Google’s message for webmasters lately has been resoundingly clear; organic, white hat link building methods are the future, inorganic link networks are the past. That said, making the transition towards these new, organic link networks is a lot easier for the Matt Cutts of the world to talk about than for webmasters on the ground to actually implement.
In a recent guest blog posting on Hubspot.com, SEO expert Corey Northcutt recommended a host of white hat, Google approved methods for creating link networks in the post-Panda world of SEO. His tips are straightforward and rely on the kind of old fashioned heavy lifting that we’re going to see a lot more of in the future.
Here are some of his top tips:
Blog
We all know that a steady flow of content on your site blog is a great way of building up your page rankings, but there’s more to than posting and forgetting. Northcutt recommend bloggers grab as many guest blog spots as they can, as well as linking to other blogs as often as possible.
If you’re really on your game, Northcutt suggests using resource lists that are comprehensive and very link friendly for other bloggers to post up, too. Content is the core of the new SEO and this is a great way to get your content out in the world.
Blogging for Your Casino Affiliate Business
Expand Your Content
SEO gurus have long suggested that content be re-purposed into different forms such as case studies. Northcutt builds on that idea by providing a host of ideas for content that move well beyond the standard blog post including surveys, book reviews and even free design templates.
Glorious Graphics
If you’ve got the design skills infographics and other eye candy are great ways of building an audience in crowded market spaces. For those of who aren’t quite so handy with Photoshop and Paint should consider frequenting freelancer sites like Fiverr.com. You probably won’t get everything you want for five dollars, but it’s a great place for building contacts with reasonably priced designers.
Old Fashioned PR
Dust off that public relations textbook you never read in college and prepare to have your mind blown. All those pre-internet PR techniques like sending out press releases and pitching stories directly to reporters are still very relevant in the digital age.
Build Partnerships
This sounds an awful lot like link exchanges, but it’s actually quite different. In the new SEO, partnerships are going to rely more on exchanging content, and not just links. But if you’ve got a few regular partners who are posting up your work, you’ll be in great shape.
Social Media
Google is placing an ever heavier weight on social media shares and that trend is going to continue for the foreseeable future. That means every affiliate needs to be very active on social media and start piling up those shares and re-Tweets. Don’t forget to make this as easy as possible for your audience with prominent share and like buttons.
Volunteer
Building a reputation in your industry is an essential component of building social media shares and traffic. Volunteering to become a forum moderator or mentor on a prominent industry web site can do wonders for your reputations.
Finally
Building new, organic links isn’t going to be easy. But when you think about it, link exchanges weren’t all that easy either. White hat link building is going to take some getting used to but in the end it’s going to be a lot easier to manage. For more detailed tips on this subject, check out Northcutt’s complete posting.
How are you creating more organic link networks? Let us know on our SEO Forum.