Link building is crucial to any SEO campaign but it is also the most time consuming and frustrating. One of the best ways to get inbound links is from blogs that are in the same niche as your business and these offer some great benefits:

• Solid inbound links often within the body copy of the text on the blog
• They help your business reach out to a new audience
• Blogs can drive new, relevant traffic to your site
• It may lead to more exposure and natural links through social media sites like StumbleUpon, delicious and digg.

Like a lot of SEO techniques the key to success in link building with blogs is building relationships. Before this can be done you need to identify influential bloggers that write about topics that are related to your business.

Finding influential bloggers

There  are a number of ways of finding influential bloggers within your niche and these are some of the techniques I use:

• Go over to Google and search for the blogs that are using similar keywords to you. The blogs don’t have to be an exact match to your business – be creative and look for blogs that have similar ideas and concepts to your business.

• Make a list of the ones that you like the most – obviously the number of blogs yo0u choose will all be based on how much time you can give to the project. Set up a an Excel spreadsheet with the name of the blog and then it is time to do your research.

• Check the Page Rank of each blog – this isn’t the greatest way of measuring the popularity of the blogs but it is a good starter for ten. Remember the more trusted the blog the more link juice will be passed down to your site if they link to you.

• Run each blog through the Hubspot Blog Grader

• This is a great way to find out the quality of the blogs you are researching and it will show statistics like traffic, authority, frequency of posts and blog engagement. Pay particular interest to the traffic the blog is getting and blog engagement (twitter mentions, facebook likes and comments) as this will help you build traffic to the site as well.

Through some basic research you should now have found a number of blogs that you will want to get a link from – for both SEO purposes and for exposure of your business. It is now time for you to get the link and this is the difficult bit! As the title of this post suggest you have to build a relationship with the blogger in order to become successful in getting those killer links.

Building relationships with bloggers

• Most bloggers have Twitter accounts so begin by following them – everyone like to see their numbers of followers go up!

• Retweet their Tweets and comment on their Tweets. Don’t overdo this as you may come of as a bit of stalker let it develop over time so they start to recognise you. Tweet the occasional link to one of their posts.

• Comment on their blog posts saying how much you enjoy them. Make sure you have read the posts and comment accordingly.

• Link to the posts that interest you the most. Link from a post on your site or blog that is relevant to something they have written about.

• Locate the blogs that they post on and post a few comments there as well.

• If they are active on Linkedin and Facebook leave comments there as well.

• Connect with them on mybloglog.

• After a while you can send them an email asking a question or making a comment. If they recognise you this could lead to a few emails back and forth – and if you haven’t pushed it too hard you could possibly ask about the possibility of them writing a post about your fantastic business or product.

If you put the time and effort into building relationships for your links you will find you suffer less rejection. Bloggers are more likely to link to you if you have been participating in the community.

They key to success in getting links from bloggers in to give and then give some more and only ask for that link or review when the time feels right.

Follow these links for more information on linkbuilding:

Updating your Inbound Linking Strategy

How To Write Link Bait In Five Easy Steps

+++Wayne Barker+++

People across the county are going crazy for the World Cup, but I’ve always been more of a Wimbledon girl myself. This year there’s a new side to the game (and no, I don’t mean the record-breking marathon match) – growing numbers of tennis stars are on Twitter.

Top players like Andy Murray, Serena Williams and Andy Roddick are tweeting their thoughts and giving followers the inside scoop on life as a sporting star, but is there anything you can learn from them?

Your Personal Brand Is Important

Sports stars of any kind live or die on the success of their personal brand, relying on their reputation to bring in lucrative sponsorship deals.  Twitter is another way for them to maintain an active profile and build their personal brand.

The success or failure of your company is unlikely to depend on your personal brand in the same way.  But if you’re a small business owner, or plan to tweet on behalf of your company, you do need to think carefully about how you are going to present yourself on Twitter.

Your Company Brand Is Important Too

I ran a quick search to find out if Roger Federer is on Twitter.  I found this profile:

Aside from the lack of tweets, this Twitter profile failed to impress me or convince me of its authenticity.

Why is that?

