High Quality Link Building Services & Social Media Marketing

Reputation Management Case And Lesson Learned

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November 28 | Reputation Management | Ryan Clark

I was browsing the SEO section of Reddit today and came across a really interesting, and real world example of why you’ll eventually need reputation management. There are a lot of ways of going about it, but when it comes to out ranking some solid SERPs, you’re going to need some solid links. This case as rather interesting and more personal than corporate, but the results will drastically effect this person’s credibility if searched for. Imagine your future employer finding out something you’d never want them to see…it’s not a fun situation and by the sounds of it this guys is going to have some work cut out for him.

The problem is that a close friend of mine had an incident a couple of years ago. He went through a real nasty divorce which went through court and it really took it’s toll on him. One time during the court hearings he failed to show up and the judge convicted him on contempt of court. So he got arrested and was brought to the hearing. A mugshot was taken.

Now a couple of years ago the state he resides in made all arrest records public and websites like mugshot.com started to sprout. Now when you google his name the mugshot is usually the #1 or #2 link.

I do realize he made a mistake by not showing up, but that’s a different story. I have tried everything I can think of to try and make websites/profiles/blogs with his name but the mugshot site is always on Page 1 on Google. Other search engines (Yahoo and sometimes Bing) aren’t a problem, they show his mugshot profile on page 2-3.

You can ask the website to remove the mugshot but it’s really expensive because the site basically charges lawyer fees for it. Do you guys have any ideas or is this a lost fight? What I’m trying to accomplish is to move the mugshot website to maybe page 2-3 on Google.

Not a happy place! See original thread here.

The options for removal are up to you, and you can pay to have it removed from Mugshots.com. It’s a really dirty business in my opinion but all is fair in business and war. The OP got a handful of advice, some solid and some questionable so you really have to be careful in how you proceed in a situation like this. If you’re in a bind, then just paying to have something like this removed is worth the effort. For the rest of us, a little link building and leveraging authoritative social networks should do the trick.

We had a similar situation with a CEO of a company needing to get a certain results pushed off the first couple of pages in Google. For us, we utilised his personal blog, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Scribd, Youtube, Pinterest and other sites to build a strong network of profiles. In a case like with Mugshots.com, they have a weak link profile so it shouldn’t take too much work to over run it. Take note of what social platforms are ranking well and make good use of them. Properly done profiles will go a long way, and interlink where you can to juice the others you’re building up. Make sure each profile has a lot of unique content…I cannot stress this enough.

What tips do our readers have for the rest of us, I want to hear below!

Tagged reputation management

My Trip To #SanDiego

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November 24 | News | Ryan Clark

I had the pleasure of going down to the beautiful city of San Diego to meet with a good friend of mine and now business associate. I tend to do a lot of on-site work around the world and was pleased when I got the call to get yanked down to the best state in America. I snapped a bunch of pictures for everyone here just in case you wanted to get a little more personal with me and our brand. I wish I had more than four days to lounge around, take in some more sun and a bite out of the local food scene.

I was a young lad the first time I visited this great city and it has changed quite a bit (for the good). The weather was much better than what we get up here in British Columbia this time of year – and I even had some rain. How else could you make a Vancouverite feel more welcome than sending some rain my way? My new venture will be bringing me out there quite a bit so do get in touch if you ever want to grab a beer and some grub!

Photo: Heading off from YVR

Photo: Settled in first class, gotta love it!

Photo: Lobby for the Grand Hyatt Manchester

Photo: Great view from my room @ the Hyatt

Photo: Shot of the hotel towers from the San Diego harbour

Photo: WW2 memorial in the harbour

Photo: Aircraft Carrier just outside The Hyatt in the harbour..massive!

Photo:My travel ritual…always get a double Glenlivet on the rocks!

