having an outstanding session.
Lots of people set goals when it comes to brainstorm sessions. But those goals aren’t necessarily good ones. Goals like “I want 10 new ideas for links” don’t really help. Set definable, measurable goals that are well thought out. For instance, set a goal like “come up with 3 solid ideas to pitch to the client surrounding increased brand awareness” or “let’s brainstorm ways that we can reach (fill in the blank) target market with high-quality content” or “we’re going to brainstorm link bait concepts based on these demographics to push the client’s tagline and business philosophy.”
Bottom line, you should always have some sort of idea of what you’re looking for before you stick a bunch of people in a room together.
Never go into a brainstorm session blind. Research the client or the site that you want to build links to. Research the competition and what they’re doing. Know the target market. Where do they hang out online? What type of content are they most likely to be reading? Research everything you need to know before you step foot into your brainstorming session. Trust me. It will make things go much easier.
Brainstorming should never be a one-person show. While some people are very knowledgeable about one particular topic, no one is the end-all-be-all. If you’re having a brainstorm session with your team, dig a little deeper and find out who you have access to that has knowledge or just a general interest or passion in the particular topic you’re going to be talking about. One of my favorite sessions I ever held was a discussion about a camping supply company. We had everyone who was on the project in the room plus a couple of people who weren’t on that team but that just loved the outdoors. The output from that session was phenomenal.
Tool are also important. And they’re basic. Things like having food, coffee, or water for everyone taking part, a white board (anyone who knows me will tell you have an unhealthy obsession with white boards), markers that work, research findings, any creative briefs already pitched and documented goals should all be in the room when people walk in. Plus, I find that if you have snacks it becomes more casual and the atmosphere will allow the creativity to flow much easier.
This is where I see most brainstorm sessions fall apart. Someone throws out an idea and it’s immediately shut down. Never do that. Even if you can tell from the get-go that it won’t work, throw it into the mix anyway. It could lead down a whole avenue that no one considered and be your most stellar idea.
No brainer? Maybe. But I can’t tell you how often I’ve been in a recap session of what was brainstormed and someone will say “What was the idea that involved…” and we all know what they’re talking about, but no one can remember the specifics. Keep detailed notes including the overarching concept, design elements, target markets, and any other items you discuss. One person should be nominated the secretary to follow the conversation closely while someone else is writing on your whiteboard or whatever else you have for the creative portion.
Brainstorm sessions should have two parts at a minimum. Inevitably, two days after your group pow-wow, someone comes up with someone else, so having a “Session Part 2″ will be extremely beneficial. Plus, if the session just isn’t flowing, walk away and try again another time. Forced sessions never work.
You have your ideas and you’ve selected the best ones. Now what? Make sure you have action lists created at the end of each session. Things like who is going to put together the presentation to get client buy in, further research on a particular topic, the creative brief, strategy bullet points, final reports, etc. should all be included. Each item should have an owner, a deadline for completion, and follow up notes if there are any issues that need to be resolved before someone can finish their task.
Whether this process works for you or if you have to tweak a few things, find something that works for you and keep doing it. This type of a creative approach to link building strategies should be an intregal part of your team’s efforts. Without it, you may regularly struggle to find success in your campaigns.
by Angela Moore on December 30, 2008
Anyone who works in SEO/ Internet Marketing or specializes in one particular niche knows that the industry is constantly evolving. If you’re still doing the same tactics that you used seven years ago, chances are you’re in a incredibly small niche and therefore don’t even need that much SEO, or you’re not seeing the results that you could be. SEO is completely different even from a couple years ago when I joined the ranks of SEO professionals.
As we come upon 2009 (and, by the way, where did 2008 go?) everyone is thinking about New Year’s resolutions and goals for the year that lies ahead. I’m a big advocate of goal setting that makes you better at what you do. Here are some of my goals for 2009 as a link builder.
1. Talk less, listen more. Any link builder who really knows their stuff loves to talk about what they know. But when it comes to working with clients, listening will give you the best ideas on where to acquire more links. Asking questions about sales cycles, target markets, seasonality trends, and business goals that they have will help you learn more about your client’s business as well as open the door for brainstorming more link opportunities.
2. Stay on your game. Don’t rely just on what you know. There are fantastic sites and blogs out there that help you learn more about the SEO industry as a whole, not to mention just link building. Keep reading and learning more. You’ll be better at what you do so long as you make this a regular part of your schedule.