Federer is known for his slick sense of style, the standard Twitter background is not what I’d expect from him.  It may just be that he never got the hang of this particular social networking tool, but who knows?

The lesson for all you business people is that you need to reflect your brand on your Twitter page if you’re representing your company.  Create a branded background, use your bio, and keep sending out relevant tweets containing company news, industry news and interesting things to do with your field of expertise.

You Need to Network

Even tennis players network – tweeting to their fans and other tennis stars.  @andy_murray may have over 160,000 followers, but that doesn’t stop him from responding to fans, bigging up his bro @jamie_murray and running competitions to keep his followers happy.  Similarly @andyroddick with over 280,000 followers regularly retweets content and sends messages to his fellow tennis players.

Twitter is a social network, if you’re going to get on board and start using it you must connect with your peers, colleagues and customers.  It’s a great way to promote yourself, but without those connections you’re shouting in an empty room.

More than that, by engaging on Twitter you establish trust and build your credibility.  If the Federer profile had a few messages to and from other players I’d have been more willing to believe it was genuine.  And when you’re working with social networks people have to believe in you.

So there’s just a few tips you can pick up by following the world’s top tennis players – have you got any great advice of your own?

+++

Katie Saxon

If you think there is nothing worse than sitting inside at work when the sun is blazing  then you are sorely mistaken. Google knows there is something worse than this – being sat at work when the sun is blazing and the world cup is on! If you haven’t noticed yet there is a little football competition going on and Google has provided us with some great stuff to keep us in the spirit.

At the start of the week you may have noticed a little link on Google that allowed you to access all their world cup goodies. It is no longer there but if you follow this link you will find all you need to get you through the day.

Google World Cup

Without going overboard Google has pinpointed the requirements of your average football fan who is stuck at work.

When you follow Google’s world cup link you are initially greeted by this page:

What better way to enter into the spirit of things than to show your support for your team than by covering your minimalist iGoogle page with a symphony of red and white. My iGoogle Home Page now looks like this:

So far so good, Google has helped us show our support for the team from our PC or laptop. Next on the agenda will be the need to know the scores of every World Cup match as it is being played live. All we need to do now is tap in the phrase ‘world cup’ into Google for up to date scores from any of the matches that are playing currently. It will also show us the matches that are due to played this evening so we can plan whether to watch them at the pub or at home.

We are now able to support England from our desk and get up to the minute scores with the click of a refresh or reload button on our browser. For those of you who need a little more information you can see the standings table in the ‘Football Widget‘ that you can attach to your iGoogle page:

You can find out about and explore the stadiums that are being used in the South Africa World Cup right on Google Maps from a link on the Google Word Cup page:

As always it is important to save the best to last. What if you are at a meeting – let us say it is on Friday afternoon, just before the next England match – and you are in a unfamiliar city. You are not going to know which way to head for the local pub that is showing the match. You could of course ask someone like we would have done before the Internet came along and revolutionised the way we do things, but that is so old fashioned. If you follow the link on Google that says ‘find a great place to watch the match’ it will take you over to Google Maps, click on one of the footballs on the map and it will give you the details of the closest venue showing the match!

There you go, a quick guide to the Google’s World Cup. Enjoy the sunshine and enjoy the football.

+++Wayne Barker+++

When starting out on an SEO project for your website, you’ll need to optimise your pages for carefully selected keywords.  But, finding the right keywords can be a tricky task.  While tools like Google’s Keyword Tool are excellent starting points, you might need to dig deeper and think harder to find the phrases that will work for your website.

To help you with that, we’ve put together 5 alternative sources for keyword suggestions, that might provide just the right phrase for you.

1. YouTube Keyword Tool

Did you know that YouTube is the second most popular search engine after Google?  It’s hardly suprising then that they have their own keyword tool – and as YouTube is owned by Google the functions of their tool should feel familiar.

As you’d expect, they come up with some unusual suggestions.  What has the phrase “addicted to twilight” got to do with “engagement ring”?  The lead characters in the Twilight series of films get engaged, of course.  While this may not seem helpful, you might discover a new trend or hot topic that could become the subject of your next blog post.

2. Website referral logs

If you’re using any form of analytics software for your website, you should have a goldmine of keyword research waiting at your fingertips.  Your referral logs should be able to tell you what keywords visitors used to find your website, which might throw up some interesting ideas that you hadn’t thought of before.

