Ann is the Content Guru behind Internet Marketing Ninjas. One of the most renowned Content Marketers and influencers in the world of blogging.

2. By Ann Smarty
@seosmarty
Brand & Community Manager at
Internet Marketing Ninjas
LINK BUILDING FOR
SEO: THE
ACTIONABLE GUIDE

3. @seosmarty
Why I don’t often talk about link
building….

4. @seosmarty
That’s why….

5. @seosmarty
I know exactly what NOT TO DO…

6. @seosmarty
NEVER SCALE LINK BUILDING

7. @seosmarty
“The SEO community has a tendency to
take good tactics, focus only on the link
building part, and scale and automate
them to the point where they become
completely useless to site visitors”
The link building vicious cycle…

8. @seosmarty
The moment any actual link building
tactic becomes effective and scalable, it
becomes overused and Google reacts
with more nofollow rules and penalties…

9. @seosmarty
The moment any actual link building
tactic becomes effective and scalable, it
becomes overused and Google reacts
with more nofollow rules and penalties…

10. @seosmarty
To Illustrate The Vicious Cycle:
History of guest blogging

11. @seosmarty
Nowadays most self-serving link building
methods may end up looking like this…

12. @seosmarty
Over the past ~10 years search
marketers have lost all “controlled” link
building methods
 Paid links are risky and hard to disguise
 Directory links are useless
 Press release links are nofollowed
 Site networks are easy to catch, etc. etc.

13. @seosmarty
Over the past ~10 years search
marketers have lost all “controlled” link
building methods
 Paid links are risky and hard to disguise
 Directory links are useless
 Press release links are nofollowed
 Site networks are easy to catch, etc, etc

14. @seosmarty
“89% of sites that ranked 7 years ago
are not ranking today" - Marcus Tober

15. @seosmarty
UNSCALABLE LINK
BUILDING TACTICS

16. @seosmarty
UNSCALABLE LINK
BUILDING EARNING
TACTICS

17. @seosmarty
(1) Relationship-powered
link building

18. @seosmarty
Most important rule of “Relationship-
powered link building:…”
You do not mention “link building”…

19. @seosmarty

20. @seosmarty
We are dealing with link-building-savvy
generation of web users: Most of them
have either heard about links or have
been pitched with the requests of
giving links away…

21. @seosmarty
Genuinely and openly do your very
best for each opportunity you come
across…

22. Example: I did a guest post for Lisa Irby a few years ago
2createawebsite.com
@seosmarty

23. Since then Lisa has been still linking to MBG each
time she mentions guest blogging!
HIGH-AUTHORITY LINKS JUST KEEP
COMING!
@seosmarty

24. @seosmarty
Manufacturing serendipity…

25. @seosmarty
 Manufacture serendipity = Spend at least
20% of your time genuinely helping people
without asking anything back;
 Make sure your personal brand identity is
consistent across all your web networking
channels (name and avatar)
 Utilize and connect many channels =
#beeverywhere
 Be hungry, be restless

26. @seosmarty

27. @seosmarty
(2) Resource building +
Outreach (“Trust bait”)

28. @seosmarty
Brainstorm educational resources
• “Safety of”
• “History of”
• “Anatomy of”
• Sustainability
• Gender equality…

29. @seosmarty
Research niche questions
answerthepublic.com

30. @seosmarty
Research niche questions
answerthepublic.com

31. @seosmarty
Research niche questions
serpstat.com

32. @seosmarty
Research niche questions
bloomberry.com

33. @seosmarty
Research broken links in your (and
neighboring!) industry
Step 1: Take a trusted resource in your niche

34. @seosmarty
Research broken links in your (and
neighboring!) industry
Step 2: Find deleted resources there using
Majestic Site Explorer

35. @seosmarty
Research broken links in your (and
neighboring!) industry
Step 3: Find all pages linking to that deleted resource

36. @seosmarty
Research broken links in your (and
neighboring!) industry
Step 4: Create a great resource on the same topic and
reach out to linking sites to suggest them fixing the
links with yours

37. @seosmarty
Research broken links in your (and
neighboring!) industry
Step 5: Email other publishers in your industry and
invite them to check out your resource

38. @seosmarty
Research broken links in your (and
neighboring!) industry
Once you get your resource to
rank, links will start flowing in on
their own

39. @seosmarty
(3) Creating Digital Assets
(“Viral Marketing”)

40. @seosmarty
Slideshows &
Presentations
Ebooks
White Papers
Polls & Surveys
Q and A’s
Forums/Communities
Excel Documents
Word Documents
Infographics
Cheatsheets
Videos (YouTube)
Video Transcripts
Podcasts
Interviews
Tools
Widgets
Contests
Apps
In-depth Articles
Examples of Types of Digital Assets

41. @seosmarty
“Viral” content + social media promotion (+
smart email outreach) do the trick…

42. @seosmarty
• Content that hits Reddit front page brings lots of links
• Content that gets shared by prominent niche influencers
brings links
• Edgy timely content brings links when you tag related
journalists & bloggers in your social media updates
• Useful stats, unique survey results bring links if you do
just a bit of blogger outreach
“Viral” content + social media promotion (+
smart email outreach) do the trick…

43. @seosmarty
Digital Assets Attract Links from

44. One of IMN client’s infographics has brought
71 unique domain backlinks within one
week, here are a few highlights:
This infographic was shared by the legendary actor and social media icon
George Takei who has over 8.7 million loyal followers. The post was shared by
37,379 people.
@seosmarty

45. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/08/31/xxxxx.html
• 2,100+ Facebook Shares
• 12,800+ Pinterest Pins
http://www.buzzfeed.com/cathyngo/xxx
• Received 16,500+ Facebook Shares
• 12,800+ Pinterest Pins
http://distractify.com/abby-s-marino/xxx
• 5,200+ Pinterest Pins
http://www.boredpanda.com/xxxx
• 17,000+ Facebook Shares
• 2,100+ Pinterst Pins
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/08/xxxx/
• 2,800+ Facebook Shares
• 20 unique domain backlinks
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3074763/xxxxx.html
• 14 unique domain backlinks
@seosmarty

46. BUILD LINKS:
 Engage in relationship building 24/7 (influencers, bloggers,
journalists)
 Create A LOT of good content (both educational and
viral/entertaining)
@seosmarty

47. BUILD EARN LINKS:
 Engage in relationship building 24/7 (influencers, bloggers,
journalists)
 Create A LOT of good content (both educational and
viral/entertaining)
@seosmarty

48. Contact us: 518-270-0854
Ann Smarty
@seosmarty
@seosmarty