Photo:Delicious meal from the fine folks at The Burger Lounge

Photo: Best American beer I’ve had to date from Mission Brewery

Tagged sandiego

Google Sends Warning For Article Marketing

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November 24 | Link Building | Ryan Clark

Are you link building via article marketing for your main source of links? You might not be as safe as you think. While I’m aware I’m spouting and promoting fear a little bit here, I do have my ear to the ground when it comes to this topic. Clearly the majority of companies out there are pumping out ultra low quality content. That’s not the only problem though, everyone is also gaming anchor text and that’s what Google hates…a lot.

I like the fact that Google would discourage this because too many sites are way too shitty to deserve a top ranking spot. Google’s guidelines when it comes to links makes it pretty clear that link schemes are going to cause you trouble, and most article marketing falls under their definition.

You might remember the violation emails Google sent out regarding unnatural links detected pointing to a site. While it’s a very rare occurrence, the possibility is a reality and something you’ll see pop up in Google’s webmaster help central. I just came back from a trip and while catching up on the latest posts on my trip, I discovered this instance that caught my eye.

Meanwhile I submitted a reconsideration request for my other sites that had the same -50 filter, some which had zero inorganic links. In the E-mail I received I was told that I needed to remove any “inorganic links” that I could and if I couldn’t remove them I needed to create a list of the links I couldn’t remove.

It’s important to keep in mind that this person is most likely running a bunch of thin affiliate sites and they were also doing user profile spam. A lot of people think that links can never have a negative effect on your rankings, but those people haven’t been around long enough. Even the link schemes definition from Google clearly states that “This is in violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and can negatively impact your site’s ranking in search results“. That alone should end the debate.

If the post is true, it’s still a rare case and, in my ninja opinion, pretty difficult to get in trouble with links. Pretty much every top niche is dominated by unethical link building practices and it has been that way for the last decade. We, of course, do a lot of high quality content marketing and I’m not claiming to be pure by any means, just be careful out there. That statement is also for those companies who are just blind hiring an SEO to get mass links.

Tagged article marketing, blackhat, Link Building

Interactive Infographics: The Future of Advanced Link Baiting?

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November 21 | Link Bait Tactics | Elijah Vieau

Link Bait Techniques In the web space, infographics are still one of the best and most cost-effective marketing strategies to build hundreds, even thousands of links to your website. It’s actually quite amazing how viral a well-designed piece of information can become – especially on platforms like Twitter.

Over the last 12 months or so, I’ve watched web agencies (particularly small to mid-sized firms) explode into the industry spotlight all because of a clever infographic that was shared and reposted by the right kind of people i.e. information design junkies like Mashable.

Obviously, nothing stays “bling bling” forever and exploitation will eventually become the demise of this link building buzz tactic. So in the tradition of pushing boundaries combined with absolute curiosity, I find myself wondering what’s next. Then it came to me:

Infographics as we currently know them are static, just like the web used to be. Naturally this means it’s only a matter of time before designers and savvy marketers start to move towards newer technologies to further enhance the viral potential and “linkability”.

Interactive infographics… That’s insane… Or is it?

Enter HTML5 and CSS3

Don’t start panicking; I’m not going to write a guest post on Linkbuildr.com about web design best practices because that wouldn’t be very relevant, but as an Internet marketer and avid blogger, if there’s a new way to spread content that users go bonkers for – I need to know about it.

HTML5 Infographics After a few searches on Google I didn’t find much, and then I stumbled upon a very short but descriptive “challenge” of sorts posted by Mozilla developer and overall cool dude, Paul Rouget, where he asked his blog audience to design an infographic using HTML5 and CSS3.

This is exactly what I’m talking about!

Though there were only about 9 direct responses to his challenge via the blog post, I could already see the potential.

Just imagine how many more people would want to share awesome infographics if they were animated and interactive! The link building possibilities would be staggering.

Enter Live Data Feeds

Companies are fetching live data and using it all over the web, so why not take things a step further and fuse this functionality into traditional information design and create an attractive, viral piece of info-driven content where the data changes as time goes by. Not only would the content be highly engaging and attractive (thanks to HTML5 and CSS3) but it will also be up to date – constantly.

