top 5 link building tricks – Dino Vedo – Performance Marketing

We now know the real secret to modern SEO is creating compelling content that naturally attracts links, rather than begging for links to crummy keyword-stuffed “optimized” web pages. In other words, SEO copywriting is now all about response-oriented copy — concepts and words that ultimately result in a favorable action from the reader. SEO COPYWRITING IS NOW ALL ABOUT RESPONSE-ORIENTED COPY – CONCEPTS AND WORDS THAT ULTIMATELY RESULT IN A FAVORABLE ACTION FROM THE READER. Since the popularity of our content depends so much on what people do off the page, it makes sense that we might also need to step outside the confines of the page itself to get the word out. Luckily, the same copywriting skills you use to conceive and create your content apply to promoting it as well. The way to create compelling content is to focus relentlessly on “what’s in it for the reader.” And in the same way, no one is going to link to you unless there’s something in it for them. The key is the same — understand who you’re talking to, figure out what will catch their attention, then convince them to take the action you want. Here are 5 ways to do that: 1. Social Media News Sites The quickest way for an exceptional piece of content to get a lot of attention (that, in turn, results in secondary links) is to make the home page of Digg or Reddit. There are lots of similar niche aggregator sites that can drive quality traffic as well, such as TechMeme for technology news. For more offbeat content, Fark will shake your server. If you’ve done a great job with your headline, it should magnetically draw people in. However, you need to understand the crowd dynamics of each social media content community. What works as a headline for Digg often doesn’t on Reddit. Tweak accordingly, but try to retain your keywords in the title if at all possible, because most of the resulting links will simply regurgitate the title as anchor text. 2. Guest Writing Guest writing on established blogs and other content sites has become one of the most powerful strategies for getting your own site rolling. You freely contribute content that not only allows you to raise your profile, but allows for links back to your own site. Once again, creating killer original content will open doors for you, especially when it’s created for the benefit of someone else. And you can use that killer cornerstone content you’ve already produced as an example of the quality you can deliver. Depending on your relationship with the site owner, you may be able to link to your cornerstone content from within the body of the content itself, but only if the citation is extremely relevant to the content and beneficial to the reader. Otherwise, your link needs to go in your byline or bio. Most people tend to link to their site or blog URL in the byline of contributed content. Turn it around by focusing the byline on the reader instead of yourself, and feature your cornerstone content instead of your home page. For example, if I were to guest blog somewhere about strategies for attracting links, which byline is more attractive to the reader when finishing my article? Not only is that better for the reader, it’s better for you. Your link contains keyword-rich anchor text that helps your cornerstone content rank higher for a popular search term. 3 . Social Networking Twitter and Facebook have become amazing content distribution networks. Sooner or later Google will factor in social media sharing in its algorithm (if they haven’t already). Remember, gaining followers and fans is not about your ego, it’s about creating a dynamic network that gets new people to see your content. And the more people see and share your content, the more likely it is to attract those valuable links. But it’s not really about one-off link requests. Networking on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn is about establishing and growing relationships with influencers in the social media space. These are the linkerati – prominent bloggers in your niche, top Digg users, relevant web journalists, and social media mavens. You need to network from a “what’s in it for them” perspective. Catch attention, gain interest, and create a desire to help you in the future by offering something that benefits them first. 4. Linking Out Linking out to attract links? Yep. Engaging in dialogue with the owners or staff of relevant content sites in your niche is a great way to get noticed, and it can lead to links back to you. Bloggers definitely watch who is linking to them, and you can take the initiative by linking out first before looking for one in return. Simply linking out for the sake of linking won’t accomplish much, especially with bloggers who gets lots of links. The key is to be strategic about how you link and what you say. It’s just like any other conversation. Join in and add your two cents, but make sure you’ve got something substantive to say that will reflect well on you. Use a great headline to make sure you are noticed, and then deliver the goods. And since your cornerstone content is the foundation of what the conversation is likely about, finding a way to mention it in the context of the dialogue will naturally bring it to the attention of influencers in your field. 5. Article Directories At one point in time, submitting about 20 articles to a directory like Ezine Articles with the right anchor text in your byline would get you a really good ranking for some search terms, at least in Yahoo and MSN. However, because the engines discount duplicate content, having dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of sites republish your article (and linked byline) no longer does the trick by itself. Plus, the engines know that the article writer controls the anchor text, so “hand edits” are made to the algorithms to lessen the “juice” that the big directories pass. However, a site like Ezine Articles is still excellent for creating exposure to your cornerstone content. Producing other content that links to your multi-part tutorial displayed on hundreds of web pages drives direct traffic, and can lead to your content being referenced in other posts and articles that do pass on link authority. The strategy is much the same as with guest posting on a blog. You’ll get the best results from creating original content that does not appear on your site, and submitting it to one or more reputable directories. Rinse, repeat, and get results.