Archive for March, 2010

2 Lateral Link Building Tricks

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

When building links I like to be creative and think laterally. I think this is vital for staying ahead of the crowd and producing fantastic results, possibly where others have failed. Here are two of my current tips:

1. Google can read acronyms

Have you noticed that Google can read acronyms? If you type ‘bins’ into Google.co.uk, a site called ‘Birmingham: It’s Not Shit’ ranks relatively highly. The title is highlighted, seemingly showing that Google reads ‘Birmingham: It’s Not Shit’ as an acronym for ‘bins’.

bins

Therefore, it’s not just a fantastic statement, but also a juicy link to target for anyone focusing on the word ‘bins’. This is a great way to find relevant sites (in a lateral sense) that aren’t direct competitors.

2. Some keywords have double meanings

Another way to find fantastic non-competitor links is to expand your thoughts beyond the context of your industry/subject area. For example (and this isn’t the best example), say you are targeting the word ‘bucks’. This is the shortened term for the county of Buckinghamshire. If you type ‘bucks’ into Google, you will see that the word ‘buckinghamshire’ is highlighted – seemingly showing that Google recognises that the two terms are interchangeable.

bucks

Next time you target a keyword, search for other meanings it could have and try to incorporate them into your SEO strategy.

Do you have any lateral link building tips of your own?

Being in the sandbox

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

It would appear my site has been put in Google’s sandbox.

This has not happened to me for a long time – but then I haven’t worked on a completely new site for a little while. The key with new sites is to take things very slowly at first, trying to catch peoples’ attention and thus naturally obtaining links.

sandboxThis domain is around 4 months old, so obviously hasn’t gained much trust yet. Though I‘ve tried to take things slowly and catch some attention by posting thoughtful comments on blogs, I have run into some trouble. This is mainly because a few blogs have distributed the comment (and therefore the link) across the site’s pages, in the ‘recent comments’ section. This has meant that my site has gained a huge percentage of its links within the last couple of weeks.

I guess many would class this as a rookie mistake!

However, I have seen many sites get by despite this – I think the issue is more sensitive depending on the industry/subject the site represents. Obviously SEO-focused sites loom large on Google’s spam radar.

So how will I get out of the sandbox?

Well I’ve submitted a reconsideration request outlining the trouble I’ve run into and listing the main culprit for my massive acquisition of links. I’ve also stated that I will now focus on getting some more decent content on the site, cutting down on the comment marketing.

So that’s what I’m going to do. Gradually build my content and focus onsite rather than onsite. This is the strategy I recommend for every new site – I think I just got a little too involved in putting my points of view across on blogs across the web!

The conclusion: expect to see more posts on here soon!

Getting to the heart of SEO

Monday, March 1st, 2010

A successful SEO campaign can no longer dance around the edges of an industry. Links from vaguely related sites isn’t going to cut it anymore. To really increase your rankings, plus improve the quality of traffic from referring sites, you have to get to the heart of an industry. (more…)