I know you’re probably thinking I’m insane, and the fact of the matter is that I wouldn’t even know where to begin to create my own Interactive Infographic, but from a marketer’s prospective more user engagement means more sharing – and this is what excites me.

What do you think? Too far off the edge or crazy linking potential?

Tagged html5, infographics, link bait, link baiting

Only The Links Google Trusts Count x Matt Cutts

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November 13 | Link Building | Ryan Clark

At Pubcon this week Matt Cutts said something pretty interesting about links and it’s a perfect topic for us to sit and think on here. A lot of people are doing different things when it comes to building links, and it is usually dependant on what they know or their industry. One thing’s for sure, a lot of folks are blasting thousands of links with spam tools because it’s TOO easy. One thing’s for sure, the way Google views links needs a shaking up and I’m a big believer that it’s a coming.

Q. Everyone says I need more links. How do links improve the quality of the site? I don’t want to play this game and I don’t want to do this.

A: What matters is bottom line. Links are a part of search – they represent online reputation. Although there are many tools that report links, none of the tools can tell you which links are trusted by Google (not even Google’s tools). While the link structure looks bad from the outside, the actual linkgraph that Google uses/trusts looks much better. When the New York Times complained about a site with 10,000 spammy links, Google investigated the site and not a single link had slipped through Google’s filter. Only the links Google trusts count.

Now a lot of webmasters and marketers are going to scratch their heads at that last thing mentioned by Mr Cutts. I certainly did because the SERPs do not reflect this statement at all and it doesn’t take long or much effort to disprove it either. I don’t know if toxic links + a sound website make a difference, but my first search query gave me the results I needed for this post.

A quick search for “bad credit loan quotes” from my end brought me the first ten results, and the first one’s link profile was just what I suspected. Not only that, but the page ranking has 0 unique content on it and it’s basically just a push into their affiliate program. While my query is looking for a “quote”, I’d still be more comfortable from a big brand or more reputable site.

The entire site has low quality content that’s only made for the search engines and it’s basically a thin affiliate site. I hate to use Alexa but since April the site has done nothing but grow, and with a site that should have been swept up in one of the Panda updates it should have been knocked down. So we of course have to suspect the links are artificially boosting this site for now? Ranking for all sorts of loan keywords is going to take a lot of links because it’s one of the most competitive niches online. As I suspected this is what their profile looks like;

No surprise there eh? The only way a low quality site can rank so well is anchor text abuse and this is Google’s biggest flaw in their algorithm. I should mention that this will most likely not keep them ranking high forever, but it’ll be long enough for them to make some serious bank. In some of the niches we work for clients in, we have seen these types of links holding up for years now so I’m not sure what to expect any more.

So what type of links are driving the great results for this site? Well, as suspected again, they’re a mix of junk directories, site-wide paid links, blog comment and forum profile spam. But I thought we’re supposed to build great content and the links and rankings will follow? For the most part, that’s been nothing but bullhooey and I see low quality links outdoing great sites at every turn.

You’d think Google would be better at filtering out links aimed at gaming their algorithm. The offending sites top links all come from sites with junk like this;

That’s all I really have to say. To see for yourself just do any semi competitive search query and you’ll find the top 10 results riddled with this problem.

Tagged google, Link Building, matt cutts

Guest Post: Search Engine Marketing Battle – SEO vs. PPC

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November 9 | Pay Per Click Marketing | Mike Williams

Which is better? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Pay Per Click (PPC)? Well, there really isn’t a clear and simple answer to that question so let’s break it down into the most important elements and see which one would win in a fight.

Traffic

Traffic Both SEO and PPC can deliver a significant amount of traffic to your website. With SEO you can effectively optimize your site for about 3 to 5 keywords, whereas with PPC you can advertise on an unlimited amount of keywords. However, the traffic you receive to your site will depend on how many times a keyword is searched, so 3-5 high traffic keywords could deliver more traffic than 1000’s of lower traffic keywords.