3. Determine who knows what they’re talking about. Having mentioned the whole “stay on your game” thing, start to learn who really knows the industry and who just thinks they know something. There are lots of blogs/sites out there about the industry, but in actuality, only a handful really know their stuff and give sound advice. Find the leaders in the industry and see who they refer to in their sites or on their blogroll. On the flip side, there are lots of professionals who are not recognized as a member of the elite, but they are still unbelievably brilliant when it comes to this space. The more you read and research, the easier it will be to recognize who these current unknowns are.
4. Build your team. A former employer of mine used to say “Angela, if you want to be successful, just surround yourself with brilliant people and get ready for a wild ride.” I couldn’t agree with that statement more. Whether you have a link building team or you are just thinking about building one around you, make sure you include people who are quick on their feet, flexible in their mind set, and willing to learn. Building your team doesn’t just mean adding good people; it means building their skill sets and staying open minded for new knowledge. This is the best long-term strategy in terms of building a world class link development team.
5. Think long-term. When you are building links, it’s easy to get into the trap of only thinking short-term. Getting quick links is great. But when it comes to a long-term strategy, you need to focus on links that may take more time to research and build. Educating your clients and team on the long-term effects of link building will save you headaches both now and later.
6. Think outside your comfort zone. Brainstorming is an incredibly important part of link development for strategy and execution. Be sure you are pushing yourself to really exhaust every possibility when it comes to sites that you may be able to get links from. Involving other people in your brainstorming sessions will help you in this area.
7. Be incredibly transparent. If you ask yourself “would I show this link to a client and explain how I got it?” and the answer is “no,” skip it. Be more up front with your clients about what you are doing and why you are doing it. The business relationship will thrive because of it. This includes your reporting as well.
by Angela Moore on November 12, 2008
My friends like to flatter me. I’m not sure why they do these types of things, but they have taken to calling me things like “link guru,” “link junky,” and other such names that denote I sit on the proverbial link mountain with my arms and legs folded, meditating on the latest corporate link bait example to hit the internet. While I truly am flattered and appreciated, I am not the foremost link expert in the world. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be. I just know that I have a whole lot more to learn before I can go assuming this title and responsibility. I’m good at what I do. But I have such high standards for both myself and this industry that I realize I have a long road ahead.
But this whole internal speculation about what I know and what I want to become has lead me to thinking about the difference between a link development expert and a link development specialist. What are the differences? How can you tell one from the other? They’re both out there and they both want your business and your attention.
A link development specialist:
- Spends a majority of their time building links, checking links, finding good sites, etc.
- Quite possibly enjoys link development, but doesn’t necessarily get that look in their eye when you hand them a sheet of links to analyze.
- Is good at what they do and efficient at it too. They’ve been doing this for a bit, so they know the shortcuts and little tips that will make life that much easier.
- They can hold their own in a link development conversation although they don’t necessarily get fired up about it all. In other words, they don’t scan the room for a white board to prove their point.
- Knows the ins and outs of link development fairly well and likes to see those numbers climb every month.
On the other hand, a link development expert:
- Spends all their time strategizing, planning, researching, organizing, analyzing and building links. They know that it’s more than just 500 directory submissions for one low price. It’s about quality.
- Loves link development. They love nothing more than jumping on the computer to solve a “puzzle” when it comes to links from a competitor or something that may be hindering a client from ranking for a certain phrase.
- Would rather spend hours cracking a tough case rather than take a shortcut with an answer that wouldn’t hold up in any court of law. They pride themselves on what they do and the level of analysis they take to get there.
- They tend to run link development conversations. Not so much in that they only talk to hear their own voice or they dominate a conversation, but they ask thought-provoking questions that make the other participants stop and think. And I don’t know about other link developers, but I always like to have a white board handy.
- Knows the ins and outs of link development fairly well. Cares more about quality of links and sustainability of a campaign rather than just the increase in link popularity. Takes time out to teach others and never minds helping a newcomer to the industry.
No doubt there are several other aspects that I have neglected here and I welcome comments about personality traits that I may have missed. As for me? I think I’m somewhere in between the two. But I am working every single day to climb the ranks.
by Angela Moore on October 9, 2008
The link development industry is constantly growing with new players, interesting trends, and new people on the scene to watch. Recently, I’ve been able to chat with Wiep Knol. Wiep is the author of the popular Friday “This Week in Link Building” posts on Wiep.net and is considered an expert in the field of link development. Run through some of his posts like this one on link baiting and you’ll see why I try and keep up with him. Recently, I had the chance to ask him a few questions. And lo and behold, he answered them.
How did you get into link development? How long have you been active in the industry?
