Article marketing is about more than mere links

Category Link Building | 10 comments »

Foundational link building part II – Article Marketing

At least this is the mind set one needs when approaching it. You see, ultimately one must go beyond links. Think about the actual value of the placement as far as potential traffic, branding and reach. You will find that when you do so, that the links are of better quality and the benefits greater.

As we learned last week with our guide to directory submissions, quality supersedes quantity. When it comes to article marketing we seek to get as much value as possible. This means that we don’t simply toss off a bunch of copies of the article to repositories far and wide. You need to look at what makes the most sense strategically and plan from there.

 

Content is content

Now, the first thing we are going to need is a writer. If you have someone in-house that is already creating content, marketing materials or managing the blog, we’re in business. If you find yourself creatively challenged then looking at bringing in a professional writer as a sock puppet staffer is also an option. Much like content for the website, cutting corners will ultimately weaken the program.

You seek to create content that would be of a quality high enough that you would publish it on your own site. Not some knock off garbage piece that is 400 words long and devoid of value. That is not going to get us what we want… and at worst is negative branding.

You are seeking to build authority, become ubiquitous in the market and hopefully get some links that do more than please search engines.. we actually get some traffic ;0)

 

Finding the targets

Next we want to establish some targets for content placement. Remember, article marketing is more than mere repository overload. We can generally look at a few locales for potential promotion;

1. Article repositories – the most common form of article marketing.
2. Industry media outlets – most markets will have media/news portals
3. Guest blogging – on first and second tier industry blogs
4. Supplier websites – create how-to articles, FAQ etc…
5. Vertical markets – websites of related non-competitors.

 

Basically you need to get inventive and look for those that might appreciate some free content. Some of these relationships may not happen over night; cultivation is often required. But an article is often nothing more than content…with accreditation to you. This is how the path should be travelled.

Article repositories should really only be used for posts that you feel are weaker than others and aren’t suited for higher level branding. But even these should be of at least an average quality as any distribution is still a representation of you and your enterprise.

Crafting the article

Now that we have some varied targets we can set about trying to establish some demographics for the audience. Whenever possible, don’t be shy and simply talk to the editors of your target site and ask about the people and topics that fly well. Most times they can give some great qualitative feedback which helps when crafting the tone and language of the article.

I won’t get into the nuts and bolts of targeting as that is more of the writing element and beyond the scope of this post (look at this later in the week). But what is important is that the article is set up to succeed.

Getting the links

The best links to have are what are known as editorial links; these are links within the actual content themselves. This is something that should be used sparingly and don’t fill up the article with a ton of them from one end to the other. Each post should have 1-2 nicely targeted, but relevant, links to your site.

This is also extra important with distribution via article repositories as it ensure that is someone reprints it without the author bio (no! say it ain’t so?!) that you still get a few back links from it.

If we’re targeting a specific location with our article, we’re sure to get a link in the author bio and latitude for a few editorial links within the post as well (to relevant content on your site).

Targeting Considerations

Just as we did with the directory submissions, we want to vary link text as much as possible. This means a unique author bio for each and every article repository and diversity in link texts for our other distribution channels.

What link texts should you be using? That all depends on the strength of the potential link location (re-print from repositories? Or one-off on an authority site?). Try and use your core target terms for the stronger sites and work your secondary terms with the larger distribution channels.

Also remember to incorporate targeted titles for the post and include words from your lists of semantically related support terms.

 

…. And those are the basics of a successful article marketing program. Next time we’ll get a list of top repositories and tips for finding target sites.

Cya then…

Popularity: 24% [?]

List of Free and Paid directories

Category Link Building | 40 comments »

Yesterday we talked about some of the basics of link building in the form of using directories. Today, as promised, are some of the better locales for making submissions and the approved Gypsy list ;0)

While there are thousands of directories out there, I decided to list the more important (powerful) ones that you can look at; we’ll start with the paid…. I will list some of the ‘FREE’ ones following this list. The reason we look at paid directories is that search engines tend to value them more (as they do with human edited). It is always advisable to have some of these in a balanced link profile.

