There’s been a lot of talk in the search industry over the past year regarding the overlap of public relations and SEO, particularly in the area of link building. As a Public Relations major, this couldn't make me happier -- not because I feel like my college degree can finally be justified to my parents; but because, as an industry, we're finally embracing PR and learning from it, even though it’s always been a part of SEO. Public relations professionals have spent years perfecting their outreach strategies, building relationships and finding press opportunities for their clients. Sea [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building | Link Building: General | Link Week

About six months ago, Google's head of search spam, Matt Cutts, made a comment in a Google forum thread that links within press releases won't "benefit your rankings." Since then, we showed one case where Google not only discovers the links within typical press releases but uses the anchor text for ranking purposes. Maybe it was one fluke, or maybe that particular case was not fair? In fact, Matt has said this numerous times that press release links don't count. The other day, Daniel Tan released another press release, this time on a smaller release site and added the anchor text "l [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | Google: Web Search | Link Building: General | Link Building: Paid Links | Top News

People usually love talking about themselves, and most people are naturally interested in the intricacies of others, whether it's business or personal. When you do an interview or put together a crowdsourced piece (and yes, I know many of you hate that term!) you're linking to the people involved. At first, this may seem counter-intuitive to earning links for yourself -- however, linking out to influential people while pumping out great content can be one of the best link building tactics out there, and here's why: Some people find it easier to promote themselves indirectly. By promo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To | How To: Links | Link Building | Link Building: General | Link Building: Linkbait | Link Week

In a recent Matt Cutts video, where the head of Google's search spam team answered the question "Does linking my two sites together violate the quality guidelines?" The short answer is no; but, there is always a but. If you link hundreds of unrelated sites together, then it would violate Google's guidelines. Matt Cutts explained that if you had a few sites, related, part of your network of sites, you can link them together. That is, especially if they are related and useful to each other. But when you start linking thousands of sites together and they are unrelated, then that would be a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | Link Building: General

After 2012 being dubbed the “Year of the Penguin,” Google’s Matt Cutts has already hinted that the next “Penguin 4” update will be bigger and more devastating than ever. We have seen big brands like Interflora get penalized and bounce back pretty fast. But how did that work? And what’s coming up for the rest of us? After the havoc wreaked by previous Penguin updates, how should webmasters prepare for what Google has in store next? [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"] Matt Cutts has more in store for us webmasters....[/caption] Toxic Link Cleanup Phase Over the past [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Disavow Links Tool | Google: SEO | Link Building | Link Building: General | Link Week

Technical University of Denmark researchers have designed a search engine that indexes specific sets of databases to help identify rare diseases. Users can query patient symptoms on FindZebra.com which crawls over 31,000 medical articles focused on rare and genetic diseases to deliver medically relevant search results. While the search engine's homepage includes a notification stating that the site is a research project and should only be used by medical professionals, the developers boast that it delivers significantly better results than Google when searching for rare disease content. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building: General | Search Engines: Academic Search Engines | Search Engines: Other Search Engines

[caption id="attachment_152995" align="alignright" width="267"] Image via Shutterstock[/caption] For many years, email was one of just a few ways you could share a URL with another person. And, people were far less accepting of link request spam than they are today. So, for today’s column, let’s talk about the ancient concept of net etiquette and link building. In many ways, it’s come full circle and is as relevant today (if not more so) as ever. Net Etiquette & Link Building There was a thing called "netiquette" back in the day, a concept that today seems almost quaint. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building | Link Building: General | Link Week

A few years ago, I launched a website called FindHow, and we gave it a full-court press from a PR standpoint. In this series of articles, I’m running through all the best practices we leveraged. In the first part of Public Relations For SEO: The Complete Guide, we talked about how to convince journalists that your topic is newsworthy by properly “positioning” your product or service, and then delved into the basics of writing a press release. Part 2 continues with strategies for targeting journalists and tips for scheduling your announcement. Pick A Strategy To Target Journalists [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: Case Studies | How To | How To: Links | Link Building | Link Building: General | SEO - Search Engine Optimization

This is the first of a three-part article about Public Relations for SEO. Let me start by saying that a press release written, issued and leveraged properly, can result in word-of-mouth, articles paraphrasing the release, and at a minimum, at least some backlinks. But, a press release alone will get much less exposure than one coupled with outreach to individual journalists and bloggers directly prior to issuing it. A few years ago, I launched a website called FindHow, and we gave it a full-court press from a PR standpoint. In this series of articles, I’ll run through all the best practi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: Case Studies | Link Building | Link Building: General | Link Week | SEO - Search Engine Optimization

A few years ago, I launched a website called FindHow, and we gave it a full-court press from a PR standpoint. In this series of articles, I’m running through all the best practices we leveraged. In Part 1 and Part 2, we talked about how to convince journalists that your topic is newsworthy,  the basics of writing a press release, strategies for targeting journalists and tips for scheduling your announcement. Here, we conclude with tips for pitching journalists and how to work it before, during and after the announcement of your release. Pitching Journalists Before you start, understan [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: Case Studies | How To | How To: Links | Link Building | Link Building: General | SEO - Search Engine Optimization

I've recently spoken with three business owners who have approached me in a fairly atypical way: instead of asking me for a proposal, they've given me theirs. It's been a fascinating glimpse into the dangers of thinking that just because you read a lot about link building (and by and large, most people who tell me what they "know" will work say that they read every link building article that comes out), you're equipped to run a successful campaign. Here's the most common thing that these guys have in common:   They have a link plan that is absolutely and completely unsustainable [...]

