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How to create value-passing links in volume

Posted by Michael Martinez on May 20, 2008 in Link Building

In the Star Trek movie “The Wrath of Khan”, during the climactic battle scene when the Enterprise is facing off with a captured Federation starship (the Reliant), Spock analyzes Khan’s attack pattern and notes to Admiral Kirk, “He is quite intelligent but his thinking is 2-dimensional”.

That is, Khan implemented a surface ship tactic of doubling back to get behind the Enterprise. Kirk responded by ordering Sulu to move the Enterprise 10,000 meters down its relative Z-axis (in a Cartesian cube, you have three axes: X, Y, and Z).

This is all relevant to search engine optimization, I assure you, but I have to set a geometrical foundation for the point of this article. We don’t actually deal with 3-dimensional space in search engine optimization although we easily could. You can define 3 dimensions on the basis of almost anything (you don’t have to use height, width, and length like typical school mathematical textbooks do).

For example, you can set an X-axis to map all the Web pages of your site.

You can set a Y-axis to map all the other pages that link to your site.

You can set a Z-axis to map when those inbound links appear in search results.

You can set a fourth axis to map which search engines those inbound links appear in.

You can set a fifth axis to map when you see improvements in your search results for each page.

And so on and so forth. You could conceivably track a matrix as complex as 8 or 10 dimensions to map your search optimization progress (and it would be more accurate than any currently used models, which all tend to be 1- and 2-dimensional progress maps).

In other words, search engine optimization analysis is extremely crude and rudimentary. Most SEOs lack the tools and training to implement more sophisticated tracking models (and let me stipulate now that I’m speaking about theoretical models — we don’t use tools this sophisticated here at 1st Query).

Of course, tracking models are not the point of this post. Creating value-passing links in volume is the point of this post, and you have to love the Star Wars franchise for explaining the connection between Star Trek, geometry, and search engine optimization. That is, it all works together “from a certain point of view” (as Obi-Wan Kenobi learned to say from his master Qui-Gon Jinn).

In other words, I’m asking you to change your point of view — your perspective. Look at the Web, search indexes, and your links somewhat differently. You have to think in terms of geometric models in order to turn your perspective; otherwise, this will all seem like gibberish.

One lesson I’ve found that many SEOs don’t learn in their first two years (maybe three) is that patience is rewarded. You may not have 1,000 inbound links today but you can have 1,000 inbound links tomorrow (I am using “tomorrow” figuratively). Impatience and greed have derailed many optimization campaigns because people tried too hard, too quickly to get links.

Search engine optimization is not all about links. It’s only 10% about links, if even that much. The rest of it is about the process, managing the process, understanding the process. Still, if your goal is to obtain 1,000 value-passing links you MUST measure your progress on a timeline because it’s humanly impossible (for most people) to automagically obtain 1,000 value-passing links.

So we’ll start with the theoretical process and then look at how to apply it.

First, you have to set a timeline. You need to pace yourself. You literally have all the time in the world. Trends analysis shows us that most monetizable queries are cyclical. If you don’t get the work done on time this year you have another year in which to complete it (but don’t put off doing the work just because you missed the holiday buying season). No business should be dependent upon the current online buying season. You MUST be working on the next year’s buying seasons with this year’s optimization.

In one year, you can obtain 1,000 value-passing links if you acquire no more than 2.74 links per day (or, if you get value-passing 3 links a day you’ll reach your goal in about 10 months). That timeline is as elastic as your realistic ability to build or create links. But keep in mind that when I say “create links” I don’t mean running around to social media sites and dropping links to your site. I don’t mean running around to blogs and forums and dropping comment and signature links.

Having set your timeline, you have to decide how to obtain your links.

Amateurs resort to link dropping because they don’t know what else to do.

Spammers resort to link dropping because they are lazy, greedy, and don’t care how inefficient their tools and methods are.

The average SEO cannot afford to rely on link dropping. The average SEO client won’t benefit enough from link dropping SEO work to make it worth their while.

And while we’re crossing popular SEO link wasting tactics off our list, let’s cross off the old “write and ask people for links” tactic, too. And take the “get links from directories” tactic off the list. And you can safely and reasonably ignore link exchanges, buying links, and press release links, etc.

Or, as I like to say, “Once you eliminate all the inefficient methods of obtaining links, all that remains are the efficient methods”.

The first method for rapidly building value-passing links is to create them on your own site. I don’t mean embed more links in your navigation. I don’t mean expand your on-site HTML sitemaps. I don’t mean add footer links, margin links, or other “hide it from the user but let the search engine see it” links. I mean, place the links in the most important, link-popular copy you have on your site.

Start with your “About Us” page if you haven’t yet shot yourself in the foot by implementing “rel=’nofollow’” to compensate for incompetent search optimization.

Next, put those value-passing links on your front page. Put them on the front pages of each of your internal sections. Leverage the copy that people are reading to help yourself.

The next method for rapidly building value-passing links is to create them on other sites you control. Now, I don’t mean set up a link farm where you have 50 sites all linking to each other. Again, I want you to put your value-passing links in copy that is clearly intended for people to read. The more you try to hide, mask, or otherwise obscure your links from your visitors, the less value you place in those links. If you don’t have copy on your other sites that is relevant to the links you need, write the damn copy. There is absolutely no excuse (except sheer stupidity) for NOT putting copy on a site you control.