Top Paid Directories

http://Dir.Yahoo.com ($299 per year
)http://Ezilon.com/ (free / $69)

http://DirJournal.com/ ($59.95 / $99.95)

http://JoeAnt.com/ ($39.99)

http://Directory.v7n.com ($49.95)

Second tier paid directories

http://Elib.org/ (60 Euro -150 Euro)
http://Gimpsy.com/ ($40)

http://Romow.com/ ($45 / $90)

http://Botw.org/ ($80 /yr or $240)
http://HomeSalez.com/Directory/ ($50 /yr)

http://Iwebtool.com/directory/ ($10 /yr)

http://AvivaDirectory.com/ ($50 – $75 /yr)

http://BlazeMp.com/dir/ (bid min $50)

http://Skaffe.com/ ($50)

http://CityStar.com/ ($30)

http://Dmegs.com/ (free – $10 /yr)

http://Enquira.com/ ($30)

http://Kahuki.com/ ($20- $49.95 /yr)

http://MaxLinks.org/ ($13 / $50)

http://ProlinkDirectory.com/ (free – $9 for 3 months)

http://LoboLinks.com/ $23 / $37 /yr)
http://www.goguides.org ($70 one time fee)

Other paid directories

http://MyGreenCorner.com/ (free – $25 /yr)
http://Rakcha.com ($30)

http://WebWorldIndex.com/ ($25)

http://Zorg-Directory.com/ ($15 – $60)

http://AuthorityDirectory.com ($5 – $20 /yr)

http://Global-WebLinks.com/ (free – $40 /yr)

http://Idk.in/ ($15 – $50 /yr)

http://Index-It.net/ ($25)

http://AllInfoDir.com/ ($27 – $70)

http://AnthonyParsons.com/ ($10 – $30)

http://Emillie.net/ ($25 – $40 /yr)

http://Cascandra.com/ ($12 – $30 /yr)

http://OnlineWide.com/ ($35 / $70 /yr)

http://Ventedoy.com/ (bid; min $5)

http://Abilogic.com/ ($10 / $40 /yr)

http://Browse8.com/ ($35)

http://MassiveLinks.com/ ($25 / $60)

Vertical paid directories

http://123kidzarea.com/ (n/a) – Kids

http://FamilyFriendlySites.com/ ($9.95 / $49.95 per year) – family

http://Business.com/ ($300 /yr) – Biz

http://UkSmallBusinessDirectory.co.uk/ (50 -100 pounds) – UK Biz

http://BusinessSeek.biz/ ($10 / $20 /yr) – Biz

http://Ebusiness-Directory.com/ (unknown) – Biz

Free Directories

Ok, since these are the freebies…. I have listed them by PageRank as of the time of writing. Not that PR is the greatest judge of value, but it is a metric worth being a starting point for the moment.

Here are some to get you started;

http://dmoz.org – PR9

http://www.lii.org/ – PR7

http://2rss.com – PR6
http://Bizweb.com – PR6
http://Greenstalk.com – PR6
http://www.ezilon.com/ – PR6
http://www.buzzle.com/ – PR6
http://www.accoona.com/ – PR6
http://www.surfsafely.com/ – PR6

http://BestCatalog.net – PR5
http://aigam.com – PR5
http://Chiff.com – PR5
http://IllumiRate.com – PR5
http://Re-Quest.net – PR5
http://Clickey.com – PR5
http://turnpike.net/directory.html – PR5
http://Re-quest.net – PR5
http://prolinkdirectory.com – PR5
http://cgbee.com – PR5
http://www.turnpike.net/directory.html – PR5
http://www.info-listings.com/ – PR5
http://www.geniusfind.com/ – PR5
http://www.information.com/ – PR5
http://www.information.com/ – PR5
http://www.spheri.com/d/ – PR5
http://searchsight.com/ – PR5

