Eight tools and techniques to boost your link building efforts

There’s no question the difference between a successful search marketing campaign and one that fails is very rarely due to a lack of creativity or a naive strategy. Far more frequently it’s down to inefficiencies or wasted resources.

So what can you do to reduce those problems? Try and constantly improve things. Those changes are very rarely revolutions in your process, but just small refinements.

What follows are eight of those small refinements and improvements that I’ve made recently which I think have made me a better link builder.

1. Qwerly

I’m sure I’m not the only person who keeps much closer tabs on Twitter than my email inbox. The sad truth is if you want me to get my attention an @ message or DM on Twitter can often be much more effective than emailing me.

This is equally true in any link building outreach efforts. This logic is the similar trend that link building can be more effective if your pitch is made over the phone than by email.

Though Qwerly is intended to be an API which tries to make the connections between social profiles, it can be a great way to try and make the connections between different ways of contacting someone, i.e. “I have your email address. What’s your Twitter username?”

It’s far from perfect but it has helped me track down the social media contact details of people I was hoping to build a relationship with.

Ultimately though it’s about understanding who you’re talking to, some people are going to be much happier having a phone conversation than an email, but some people prefer email to Twitter.

If you don’t have that type of knowledge/information about the person you’re trying to get in touch with, you’ve not done enough research on them. Your mode of communication should be determined by what works best for them, not you.

2. Toluna

I’m such a big advocate of Toluna that I think some people are beginning to suspect that I’m on their payroll. That’s not the case and my obsession with their service stems entirely from my love of their product.

I’ve found over the years the success of a link building campaign is entirely dependent on the quality of the piece of content you’re using to attract the link. This content can be something like a voucher code, a viral game, infographic or a great statistic and research.

It’s never been a secret that research data can help build some great links; what used to  be the challenge was how you got that information.

It was easy if you had a huge customer base as you could send them a survey by email, give them a nice prize and you were sorted. However it wasn’t so easy for the people who didn’t have those circumstances.

This is where Toluna has made my life easier. I can quickly (and fortunately cheaply) survey segments of the population. Proper marketing research, this is not; however for quick straw polls that make some great link bait, the service is perfect.

3. Finding more guest posts with advanced search operators

Guest posts are one of the mainstays of many link building campaigns, however the time and effort of guest posting is skewed in the direction of finding and contacting potential publishers rather than on developing outstanding content.

I’d rather spend the time on the post rather than researching potential partners, so anything that can make that process easier is helpful. I’ve had some good success with two particular Google searches using their advanced operators which allowed me to track down the opportunities with less effort.

The first is inurl:category/guest your keywords. This will return a series of blog posts (typically on WordPress) which have been categorised as a guest post and that also contain the keyword relevant to the site your building links to.

I have found some amazing guest opportunities using exactly this method. However, it depends on the blogger putting all their guest posts in a separate category, which doesn’t always happen.

There is another advanced search query which can help you track down guest post opportunities. Search for inpostauthor:guest your keyword this will find the blog posts where there is an author called guest, guest post, guest contributor etc (Hat tip to Yoast on this one).

By covering off these variations you’ll very easily be able to find people publishing guest posts around your keywords. Because they’ve already publish similar content before you saved yourself pitching to people who aren’t keen on guest posts.

4. Backlinks.In

I often have to remind myself my job as a search marketer isn’t to ‘beat Google’: it’s just to do better than my competitors in the factors that Google appreciates.

The most important part of that statement is better than your competitors and without a thorough understanding of the competitors you’re up against you can’t create an effective strategy.

Extensive competitor research is a vital element to any SEO project but often I want a quick assessment of the relative strengths of a number of websites. Backlinks.in allows you to get the link count of a list of different websites.

In the world of super duper SEO tools this may sound a bit basic but it’s a simple and quick tool that just works. In my quest for efficiency it’s not about using a tool that can do everything; I want one that can do precisely what I need as quickly as possible.

5. Custom Search Engines

I love Google custom search engines; they allow you to build your own little Google based on a list of websites you’ve specified.

This saves you times in lots of different ways; I have a custom search engine of the websites whose RSS feeds I subscribe to, which means that if I’m trying to track down an old blog post I’ve remembered I can do it much more easily as well.

You can be a lot more inventive than that. Perhaps you want to take all the websites which link to your top fifty competitors, create a customer search engine including them, then carry out the guest post advanced query discuss above?

The potential to make your life easier is only limited by your imagination.

