3 Penguin Proof Link AND Business Building Strategies by Thom Disch

3 PENGUIN-PROOF

LINK

BUSINESS BUILDING

STRATEGIES

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Thom Disch

HandiRamp

@ThomDisch

#SMX #11B

October 1, 2013

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Thom DischCEOwww.handiramp.comwww.stoptheslip.comtdisch@handiramp.com847-247-2350

2#SMX #11B @thomdisch

http://www.handiramp.com/

http://www.stoptheslip.com/

mailto:[email protected]

Who can clearly explain a penguin penalty?

How many people here have seen penguin penalties negatively impact their website(s)?

Who has a competitor that is violating “penguin rules” but still sees that competitor ranking well in the SERPs?

@thomdisch 3#SMX #11B

Links are the currency of the search engines Getting links is hard work Google wants you to get links without trying

to get links

Natural Linking

Link building is discouraged

Scary

Even negative


I’m not going to clear up any of the confusion I’m not going to give you any new insights

into Google I’m not going to bring you any fairy dust to

make your site rank better

. . . I save all the fairy dust for my own sites.


I am going to share with you three content creation strategies that have generated “natural” links for us We get links from dot orgs We get links from dot govs We even get links from our competitors

Including three examples of how we have implemented these strategies

Finally, I am going to give you one Google approved “trick” that will provide you with the easiest link (maybe links) you will ever obtain.


@thomdisch 7

What does Google want?

Because it benefits them in some way Money

Why will someone link to your site?

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@thomdisch 8


How does Google want

the algorithm to work?

To provide the best user experience

possible

Because it benefits them in some way

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@thomdisch 9





possible


In Sync

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?

@thomdisch 10





possible


Conflict

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?

Link exchanges / link networks Paid links

Links from advertising

Links in exchange for anything of value

Unrelated content links Blog posting spam Article and Press Release spamming


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1) Develop

Strategy

(Market Need)

2) Create

Compelling

Content

3) Promote

Content

Your Market

What makes your company great?


Pray

Final Step

When ever I’ve gone to conferences I always get a lot of theory and not enough real world examples

Here are three examples of how we applied this to our link building program


web development / marketingprogram

HandiRamp is a manufacturer and distributor of products serving three primary markets Wheelchair ramps and lifts for people with disabilities

B2C home needs; B2B meeting ADA regulations

Ramps for material handling needs B2B providing solutions to material handling challenges like yard

ramps, dockboards, etc

Non slip safety treads and nosings New product introduction and awareness

B2B and B2C providing a unique solution to slip and fall risks


I will show you a strategy for each of these very different markets

1) What does our disability market need?

Wheelchair ramps and lifts for people with disabilities

Insurance does not pay for any home modifications

Many people call us without any financial resources to pay for our products

These are people in need but they are not prospective customers

Ultimately these individuals need a donation


2) Create compelling content to serve that need

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When setting up a Google alert to find prospective projects we discovered news stories on organizations that have volunteers who build ramps for free for people in need

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The problem was that these articles were only available for a few weeks and then they were gone.

No directory is kept of organizations that are doing this

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So we started collecting these news stories and from the results we created a directory of these organizations.

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3) Make people aware of that content

We sent out a press release, and

Did an email blast to about 4000 not-for-profits, community service organizations and government agencies


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Our Webmaster Tools account has more than double the count shown here

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What does your company know better than anyone else

Become the published expert in an area that is important to your market

That information needs to be unique

Publish that content on your website


HandiRamp is the largest retailer of yard ramps in the world

We are the experts in this category

We do everything from selling new yard ramps to reselling used ramps to renting and leasing yard ramps


1) What does our material handling market need? Information relating to buying, renting and using a

yard ramp Our sales people are generating content every day

When they communicate with customers

Capture this content by using a blind email address

We as a company benefit by being perceived as the experts

The “Made in the USA” opportunity


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2) Create content that meets that need

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www.HandiRamp.com/yardramps/

http://www.handiramp.com/yardramps/

http://www.handiramp.com/yardramps/

The enemy of my enemy is my friend

One competitor has started to import an inferior ramp from China that can be sold for about 20% less than USA products

The “Made in the USA” opportunity

Plays into a positive market image

By reaching out to the other competitors and distributors I have been able to obtain links to this one page from our competition


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3) Make people aware of that content

We sent out a press release to manufacturing associations

Email blast to about 800 of our dealers and support organizations regarding the Yard Ramp Knowledge Base

Called the people who have a similar concern about an imported yard ramp threat

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We are kicking off the

StopTheSlip.com project

as a part of this presentation


So you actually get to see how the sausage is made

1a) What is the “Market Need”?

Reduce slip and fall injuries

Increased awareness of the problem



Slips and falls cause over 20,000 deaths in the USA annually.Source: Center for Disease Control

Slips and falls are the 7th leading cause of death in the USA.Source: National Safety Council

Slips and falls kill 5 times as many people as the flu does every year.Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics


Slips and Falls are the number one reason people visit the emergency room.Source: Center for Disease Control

95 million workdays are lost due to slip and fall accidents every year. Source: Liberty Mutual Insurance

59% of all general liability claims in 2012 were for slips, trips and falls.Source: CNA Claims Processing Data

1b) What can HandiRamp do to fix the problem?

Developed an improved solution to the slip and fall problem

Web Development Project

Increase awareness of the problem

Give participants the opportunity to solve a problem (for free)


Consumers submit videos of the worst slip and fall location they have experienced

This can be for any public place, government office, library, park district trail, even a condo association

We will fix a problem

Once every 90 days we will select the five best slip and fall projects. Then we will let the public vote on which problem Handi Treads will fix for free.


StopTheSlip.com

Where do you look for this link?

It is already on your site


Go to your Google Webmaster Tools account Click Crawl


Click Crawl Errors Click on Not Found


Click on a specific 404 error


Click on “Linked from”


If internal fix link; If external reach out to the webmaster and ask them to fix the error.


If you can’t get the webmaster to fix it you can always create a page and 301 it to the appropriate page

If internal fix link; if external reach out to the webmaster and ask them to fix the error.

Every 404 leaks link juice off of your site.


Thom DischCEOwww.handiramp.comwww.stoptheslip.comtdisch@handiramp.com847-247-2350

44#SMX #11B @thomdisch

http://www.handiramp.com/

http://www.stoptheslip.com/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.slideshare.net/SearchMarketingExpo

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3 Penguin Proof Link AND Business Building Strategies by Thom Disch

Business

Transcript of 3 Penguin Proof Link AND Business Building Strategies by Thom Disch