Building A WikiWheel For Links

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April 13  |  Link Building  |   Ryan Clark

Link building using Wikipedia is a great idea but it’s really hard to do; the good news is, there’s a new way to build wiki-style links. Wikipedia has spawned a crop of smaller wiki sites (wikihost, wikizoho, wikispaces, etc.;) if you creating enough of these wikis with original, high quality content, you can start to link them to each other and back to your website. This is a new link building strategy that I call building a WikiWheel.

The difficult part about building a WikiWheel is finding the best wiki pages to use. Some have “nofollow” tags on embedded links, while others don’t. A lot of them are primitive, with poor user interface designs and application bugs that present a major obstacle for users. Then there’s the devil that lurks on some wiki pages: the overbearing, self-righteous mediator who will delete your wiki (and all your hard work) at the slightest inkling that you may be building links or promoting a brand (ahem, wikispot.) With so many potential roadblocks, WikiWheel novices may struggle; this is why I created this list of wikis for all of you link builders, which includes my personal reviews and advice on a slew of wikipages.

Most eligible wiki sites for building a WikiWheel:

My Favorite “Do Follow” Wiki Sites:

Wiki.zoho.com – Wiki.zoho.com is a great wiki site to use. Each user account on wiki.zoho is allotted two wiki pages for free, and it has a WYSIWYG editor (which makes adding content and links easy.) I found that the software was reliable and bug-free; plus, there are comprehensive permissions settings that allow you to restrict who can edit your page, while still allowing the public to view it. Embedded links are indeed followed, so be sure insert a link to your website. Keep in mind when using this wiki that your user name will be used as your URL— so don’t forget to use keywords in your account name when you sign up.

Wikidot – Wikidot is another wiki site where embedded links are followed. Like wiki.zoho, this site lets you choose your wiki site url and has a WYSIWYG editor format. It allows you to add tags so that your wiki may be more easily found by searches according to related keywords of your choice. Permissions let you restrict editing access without restricting viewing access to maximize public visibility. The user interface works but can be a little tricky to maneuver at first; tip: the “edit” button that allows you to add new content is on the bottom of your wiki page; the call to action here is quite subtle.

Pbworks – PBworks is another “do follow” wiki site. It allows you to choose your url and has a WYSIWYG editor. Adding images is slightly more challenging on this wiki, though, because there is no WYSIWYG icon that facilitates it. Permissions options are the same as wikidot and wiki.zoho—great! The user interface design is well done and makes it fast and easy to build a wiki. You can also add tags to categorize your wiki.

Metadot.net – This wiki is a beta version, but I’ve not encountered any problems or bugs when using it. The interface isn’t difficult to maneuver but also isn’t as clear and simple as some of the other wiki sites like PBworks. The WYSIWYG editor allows you to add images via a site URL, so you don’t have to go through downloading and uploading. It’s easy to place pictures to make the page look how you want it to. It also gives you the option of using H1-H6 which yields added SEO power if you use keywords in content headings. Again, this wiki follows embedded links, so be sure to link it to your homepage when you link up your wikiwheel.

My Favorite “NoFollow” Wiki Sites:

Wikispaces – Though this wiki site does not follow embedded links, it’s one of my favorites to use because of its great interface and reliable functionality; it is super-intuitive and user-friendly. Wikispaces auto-saves your work as you add content, lets you pick the site URL, provides a free 30 day trial for each registered account, and has a quick sign up process. It has a WYSIWYG editor, and the permissions let you keep the page public for viewing but locked for edits.

Wetpaint – Wetpaint is completely free to the public, but the permissions settings leaves page edits open to other Wetpaint writers. I love how fast and easy the sign up process is; you can sign in via your twitter, MSN live ID, or Facebook account. The modern interface design features a really simple toolbar for adding content and a great selection of built-in templates to style the appearance of your page. You can create your own URL and import images from anywhere on the web without worrying about copyright issues because it lets you insert the source URL.

Intodit – Intodit dubs itself the “easy wiki,” and it couldn’t be more true; the usability factor is top-notch, right up there alongside Wetpaint. When you select your URL you can use hyphens, which many wikis don’t permit. It allows you to enter tags for wiki pages and pictures, specify H1-H6 headings in the WYSIWYG editor, and insert all different types of media with the click of a button. Sign up is really fast and easy,– it doesn’t even require an email address confirmation. There’s a lock icon that you can select in the content section of your wiki , but I’m not certain if it prevents others from editing it.

Some other “nofollow” wiki sites that get indexed and are visible to everyone on the net are wikia, wikihost (uses its own markup language,) and wiki-site. If you want to find more wiki sites, check out wikimatrix.com, a huge online index of wikis where you can search based on desired features.

Finally, be sure the wiki sites you use to build your wikiwheel always have the following characteristics:
– Choose your own URL, especially with hyphens

– WYSIWYG editor/simple way to add content

– Add a link to the wiki; HTML is permitted if there’s no WYSIWYG editor; at the very least, a simple mark up language to permit easy link insertion.