I got introduced to internet marketing (and link development) about 4, 5 years ago by accident. During my Economics study, I had to work for a company that was a leftover of the dotcom bubble, as part of an internship. The company was still struggling a bit and was trying all sorts of online things and they let me (and a fellow student) learn by doing. The only problem was that the company basically was a selection of around 1,000 low quality (and I mean LOW quality), AdSense driven websites that were all connected in some way. On the other hand, you could say that this was the perfect learning route for me; in around 3 months I learned all kinds of things not to do online. After this internship, I had a part time job as link developer for around a year and a half. In December of 2005, I joined Tribal Internet Marketing on a full time basis, where I was made responsible for the link marketing division.
What is your typical process when doing research for a client?
The process of a link marketing campaign starts with understanding. If you are able to truly understand what the client wants, understand what the client does and sells, and understand what both the client’s company and the industry look like, starting a link marketing campaign is actually pretty easy. You’ll get lots of ideas of where to look for potential link targets just by talking with your client. These link targets will usually point you into the direction of new link targets, and so on.
What are your favorite tools to use for research or tracking the progress on a project?
There are lots of tools out there, but SearchStatus, Link Diagnosis and Joost’s Link Analysis are indispensible to me, as is Google. I have yet to play around with Linkscape, that one looks pretty great as well.
Where do you see link development in one year? The same, different, or somewhere in between?
I think that the past and recent trends in link development will continue on. We’ve seen that the amount of ‘quick & easy ways’ to influencing search results have decreased. Quality links matter more, at the same time these links are harder to obtain, which results in a rising need (and demand) for high quality content. On the other hand, a large part of link development has always common sense, and that large part probably won’t be changing a lot in the future.
What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve seen in link development?
LOTS of mistakes are being made every day when it comes to link development. In most cases, it comes down to what I answered at your second question; understanding. If you don’t understand what your client does, you’ll probably contact the wrong websites. If you don’t understand what your link target is or does, you’ll probably end up contacting them at the wrong address, not naming them correctly or something like that.
Other major mistakes are focusing on the wrong (usually short term) tactics, or relying on just a single link building tactic.
What are your favorite blogs for SEO / Link Development and why?
Oh, that’s a difficult one, I follow lots of blogs and love most of them, but one of my favorite link building blogs is Debra Mastaler’s Link Spiel. I also love resources like Micheal Martinez’ Link Theory (although I do not always agree, but that’s a good thing), Jim Boykin’s blog and Sphinn’s link building section. Oh, and your blog, of course 
(Angela: Good answer).
How do you define success as a link development specialist?
When a client sends you an email that his contract with you ends in about a month, and that he really wants to extend it asap, I guess that would be a sign that you’re doing a good job.
by Angela Moore on September 24, 2008
With blogs becoming quite the rage in online marketing, there has been a lot of focus put on link development for blogs as well. It makes sense. You spend hours on your blog(s), coming up with post topics, writing your little heart out and then you log in the next morning only to find that no one has commented on your brilliant post. I feel your pain.
So you install Google Analytics or use SiteMeter to track the traffic that you are convinced is coming. They just must be quiet, right? Your post was so brilliant that they had nothing to add and “nice post” would have sounded contrite compared to the article you posted some twelve hours earlier. You get everything installed correctly, set up the tracking, and make another post. Again, twelve hours later you’re checking the traffic bracing yourself for the ridiculously high number of “hits” your blog has gotten. Only to find that the number is much lower than you expected.
So you turn to some link development. Good choice, I must say. And yes, I’m biased. But many people either don’t do it right or don’t do it well – both of which will only result in frustration, mixed results, and very confused bloggers. Here are the biggest misconceptions of link development when it comes to building links for a blog.
1. Internal links don’t matter. Of course they do. Just as in a regular Web site, internal linking is vital to the search algorithm. When you are blogging look for appropriate and relevant opportunities to link to a previous post or another part of your blog to link to. This also goes for links to your regular Web site if you have one.
2. Commenting will get you links. Think again. Most blogging platforms have defaulted to adding nofollow tags to signature links in comments. While commenting and adding value to the conversation happening on other blogs will most likely get you traffic, don’t bank on those comments boosting your link popularity. Additionally, many platforms have also added nofollow tags to any URLs placed in the body of the comment as well.
3. I don’t want to link any other blog because it will take my traffic off my site. Consider this: if you’re not linking to anyone else, why would anyone want to link to you? Best practices when linking externally will be to have the link open in a new window or new tab, so that traffic is not leaving your site. Your blog should not be an island, but a part of an overall blogging community, especially in your industry.
4. A site has offered to do a link exchange and they have great PR. Check a few more things before you start engaging in link exchange programs. What type of page are they offering to place your link on? Has it been cached? Are the links nofollowed? Are there more than 100 links on the page? Is it a high value page with other links of value? Is it a blogroll link or a link on a page of resources? Choose carefully who you link to (I still stand by the recommendation that you should link to others especially when you are commenting on an article they wrote).