3. Google Wonder Wheel

A quirky little tool that is like an online mind map – as created by Google.  Tucked away in the new search options down the left hand side of the Google search results pages is this neat tool. Click on “more search tools” to find the Wonder Wheel.

The Wonder Wheel shows you a mind map of search terms related to your search.  It also allows you to click on the related terms to generate new Wonder Wheels and give you more keyword suggestions.  This is a fun little tool that should give you some more ideas, but watch you don’t get caught up in playing with this.

4. Other Search Engines

Have you noticed that when you type a search term into Google, it tries to guess what you might be looking for?  This feature is known as Google Suggest and it looks like this:

Other search engines have similar features, while Google is by far and away the most popular search engine, smaller engines do still get traffic and they might have some interesting keyword suggestions for you.

5. Twitter Search

Or Facebook, or Digg…  Social media is big news and big business nowadays.  Most importantly for you, it tells you what people are talking about right now.  You might have to wade through more data to find some gems, but if you need an idea for a blog post to write this minute, search social media for what’s hot in your niche.

With a little bit of creativity, you can find a whole host of keyword ideas that your competitors are not already targeting in their SEO strategy.  Make sure you analyse any suggestions that you come up with, to ensure that you are targeting the most appropriate search terms to help you achieve your Internet Marketing goals.

Recent Tweets from @SusanHallam, @ksaxoninternet and @wayneb77

1. Google’s new diagram of how Caffeine works is…awful. #Infographics police should ban this one. http://bit.ly/9YleRB
2. If you didn’t find Google’s Caffeine diagram helpful, then @VanessaFox review will clarify: http://selnd.com/9P999F
3. Want to keep an eye on competitors? LinkedIn offers new “Follow” option to monitor company updates. http://bit.ly/c20SSL
4. Google rankings: 34% click on top spot, 16% click on position 2, & 75% of all clicks in top 5 results. http://bit.ly/cXHypi
5. @mattuk SMX Advanced London 2010 Live Blog Recap – http://selnd.com/af9fCq
6. Google Pacman! 4:30 Friday and the Google Search Engine Turns into a Pacman machine…
7. Thanks @mrmattdavies for the overview of The Internet Conference http://bit.ly/beitKH 18 May 2010 13:01:33
8. The Internet Conference Powerpoint presentations are now available: http://bit.ly/9j8yon
9. How valuable is the http://wefollow.com twitter directory? 15 May 2010 17:00:05
10. … and not forgetting the amazing Mike Baxter of Sales Logiq, Mark Shaw of Nutshell, and Natasha Barnett from Capital One.
11. A big thanks to all our Internet Conference speakers: @charlesarthur @richard_flewitt @iamkellyherrick @davechaffey @ianlockwood 15 May 2010 16:31:52
12. 75% if Twitter’s traffic comes via the API (like Tweetdeck) & hence your low Analytics stats. #tic10
13. Looking forward to seeing everybody at The Internet Conference…! #tic10
14. The Web Inspector: I’ll be doing live reviews of websites at The Internet Conference next week. Any volunteers? http://bit.ly/9KFF2w
15. Google Chameleon: since when does tenders = eastenders? http://bit.ly/ayrIgJ
16. Nottingham businesses still invisble on the search engines http://bit.ly/cCy3oS
17. RT @Econsultancy: Google Caffeine: the most refreshing Google update ever for SEOs? http://bit.ly/9krTqN
18. Take a look at my new Google profile (if you like): http://bit.ly/bydCoY
    
