link building and content marketing: how they work together

Benj ArriolaWork

Global SEO Architect/ SEO VPInternet Marketing Inc.

SpeakerSMX, Pubcon, IRCE, OMS, eMA, EmMeCon, SEMCon, MORCon, and more!

ExperienceSEO: 11 yearsWeb Design & Development: Since 1997Before 1997

ChemistIndustry / LaboratoryProfessor

IT Instructor

CompetitorWinner of several SEO contest winning cash and a brand new car in the 2007 SEO World Championship

It’s my first time in Sydney!

Link Building Vs. Content MarketingWhat some SEOs are saying:

Link building is out. It’s dead, content marketing is in.Content marketing has nothing to do with link building.Link building still works! With or without content marketing.Link building is content marketing. Content marketing is link building.

The Main Reason Why We Are Talking About This

Your links look like some

spammy SEO guy made it.

I’m bored reading your

mediocre content.

Are Links Still Important?Links are like votes of:

CredibilityTrustAuthority

But links should be natural

As long as they are natural,they are generally good. They are definitely still important.

GoalsLink Building

Gain more linksGain good quality linksGain natural linksScale the Process

Content MarketingSocial Shares

Gain Links

BrandEngagementLoyaltyPopularity / UbiquityGenerates Demand

ConversionsSalesRevenue / Profits

Which Is A Part Of Which?Goals

Content MarketingGaining links is just one of the goals of content marketing.

There are many other goals of content marketing, not just links.

TacticsLink Building

Content marketing is just one of the ways to gain links going to a webpage.

There are many other tactics for gaining links outside of content marketing.

The Role Of Links In Great Content

Usability

SearchSocialContent

Good Quality Content = Good for

Penguin and Panda, and

Good for Users

Good Quality Content =

Compelling to share, viral, share

bait, link bait

Good Quality Content = Good link bait, natural

links. Increase ranking.

More about this tomorrow:

Creative Content Marketing: From Strategy to Execution

10:45 – 11:30am

Good Content

Natural Links

The Panda And Penguin Solutions Work Together

You know your content is good

when people talk about it & pass it around.

Good natural links are gained when people pass your

good content around.

Oversimplified Action Item:

Prevent your site from being affected by Panda & Penguin by:(1) coming up with great content & (2) doing a social promotion.

Backlink Factor Metrics

Quantity Quality

Quantity Quality

Backlink Factor MetricsQuantity

Google Webmaster ToolsBing Webmaster ToolsSearch Engine “link:” commandMajesticMoz OpenSiteExploreraHrefsSistrixLink Research ToolsSEMRush

Unmeasurable Dimension: Relevancy

Quality (Power)Google PageRank# of Backlinks of the BacklinkTotal Backlinks of the DomainKeyword FocusedMajestic Citation FlowFollow or No FollowHosting CountrySite Wide vs. Single PageCemper PowerTM

Quality (Authority & Trust)TrustRankGoogle IndexedSEOMoz Page AuthoritySEOMoz Domain AuthorityMajestic Trust FlowIP DiversityAnchor Text DiversityDeep LinkingDomain AgeDomain Name Extensions

.gov/.edu/.orgccTLD

Cemper TrustTMThe Challenge

You can change

You can't change

You can in-fluence

Potential Link Sources

Evolution Of Link Building

Late 90’s, early 2000’s 2000’s to Pre-Panda & Penguin

Post-Panda & Penguin

You can change

You can't change

You can in-fluence


You can change

You can't change

You can in-fluence


Bad Good

You have strong control. You make it relevant.

You have little control. Hopefully it is relevant.

“Influence others to link” makes link building part of earned media.To earn trust, credibility & authority, needs quality content.

You can change

You can't change

You can in-fluence


Late 90’s, early 2000’s 2000’s to Pre-Panda & Penguin

You can change

You can't change

You can in-fluence


You have strong control. You make it relevant.

Evolution Of Link Building

Post-Panda & Penguin

You can change

You can't change

You can in-fluence


Bad GoodThe links with the largest benefit is a smaller subset of

all sites you influence.

Very Relevant

You have little control. Hopefully it is relevant.

Obsolete Link Building PracticesEarly days of link building (~ late 90’s)

Link farmsDoorway pages, multiple websitesUnmoderated pages: forums, guestbooks.