In order to obtain those high traffic keywords with SEO, it can take time – sometimes up to 6 months or even a year. With PPC you can have traffic immediately, you’ll have to pay for it, but you can get clicks right away. PPC will allow you to advertise on several low traffic and high traffic keywords. SEO can’t really do this effectively, as you need to remain targeted on those 3-5 target keywords. Also, with PPC there is an opportunity to show your site on several related websites by using the content/display network. On the content/display network you can get cheaper traffic and you can advertise directly to your target demographic on the sites that they visit.

One thing that SEO definitely cannot do is target effectively. PPC can deliver highly targeted traffic from the location, device (mobile, tablet, or computer), date/time, and the amount you want to spend. PPC also offers the ability to turn traffic on and off, which is a great feature for seasonal businesses and for growing companies that don’t want to be overwhelmed with new business. PPC essentially gives advertisers a volume button for the traffic they want to receive.

Winner: PPC

Costs

Costs It’s not easy to nail down the actual cost of SEO because of all the variables involved. With SEO you’ll need to consider the cost of the keyword research needed to attain a decent ranking for a high traffic keyword that is realistically obtainable, the cost of making the website changes and any off-page factors that might dramatically affect the results. You’ll also need to consider any ongoing costs that will be required in order to maintain your ranking.

PPC will require you to take the time to set up a campaign, doing all of the keyword research, ad text creation, strategy, etc. But, on top of that you’ll also need to pay for the traffic to your site and the ongoing maintenance and work required to ensure that you don’t over spend and that your campaign remains profitable. PPC needs to be managed very closely and optimized often in order to be successful, so there will be ongoing costs involved.

With both SEO and PPC your competition will greatly affect your costs. If there is a keyword that’s worth receiving traffic from there will definitely be competition. For SEO your competition will make it more difficult to rank well and they’ve already got a head start, since they already rank for those keywords. Also, the more competition there is with SEO, the longer it will take to obtain your desired results. With PPC your competition will drive up your click prices and make your advertising costs rise, which will hurt your profitability and require you to put more effort into your campaigns in order to improve your quality score and conversion rates.

Winner: SEO

Analytics

Analytics Both SEO and PPC will allow you to review your statistical data, right down to the keyword, click, conversion, website referrer, etc. While this type of analytical data isn’t uncommon with online marketing, it is a unique feature compared to traditional offline marketing. When an advertiser purchases a print ad or billboard ad there’s no effective way of measuring the effectiveness of that ad. An advertiser may notice an increase of traffic, but there’s no statistical information to prove that it was a result of the print or billboard ad. Online you can expect to know exactly what works and what doesn’t. It’s even possible to know which keyword delivered which customer.

For analytics, the one advantage that PPC has over SEO is the option to optimize your landing pages and build your page for conversions, not information and content. Yes, you can optimize pages for conversion with SEO, and you definitely should, but, PPC allows you to create a conversion funnel where you can move the user towards a sign up, sale, or download. You can limit the amount of content and focus the user on the call to action and sell the more effectively. In fact, you can customize the pages based on the source of traffic or keyword. But, the key metric that you can manage and improve is your conversion rate and you do this by testing landing pages in order to find the optimal landing page layout and design.

Winner: PPC

Results

Regardless of whether you use SEO or PPC, or both, what you really want is results. Both types of marketing are very effective at delivering results, but there are differences in their delivery. SEO provides results, but sometimes those results take time; in fact, they can take up to 6 months or even a year in some cases. However, once you’ve achieved those results you will continue to maintain that position for a long period of time, which helps your brand and delivers you ongoing value for some upfront costs. Another benefit of SEO’s long term results is that it will strengthen your brand over time and other sites will link to yours, increasing traffic and your ongoing SEO results.

The advantage that PPC offers is immediate traffic and immediate results. You can find out right away what keywords lead to sales and which don’t. The trade-off is that if you decide to stop your campaign you will also immediately halt your traffic and you won’t receive the ongoing benefits that SEO delivers. PPC can also help your brand, especially when you rank highly in the natural results, as well as appearing as an ad on the PPC side.