5. If I just write great content, I’ll get links. I agree to an extent, but if no one has heard of your blog, then how will they link to you? A bit of self-promotion won’t hurt but you need to find a balance between writing/maintaining your blog and promoting via links, comments, etc.
6. I don’t need Technorati or other blog directories to list my blog. Most companies when looking for a blogger to reach out to, research, or follow online start with Technorati. Plus, those listings count as links. Make sure you are listed in the best possible categories for your blog(s).
7. I’ll just use the blog name for my anchor text. Branded links are great if that’s your focus. But does your brand deal with keywords that your potential readers/customers will be searching for? Keep this in mind when you are requesting anchor text for links that other people will put on their Web sites, in directories, or blogrolls. Paying attention to the details could pay off in the long run.
by Angela Moore on September 16, 2008
Carol over at BabyChaleco asked the question “I would love to know if businesses need to hire a separate Link expert (in addition to an SEO company), how to pick, and what the important factors are.” It’s a great question and I’ll do my best to answer it.
As with all things that are related to Link Development, your choices here depend on a lot of factors. I recently posted an article about how to evaluate a link development firm, but do you need to go the extra mile and hire a separate expert if you already have an SEO firm?
Let’s start with the SEO firm. You need to make sure a couple of important points are being addressed if your SEO firm is going to do you link development campaign. These include:
- Are they tying your link development efforts to your SEO efforts? Just “getting more links” isn’t enough. Are they targeting links with keyword-rich anchor text? Are they using your most important keywords?
- Are they giving you links to pages other than your home page? Deep links are extremely important because your link portfolio should be balanced. If all your links are going to your home page, you’re missing out on some valuable opportunities to hit keywords that are being optimized on deeper pages, not to mention traffic coming into these deep pages directly.
- Do they employ link development best practices? Things like varying your anchor text (if all your links have the same anchor text, you’re not going to get much in regards to keyword rankings. Not to mention it could send up red flags to Google about artificially inflating your links), varying the types of tactics used to generate links, evaluate current links for opportunities of improvement, and a slow but steady increase in incoming links.
- Do they tell you what they’re doing? If not, there could be a problem. Ask to see reports on what links they’ve built and check them out yourself. Are the links coming from quality sites? Are the sites that are linking to you relevant? Are they using a good spread of anchor text variations?
These are definitely the big factors. As a general rule, I recommend avoiding link development firms that promise “lots of directory submissions” but make no mention of the performance of how your top keywords will perform. Keep in mind that with link development, you get what you pay for. A bargain link development package or plan may not be all that it’s cracked up to be.
Now, let’s assume that the SEO firm you are using is not doing these great link development things and you decide to go with a link expert or link development firm to work on your site. Make sure the following items are in place before moving forward.
- Ensure that the SEO firm will “play nice” with your link expert. If the link expert recommends adding additional content your site and the SEO firm refuses to optimize it, you could have a problem. Of course, this extra work could cost you extra money, so be careful. Some SEO firms get a little ruffled when they’re told that their link development services aren’t cutting it, so tread lightly.
- Make sure that your SEO firm contact and your link expert have communication lines open. If your link expert is the “real deal” then they will want to know what’s happening on the SEO front, what recommendations have already been made, and what the long-term SEO strategy is.
- Be sure that the link development strategy and the SEO strategy are working together. This is vital to getting long-lasting, quality links to your site that complement your SEO and keyword optimization on your site.
When in doubt, do some research. Dig into your analytics a bit and the reporting from your SEO firm to see if you can figure out what’s happening. Ask your SEO firm to walk you through items that you are not fully comprehending. It’s your site. Make sure it’s going in the direction that you are comfortable with.
by Angela Moore on September 11, 2008
If your site is going through a massive makeover, the end result involves brand new URLs and you have an active SEO campaign, it’s important to include a link development specialist in the process. Why? Because it’s quite possible you have links pointing to the old URLs. You don’t want to lose the value of those links that has been built up to this point.
Make sure that you let your SEO team know that you are about to embark on a 301 redirect execution well before it actually happens. Give them a date and then stick with it (in other words, don’t move forward earlier than that date). A couple of days before it’s scheduled to happen, your link development specialist (should) will get very busy.
First, they will look at all the links pointing to your site. They’ll take a benchmark and track it through the entire process of putting those 301s in place. Next, they’ll go a bit deeper and pull the links that are pointing to your high level landing pages. They’ll start with category level, move into the subcategory level, and so on. If you have a large e-commerce site, they won’t pull links to all of your 30,000 products; but they can look at your most popular products, your best sellers, or the ones that have gotten the most buzz online.