19. I can relate to these thoughts.. RT @NotGodinREPOSTs: Six things about deadlines http://ff.im/-lBvgu
20. Is your website mobile-friendly? http://bit.ly/beBm63
21. Think I need to check some of these out RT @Econsultancy: Top 12 books every SEM needs to read http://bit.ly/934OvI
22. @aardmaan Dare to be different RT @ThisIsSethsBlog: Seth’s Blog: We’re the same, we’re the same, we’re… http://bit.ly/9oWp95
23. Have I shared my one great tip to improve conversions on your website yet? http://bit.ly/9GsaHV
24. Google’s cracking down on a UK newspaper & no longer trusts their links.. http://bit.ly/d8dJkA via @simonhowland
25. Excellent run down of (some of the) top tips from #smx http://bit.ly/b1FwBb
26. “Search is a conversation” – are you talking your customers language? from @pere_voira #smx 1
27. One great linkbait tip from @chrisbennett infographics make boring subjects fun and are good at going viral #smx 1
28. @shadowdaddy Melissa Campbell sums up how to do social media: Don’t be boring. Too true! #smx
29. Crazy but true… RT @raywatson: 24 hours of video is uploaded to youtube every minute #smx
30. Christine Churchill gave us some different + genuinely useful ideas for local search optimisation #smx 1
31. Gettin clear advice on measuring local search #smx – great after hearing how important it will be at #TIC10 on
32. Why microsites are a bad idea – http://bit.ly/bE9Gcf
33. #TIC10 Dr Mike Baxter is talkin forms, showin us how little things can make a massive difference to conversions. 1
34. #TIC10 Now I know why newsreaders turn + smile at the camera when the news starts-its bout lookin natural 1
35. #TIC10 tweetdeck is the ’starship enterprise pilot deck’ twitter tool. I think @iamkellyherrick likes it. Rightly so..
36. RT @johnlyle #TIC10 superstar Kelly Herrick is telling us how to find our Twitter voice. Simple advice but effective
37. Good trackin tip,use the Google URL builder to analyse specific campaigns #TIC10
38. Gettin a whistle-stop tour of Google Analytics- lots of great advice on strategy and segments at #TIC10 1
39. #TIC10 @SusanHallam Google gives more control over search results data to users, will websites need to change their SEO strategies as a …
40. @charlesarthur says if we arent thinkin mobile for our websites well be left behind-+hes got the figures to prove it #TIC10
41. RT @DaveChaffey: New post by @annmariehanlon Twitter for businesses: 10 Quick Wins to create your Twitter strategy http://bit.ly/b22Ede
42. TIC10 Review of the new Google Keyword Tool http://bit.ly/agKmbs Find out what else is new in Google at #TIC10
43. RT @quirkemarketing: How Social Media is Influencing Your Behavior http://bit.ly/cuo7AA … in ways you’d never expect, interesting.
44. Google under investigation in Australia http://bit.ly/cQ2q6f
45. johnlyle how cool is Google today http://www.google.co.uk/ insert coin to see it play!
46. RT @IanLockwood: Bing launches UK local listings, but oddly outsources to 118 Information. Get your business listed! http://bit.ly/b6miZN
47. seosmarty RT @m_thompson How To Craft the Perfect Meta Tags http://bit.ly/c4GarX

It’s been in the USA for a while, but it would appear AdWords is running a pilot in the UK is now inviting searchers to preview advertisers’ products through the use of a plus box inviting them to click to see the product choices.

In this example, I did a search in Google.co.uk for  “wedding dresses” and an advertisement from an American company appears in the British results, complete with the Show Products plus box:

This advertisement is displaying integration from two of Google’s services:

• the option to display products listed on the Google Shopping (or Google Base) data feed
• offers being made through the Google Checkout payment gateway ($20 off)

Clicking through to the products offered by this advertiser then inserts the wedding dresses straight into the AdWords advertising in the search results:

In the same way that Google is integrating Universal content into the organic search results (videos, social media, maps, images) it is also testing integrating additional types of content into the paid advertising results.

Anybody else seeing British advertisers benefiting from the Show Products plus box?

Was this just a glitch that I happened to spot, and capture?  Or can you share other examples

Watch this space!

We all know that Google visibility is crucial to online success; however an eagerness to appear in the first page of the Google results can sometimes lead you into trouble.

If you experience a sudden drop in rankings for your main keywords there are two likely reasons:

• There has been a change to Google’s algorithm and you have been one of the unfortunate losers.
• You have received a penalty from Google for breaking (or bending) their guidelines.

