1. LINK LANDSCAPE TODAY

2. AGENDA
Why do they matter?
Linkbuilding: Old school
vs. New School
Don’t think about the link!

3. WHY DO THEY MATTER?
Assist in Indexing
Indicates Authority
Anchor Text (i.e. Reputation)
Most Powerful Ranking Factor

4. INDEXING
More indexed pages mean better
performance within search engines
and more traffic
Links mean your content is important,
so more pages will be indexed
Assume you regularly add pages
Non-indexed pages ‘don’t exist’
Site: command in Google
Webmaster Tools

5. INDEXING
Content Strategy vs. Link Building
If you have valuable content that is
not getting indexed, it’s useless
Find a balance!
Valuable content ought to generate
links on its own (but this isn’t always
the case)

6. AUTHORITY
Numerous websites on the Internet,
which ones should rank?
Google used PageRank (PR) as a pre-
sorting mechanism
More authority (from links), better
chance to rank in search results

7. ANCHOR TEXT
Once you have authority, anchor text
builds your reputation (i.e. what is
your website about)
Before Penguin vs. After Penguin
What is your website about and what
you should rank for?
Anchor text
Website’s content in relation to link

8. MOST POWERFUL RANKING FACTOR
Search engines need to gauge the
importance of your website (i.e.
authority, PageRank, etc.)
Authority flows down to pages (each
page has its own measure of
authority)
New debate: Link Building vs. Content
Strategy (Must have a balance)

9. MOST POWERFUL RANKING FACTOR
Right now, links
User behavior
Social signals
Feedback & reviews
Personalized search

10. TRADITIONAL LINK BUILDING
Find Links Link Outreach Linkbait

11. TRADITIONAL LINK BUILDING
Manual link building takes a lot of
work and a lot of time!

12. LINKING SCHEMES

13. LINKING SCHEMES

14. LINKING SCHEMES

15. BEWARE OF LINKING SCHEMES

16. LINK BUILDING VS. CONTENT STRATEGY
Takes a lot of time & effort

17. NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES
Use No-Follow for paid links
De-indexing of your website
Search engine rankings drop
Never know what really works

18. CONTENT CREATION
Best long term solution
Most cost-effective
Withstands algorithm changes
Valuable content leads to links
Multi-channel marketing
Adding value to the web
Build authority & trust

19. STOP OBSESSING OVER LINKS!
Value First Marketing

20. STOP OBSESSING OVER LINKS!
Relationship Marketing

21. SUMMARY
Why do they matter?
Linkbuilding: Old school
vs. New School
Don’t think about the link!