Link Building Post Penguin. SEO In a Penguin filled world.

Link Building
Post Penguin
SMX Sydney
Phill Ohren
@PhillOhren

OMX Sydney 2013 @Phillohren @Mindshare_APAC2
It‟s all about
relationships.
Image Source :mistybluer.blogspot.com

Love.
Source: Wikipedia CC
It was free
in the 60‟s

Today, finding
relationships
is much harder.
Source: Photo Bucket CC
Link Building is the same.

Agenda: „Link’ Building Post Penguin
1. How did we get here? Quick recap on Algorithm history.
2. Understanding Penguins: Facts & Theory.
3. Does Penguin Affect You?
4. Post Penguin Tools: Tips and Advice
5. Link Building Post Penguin: Thought starters, Tips & Tools.
6. Key Takeaways
SMX Sydney
Help you to uncover new SEO opportunities moving forwards.

Algorithm Evolution
To understand the need for Penguin,
we need to understand how the algorithm evolved.

The search mission statement…
Algorithm Evolution
Organize the world's information and
make it universally accessible
and useful.

2003-2006: Big, silo updates around fundamentals…
A clumsy index…
• Florida: 90‟s tactics
• Nofollow: clean up „unvouched‟ links
• Allegra: Latent Semantic Indexing
• Bourbon: duplicate content
Algorithm Evolution
8
Source: SEOmoz
Big updates, tackled the most pressing issues.
Number of Releases: 1 each
OMX Sydney 2013 @Phillohren @Mindshare_APAC

2008-2010: Lots of dynamic infrastructure updates…
Content became very diverse…
• Caffeine: speed indexing (scalable).
• Real-time: content indexing.
• Social Signals: Twitter & Facebook.
• May Day: long-tail thin content.
Algorithm Evolution
9
Source: SEOmoz
Enabled a more scalable and diverse index; a solid platform to build on.
Number of Releases: 1 each

>2011 Onwards: Algorithm or Relationship Verification?
Algorithm Evolution
10
Source: SEOmoz
WHAT?
WHY?
WHERE?
WHO?
WHEN?
HOW?
Provides Google with a clearer picture in regards to a websites purpose.
Number of Releases: Constant
Each new update uncovers a new signal…
• Panda: content quality.
• Knowledge Graph: info aggregation.
• Penguin: over optimisation.
• Authorship: who said what.
• Freshness: time sensitive content.

Relationships: No longer just an <a> tag…
Both internal & external
relationships are visible.
11
Image Source: SocialMediaBlend.com
Relationship analysis is helping Google to better organise data.
Algorithm Evolution

Commbank.
Perfectly organised…
12
Social Media
Local Assets
Brand Assets
News
Google understands Commbank’s assets and multiple user paths.

Understanding
Penguin

Penguin Update;
Designed to target solely
webspam.
Not SEO‟s.
Source: Search Engine Land.
& Matt Cutts

Problem: The majority of SEO’s were „spammy‟…
• Buying links
• Building shallow content
• Targeting high PR sites
• Content syndication
• Sitewide link building
• Heavy non-brand focus
• Stuffed attributes
Understanding Penguins
Anyone hit by Penguin was deemed to be spamming Google.

Penguin: Focuses on 4 key areas decipher relationships…
Algorithm Evolution
Source: SEOmoz
Site Link Factors
Anchor
Text
Link
Source
/ Ease
Count
Over
Time
Keyword
Stuffed
Attributes
: Lexical
Co-occurrence
(Ratio)
Known
link
networks.
Helps build a picture of a websites link profile in relation to the market.

Example: It is easy to spot an over-optimised portfolio…
Algorithm Evolution
Source: SEJ
75% of its inbound links are divided into 4
separate anchor texts.
This anchor text distribution is much
more diversified
Credit Cards
Best Credit Cards
Compare
Credit Cards
Credit Card
BRAND
BRAND Credit Card
Most of us are guilty of this type of link building in the past.
Bad Link Portfolio Good Link Portfolio

Data Points: Think about it, Google knows heaps!
Algorithm Evolution
The new Disavow function enables Google to see the links
WE think are spam too.
And now… User Generated
Link Reporting…

Does Penguin Affect You?

„The objective is not to
make your links appear
natural;‟
„The objective is that your
links are natural.‟
- Matt Cutts
Source & Image: Matt Cutts

Despite everything:
Spam still works in Australia...
But for how long?
Source: Google Jan 2013

Portent Study: Shows tolerance to spam declining…
Top 50 Websites in the INC
5000 list analysed.
Initially, websites were penalized
which had more than 80%
manipulative links.
Over a series of months, spam
tolerance decreased to just 50%.
http://www.portent.com/blog/seo/free-report-a-
changing-standard-for-seo-spam.htm
Google is just warming up.
So there’s no “safe” amount of manipulative links in your profile.

Catch 22: Do you manage your links or not?
Failure to act may work.
But for how long?
It’s better to start managing
your portfolio now.
Not all websites were
affected by Penguin.
But, websites further up
the link funnel have.

