Why Links Matter to Small Businesses & How to Get Them

Why Links Matter to
Small Businesses
& How to Get Them

Kane Jamison of
Hood Web Management
For more presentations and speaking info please visit
http://www.hoodwebmanagement.com/speaking/

Intro

Today we're going to focus on:

Quick Intro – How Google & SEO Works

Part 1 – Link Building Concepts:
 How links are like a popularity contest

 What makes a link “good”

 Best practices when building links

Part 2 – How to Build Links:
 Methods that every small business can

use to build links to their site

Why Links Matter to Small Businesses & How to Get Them Kane Jamison of Hood Web Management

Intro – How Google & SEO Works
First, Let's Clarify How Google Works:

Speaking broadly, Google places value on two things:

Content on your site such Quantity & quality of links
1 as text, images, and video 2 to your site from other
websites on the Internet

&



In other words:
Better links leads to

Better rankings on Google, which means...

More website traffic, which means...

More leads, which means...

More sales



The Short Version:

To Get More Website Traffic,
Create good content & get links from others

Those are the two fundamental activities of
Search Engine Optimization (SEO).


Part 1
How Are Links Like a Popularity Contest?

Building links is a lot like running for student president:
Quality of the candidate matters, but if nobody vouches for
them, they don't stand a chance of winning against a popular
competitor

Same with website content


Part 1

competitor


Quantity of votes is important

Same with links


Part 1

competitor


Quantity of votes is important

Same with links

Quality of votes matters, too. Not all votes are created equally
- being endorsed by Varsity quarterback carries more weight
than the new kid

Same with links - a link from the New York Times
is almost always worth more than John Doe’s Personal Blog


Part 1
So What Makes a Link “Good”


Part 1

#1 – What site the link comes from:

Just like our high school quarterback vs. new kid example:

A link from the Seattle Times

is probably worth more than

A link from john-does-travel-stories.blogspot.com


Part 1

#1 – What site the link comes from:
Ideally we want links from popular, authoritative, relevant, and trustworthy sites.

Examples: - Chamber of Commerce
- Newspapers
- TMZ.com - University and Government
- Popular Blogs .edu & .gov sites
- Pinterest
- Huffington Post - Topically relevant:
Leading websites in your industry
- Wikipedia - Locally relevant:
- Leading websites in your industry West Seattle Blog

Note: Most of these sites fall under more than 1 of these categories.


Part 1

#2 – Followed vs. NoFollow

“Followed Links” are regular links, which DO count for value with search
engines

“NoFollowed Links” are discounted links which DON'T count for much value
with search engines

That doesn't mean NoFollowed links are useless - there is still inherent value in
the potential traffic you can get from those links. They just won't help very much
for SEO.


Part 1

#2 – NoFollow vs. Follow
Examples of links that are often NoFollow:

Paid Ads
Example: West Seattle Blog sidebar ads

Why: Since Google relies on links as quality indicators, they don't want paid links “tainting”
their index of links on the internet.


Part 1

#2 – NoFollow vs. Follow
Examples of links that are often NoFollow:

Paid Ads
Example: West Seattle Blog sidebar ads

Why: Since Google relies on links as quality indicators, they don't want paid links “tainting”
their index of links on the internet.

“User Generated Content”
Example: Links in the comments section of a newspaper website.

Why: Websites do this to discourage spammers and to tell Google that they don't vouch for
the quality of the websites.


Part 1

#3 – Diversity
Google likes to see “natural” link profiles.

That means diverse types of links, such as the following sources:

Higher Quality: Memberships like chamber, BNI, rotary; Guest
blogging; Professional organizations you belong to; Industry
directories; Suppliers and client websites; Prominent local websites or
bloggers; Social media profiles, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter.

Medium Quality: Blog comments, generic-but-not-spammy directory
links; Internet Yellow Pages...


Part 1

#4 – Age or Freshness
Old established links are great, but it's good to spread your links out over
time.