– Permissions settings, preferably ones that allow you to lock page content so others can’t edit it but everyone can still view it; public visibility is really important

– Tags that let you label the content of the page with key terms are a nice bonus

– Don’t require you to download any application software; wiki page has its own server

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This guest blog post is written by Alexandra Stetson; Alex is an online marketing specialist at Fresh Tilled Soil, a Boston SEO company. You can follow her on Twitter for more link building and SEO related tips @marisol1986.

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Link Building With Nudges via SEOmoz

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April 13  |  Link Building  |   Ryan Clark

 

I really enjoyed Rand’s talk for this episode of Whiteboard Friday which goes into detail into something called nudges. Most of you by now are asking yourself, “what the heck are nudges?”. While I won’t go into much detail, I’ll let Will Critchlow do that for you since he kicked it all off.

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Link Building With Event Websites

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April 12  |  Link Building  |   Ryan Clark

I’ve finally got a useful post for you folks to go out and build some links for your business that will give you some extra link love. I’m a huge fan of finding an avenue that lets you build a few quality links and provide a future source of link acquisition for your company. Most businesses have some sort of event happening once or twice a year so why not utilize that to build some links? I’ve found a handful of choice websites that let you do just that, so make sure you think about these sites the next time you plan an event.

One of the clues some of you will pick up on to further your event marketing ideas is of course backlink research. I am providing you guys with an extensive list for marketing an event, so why not find the hidden gems I’m not blogging about? Where should I start you ask? Well I recommend heavily analyzing the link profiles for venues, especially the largest and most popular spots in your city. This should lead to a plethora of ideas for getting venue links so your can better position yourself within your niche.

The social event websites are all free and provide quite the service so make sure you do not waste their time by spamming these sites. Since it is quite business oriented you won’t be able to get away with much ill gotten behavior, so I’m comfortable dropping this fine list on you all. If anyone has a great event site that I missed, and would like to be listed, then drop your link off in the comments and I’ll get around to adding it when I have the time.

The Goods: Social Event Networks:

Thescene.com is a site you’ve most likely come across in your attempts to figure out what to do during any given weekend. The site is completely dedicated to events and the layout allows for an easy read, plenty of awesome content and will allow you to build some quality content. Your events and venue can have a page that does include a followed link back to your website. The key here is to hopefully have enough events and activity to stay indexed to keep that link juice coming.

UQevents.com is another superb looking event website that has just about every feature you’d want in a site like this and then some. This event site is quite active and the interface for setting up an event is very easy, so there is no excuse for not taking advantage of this site. You as well get a followed link back to your venue or event so it makes sense to re-use this site in the future and build up a strong account. I personally love the way this site is designed and functioning, and personally use it on a weekly basis to grab my local events.

Yahoo’s own Upcoming section has been kicking for a long while now and is a highly traffic’d web application they’ve got going on over there. The system is quite user friendly, interacts with your Yahoo account which everyone should have by now…if you don’t, where have you been? If you are the venue owner and haven’t included your location here then get your ass in gear. You can grab followed links to your venue and event within the listing which is bloody killer knowing where that link is coming from. Keep in mind event listings might not stay there forever, or even indexed, so the venue itself will get more value out of this site.

Going.com is one of the hottest looking event sites on the market with all the bells and whistles of a social network. Did I mention they also have a very active iPhone application? To top it all off events and venues can and will get the benefit of the followed link on your listings page. Going gets a good amount of traffic according to Alexa, but I imagine that`s not even coming close when you factor in the mobile application and RSS subscribers.

When.com is another slick and easy to use event platform that has some sort of relation to Going.com. I say this because of some linking they have going on, as well as their platforms both seem to be the same CMS, or at least a spin off of it. When.com provides all the usual goodies that are the same as the other sites which includes followed links, social media tools and a decent sized user base.  I didn’t see a mobile application for the events and they did appear to have some widgets you can use, but the link was 404ing at the time of me writing this post.

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Resources:

More Event Sites:

– http://www.scenepeek.com
– http://eventful.com
– http://www.eventsbot.com
– http://zvents.com
– http://youreventhub.com
– http://explocity.com
– http://culturemob.com
– http://www.clubplanet.com

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Ultra Advanced Link Building Services From Linkbuildr

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April 1  |  News  |   Ryan Clark

Hey folks! I have been slow to update lately as it has been crazy busy, but I’ve managed to get a hold of everything and simmer it down. We do have a few new services out for our future clients to go over, and they’re reserved only for the best of the best! It has been a while since we’ve introduced new link building services into the mix so let me know what you guys think about this.

Keep in mind these services are for the elite and advanced webmaster in mind. Those who want to dominate Google so hard that it runs home crying to Al Gore. These link building techniques are so elite that I had threats on my life just from publicly revealing them to my clients. Check out each option that we are now offering below,  and hopefully it results in nothing short of blowing your mind!

Reciprocal Link Building:

This method is just ripe for the picking! We will go out and exchange links with over 1000 websites so you don’t have to. That isn’t the best aspect of these services either folks, can you guess what is? We will rush your order and make sure you have 1000 exchanged links within 24 hours! I will even email Google personally to let them know that I’ve just got your 1000 recip links up on the board!