http://www.searchwiz.com/ – PR4
http://www.skoobe.biz/ – PR4

http://MavicaNet.com – PR4
http://Earthstation9.com – PR4
http://ExactSeek.com – PR4
http://Jayde.com – PR4
http://Gimpsy.com – PR4
http://Haaba.com – PR4
http://Web-Beacon.com – PR4
http://Emfind.com – PR4
http://Websavvy.cc – PR4
http://cantufind.com – PR4
http://Webs-Best-Directory.com – PR4
http://charolabap.com – PR4
http://www.netinsert.com/ – PR4

http://WebWorldIndex.com – PR3
http://Americasbest.com – PR3
http://SoMuch.com – PR3
http://iMarvel.com – PR3
http://CyberWebSearch.com – PR3
http://Yeandi.com – PR3
http://SmartLinks.org – PR3
http://www.mygreencorner.com/ -PR3
http://www.businessseek.biz/ – PR3
http://www.abilogic.com/ – PR3

Still want more directories? Then try these…

http://info.vilesilencer.com/main.php?rock=seo-friendly-a.php

http://www.onewaytextlink.com/links.php?type=free

http://www.directorycritic.com

Verticals

It is always a good idea to search out specific vertical directories for your given niche/market. I will add some as I come across them, but you really should search out some yourself as part of the directory submission plan with your programs. I have listed a few with links to more lists;0)

Kids http://kids.yahoo.com/submissions/suggest_site – PR7

Canada http://SuperPages.ca – PR6
http://Canadopedia.com – PR6
http://ProudlyCanadian.net – PR5
http://www.canlinks.net/ – PR5

Health
http://Patient.co.uk – PR6
http://PsychNet-UK.com – PR6

Products
http://BooksMusicVideo.com – PR6
http://www.epooch.com/ – PR3

And here are some industry specific niche directories lists ;

http://info.vilesilencer.com/main.php?rock=niche.php

http://www.directorycritic.com/niche-directories.html

Blog Directories

If you have a blog on your site, then submitting to various directories is also a great idea. Here is a fairly comprehensive list to get you going;