This factor is a best practice but not essential IF you're already
significantly ahead of competition.

This is an example of a good, ongoing link profile spanning many years.


Part 1
OK, What About Best Practices?

Best Practice #1 – Anchor Text
Anchor text is the text used in a link.

In this example, the anchor text is “Joe’s Burgers”:


Part 1

Best Practice #1 – Anchor Text
Best: Branding and keywords (without being spammy):
Branded: Kane is the owner of Hood Web Management
Keywords: Hood Web Management is a Seattle SEO Company

Careful, don't go overboard on anchor text or it can look spammy.

OK: Just the URL:
URL: http://www.hoodwebmanagement.com/

Avoid: Non-Descriptive Anchor Text:
Non-Descriptive: click here for more info


Part 1

Best Practice #2 – Consistency
Best practice: Be consistent with the following things:

Brand Name: Is it West 5, West 5 Lounge, or West 5 Lounge and
Restaurant? Pick one, and make it match the titles of your pages on
Google Places, Facebook, Yelp, etc.

Address: Stick with 4250 California Ave SW Suite 101
Don't change to 4250 California Avenue Southwest, Ste. 101

Phone: (206) 905-4053 or 206-905-4053, but not both

URL: Yes http://www.hoodwebmanagement.com/
No http://hoodwebmanagement.com


Part 1

Best Practice #3 – Avoid Spam Services:
Avoid things like:

• “Cheap” or “Bulk” link providers
• Link services that talk about “link wheels” and “link networks” or
building links exclusively on websites that they own.

• X number of article submissions per month
• X number of blog comments per month
• X number of directory submissions per month
• X number of social bookmarks per month
• X number of RSS submissions per month

None of these things are inherently spammy, but when they promise
you a certain number on an ongoing basis – that’s almost always
spam.


Intro

Today we're going to focus on:

Quick Intro – How Google & SEO Works

Part 1 - Link Building Concepts:
 How links are like a popularity contest

 What makes a link “good”

 Best practices when building links

Part 2 – How to Build Links:
 Methods that every small business can

use to build links to their site


Part 2
Method #1 – Claim & Complete Listings
GetListed.org:


Part 2
Method #1 – Claim & Complete Listings


Part 2
Method #2 – Copy Competitors

Type their name in quotes and the beginning of their address in quotes. Start
on page 1 of Google and visit each page, and think to yourself “how could I
get a link from this page or this website? Then do that.


Part 2
Method #2 – Copy Competitors


Part 2
Method #3 – Ask Suppliers
(Or anyone you pay money to)

• Give them a testimonial and ask that they link your company name

• Ask them to list you on their “vendors” or “where to find our product”
pages

• Are you in a office building with a website? Or does your landlord have a
website? Do you have art from a local artist on your walls? Your janitor
service? Coffee delivery service?...

I bet they all have websites…

*hat tip to Adam at SEER interactive and this blog post:
http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/35-local-link-opportunities-you-missed


Part 2
Method #4 – Ask Clients & Customers

• Depends on the niche, but there are often pages on their site that would
be appropriate to link to you.

• If they’re highly unrelated (they’re a nutritionist, you’re their lawyer) than
that’s less valuable.


Part 2
Method #5 – Blogging

• Creating quality content is still a great way to earn links

• Once the content is created, you’ll need to reach out to relevant
websites and partners to get them to share the content on social
networks, their websites, or their email lists

• This strategy is highly recommended, because adding blog content to
your website tends to add a lot of value to your site


Part 2
Method #6 – Guest Blogging

• Creating quality content for other websites - could be national blogs,
could be local and complementary businesses

• The rough process is:
• Offer to create some content for them
• Create the content
• Get an author’s byline in the content:


Part 2
Method #7 – Contests

• People love free stuff - Hold a contest, preferably giving away some of
your product or service as the prize

• There are many, many contest websites that will happily link to
http://www.yoursite.com/contest-page

• The basic goal should be some combination of more Facebook
Fans/Likes, Email Subscribers, Twitter Followers, etc.