They will have all the old links available so that when the 301 redirects are put into place, they can reach out to the Webmasters of the linking sites and ask them to change the destination of the link to the new page.
The third thing your link development specialist should do (in conjunction with your SEO specialist) is track the old URLs to the new URLs and make sure each 301 redirect is working correctly. The reason the link development personnel need to be involved is because they have the list of the old URLs at their disposal – they’re tracking the old links and where they were pointing. They can alert you if there are any issues.
Finally, the link expert should be providing information on the old links and what’s happening with them. Providing that information to everyone involved in the project will be extremely beneficial as you plan any future content creation or migration strategies.
But why should you care? Don’t 301 redirects transfer all the link juice to the new URL? Sure, there’s a lot of evidence that does in fact happen. Here’s why you do all this work:
- So that you know what types of links you have.
- If the content of the page changes drastically, you can execute link reclamation more effectively.
- You can track to see if those 301s are truly passing the value of the old links.
- You have a better feel for what people care about on your site.
- A direct link is better than a redirected link.
Take the extra steps to involve your SEO team (including your link development expert) in the 301 redirect process and your SEO efforts will not suffer.
by Angela Moore on August 27, 2008
Photo Credit: Physorg.com
Now that the Olympics are finally done, I’m sure many of us have no idea what to watch on television in the evenings anymore. Never fear, link development is here. I haven’t reached out to the IOC yet, but I’m sure link development could become an Olympic event if they really knew what we spend our days doing.
I’m going to propose a Link Development Decathlon to the committee. Here are the events that would make up the event and the scoring system that would accompany it.
-
Research Steeple Chase – Every link builder worth their paycheck knows that finding good links requires a ton of research. This event involves jumping hurdles of low quality sites and slogging through the mess to find the coveted high-quality, relevant sites. Points are given for each site found in one hour; deductions are made for sites that have low quality factors such as hidden text, link farms, and irrelevant content.
- Contact Info Scavenger Hunt – Participants will be given 10 sites that they have to find contact information for. Points will be allocated for each email address found as well as bonus points for faster location times. Deductions include listing webmaster@domain.com and other such email addresses when an actual contact email is somewhere on the site.
- Timed Link Audits – Given a list of pages to audit, athletes will have to perform an audit, determining how many links are attributed to each page. Points are given based on time as well as accuracy. Deductions include not knowing how to use Site Explorer correctly.
- Marathon Directory Submissions – A day full of directory submissions will be a physical challenge for each athlete in this event. Points attributed to each directory completed correctly, accuracy of submissions, and varied anchor text that’s incorporated into each submission. Deductions include directory rejections (human editors will be there to accept or reject the submission).
- Site Evaluation Sprint – All athletes will be given 50 sites that they have to evaluate for a sample client. Points are associated with accuracy of evaluations including relevancy, value of the page, and inbound links to the sites. Deductions include the same as the Research Steeple Chase.
- Fee Boxing – Dealing with directories that are paid can sometimes feel like a boxing match. Each athlete will go head-to-head with a directory representative to negotiate fees for a client with a bulk submission. Points will be awarded for each dollar knocked off the first price. Deductions include being rude with the representative, giving up too early, and nonsense arguments about why a discount should be given.
- Link Bait Power Lifting – An all out one-man (or woman) brainstorming session to come up with as many link bait ideas for a sample client as possible in one hour. Points associated with each concept created, research behind the brainstorming, and presentation. Deductions include link bait that is not relevant and sneaky ways to get links.
- Strategy Ping Pong – Each athlete will have to create a niche strategy for a sample client and then discuss it with that client. Points awarded for each time the client says “sounds good” or “I love it.” Deductions include strategy components that are not relevant, black hat, or not thought through completely.
- Competitive Analysis Fencing – A list of competitors for a sample client will be given to each athlete to analyze and evaluate. Points awarded for thoroughness, accuracy in findings, and metrics accounted for. Bonus points for each black hat tactic identified. Deductions include missing obvious black hat tactics, inaccuracy of conclusions, and inability to explain the data.
- Analytics Dive – Everyone loves the idea of link ROI, but how can you explain it? Each athlete will be provided with two sample analytics report from consecutive months as well as consecutive link audits and will have one hour to explain progress of a link building campaign. Points associated for each valid conversion point identified, variety of analytics used in explanation, and questions answered from a panel of sample clients. Deductions include missing KPIs, inability to understand the report, and just making stuff up.
I don’t know about you, but I would stay up late to watch this. Then again, I’m weird.
I’ve been on 