www.perfectsearchmedia.com

1. Link Building in 2013
Greg Walker
Perfect Search Media
www.Perfectsearchmedia.com

2. Previously in 2012
 Google launches algorithm update Penguin(1)
 Targeted sites who made use of black-hat SEO
 Keyword stuffing
 Cloaking
 Link Schemes
 Duplicate Content
 Anything Google determines as ‘unnatural link building tactics’
Full list of Google Webmaster Guidelines:
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769&topic=1724121&ctx=
topic
Because of this, many sites who had previously participated in various link building techniques
began to see their rankings decrease.
To help sites who felt that they had been wrongly punished, Google added the Disavow Tool

3. But what determines a bad link?
 Google doesn’t care for:
 Paid links: Links you have paid to put up on a site. Recall what
happened with JC Penney.
 Link Farms
 Link Circles
 Examples of unnatural links(7):
 A link on a site that is not relevant
 High number of links from just a handful of sites
 Links coming from shady sites
 Mass directory submissions outside of site’s vertical

4. Ways to find a site’s bad links
 Ways to find bad links:
 Open Site Explorer http://www.opensiteexplorer.org
 Link Detox http://www.linkdetox.com/
 Google Webmaster Tools
 Compare backlinks to competitor’s backlinks

5. So are there good links?
 Sure are! But the ones that are going to help the most, you’re
probably going to have to work for.
 Such as…(2)
 Niche Directories: These are quality directories which are
indexed. Paid directories may produce a higher value as this
weeds out spam. Just make sure it is relevant to the company
 Local Business Groups aka Local Links: BBB, Chamber of
Commerce, radio stations, local news, etc. all offer great links
and help promote your business.
 Charities/Non profits: Donate to a charity and you could receive a
link from their site. This could also help a business’ reputation as
well.

6. Additional strategies
 Guest Blogging (3): The internet seems to agree that guest
blogging is only going to become more and more popular.
With guest blogging, you want to get your content and
backlink on to an external site.
 Find a relevant site
 Unique content
 500 words minimum
 Try reaching out via social media to secure this

7. Additional strategies
 Social Media(4): While most social media site’s links are
nofollow, it doesn’t mean that it won’t turn into an SEO asset
in the future
 Social shares are a great way to drive traffic
 Press Releases(5): Quality press releases with newsworthy
content which include backlinks could produce links on
various domains if the press release is picked up elsewhere
 Blog comments(6): Comment on a relevant blog if you have
something useful to say

8. Link Earning, not Link Building(6)
 Earn your site links based on your content, not because you
had to go out and get those links
 You want to be linked from places where there is an actual
audience that will see your link and click to visit
 Contacting relevant businesses who may have a resources
section to add your site
 Infographics
 Videos

9. Time for an infographic..
 Because of course it is: http://www.stateofsearch.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/05/10-commandments-linkbuilding.jpg

10. Resources
 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Penguin
 2: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2233495/Link-Building-
the-Right-Way-in-2013
 3: http://seobuzzworld.com/5-tips-and-techniques-for-link-
building-2013/
 4: http://www.toprankblog.com/2012/07/social-media-links/
 5: http://www.toprankblog.com/2012/08/link-building-marketing-
pr/
 6: http://searchengineland.com/link-building-means-earning-
hard-links-not-easy-links-123767
 7: http://searchengineland.com/can-there-really-be-85-types-of-
unnatural-links-120328