http://www.2rss.com/index.php

http://www.addyourblog.com/submit.php

http://www.blogbunch.com/suggest/

http://www.blogcatalog.com/blogs/submit_blog.html

http://www.blog-collector.com

http://www.blog-directory.org/

http://www.bloggernow.com

http://www.blogexplosion.com/directory/

http://www.blogflux.com/add.php

http://www.bloggapedia.com/

http://www.bloglines.com

http://www.blogpulse.com/submit.html

http://www.blog-search.com/blog-submission.html

http://www.blogscholar.com/

http://boingboing.net/suggest.html

http://www.contentsmatter.com/add.php

http://www.feedage.com/submit.php

http://www.feedboy.com/addfeed.html?catid=

http://www.feedsfarm.com/a.html

http://www.gobignetwork.com/entrepreneur-blogs/

http://www.icerocket.com/c?p=addblog

http://www.newsgator.com/ngs/subscriber/Folksonomy.aspx

http://www.plazoo.com/en/addrss.asp

http://www.pressradar.com/suggest

http://www.readablog.com/AddFeed.aspx

http://www.search4rss.com

http://smallbusiness.com/wiki/Weblog_directory_company_blogs

http://strategicboard.com/?s=h:addblog

http://www.tailrank.com/import

http://www.technorati.com/ping.html

http://www.today.com/submit-blog

http://www.wingee.com/

http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/my/cgi_rss_submission

Paid Blog Directories

http://Bloggeries.com

http://BlogAnnounce.info

http://Blogtagstic.com

http://www.all-blogs.net/submit.php

http://www.avivadirectory.com/submit.php

http://www.blogbib.com/submit.php

http://blogs.botw.org/helpcenter/submitblog.aspx

http://www.romow.com/submit.php

http://www.iblogbusiness.com/add.html

http://portal.eatonweb.com/add.php

http://www.postami.com/rss.finder/submit_feed.php

http://blogsforsmallbusiness.com/directory/add.html

http://www.wilsdomain.com/blogs/wilsdomain9b.php?op=newsubmit

And there you have it… plenty to keep you busy for quite a while; be sure to have a structured approach to you submission strategy and read yesterday’s post; Using directories of link building – Next week we’ll be looking at more foundational link building with Article Marketing tactics and resources.

Until next time… play safe!!

Popularity: 32% [?]

How to get the most from web directories

Category Link Building | 11 comments »

Foundational link building Part I – Web directories

If you’ve ever considered directories for link building (or traffic) – what is your plan of attack? While using directories in your SEO efforts is not exactly a huge factor, it can be done wrong. Yeah, I know… how tough could it be right? Well, there are some things to consider… and we’ll be looking at them today.

I was recently working on a new edition of my e-book which will be focused on the fine art of link building. This got me thinking about publishing some posts on some of the basics; and so the next few posts will be geared towards just that – foundational link building.

All directories are not created equal

For starters, one should never simply go running about dropping submissions to every directory is site… Nope, that ain’t gonna cut it. You should first be hitting some of the more well known general directories and not some list of 2000 crap locales. For me, any link building activity needs to also have the potential for actual traffic. This is why targeting is an important aspect – though serious traffic is generally not likely.

Then you would be looking for directories in your niche. Topically related directories can be more effective and build relevance (as far as links are concerned). Finding market related (vertical) directories can be done a few ways such as using some Google Dorks (search operators) – we could try; electronics, directory, add / submit — or if we’re geo-targeting add a TLD operator; electronics, directory, add / submit site:.com.au

You get the idea; replace ‘electronics’ with your KW/Phrase and play with some searches. This is one good way for finding niche directories that Google has at least indexed which is a start. (To get you started, I shall list a whack of trusted directories in tomorrow’s post).

Or there are lists to find some niche directories to assess;

Vilesilencer Niche Directory list

Directory Critic – Niche Directories

Notice I said ‘assess’? It is important to evaluate a given directory to establish if it’s a target worth having. What I mean is that we want to ensure we’re not wasting time with a submission. Some of the common factors we can look at are;

1. Indexation – what is the sites indexation on the major engines (Google, Yahoo, Live)?
2. Domain Age – older domains tend to have more trust from search engines.
3. Require reciprocal link? Quality directories do not.
4. PageRank – not the greatest measure, but a minor metric in the mix.
5. Backlinks – are there many backlinks? What quality are they?
6. Domain information – has it been moved many times? Ownership changes?

By looking at some of these factors we can begin to get a feel for which directories are worth targeting and which ones aren’t. Be sure to take the time involved for ensuring submission is not a waste of time.

I would also suggest looking at some of the many paid directories out there as search engines tend to value these higher and the links tend to be of greater value. Either way, always look to establish some value to the asset.

Submission strategies make the difference

Now that we have a list of directories we are interested in (and associated values) it is time to get busy with the submission process. Now, this isn’t as simple as creating a Title and Description for the listing and hammering away. What we want to consider is link text diversity and timing.

Timing, in that link profiles will degrade over time and as such we want a nice steady stream of links. This means I would work on the process a few times per week over a 6 month period to ensure we get timed velocity. Each market will be different, so spend some time monitoring top competitors link profile growth rates before starting your own campaigns. For more read up on; historical ranking factors for link builders.

Also, we want to have diversity in the Title text (usually the link) and the description. You will have to take your keyword research and look at which target terms are most in need of links at the time of submission. These are often the core money terms, but often there will be the need for targeting lesser terms that are underperforming.

