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What are Backlinks and How Do I Get Them?

What are Backlinks? A backlink occurs when one webpage links to another webpage located on a different website (domain name). The page that the link is pointed to is the page which has the backlink. To further illustrate, let's take a look at the anatomy of a backlink. How Backlinks Affect SEO: Backlinks can significantly improve your search rankings, and many SEO experts feel that they are one of the most important tools for improving your search rankings. There are two main reasons why they are beneficial to your search rankings. One thing that makes them beneficial to your search rankings that they can increase your website's traffic. In addition, Google scans the internet for backlinks to your website. Types Of Backlinks: There are [...]

By |April 12th, 2021|Categories: |0 Comments
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Local SEO Keyword Insights That Make a Difference

Local SEO Keyword Insights That Make a Difference Why do people choose a query for their search a certain way? For instance, what is the difference between Houston Engagement Rings vs Engagement Rings Houston? The answer is in the context. Let's take a look. Part of the local SEO keyword research process is collecting data. Many tools such as SEMrush, Google Keyword tool and others provide SEO practitioners with valuable data such as search volume, cost per click (CPC), competition and historical trends; however, to have a successful SEO campaign that produces real ROI requires more insight than that which can only come from one's creativity and cognitive process. Local SEO Keyword Examples Let's use a product as our first example. People search for products [...]

By |July 25th, 2016|Categories: , |Tags: |2 Comments
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5 Main Factors to Look At When Doing A Backlink Analysis

There are a lot of questions regarding how Google tracks backlinks. When a website has a number of links coming from the same IP address even with different referring domains, it does not look natural. In fact, it looks very spammy and fabricated. Google figured that out a long time ago. What else is Google looking at?  Get your own free competitive site audit with Analytics SEO  1. Total Number of Inbound LinksLooking at all of the competitors in this matrix, we can see that some of them have massive amounts of links. This information is completely useless. I've seen spammy blog networks hit websites with 100k backlinks and take their traffic down by 30%. What is more important is the referring domains. 2. Referring DomainsWhen [...]

By |November 12th, 2013|Categories: , , , |Tags: , |2 Comments
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Hummingbird, Penguin 2.1 – The Guidelines Are Still The Same

While there is still a lot of buzz going on about the Hummingbird and Penguin 2.1 algorithm updates, and how it affects ranking. On October 3rd, Barry Schwartz posted a blog about specific dates where there were noticeable ranking changes and conducted a survey asking how SEOs and webmasters were affected. He discusses the results of the change in the video below.       Barry Schwartz Discusses a Poll On How Rankings Were Affected By Penguin 2.1 There were over 1600 responses to the poll. These were the results: 63% of the respondents said that their site was hurt bad. 21% said that their site had no change at all. 8% said that their website recovered from the previous penguin update. 6.2% that their [...]

By |October 17th, 2013|Categories: , , , |Tags: |0 Comments
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Game Changing API for Big SEO Data

Part of our jobs as SEOs includes gather data for campaigns we're conducting research on. Most of us have a collection of sources bookmarked or we subscribe to a service to speed up the process. One way of gathering data is by submitting queries to Google to get keyword ranking data, collect information on competitors and collect historical data to help us understand Google's algorithm changes at a deeper level. With some knowledge of web development, there is an API solution that up until now hasn't been heard of. It is currently in beta testing and requires you to apply for an API key, but is free to use for the time being if your application is approved. If you are a big data geek [...]

By |October 16th, 2013|Categories: , , |Tags: |0 Comments
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8 Ways to Use Search Operators for Link Building Relationships

In 2019, backlinks are still the most important ranking factor. Today, there are many different flavors of "links", however. The biggest difference to consider is the quality of the backlinks. Google algorithm changes have made link acquisition more difficult with every update. At one point in time, article directories, directories, web 2.0, and even paid links were link building tactics that actually worked; however those days are long gone now. With social metrics and Google even cracking down on guest posting, link acquisition  has become more about the quality of the content and relationship building. The first step to building a relationship is understanding how to find the right people to build a relationship with. With that in mind, here are 8 ways to [...]

By |October 11th, 2013|Categories: , , |Tags: |2 Comments
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In 2019, backlinks are still the most important ranking factor. Today, there are many different flavors of "links", however. The biggest difference to consider is the quality of the backlinks. Google algorithm changes have made link acquisition more difficult with every update. At one point in time, article directories, directories, web 2.0, and even paid links were link building tactics that actually worked; however those days are long gone now.

With social metrics and Google even cracking down on guest posting, link acquisition  has become more about the quality of the content and relationship building. The first step to building a relationship is understanding how to find the right people to build a relationship with. With that in mind, here are 8 ways to use search operators for link building building relationships.

  1. 'keyword' + inurl:write for us While guest posting seems to be a dying breed, there are still effective ways to go about it. One way is by leaving out your author byline and submitting it as an article. Many publishers are more than happy to do this for you in exchange for quality content.
  2. 'keyword' + intitle:write for us This will serve the same purpose as tactic #1, however, sometimes the url doesn't always have the exact keywords in it, so sometimes you can find more relationship opportunities by using the title as well.
  3. 'keyword' + intitle:Google+ Many people under-utilize Google+ in their link building strategies. This can be one of the most effective ways to find authoritative writers in your industry. Use Google+ to build a strong social following. When you share content, others will share it as well which will not only send your content social signals, but also encourage others to link to it as well.
  4. 'keyword' + site:https://plus.google.com #3 will pull up Google+ profiles and articles written with Google+ in the title, but this method will literally only pull up Google+ profiles (businesses and personal).
  5. 'keyword' + inanchor:"submit site" This is a method for finding niche directories. While you have to be careful with directory submission tactics, niche directories are still valuable to your link building campaign. Just whatever you do, carefully review the site to make sure it is moderated before submitting the link.
  6. site:.edu "write for us" The oh-so coveted .edu backlink is possible to acquire. Many schools allow students and professors to host their own blogs on the school's servers. They are looking for people to supply them with content just like any other blogger. Try using different combinations of keywords and search operators to for your .edu link building campaign. You can find tons of opportunities.
  7. link:competitor.com If you already know of a competitor or authoritative blog in your industry, why not try piggybacking on their strategy? Using the 'link:' search operator will should all of the indexed backlinks of the site you follow it with.
  8. related:website.com After finding a few sites that you are already targeting, you can find related sites by using the 'related:' search operator. This may give you a broader view, but you can still find some great link acquisition opportunities this way.

Half the battle of link building is learning how to do the research correctly. Connect with other authors through social media, and share their content. People appreciate that and will return the favor. Organic link building, especially post hummingbird can be tricky and time consuming. However, if you connect with the right people and build those relationships, overtime it will become much easier.

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