• Shameless plug – Hood Web Management has a contest promotion
package.


Part 2
Method #8 – Host Events

By doing local SEO presentations, I’ve gotten links from:

• Biznik.com • SeattleBusinessMag.com
• WSChamber.com • KomoNews.com
• ChamberMaster.com • Eventful.com
• HelloSeattle.com • NWSource.com (Seattle Times)
• Seattle.com • SpeakerMix.com
• LinkedIn.com • SeattleBusinessDirectory.net
• EventSetter.com

These are just the business event sites, there’s many more for “fun” events.


Part 2
Method #9 – Get Press #1
Two ways to approach getting press:

1 – Do Something Worth Talking About:


Part 2
Method #10 – Get Press #2
Two ways to approach getting press:

2 – Be a Resource to Journalists:

Help A Reporter Out: http://www.helpareporter.com/

Because of HARO, I’ve been quoted and linked on:

• Dun & Bradstreet - http://blog.dandb.com
• Under 30 CEO - http://under30ceo.com/
• Insperity - http://www.insperity.com/
• YFS Magazine - http://yfsentrepreneur.com/
• Flex Jobs - http://www.flexjobs.com/
• Handful of others that were less notable

All of these were short quotes – no more than a few sentences.


Part 2
Method #11 – Sponsor Your Community
This is the digital equivalent of getting your name on Tee-ball jerseys.

Plenty of local charities have “sponsor” and “donors” pages.

• Tee-ball teams • Animal Shelters • Arts Walk
• Boy Scouts • Rotary • Block Parties
• Churches • Food Bank • Movies in the Park
• School Bands • Kiwanis • Taste of WS

Not sure where to start? Try searching Google for:

"seattle" sponsor* site:.org

"west seattle" donat* list

in kind donations list site:.org “Green lake” Seattle


Part 2
Method #12 – Offer Discounts
Offering discounts to groups like Students, Business Groups, Community:

KEXP:
http://kexp.org/support/donorbenefits.asp (Requires Sponsorship)

Associated General Contractors of Washington:
http://www.agcwa.com/MemberBenefits/

UW:
http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/benefits/saving/discounts/index.html

http://www.studentrate.com/studentrate/school/deals/DealSummary.aspx?titl
e=Local_Deals&school=washington


Part 2
Method #13 – Sponsor Meetup Groups

Sponsor groups on Meetup.com:

Yarn store? Sponsor knitting club.

Lawyer? Sponsor free legal services or law school group.

Greek Restaurant? Sponsor cooking club, or “Greek culture” group.

Meetup.com offers followed links for group sponsors, but “perks” go to a
separate landing page. Offer both if they’ll let you.


Part 2
More Methods
Continue thinking about pre-existing opportunities:

• Industry Groups & Associations you belong to:
• Guilds & Unions, Professional Associations, etc.
• Certification websites for your industry

• Local Groups & Associations you belong to:
• Chamber, BBB, BNI, Rotary, Junction Association, etc.

• Quality Business Directories:

• Yelp • OpenTable • Kudzu
• Manta • Yellow Pages • BrownBook
• CitySearch • Angie’s List • Acxiom
• Yahoo Local • Express Update USA • Business.com
• Bing Local • Merchant Circle • AboutUs.org
• Google Local • Insider Pages • Local.BOTW.org
• Superpages • Localeze • BizJournals.com
• UrbanSpoon • Judy’s Book • CityVoter.com


Kane Jamison
Phone: (206) 905-4053
Email: Kane@HoodWebManagement.com

Also:
Twitter.com/KaneJamison
Twitter.com/HoodWebMgmt
Facebook.com/HoodWebManagement

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Why Links Matter to Small Businesses & How to Get Them

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