If you have a horse site and you want to build links for it but your only other site is a car site, there is absolutely no reason for why you cannot put copy on your car site that says (in effect), “Hey, if you like this car site and if you’re interested in horses I have a horse site (embedding link somewhere about here) that shares with you all I know about horses. I love horses as much as I love cars and I think you’ll want to check out my horse site”.

You can be as goofy as that, goofier still, or more formal. It doesn’t matter. You can write a page, a paragraph, or something in between. All that matters is that you place this copy (and your link) in a prominently featured location on the site. The user should be able to easily find the page from multiple directions.

It’s relevant to the overall theme of the site because YOU are relevant to the overall theme of the site. If you operate more than one Web site, instead of using them to cheaply promote each other you should be using them to promote YOU, building brand value in YOU so that anything associated with YOU obtains perceived value by being associated with YOU. In multi-Web site optimization it’s all about the brand, not the content.

If content is king, Brand is the God-Emperor of SEO. Understand that brand is more important than the arbitrary, artificial, self-defeating boundaries that many people impose upon themselves. Your “Visit our horse site” page is not irrelevant if it’s about YOU because YOU are your brand, not your car site. If you’re going to build two or more sites, make sure people know WHO built them and what else you made.

The third method for creating value-passing links is to create resources that people will use — but to create those resources on other sites. What other sites? It really doesn’t matter. Just understand that there is a difference between “a resource people will use” and “a cheap spammy set of links intended to boost search engine rankings”. If you devote time and effort to creating a resource somewhere, you had better hope it sends you traffic because it may not improve your search referrals.

Link value should only be measured in the broadest possible ways because you cannot guarantee yourself (or anyone else) that any particular link will be picked up and used by a search engine. So, given a choice between placing a link on spammy PR 8 page and a PR 2 resource that people actually use, where should you be placing your link? You may feel free to shoot yourself if you even feel tempted to evaluate a link a link on the basis of Toolbar PR.

What constitutes a resource? It’s a page or a set of pages that adds value to someone else’s Web site. It provides interesting, useful, UNIQUE content that shows people you took the time to do something meaningful. Many resource sites have very liberal linking policies once you understand what they will and will not allow. Remember, you have to change your point of view from “I need to drop as many links to my sites as possible” to “I need to create a useful resource that other people will appreciate and use”.

A good example of a resource page is a blog on Wordpress or Blogger where you actually write something that interests people. You’ll get random traffic from those services so you know people will see whatever you post there. That’s why putting XML-scraping autoblogs on those services is a waste of time. Someone will eventually report the blog. Spammers may not care but if you’re building 1,000 value-passing links then you really should be investing time in creating valued content rather than cheap forgettable content.

But don’t limit yourself to blogs. You don’t have to spend three hours a day blogging if you don’t have the time. There are other ways to create resources. Just get your head out of the social media cloud long enough to understand that resource creation is not Web 2.0, it’s not social media, it’s old-school Web. Resource creation predates all the buzzwords and sneaky SEO tactics.

You leverage the resources to benefit your sites by creating relevant, meaningful resources that at the very least promote sites that don’t compete with your own. You should be able to obtain at least one link back from each resource. If you find a good resource site that allows you to embed more than one link to your own content that’s even better, but don’t put all your links in one basket. By focusing on diversity you’ll enhance the value of the content you create because it won’t look like cookie-cutter mush that you placed on fifty blogs and free profiles.

A fourth method for creating value-passing links rapidly is to build yourself a brand value. I’m not talking about link baiting. I’m talking about including yourself in as many conversations that interest you as possible. Don’t use those conversations to link to your sites. Use those conversations to help other people (who ask for help that you can provide). Use those conversations to make the best possible first impression on strangers that you can. Use those conversations to give people reasons to find your Web sites. They’ll link to you if you do this right. It happens all the time to a lot of good, helpful people’s Web sites.

Search optimizers tend to overlook the incredible value of participating in niche communities and special interest groups. You can quickly establish yourself as a helpful resource in young or slowly growing special interest groups, but the key to success is to legitimately share those interests yourself. Your passion is your magnet. Your magnet will draw both visitors and links to you. You will share your brand with a wider audience by focusing on smaller audiences than by competing directly for hyperoptimized brand name spaces.

When you leave behind the blog comments, free articles, press releases, DIGGs, Sphinns, social bookmarks, profile pages, and other SEO-favored linking tricks, you’ll find that putting links in front of people through content that really interests and challenges them is more efficient, more productive, and a far better use of your time. You can create content (and links) in volume almost without thinking about it.

If you don’t want to create just 3 value-passing links a day, you can step up the pace as much as you can tolerate. Time is on your side. If you create 10 value-passing links a day you’ll have your 1,000 links in 100 days — just over 3 months’ time. It’s not that difficult. You just need to practice finding new places to create content to help benefit other people. Your content philanthropy will bring you marketing rewards no SEO blog or forum can ever match.

At the end of the day you’ll find that people are not linking to your Web sites; they are linking to you. You can link to yourself, and SHOULD link to yourself, but you’ll engage more people in your successful Web marketing (and improve your search visibility) if you spend less time following SEO advice and more time just sharing your passion with other people.

I’ve lost count of how many links I’ve built using these and other non-SEO methods. I stopped counting links years ago.

The question is: when will YOU stop wasting your time with link counts?