I dive into the increasingly difficult, frustrating, yet rewarding world of link building in 2017. I focus on actionable insights on how to create visual content that publications love, and in turn, earn the best links you've ever had pointed to your website. SEO is hard. Link building is hard. However, if you're prepared and calculated in your approach, you will conquer link building in 2017 and beyond.

1. #pubcon
SEO IRL:
Real World Link Building
Presented by:
Kyle Olson
Director of Audience Development
www.imaginepub.com

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THIS DOESN’T EXIST FOR BUILDING LINKS
@ContentImagine

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BUT WEBSITES HAVE THIS AND WILL USE IT
@ContentImagine

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BARRIER OF ENTRY FOR BUILDING LINKS
TIME
D
I
F
F
I
C
U
L
T
Y
@ContentImagine

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WHO IS THIS GUY?
• Executed over 600 link building campaigns
• Built 6,000+ links
• Received Billions of impressions for every sized business
@ContentImagine

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KEY TAKEAWAYS
• You can get links from major publications by leveraging visual assets
• Stop thinking like an SEO to build links, get in the PR mindset
• Build strong relationships with influencers to create lasting results
• Develop less content and create visual assets to become relevant
@ContentImagine

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CHANGE HOW YOU THINK ABOUT LINKS
• In the Past:
– Building Links to Improve Rankings
• “There MUST be some sort of work around!”
• Blog: 5 Easy Link Building Wins For Ranking #1!!!!!
• “I don’t have time.”
@ContentImagine

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CHANGE HOW YOU THINK ABOUT LINKS
• Today & Beyond:
– Earning Links to
• Improve Rankings
• Gain Media Exposure
• Reach & Attract New Audiences
• Stay Relevant
• Become Thought Leaders
• Gain Trust
@ContentImagine

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RELATIONSHIPS BUILD LINKS
• Build relationships, the links will follow
• SEO is no longer transactional, it’s relational
• Create win-win situations between you and publishers
@ContentImagine

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“Do real company sh*t.”
Wil Reynolds
(in 20freaking12)
@ContentImagine

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Visual Content
• Not easy to create
• (Mostly) outside of your target audience
• Different than any content you’ve created before
LINKABLE ASSETS
@ContentImagine

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WHAT LINKABLE ASSETS AREN’T
@ContentImagine

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It’s about the story you’re trying to tell.
IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU
@ContentImagine

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• Is this something people want to see?
• Does it fill the “content gap”? - Andy Crestodina
Co-Founder / Strategic Director of Orbit Media Studios
CONTENT FOR CONSUMPTION,
NOT CRAWLERS
@ContentImagine

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Build visual content to be editorial.
Compliment a larger story, news jack,
have fun outside your core focus.
@ContentImagine

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WHY ARE EDITORIAL LINKS IMPORTANT?
@ContentImagine

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96
Link Brand Awareness
45.5M Unique Visitors Monthly
Social
2.5M Likes
8.29M Followers
Referral Traffic
SEO – PR – Inbound – Engagement
@ContentImagine

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FOR THE USER
@ContentImagine

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HELP JOURNALISTS TELL THE STORY
@ContentImagine

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SOURCE ATTRIBUTION
• Editorial links are a form of citation on the
internet
Become the source.
@ContentImagine

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• Give writers a starting point
• Stop trying to tell the whole story
• Journalists will provide their POV
BITESIZED STORIES
@ContentImagine

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“It's not about making more content, it's
about the minimum amount of content for
the maximum impact.”
Robert Rose
@ContentImagine

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Content that drives engagement, drives ad dollars.
And how do publishers get paid?
@ContentImagine

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PUBLICATIONS NEED...
Ads to make money
Space for ads
Content to create
space
Writers to create
the content
Content that
performs
Ads to perform
Visitors, clicks,
social shares
@ContentImagine

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INFOGRAPHICS

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INTERACTIVE CONTENT
bit.ly/SecondLanguages
@ContentImagine

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1. Impact
2. Timeliness
3. Prominence
4. Proximity
5. The Bizarre
6. Conflict
7. Currency
8. Human Interest
JOURNALIST MOTIVATION
THE 8 JOURNALISTIC NEWS VALUES
@ContentImagine

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SimpleCan it be pitched in a subject line?
UnexpectedYou’ve got my attention, now can you keep it?
ConcreteCan you express this in terms that I understand?
CredibleWhy are you telling me this story?
Emotional
Why does this matter to my audience?
StoriesWhat’s the narrative? How’s it flow?
SexyIs it visually stimulating?
‘SUCCESS’ METHOD
@ContentImagine

