The Good, The Not So Bad, & The Ugly | Link Building
Posted by Michael Herman
Link building is a whole other world. You can spend hours and hours building links every day for years, and there will still be opportunities to build. The internet is such a vast breeding ground for brands, that every blog, every blog network, every business listing, and every article directory in the World Wide Web, has probably been scoped out for a business opportunity at some point. This is why it is so important, especially with Google’s eyes on you, to focus on how VALUABLE a link will be to YOUR business.
THE GOOD.
You want link juice. You want to show up on those Search Engine Results Pages as the number one for your carefully chosen keywords. Several forums and blogs in SEO will preach that DoFollow links are the only worthwhile kind of link for your website. They believe that if a link doesn’t help you climb the Google ladder, it isn’t worth your time.
We can’t deny that these types of links are the best. Especially if you can get a DoFollow link on a website with great page rank, great domain authority, and a reasonably low amount of other outbound links (wish we came by those every day). Also, Google rewards the amount of relevance the page or blog linking to you has with your site, which makes DoFollow links on NICHE sites so very valuable. While we do agree that these links are the best for search results, we can’t say that NoFollow links don’t hold their own value.
THE NOT SO BAD.
I think it is about time we address this little thing called Traffic. Some people seem to think that the ONLY valuable links are the ones with link juice, and that’s because they are the ones that can climb your company up on Google. Today's Valuable Lesson: Search Engines are NOT the only channels for Traffic.
How many times have you clicked on a link from a website you were on. Did you go to Google first to examine what that link would maybe lead you to before clicking on it? How many times have you read news from your favorite news site or a new story from your favorite blogger and clicked on a link they suggested? It's because you trust their expert opinion! It happens! People don’t always find what they need through search engines! The more opportunities you have out there to increase TRAFFIC to your website, the more TRAFFIC you will GET to your website. That’s why I have to defend the poor, shunned NoFollow links. They do their job. They just do it differently.
THE UGLY.
Link farms. This is why you really want to trust the company who is doing your SEO. Someone can promise you links, physically show you the links exist, and never tell you that they are actually hurting your website. This can be anything from an article directory that accepts all content without reviewing it, to a website that allows you to submit whatever links you want in as many different forms so that you can for purposes of getting higher on the search engines. That’s not natural, and Google isn’t dumb. They have the USER of the search engines in mind. They want their searchers to find the most valuable information they need when they search for a specific keyword. That’s why Google respects ORGANIC and NATURAL links. They want the people who link to you, to really be endorsing your company or brand.
Besides, if you get to a domain page, and it has NO page rank, and no authority domains linking to it, what SEO value are you going to get from that? The theory is that Google divides the total link juice of the domain website by how many outbound links it refers, and then passes that fraction of link juice onto them equally. If there is not juice to start with, how can you pour the rest a glass? An even BIGGER mistake is if you put a link to one of those Link Farms on your website. Google will punish you for that. Don’t be a partner in crime.
The good news is, at Digital Street Inc., you can trust we only practice White Hat SEO. We will make your links matter. They will be valuable, they will be respected by Google, and they will bring you the right kind of traffic. We know you have a great product/service, it is all a matter of making it available to the right people, in the right place- right where they would be searching for it. An optimized website and strategic links will open the doors.
Business Schools Adding Social Media To Curriculum
Posted by Michael Herman
The NY Times has an interesting piece today related to social media. The top business schools in the world are quickly adding social media to their MBA programs.
Students entering university studies today have grown up with access to computers and the Internet and have years of experience in using online social networks to make connections and share information. Now that businesses are realizing the commercial potential of these social media networks, the universities need to teach their students how to turn their knowledge of these new media channels to profitable use, Mr. Salcito said.
“Just as we saw with digital — with things like creating Web sites or Web-based business — there is a need for immediate transformation in the educational environment,” to keep pace with these fast-emerging developments in the business world, he said.
This is a great thing. Students who leave school well versed in social media are going to have a huge advantage when they enter the business world as compared to those who don't.
Social Media Is Not An Exact Science
Posted by Michael Herman
The brave new world of social media marketing has old school marketing firms struggling to adapt. Conventional wisdom has been turned on its head and the old rules and best practices for "what works" is now a constantly moving goal post. You can write out a detailed social media marketing plan for a company that sounds great on paper, but once it's put into practice it may not be worth the paper it's printed on. That kind of uncertainty scares the heck out of the old guard who likes a sure thing and whose clients demand nothing less.
Social Media is not something that lends itself to a one size fits all approach. What works great with one company may have no effect whatsoever with a different brand or company. Every brand or product has an audience that's waiting to be engaged and the trick is to find out how and where they prefer the engagement to take place. Some brands work better on Facebook than on Twitter. Some find great success with both --- or neither.
What business owners and marketing firms need to realize is that social media is dynamic and constantly changing. A good social media marketing campaign must be monitored continuously and tweaked when necessary. When you try something and it doesn't work out you need to immediately pivot and try a different approach.
Be wary of any firm that guarantees outcomes using a particular method. Unless they have an uncanny ability to see into the future, they couldn't possibly guarantee that. We can guarantee you results, but we cannot guarantee what will ultimately get those results.
Video: Stats On The State Of The Internet
Posted by Michael Herman
JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.
Video SEO Tips From Truveo
Posted by Michael Herman
Here are some video search engine optimization tips from Dr. Pete Kocks, President of Truveo and VP at AOL Video:
(hat tip ReelSEO)
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