Link Building Improvements(~2000-2005)

Submissions: Directories, Articles for relevancy.Content: Blog Networks for better relevancy.Interactions: More natural postings on Blog Comments, Forums and Wiki EntriesThemes/Template, Tools/WidgetsLink Buying, Link ExchangeRSS Syndication

Pre-Penguin Days (~2006-2010)

Blogging NetworksGuest BloggingPress ReleasesPaid Links (Including .edu links)Link WheelsAutomated Article Spinning & Posting

Link Building TodayContent Marketingaka Inbound Marketing, Viral Marketing, Link Baiting, Buzz Marketing, Earned Media Marketing

Quality ContentPromotion









This is a large blog network: Autoblog, games.com, winamp, Huffpost Money, Huffinton Post, Huffpost Celebrity, Huffpost Politics, Huff post TV. Stylelist, AOL, Techcrunch, Engadget, MMAFighting.com, SB Nation, and tons more.

• They are all good quality.• All can stand on their own.• All were not just created for links.• They all get a good amount of natural

links themselves.









Matt Cutt’s told us to stick a fork in guest blogging. But taking a look at the authors on Huffpost, Mashable, Buzzfeed, some of the authors are pitched contributors. They are essentially guest blog posters.

• The post is good quality.• The site is a good quality site,

authoritative and credible.• The sites were not just created for

links, and the post was not created solely for links.









Matt Cutt’s once said, links from news sites should be treated like nofollow links.

Additionally, news articles are all duplicate content.

But news articles can also get on high traffic sites with a lot of visitors.

• Make the articles newsworthy for better distribution.

• Do not just go after the link to get a link. Go after the promotion of a content piece on your website that may gain new natural links.

Content Marketing EvolutionDidn’t change that muchCopywriters, PR writers, newspaper writers, have been doing this for years.

The only thing that changed was SEO people are trying to do it more and more these days.

Content marketing may also be loosely known as:

Link baitingInbound MarketingBuzz MarketingViral MarketingEarned Media Marketing

Content Marketing is not justPR DistributionMat ReleaseArticle DistributionGuest Blogging

Content Marketing Is Not Just Writing An Article

Ideation Creation Promotion

Many forms of content marketingBlog Post, Infographics, Kinetic Typography, Explainer Videos, Interactive Pages, Online Tools, eBooks, Slideshares, Whitepapers and more!Or in any combination of the above.

More about this tomorrow:

Creative Content Marketing: From Strategy to Execution

10:45 – 11:30am

Is There Link Building That Is Not Content Marketing?

Tactics that may still work if done correctly

Blogging NetworksGuest PostPress ReleasesPartners, Dealers, Distributors, Affiliates, Memberships, DonationsForumsBlog CommentsQ & AWiki EntriesNiche Directories

IntentThe intent is not to get a link.The intent is to reach your targeted audience.

Shares the same interestPassionate in the topicHas a strong followingIs an authority on the topic

Is There Content Marketing That Is Not Link Building?

What we measure in content marketing

If you are doingcontent marketing for links alone, you might be doing it wrong.

Conversions

Traffic

Links

Engagement

Social Activity

Bad Old Links Made Years Ago

Remove Disavow

Some Say: That’s BS! My Spammy Methods Still Work!

Early days of link building (~ late 90’s)Link farmsDoorway pages, multiple websitesUnmoderated pages: forums, guestbooks.







Spammy old link building methodsmay still appear to work when:

Spammy IndustryEven if your links are bad, all your competitors are bad, Google still has to choose who becomes #1 based on all the other ranking factors.

Very Non-Competitive IndustryYou are in an industry that almost no one targets at all.

You Actually Have Very Good LinksYou have may good natural links and they are over-powering the bad links, but you think it is the spammy ones that are helping you.

You are Measuring Success WrongYou think you are doing good, but you are really doing bad, but is just looking at the wrong things.

How do I make that awesome content?

??

ThanksQuestion?

My Main TakeawaysContent Marketing

Involves ideation, creation and promotion.Create great awesome content that users would link to naturally.The goals of content marketing is not to get links alone, but also gain some traffic, engagement , conversions.

Link BuildingMany methods in the past don’t work anymore.Some may still do, if done properly, where the intent is to reach your target audience and promotion your content than interacting just to get a link.

link building and content marketing: how they work together

Marketing

good content

goals content marketing

goals of content marketing

creative content marketing

link bait good quality

mediocre content

good quality links

users good quality content