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What
you do
THE SWEET SPOT
What’s
interesting on
the internet
YOUR CONTENT
@ContentImagine

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TOO PROMOTIONAL TOO IRRELEVANT
THE SWEET SPOT
What
you do
What’s
interesting on
the internet
YOUR CONTENT
@ContentImagine

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THE CONTENT GAP
Find the gap between the content that people
want to consume and the content
that doesn’t exist yet.
@ContentImagine

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WHAT IS THE CONTENT GAP?
• Questions no one has answered
• Statistics that don’t exist yet
• Unique viewpoints on popular/newsworthy topics
@ContentImagine

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CONTENT GAP TOOLS
@ContentImagine

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PROPRIETARY POSSIBILITIES
• Content with proprietary data is very appealing to
journalists
– Any data that your company already has
– Utilize surveys and create the data
@ContentImagine

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“Mediocre content will hurt your brand,
more than doing nothing at all.”
Joe Pulizzi
@ContentImagine

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IF YOU THINK YOR BRAND ISN’T EXCITING
@ContentImagine

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A FREAKIN BOX COMPANY!
• 100+ links
• 50+ top tier editorial articles (DA 80+)
• Organic traffic spike for their busiest season
• Sales up YoY and MoM
@ContentImagine

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IF A TREE FALLS IN THE WOODS...
• Your content is nothing if it’s not discovered
• Allow amplifiers to discover it
• Let them do the heavy lifting with a built-in audience
@ContentImagine

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To build links in 2017 (and beyond), you have to be
MEDIA SAVY.
BORROW FROM PR
@ContentImagine

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MITIGATE THE RISK OF PR
• Test the ideas before they become content
• Find prospects and their contact info
• If they say no, you’ve invested very little so far
PressRush
@ContentImagine

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YOU’VE ALREADY BUILT THE
RELATIONSHIP
• If they say yes, you can move forward with development
• You often receive critical feedback on the focus of the topic
• As soon as it’s created, send it to them first
@ContentImagine

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BUILDING MEDIA RELATIONSHIPS
• Become a source of high quality content
• Be conversational
• The content will speak for itself, don’t over pitch
@ContentImagine

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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Same Day 1-3 Days 4-7 Days 8-15 Days 16-30 Days 30+ Days No Response
RESPONSE TIME AFTER SENDING INITIAL PITCH
@ContentImagine
ResponsePercentRate

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10M
followers
ON
AIR
ON
AIR
The Ripple Effect
@ContentImagine

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Native Advertisement
What you get:
– Sponsored Article (with disclaimer)
– nofollow link
– social promotion
– brand mention
– referral traffic
– only on Forbes
Cost:
$75k - $300k
Organic Placement
What you get:
– Graphic placement
– dofollow editorial link
– social promotion
– brand mention
– referral traffic
– for multiple publications
Cost:
$5k - $10k
@ContentImagine

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GET IN THE PR MINDSET
• Media Relations > Building Links
• Help A Reporter Out (HARO)
@ContentImagine

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MEASURE CORRECTLY
• Clearly define what metrics matter before you start
• Think outside the box about value from link building
@ContentImagine

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SEO MEASUREMENTS
• Don’t get hung up on referral traffic
• Domain Authority – aim for the stars (BFF = Big Fish First)
• Track keywords in a keyword bucket
@ContentImagine

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PR MEASUREMENTS
• Share of voice – who’s taking up the most space?
• Readership – how many people potentially saw it?
• Social Impressions – shares + amount of followers
• Ad Equivalency – readership x ad cost
@ContentImagine

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BUILD LINKS WITHIN YOUR INDUSTRY
• The content can be more about your expertise
• Thought leadership content
• Subject matter expert (SME)
• Keyword driven – focus on a bucket of keywords
@ContentImagine

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INDUSTRY KEYWORD MOVEMENT
• Outrank SAP for high volume keyword with answer box
• All “data” related keywords we tracked moved to the first page
• 15 data related keywords moved to position 3 or higher
• Organic traffic skyrocketed
@ContentImagine

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GREAT CONTENT MAKES A
MEASURABLE DIFFERENCE.
@ContentImagine

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Kyle Olson
Director of Audience Development
Thank You
@BecauseSEO @ContentImagine