When it comes to conversions, both SEO and PPC deliver similar results and one does not necessarily consistently out-perform the other.

Winner: Both

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

chicken dinner

Okay, there is no winner and there is no chicken dinner, sorry. Unfortunately, comparing SEO to PPC is like comparing apples to oranges, their both fruit, but they look, feel, and taste very different.

With any search engine marketing campaign, an advertiser needs to take a look at their specific needs and goals. What is it that you want search engine marketing to do for you? Then the advertiser needs to consider the options, and determine whether SEO, PPC or both will be most likely to meet their desired goals.

Google+ Adds Pages for Businesses, Music and Every Other Noun

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November 7 | Social Media Sites | Geoff

Google rolled out its pages for business today and, as per usual with Google launches, nobody really noticed.

I have been using Google+ to follow Matt Cutts and a few other notable people in the industry, but don’t have many friends actively using it, let alone women, which is the reason Facebook is what it is.

Anyways, I’m never one to hate on trends (I did not understand the appeal of Twitter), so I set up Linkbuildr’s Page to kind of get a feel for how it will work for businesses. So far, I only notice a couple of differences between the personal profile and a page:

First, your page has to be encircled to be able to circle. This will go a long way to prevent the twitter spamming method of following for followers and ensure that everyone who has you in a circle actively sought out your page and circled you. Opt-in marketing is something Google is very fond of and should encourage (enforce) some corporate responsibility. As such, I am currently the only person with Linkbuildr in a circle, and the page only has one follower. Change that for us! But I digress… The move will make it so that your page’s Google+ followers are of a much higher quality and anything you push to them via G+ should be pretty targeted content that they want to see. Hopefully this leads to much better interaction from the pages’ users and less opportunity to game the system.

Secondly, Google has added Direct Connect. Direct connect will use the plus modifier [+] to automatically bring you to and circle a page. If you’re looking for Linkbuildr, Googling +Linkbuildr should (one day, when we’re “eligible”) bring you to the Linkbuildr Google+ Page and automatically circle us.

Google+ pages will be showing up in the SERPS, so it’ll give your online profile a nice little bump for people searching for your brand name.

I think it’ll be great for businesses. The tools that Google+ offers can be very creatively applied to maintaining healthy relationships with your clients. The hangouts are a super easy way to connect visually and give face to face advice or what have you. Small businesses will be able to group their clients based on interests and only share what they think they’ll be interested in. You’ll be able to comment and interact with people in your circles and really get your name out there. Helping people will, I think, go a long way with these G+ pages.

As always, if you want to play nice with Google, do what they want you to do. In this case, they want you to create a Google+ page for your business. The links won’t pass juice, like any of their domains, but we know that Google accounts for social media profiles in their ranking algorithm and if you don’t have a G+ page for your business, your competition will. Google has more social information about your business here than it does anywhere else so you’d be silly not to.

Google also posted a clean little video sharing a bike shop’s experiences with Google+ pages and how it worked for him. It might be a nice little means of getting you pumped on working with your clientele.

The long and short of it is that if you want to be in Google’s good books, you have no reason not to create a page for your business and connect your site to it.

Starbucks Holiday Cups Out November 1st x Links Followed!

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November 4 | Link Bait Tactics | Ryan Clark

I’m currently writing an article on how big brands can score tons of links just by doing regular updates. I’m a Starbucks junky so I noticed the red holiday cups out and about first thing November 1st, and then I saw the news about it. I thought it would make for a quick but thought provoking post about how large companies can score links with ease. I also took a picture right now of my delicious Christmas Blend for those who are “too cool” for Starbucks and don’t know what I’m talking about.

If you go take a look at Google both in the regular area, blog search and discussions you’ll see roughly 50 thousand websites talking about it. That’s a lot of bloddy links, citations and social media buzz going about all for just a regular update from Starbucks. This is a perfect example of how you as a big brand can benefit from your fans across the web.

Tagged link bait, starbucks