Price: $25,000 USD per Month

Xrumer Services:


If you run a business online you need links right? Well how does 200,000 links across the hottest foreign forums, blog comments and guest books sound to you? Our Xrumer services will blast your website to the top of the search engines…but only for a day. We request that our clients get an Xrumer blast to 200,000 sites many times a month to make sure you’re pleasing Google.

Price: $10,000 USD per month

Paid Links:


We all know Google loves links right? Well we can now buy links for you across all sorts of sites ranging from Gambling, Porn and White Power websites which will give you that extra boost. It doesn’t really matter where these links are coming from so we can buy you an endless amount of them providing you have the funds. Why bother building a natural link when you can pay for them? When I’m right I’m right eh folks?

Price: $50,000 USD per month

So there you have it folks, brand new services for April 1st from the fine folks at Linkbuildr. We asked Matt Cutts what he thought about these advanced link building services and he was so in awe, so shocked, so turned on by what we had to present that he was speechless. The only response we could get out of him while he sat there with his mind just totally blown;

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Site Finder From Raven SEO Tools

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March 18  |  Link Building Tools  |   Ryan Clark

 

Here’s another cool feature displayed out on video for your low attention span folks like myself. I cannot stress the importance of management in any long term or large linking campaigns. There are few tools out there for this, and I’ve yet to see something public that matches Raven’s setup. This will give you a clear idea of how you can track links, find new link targets based on a quality score and then keep that data for future analysis in your Raven site profile. To see more features of of this awesome software check out my Raven SEO Link Building Management page.

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Business.com Coupons

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March 15  |  Link Directories  |   Ryan Clark

Business.com Coupons:

– RTD50 gets you $50 off the regular price of a yearly inclusion in into the Business.com Directory.

– DIBUY3 will get you a 3 for 1 directory listing discount if you have a few sites to get in here at once.


Business.com DirectoryI’ve been meaning to get some more resources and information up for the Business.com Directory that will save you money. I’ve scoured the web to create a list of the latest working Business.com coupons that provide some sort of ease on your wallet this year. For those of you that know the value of these links read on, and the rest of you can hear me out as to why I get all my clients listed here.

When determining if a website is a good link acquisition I take a look at a few factors to keep up the quality level. These should already be stored in your brain’s database, so if not I’ll put them out there for the folks new to all this link confusion. I use a little well know tool called SEO Quake to handle my ninja-like quality scoring factors, mainly because it’s free, quick and easy. I know PageRank is a hard quality factor these days, but there is still room for measure. I like to take anything with a PageRank of 4 or higher with some serious consideration.

Ok, so we know that PageRank isn’t the end all here. I specifically take a look at few different factors when it comes to wanting a link from a target website. My factors are age, indexing, link profile and relativity to your own niche and or business. A domain with some sort of credible history of being indexed and a legit site goes a long way towards making my brain feel at ease. Everyone who reads this blog should know by now to be peering into their links at least with the SEO Quake toolbar. I ran them through Link Diagnosis for everyone to have a look at because this is a site that has a lot of link authority.  Keep in mind this Business.com link profile isn’t their entire set, but a good indication that they pack a powerful link punch.

The next factor in the equation is the Alexa rank and how well indexed the site is. With over 65,000 categories boasted in the above picture, I see that they have over 66,000 indexed pages in Google. Just to sweeten the deal they have over 133,000 index in Bing, and Yahoo with just over 347,000 indexed pages. You never have to worry about your link going out of the SERPs, so it is money well spent. Passing the quality inspection required to get into the Business.com directory means that the results are trusted. They have built their entire business on quality so naturally the link authority followed.

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Wil Reynolds Speaking At The Capterra Conference

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March 8  |  Link Building  |   Ryan Clark

I’m a huge fan of Wil Reynold’s work both on and off camera which hopefully doesn’t sound as weird out loud as it does typing it… Wil always has something new and unique to say which is why I’m reposting this video here to you folks even though he’s already blogged about it. This is a short six minute video that has more link building tips in it for businesses than most blogs I’ve seen on the topic. I won’t spoil the juicy morsels of information shared in here so you’ll just have to watch it yourself. I don’t know how Wil had the time to get so damn good at public speaking, perhaps I need to get out of my link building dungeon a little more!

 

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Connecting and Link Building With Screept.com

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February 24  |  Link Building  |   Ryan Clark

One of my favorite aspects about building a business and connecting in a web 2.0 world is the ability to get links while doing so. There are so many niche social networks and web platforms that allow you to take advantage of this. I don’t like listing sites to the public that often mainly because the abuse that follows in the link building world. So my intentions here are to showcase how Screept is a great place to connect with fellow site owners and programmers. I couldn’t honestly tell you what my profession title actually is…webmaster, link builder, ecommerce manager….ugh.

I’ve just started playing around on Screept and one of the lead developers is very active on there and provided me with a nice and warm welcome. You can never really have enough programmer friends when you’re in the online marketing game, and connecting with on the ball developers is just a bonus. If you do fall under the category of a legit user and do sign up to Screept, make sure you find me on there and add me as a friend.

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