Manage Link Profiles: Get all the data you can…
Compare yourself to competitors. Determine your Brand : Non-Brand Split.
Ask yourself, are these links useful to users?

Manage Link Profiles: Reallocate LB resources…
Remove / NoFollow all the
links you obtained by….
• Paying someone other than a charity or
Foundation
• Using any tool with “amazing,” “super,”
“crusher” or any other
• Which add no value to their site
• Writing the same article 100,000 times
• Widgets
• Advertorials
Source: Portent.com & Google Help
B: Last Resort:
A: First:
Request Removal / Reconfigure

Post Penguin Tools

PanguinTool.com: Find out what hit you...
• Useful for agencies, clients & individuals.
• Should be used a your first port of call. Source: Barracuda Digital
Tools & Processes
Content or Link Penalty?
Helps you determine the route causes of past declines.

Semi-Automated Link Management: LinkDetox
28
Link Building Post Penguin
Source: SEJ, LinkDetox
Semi automated link profile management. Saves time on initial research.
Still requires your manual input.

NetComber: Determine hidden website relationships…
29
Its main purpose is to
expose website
relationships via
commonalities.
The idea is good.
However it is still in beta.
This data can help you understand how your site is perceived, but also
uncover insights regarding your competitors relationships.

Link Building
30
Post Penguin

31
Source & Image: SEOmoz
“I am really getting the
sense that what Google
is trying to say is,
„Stop link building and
start link earning."
- Rand Fishkin

Anchor Text Rule of Thumb: There is no golden rule…
32
Look at the current market
leaders. This is your best guide.
Aim for better!
For natural link building moving
forward, aim for:
• 60% branded,
• 20% non-brand,
• 20% on-topic / generic.
Source: Blueglass.com/blog/link-building-post-penguin/
Don’t cut corners. Spend time learning and analysing your market.
BRAND
BRAND Credit Card

„Genuine‟ Guest Blogging:
Identify Key Influencers.
Form relationships.
Find those really, really niche
bloggers / communities and engage
with them.
Do not worry about links.
33
Integrate your efforts with Media,
PR & Social Teams.

High Value Content: Earn links directly with content…
Quality content ticks the Panda box...
High value content earns links,
likes, engagement & shares over time.
Perform a gap analysis.
Compare your content
to the market.
34
Think for the user first, long-term content strategies work best.

35 OMX Sydney 2013 @Phillohren @Mindshare_APAC

Stuck for ideas?
Engage creative & PR teams. Work with them.
Explain what you are trying to achieve.

Creative Commons: Enable people to use your content…
40
All natural, legal and best of all you are giving back to your audience.
Creative commons is fantastic.
It‟s free & easy to setup.
CreativeCommons.org.au
Share, Remix, Reuse — Legally
Creative Commons works to increase sharing,
collaboration and innovation worldwide.
Attribution

Links That Drive Traffic:
1. Community participation
2. Editorial Quotes
3. PR stunts
4. Controversy
5. CEO Speeches Annual reports
6. Brand Activations
7. Host Events / Meetups
8. Calculators / Tools
9. Embeddable Video
10. Content Curation!
41
Work with Business Development, Creative, PR, Activation, Events & Legal
teams. They are probably doing this type of activity already.

Seed That Content: Start some ripples…
42
Organically, this activity will eventually lead to comments, links & shares.
Use your Owned
assets and Earned
relationships to
seed your content.

Seed That Content: Let links be the by-product…
Paid media helps get your
content to your audience.
Starting the conversion
journey.
Creating engagement,
likes, tweets & links.
43
Paid media activity will eventually lead to organic comments, links & shares.

Advertorials:
Be transparent…
44
Advertorials are
paid links.
NoFollow them. It’s still a
valuable relationship as it
drives traffic.
Keep tabs on other people
in your business.
Like the Interflora example, getting this wrong can be costly to traffic.

Identify Social Influencers: Engage them…
Darren has the potential
to influence 127,000
users search results
directly via G+ alone.
Influencers are on multiple
platforms.
45
Profile your users.
Build relationships.
Ask them to share your
content

Invite Authors In:
Partner with them on-site…
46
Google follows Authors.
Their respect can be
attributed to your
website.
Partner with them.
Consider a content series.
Link to their G+ profile.
Add credibility to your content through the recognition of credible authors.

Partner Up: Link, just don’t be abusive…
47
If you have a non-financial
partner, by all means links
to them.
Stay away from non-brand
keywords. Stick to brand or
domain citations.
Links like this become worthless in the long-run.

It‟s all genuine about
relationships.
Image Source :mistybluer.blogspot.com

Key Takeaways:
1. Build real relationships!
2. Manage your link profile monthly.
3. Focus on engaging influencers.
4. Rethink your content strategy, go for value.
5. Don’t stress about new links. Be natural.
6. Integrate with wider media activity.

Any Questions?
Thank you.
Phillip Ohren
Senior SEO
@PhillOhren

Link Building Post Penguin. SEO In a Penguin filled world.

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