2. SEO linkbuilding 101
If you’re a small business owner or a business of one, chances are
you’ve discovered the importance of using the Internet to build
your brand and connect with the right consumers.
Any web presence you can build for your business is valuable. That could be a standalone website, Twitter account,
Facebook page, or even a presence on Instagram or some other up-and-coming social platform. But you can increase
the value of your web presence by optimizing your pages for search with SEO backlinks and SEO articles.
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3. SEO backlinks en SEO articles
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you
you
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SEO backlinks and SEO articles
show search engines that your
pages or sites are offering valuable
information. By linking to other
relevant content, you’re inserting
you and your brand in to the larger
online conversation and showing
that you’re there to be a real service
to people rather than a spam site.
If you want to use SEO backlinks,
SEO articles, and other tools to raise
awareness about your brands, you
need to go in with a plan. And as
with every plan, you need to start
by learning the basics. The following
guide will give you the tools to create
a solid web presence that pushes
you toward the front page of desired
search results and connects you
with the customers that need you
the most.
4. What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine
optimization. When you apply
SEO to your website or other
digital presence, you’re helping
it get closer to the top of a search
engine results page.
When someone goes to Google
and searches best housepainters in
Kentucky, Google uses a complex
algorithm to fetch content that it
thinks will be helpful to the person
doing the search. Google analyzes
how closely the content maps back to
the original search request in myriad
of ways.
One way it does this is by studying the
retrieved content to see how closely
it relates to the words in the original
search. Another way it does this is by
examining the links within the text,
as well as other articles that link to
the piece of content, to see how
useful it’s been to other content
creators.
So anyone can build a website and
push it live, but if you want your
website to show up in search results,
you need to have an SEO plan.
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5. Start Creating Content
In a story by Eric Enge on Search Engine Watch,
the author notes that Google is cracking down
on spammy, black-hat linkbuilding practices
(example: sending out a digital press release
riddled with backlinks that all take a reader
back to your site). However, he says linkbuilding
isn’t “dead” or “illegal,” as some have recently
proclaimed. Rather, he says the best way to
build links and rise in search rankings is to
create great content, both on and off your site,
and to promote it on social media.
The next step is coming up with a smart content
plan. That means regularly creating articles or
other interesting items that are meant for sharing
and useful to your customers.
website
social media
plan blog
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6. You may be thinking... The answer would be:
But I run a high-end A lot!
bakery in Kentucky. What do
If you’re a high-end baker, create regular blog posts
where you show off the creations you made that week.
Offer occasional how-to’s that allow people to make pies,
pastries, and killer coconut frosting in the comfort of
their own home. You can even attempt to become a guest
blogger on another pastry-related site and create content
for them. All of this gets your name out there, which is
helpful when an Internet user goes to Google to find the
best high-end bakeries in Kentucky.
In Neil Patel and Brian Dean’s The Advanced Guide to
Linkbuilding, the duo note that guest blogging on other
platforms is just as helpful as having content on your own
site. So look for other online outlets where you can write
about your brand, business, or industry. And of course,
be sure to return the favor by allowing others to guest blog
on your site.
This will boost both of your search rankings.
I have to blog about?
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7. Being Smart About SEO
Backlinks and Anchor text
Dropping SEO backlinks throughout your content is going to be the way to
get noticed in search results. However, Google watches the way you link,
and if it looks like you’re linking too much, it may think you’re trying to
game its algorithm to get a quick bump in search results. Those can lead
to some annoying penalties, like not showing up in search rankings at all,
so you definitely want to avoid that.
Obviously you’re going to want to include links in whatever content you
create. These links will help other business owners, get you noticed, and
maybe even earn you some mentions. However, you need to know the
correct way of doing this.
In their guide, Petel and Dean point to Majestic SEO as a tool that can help
you determine how well your SEO backlinks are working, particularly in terms
of the anchor text you’re using. If you don’t know already, anchor text is the
word or words that you link within an article.
SEO backlink
SEO backlink
Anchor text
SEO backlink
linktext
link
link
text
link
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text
Anchor text
SEO backlink
SEO backlink
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SEO backlink
SEO backlink
My website
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8. The website OnlineMetrics divides the type of anchor text into five categories:
In this case, if you were looking to optimize the term wedding cake your content
would contain this exact term, along with a link.
Using the above term, a partial match might be chocolate wedding cake, best
wedding cake, or wedding cake in Kentucky. Basically any variation on the term
you’re searching for will qualify as a partial match.
This is anchor text that contains the name of your business or website (in most
cases, these two things will be identical). So if your website is JuliesCakes.com,
including that full URL in an article and linking it would be considered a branded match.
This is when the anchor text is thematically close to you’re the term you’re looking
to optimize. So if the terms were wedding cake, wedding desserts or special event
cake, they would be related matches.
This is when your anchor text only makes sense in the context of your article.
For instance, take the following sample sentence. “This website tells you how to
decide on a wedding cake that will thrill your guests.” If you link the first words of the
sentence (“this website”) to a site that talks about wedding cakes, it makes sense
in the context of the article. Google likes to see this, as it believes that your site is
being helpful. The lack of a brand mention or SEO keyword is a nice switch up.
Exact match
Partial match
Branded match
Related match
No match
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9. Be Helpful!
The number one rule when building links and
creating content: be helpful!
Google rewards websites that organically help
consumers. So when you sit down to write content,
raising your SEO ranking should always be your
second priority.
Your first: being a helpful content producer and
businessperson.
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