6. Trade associations

As link builders we sometimes let ourselves believe that high quality links are hard to track down, and often that’s simply not the case. Nearly every trade body or organisation list all their members in a directory, if your client or employer are a business operating in that sector, why aren’t you listed in that directory?

And unlike most directory submission theirs a tangible business benefit to being listed. You can find a directory of trade associations here.

7. Crowd Flower

When people ‘outsource’ link building it ends in tears, either with work that has no impact or that is ill-advised. This doesn’t mean that you can’t benefit from a worldwide flexible work resources; you just need the right work being carried out by the right people.

Anything that is about building a relationship or insight isn’t appropriate, as the chaps at Distilled put it, “you can’t outsource giving a s**t”.

In terms of tracking down the contact details of a journalist you’ve been following or carrying out repetitive research tasks you may be wise to consider services like Crowd Flower or Mechanical Turk.

I’ve only begun to scrape the surface of these services. It’s important to note that they can be used in a positive way that’s about delegation and efficiency not spam and deception.

8. Sponsor and do some good

I can honestly say I’ve personally never bought a link in my life, but I’m not naive about the fact money often changes hands, the thing that makes me most sad about the whole process is the number of low quality websites that only exist to sell links which add nothing to the web.

Part of me wishes that some of that money could be spent in a way that benefits society and the internet as whole.

Sponsoring worthy causes can be a great way to do that. We’ve had a client who wanted to outreach to the amateur sporting community. Sponsoring small teams like those listed on UKsponsorship.com enabled them to do that.

Mobile Retail Apps that Enhance Customer Experiences

Retail businesses are building mobile apps that do much more than just display products for sale. Mobile apps can shape the in-store experience, empower the purchasing process, and create interesting and dynamic ways to interact with the customer.

Here is a list of mobile apps created by retailers. All of these apps are free.

Customer Service

Customer service apps enhance the in-store experience. They ensure you have a productive and enjoyable store visit, and make sure you are not delayed or disappointed.

Apple Store. The Apple Store app helps you get the most from your visits to the Apple Store. It does this by allowing you to make reservations for Genius Bar one-to-one assistance and sign-up for workshops and events. When in an Apple retail store, you can request help, check in for reservations, receive meet-up alerts, and get free iPad and iPod engraving and signature gift-wrapping for select Apple products. Also use the app to research, configure and purchase the latest Apple products. Available for iPhone.

 

 

Redbox This app enhances your experience with the Redbox DVD kiosks. The most intriguing way it does this is by allowing you to reserve a movie from your phone, so the DVD is waiting for you when you get to the kiosk. This is an excellent feature to enhance the Redbox experience. You can also search for movies available at Redbox or at a specific kiosk, and find the closest kiosk with the locator. Available for Android, iPhone.

Starbucks Card Mobile. With Starbucks Card Mobile, you can display your Starbucks Card barcode and make purchases at Starbucks. View your transaction history, track your reward points, and locate a mobile payment Starbucks near you. In addition, Starbucks also has another app,myStarbucks, that has a drink builder, coffee and food menu, store locator, QR code scanner, and gives you access to Starbucks Digital Network for free music and news content on the web.Starbucks Card Mobile is available for Android, Blackberry, iPhone. myStarbucks is available for iPhone.

Target. Target’s app helps you find the right products, making your shopping trip quick and easy. The best way it does this is with a My Lists feature. Make a list before you shop. Manage your lists and registries or find a friend’s. Search your store to get item availability and aisle location. Features also include a store locator, barcode scanner to get product details or add product to a list, and coupons for weekly and daily deals. Available for Android, iPhone.

Sanoma looking for best mobile concept competition

Publisher Sanoma media is looking for the best concept for smartphones and tablets and is therefore an idea competition.

Until September 4 to clever and creative thinkers to submit ideas best mobile Sanoma. A jury will judge the entries on mobile ‘innovation’ business, financial feasibility and attractiveness.The publisher has the right after the finals because the idea to develop a working product.

Last year, when the first app Challenge took place 228 ideas were submitted. The idea playhouse for boys and girls from 4-10 years on the iPad ‘then won. The winners are now employed at Sanoma media and work the concept into a working product.

This year’s winner will receive 5,000 euros in cash. When Sanoma decision to work out the idea, the spiritual father as a contractor for 5,000 euros to participate in building his application. In that circumstance he wears the intellectual property of his invention over to Sanoma.

 

 

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