Related Topics: Beginner | Channel: SEO | How To | How To: Links | Link Building | Link Building: General | Link Week

A study by Portent, an Internet marketing company, shows that Google's tolerance of spammy links to trigger a Penguin algorithm ranking drop has declined by 30% since the Penguin algorithm launched. The study shows that of the 500,000 links found, Google has been steadily reducing its tolerance for webspam. Now, Google is likely to penalize sites with as little as 50 percent suspicious links in their link profiles, whereas 80 percent was required when Penguin first launched. Portent analyzed about 10,000 links pointing at each of the top 50 sites on the 2012 Inc. 5000 list. They then cap [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building: General | Panda Update Must-Reads | Panda Update Tips

I love reading articles about which tools different people use for link buildng purposes. In trying to put together a recommended list of tools for a client who wants to do part of his own link building in-house, I realized that this might be a helpful way for someone to easily build a nice little arsenal to help make the most of his or her link campaign. I'm a firm believer in the idea that no one will care as much about your site as you will. I've also never been annoyed when a client suggests an idea or gives me feedback on my links. The more we all think about link building, the better. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building | Link Building: General | Link Week

Unconfirmed reports are surfacing throughout the SEO community that Google has penalized yet another link network. The rumors within the industry are that the link network targeted by Google is named SAPE links. Webmasters who have used the SAPE link network are reporting that their sites have taken hard penalties within Google, resulting in a huge downgrade in ranking. Not all webmasters agree it is the SAPE link network but feel it may be a different network all together. There are forum thread discussions at Black Hat World and Black Hat Group that have webmasters and SEOs claimin [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | Google: Web Search | Link Building: General | Link Building: Paid Links | Top News

Just under three years ago, we reported that 301 redirects don’t pass full PageRank and that you should try to link through a normal link versus using 301 redirects. The truth is, a 301 redirect and a link pass the same amount of PageRank. There is no more dilution of PageRank with a 301 redirect when compared to using a normal link. Matt Cutts squashed this myth that I believe many SEOs thought to be true, today in a video: He said: The amount of PageRank that dissipates through a 301 is currently identical to the amount of PageRank that dissipates through a link. So t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | Link Building: General | Top News

We’ve all seen those one-and-done link building campaigns. Maybe even some of us have had clients push for them. They never work. It’s like Matthew McConaughey’s abs. Do you really believe that he only goes to the gym for a two-month stint to maintain those perfect pectorals? Doubtful. Why do people think that SEO, and in particular link building, is the same way? Let Me Tell You A Story We knew a guy. This guy had a company, a company where 3/10th of their new business comes in during January. Needless to say, January is an important month. For years, this company was doin [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building: General | Link Week

Google's head of search spam, Matt Cutts, released a video today explaining how a webmaster can locate which links pointing to their website is "unnatural." As you know, Google has been sending unnatural link warnings to Webmasters for about a year now. Webmasters should act when they receive this email; they should remove the unnatural links. What happens if you really do not know which links pointing to your site are unnatural? Google's Matt Cutts gives you two ways to discover these links. (1) You can sort your links to your site within Webmaster Tools by most recent links. (2) [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | Google: Webmaster Central | Link Building: General | Link Building: Paid Links

While I hesitate to define anything link-related as being easy, there are definitely a few things that can be easily fixed, things that can make a sometimes small and sometimes major difference in how your site performs online. Link builders are certainly not miracle workers, but much of the time, links are still seen as being the way to the top of the SERPs. It's extremely common for people to say "I know I just need links. Everything else is fine." Well guess what? It's not always fine, and many times, there are issues that need to be fixed on-site, ones that can make link building work s [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building | Link Building: General | Link Week

Building on last month's column, Five Linking Myths That Need To Go Away In 2013, one of the best and worst things about the Web is the never-ending supply of absolutely horrifying bad information that must be clarified. This helps keep people like me in business. I feel like a link doctor. A Link shrink. So thank you to all the folks who love to make completely unsubstantiated claims about links and linking strategies. Here's a few more things about links I have been told recently by content owners (who were told these things by their SEO or linking strategist). 1.  Anchor Text Will Ceas [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building: General | Link Week

Link building tools are everywhere, so much so that it’s safe to assume we’ve saturated the market, and it’s time to move on to building something else. While I rely on some of these as much as Instragram relies on selfies and food photos, some of the best tools I've found for link building were actually created to serve a completely different purpose. These are my faves. 1.  UberSuggest I love UberSuggest. I love it in a box. I love it with a fox. Most love it as a keyword research tool — can you blame them? But, it also has some amazing link building capabilities for content ide [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building: General | Link Week