Posts in Link Strategy

Link Strategy Questions

October 28, 2011

Some people think that you can just go out and build X amount of links with a particular anchor text and rank for their top keyword, sadly it’s not that simple and a detailed strategy is necessary for any campaign. The easiest way to start planning is to ask yourself the following questions:

Is the landing page the best it can be?

This is one of the most important questions and one that quite a few people miss out when developing a link strategy, if Google thinks your content isn’t that great then no amount of links will help you rank. Since the Panda update was launched, more and more high profile websites have taken a hit and have only recovered their rankings when sufficient updates to the content were made.

Another major reason to consider the landing pages is that if you manage to get a great position in Google then you might get visitors — but that does not mean you will get conversions, so if the landing pages aren’t up to scratch there is no point wasting your time on SEO.

Does the anchor text profile look natural?

When it comes to judging an anchor text profile most people look at their volume against the competitors. In fact you shouldn’t base volume of anchor text on what your competitors have because if you hit a keyword too hard, chances are you will be penalised.

The majority of anchor text into linking pages should be brand orientated followed by your “money keywords” and then a large number of long tail variations. Building a diverse profile should provide that extra safety net for future algorithm changes.

What type of links do I need?

With all the Google algorithm changes over the last two years, simply building more links than your competitors just does not work, but your competitors link profile can help you succeed. To get above them you need to profile the top ten ranking websites and look for similarities in what type of links are powering each keyword group.

With extensive analysis of competitors you should see what holes you need to fill when comparing it to your own. For instance, you might find out you need links above a certain metric value, links that provide velocity, or a larger social presence to help Google identify you as a brand.

This level of investigation should help give a clear indication of how you are going to obtain the links you need to start moving up in the rankings, and how long it could take before you see an impact.

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