Garrett French of Citation Labs: Developing New Campaigns in the Same Ol' Vertical | Ungagged 2015

Developing New
Campaigns in the Same
Ol’ Vertical
5 Deadly Link Campaign Ruts (and how to bust them)
@garrettfrench @citationlabs

You know you’re in a rut when:
1. “There are no more blogs in my market.”
2. “I’ve run out of internet.”
3. “The only relevant websites out there are my competitors.”
4. “No one answers my emails anymore.”
5. “SEOphobes are suspicious of link builders.”
6. “They keep asking for money.” (and the prices are going up!)

Citation Labs Biases
Intro

We build 300-350 links per month.
We charge per link.

We seek repeatable tactics supported by
1000s - 10,000s of potential linkers.

We design tactics that don’t require
payment for links.

Busting Link Campaign Ruts
What’s
a rut?

What is a Link Rut?
● Assumptions
● Biases
● Fixed Opinions
● Blindnesses
...That Prevent Links.
Feeling a
little stuck...

Where Do We Find Ruts?
1. We see ruts in our clients’ approach to link building.
2. We stumble into our own ruts by accident (and then we
grow).

My Target SEO Keywords
Define My Market
RUT #1

Problem: Only Seeing Keyword Traffic
Numbers, Not the Big Content Picture

Rut #1: My Target SEO Keywords Define My Market
Sunglasses, for example:

To Find Utility Topics, Search Your SEO KWs like this:
● sunglasses site:.gov
● sunglasses health
● sunglasses safety

Learn how your keyword (“sunglasses”)
fits and intersects with related topics.

Now we can discover new audiences for promotion…
● intitle:"macular degeneration" site:.org
(can we donate sunglasses?)
● intitle:"cataracts" inurl:blog
● intitle:"Astigmatism" inurl:resources

Link Building = Blogger Outreach
...Right?
RUT #2

Bloggers are great.

Rut #2: Link Building = Blogger Outreach
Bloggers are definitely great.
● lots of blogs out there
● they accept content pitches
● yes, you can still actively guest post (with quality content)

Obviously, bloggers are great.

BUT

They’re not the only websites out there.

@mahannay :)
There are others!

Other Valuable Page Types:
● Curated Links
● Resource Pages
● Curated Lists

Breaking out of SEO KWs makes these pages easier to find
● intitle:"sunglasses" inurl:resources
now becomes
● intitle:"macular degeneration" inurl:resources
BONUS: New Topical KWs Help You Find New Blogs
● intitle:"macular degeneration" inurl:blog

Link Building is All About
Relationships
RUT #3

Yes… 5-10 Links in Your Industry are
“All About Relationships”

Rut #3: Link Building is All About Relationships
We leave these elite links to BizDev and C-Suite.
Most potential linkers don’t want a new relationship with
you or your brand. They want good content that serves
their audience.

Link Building is All About Serving Your Linkers’ Audience
● Who do your target linkers care about?
● How is this audience in need of help?
● How can your content help this audience?
photo courtesy of

Demonstrate How You Serve and Value The Linker’s
Audience
“We surveyed 150 Seniors with Macular Degenerative Disease and
found...”
“We turned this survey into an infographic/guest publication/public
service announcement...”
“We started a new scholarship/lesson plan collection for future
ophthalmologists”

But linkers don’t want to be friends
with you.

They do want to serve their audiences.
Helping linkers do their job = links.

Relying on Email Outreach Only
RUT #4

We primarily email, but often WAIT to
email broadly until we’ve had several
phone calls.

Rut #4: Relying on Email Outreach Only
Phone calls with real, live content audiences
help us discover soapbox issues
in a given vertical…
“Here’s our idea of what’s important -
what are we missing?”

Phone calls help to temp-check your content concepts…
“If we create X would you share that with your site visitors?”

Phone calls provide feedback to your Editorial Director
“It looks like ‘7 sunglass styles your mom wore better than you’
does not appeal to our target linkers…”
photo courtesy of
thecameragirls on flickr

Advice on positioning your outreach:
Write intro emails from a research perspective.
You’re working to make a difference for an audience they care about!

DO NOTE:
“If you want to hop on the phone please let me know!”
...can really help to humanize your outreach and get you real insights.

Tactic Failure in Vertical X =
Tactic Doesn’t Work
RUT #5

The converse is common in best
practice articles about link building...

Failure is an opportunity IF you are
accountable to your team and boss.

Rut #5: Tactic Failure in Vertical X = Tactic Doesn’t Work
Think out probable points of failure:
● Is our content lined up properly with linkers’ audiences?
● Are our potential linkers tech-savvy enough to update their pages?
● Did ANYONE respond at all? What did they say?
● Are we having deliverability issues?
● Is our pitch off-putting somehow?

Now make some changes and send
more emails.

Rut #5: Tactic Failure in Vertical X = Tactic Doesn’t Work
We found that weekly client calls (AKA “accountability”)
helped to:
● Get our whole team in-the-know about what’s working and not
working.
● Help our disparate parts (outreach, templates, content, etc) see the
big picture.
● Show our clients that we are working hard, and creatively, even if
links aren’t coming in quickly.

Over-Trusting Big Data,
Best Practices and Metrics
RUT #6

Don’t IGNORE them…

Don’t let them bias you against
TESTING.
photo courtesy of
cayusa on flickr

Rut #6: Over-Trusting Big Data, Best Practices and Metrics
Best Day of Week to Outreach
...varies based on vertical and location.

Female vs. Male Personas in Outreach
...varies based on vertical and location.

DA 30+ Only
...means you will pass up 1000s of relevant, topical opportunities.

Anything over DA 90 don’t bother
...means you will pass up “long shot” outreach.

Best Keywords to Use in Article Titles
...are usually biased based on sample set.

When a tactic fails...

When a tactic works...

“Try & See” something or
somewhere else.

“Try & See” if it’s a just a good tactic
or if it’s a best practice.

EVERY SUCCESS WE’VE EVER HAD
OCCURRED THANKS TO AN
EXPERIMENT.

● The product research/adventurous toddler approach
“Best Practices” aren’t magic; they’re just
experiments that didn’t fail.
Get Into the “Try & See” Mindset

Questions?

photo courtesy of
avardwoolaver on flickr

Garrett French of Citation Labs: Developing New Campaigns in the Same Ol' Vertical | Ungagged 2015

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