You would want to use some variants of semantic phrasings to further balance out the diversity of link texts in your profile. To that end I would suggest reading; Using keyword research to diversify link profiles.

By controlling the rate of submissions and the diversity of the listing titles and texts, you will be able to get the most from the exercise.

The lazy man’s submission services

And yes, there are submissions services out there… most simply don’t seem to have enough of a clue for me to get behind them. There are so many factors to be considered (such as we’ve outlined here) that one can’t reproduce it on a larger scale effectively. Because there needs to be diversity across multiple keywords and semantic concepts, it would be an expensive undertaking for most providers.

They offer maybe 2-3 varied titles and descriptions across hundreds of directories. Furthermore, because they don’t let us at the lists (business intelligence.. bah) we cannot ensure that we are actually hitting the cream of the crop. Also not a good thing. And what about timing? Will they be able to understand each niche/market well enough not to over do it? – Problematic on many levels.

And that’s the basics

Can you see what I was saying about doing it wrong? The difference between SEO geeks and the rest of the peeps – is in the strategy. Even from the most basic levels of foundational link building there is every opportunity to do it wrong…or at least not as well as you could. And this is the basics my friends…

Tomorrow I shall post lists of some of my fav directory resources… be sure to come back then…

Here’s the Discussion on the SR forums

Related reading elsewhere;

The power of directories - Search Engine People

The wisdom and folly of directory link building – SEO Moz

Link building and determining link quality - Search Engine Journal

The role of directories in link building - SEO Moz

Niche Marketing and link building resources – Search Engine Journal

A guide to one-way link building – SEO Theory

Popularity: 23% [?]

When’s the next Google PR update?

Category General, Google | 44 comments »

No seriously… stop laughing… get the hell back up from the floor…. This isn’t funny.

Ok, so we all know that it’s oft updated, mere representation of the floating point internal and lives a love-hate relationship with link sellers (and builders) the world over. We know the direct correlation of ToolBar PR (TBPR) and rankings is minimal at best. So yer a genius.. pleasure to meet you.

You see I get alerts on a ton of things each day in the ‘ol inbox;

1. Google Alerts for Buzz tracking
2. G-Alerts for Google Dorks
3. Forum thread replies
4. Social Median news
5. New goodies on social media sites
6. Google Webmaster Help

And it was that last one that had me going this morning. One gets used to seeing it on many SEO boards out there….usually noobs – or link merchants. But this fine morning I noticed it (asking about PR updates) twice on the Google boards…ha ha ha ha a ha… and why is that so funny? Because Google surely understands there are few reasons to get excited about TBPR beyond links. It’s like yelling “Hey I am a link fixated search manipulator – Look at me!!”

Yes, I understand some peeps still just get an emotional response to new (higher) TBPR… but not nearly as many these days as there are those wanting to somehow capitalize on the little green bar (LGB). I dearly hope none of these peeps are putting URLs in their profiles if ya know what I mean…

In one of the FAQ’s on the Webmaster Help boards has this;

“I have a lot of new links pointing to my site, but my site’s Toolbar PageRank has not changed in months.

Don’t worry . We actually recalculate PageRank quite frequently, but only push Toolbar PageRank updates occasionally. This is our respectful hint for you to worry less about PageRank, which is but one of over 200 signals that can affect how your site is crawled, indexed and ranked. ”

And while that is a great answer, anyone asking about links and TBPR on a Google Board should be drawn and quartered. I don’t care if it is an innocent question… it’s akin to asking the cops where the best fields are to grow your pot. Sure, they would know… but uh…

It’s everywhere sadly

You merely have to step inside the front door at forums such as Digital Point(less) to find a slew of “When’s the next update” or other related and equally useless TBPR discussions… which usually incorrectly talk about PR… when most don’t grasp the difference.

So to all you nutters that simply can’t stop talking about TBPR… do yourself a favour and don’t go asking Google… That’s a lifetime subscription to DUH magazine

Popularity: 35% [?]