If you feel your drop in rankings may be the result of some infringement of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines it is important to correct them immediately. I am sure you are aware that Google will never make it that simple for you and many of the reasons they penalise sites is only known to those locked within the walls of Google headquarters. There are, however, some sure-fire ways to get yourself penalised (or banned) by Google:

• Linking into ‘bad neighbourhoods’. A ‘bad neighbourhood’ can include spammy sites, link farms or just generally sites that have no value to the Internet user as a whole. A good rule of thumb is: “if you are in doubt then it is probably best left alone”. If you want to check for sure then do a search for the Home Page in Google and if it doesn’t appear in the first page of the results it suggests that Google doesn’t trust it that much. Check out the Bad Neighborhood tool for help.

• Keyword stuffing. Always write with the user in mind first and the spider second. Stay away from repeating the same keywords over and over again.

• Excessive reciprocal link building. Some reciprocal link building can be considered natural – especially if you share the same topic in a niche. However stay away from unnatural amounts of ‘off topic ‘ reciprocal link building – always make sure your reciprocal links are from trusted ‘on topic’ sites and make your reciprocal links a small part of your overall link building campaign.

• Buying links. It is thought that that buying links can harm your rankings (like most things with Google though it has only been hinted at rather than confirmed!). It is always better to be safe than sorry so try and avoid buying and selling links and you are less likely to be penalised for it.

• Hidden text on your site. An old trick and very likely to get you banned – don’t make the text the same colour as your background, you will get found out sooner or later! The same applies to hidden links on your site.

• Check your site is considered safe. Here is how we check our site is safe:

Go to Google and type in http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=shcl.co.uk (obviously replacing the shcl.co.uk with your site). This we show you this screen which will give you Google’s details on the ‘Safe Browsing’ details of your site:

Other ways to reduce the risk of getting banned or penalised by Google by Google include:

• Make sure the anchor text of any links pointing to your site is varied as possible
• Do not link to any currently banned sites
• Avoid excessive cross linking with any other sites you own
• Avoid over optimisation
• Avoid excessive use of directories
• Make sure your link building increases at a natural rate (about 10% of the total number of inbound links you already have)

The final tip for avoiding Google penalties is:

• Use your common sense!

If you think that your actions could be construed as slightly dubious then stay away. Make your link building look natural and design and optimise your site with the user in mind and remember it can take time to rise up the rankings – patience is a virtue!

Here are some tools and links to help you with diagnosing and solving Google penalty issues:

Bad Neighborhood – Bad neighbourhood checking tool

Google Webmaster Guidelines

MajesticSEO – Backlink checker and neighbourhood checker

Google’s Malware help

Google’s reconsideration of your site page

+++Wayne Barker+++

There are lots of sources of information about using social media – top tips, how to guides, etc..  But I’ve got one simple piece of advice to help you with your social media strategy.

Be consistent.

Be the same person on your Twitter profile as you are on your website.  Present the same brand on Facebook that you show in your corporate literature.  Build upon the same key messages time and time again.

Yes, there will be differences in the way you approach each marketing medium.  But think about it the same way you would a real-life business setting.  You may be more relaxed and informal when attending a social networking event, but you are still representing the same company as you do when presenting reports to your investors.

An example that I was shown at the SMX Conference in London demonstrates this beautifully.  You’ve all heard of Lady Gaga?  Her most recent video was viewed 30,458,631 times on YouTube and she is currently one of the top selling musicians in the UK, possibly the world.

How about the band OK Go!?  They released a quirky video has had 2,818,090 views on YouTube – an impressive social media success.  And yet, they have just been dropped by their record company.  No one knew who they were outside of their YouTube video because their branding and messages weren’t consistent with the rest of their marketing strategy.

Lady Gaga on the other hand looks and acts the same in her videos, on stage, in magazines…  People remember who she is and what she does, and every time they see her that brand is reinforced.  Her success isn’t built on a one-off concept for some juicy linkbait.

A more business-focused example is the friendly brand Innocent that just wants to help us to get our five a day (by buying their products of course).  I can sum up their core message – “We make being healthy easy peasy” – without thinking too hard.  That’s because every advert, piece of packaging and digital communication tells me this using the same tone of voice, halo logo and repetitive wording.

So before you start creating YouTube videos, sending out tweets or building a Facebook community ask yourself what you are saying about your company and your brand.  And make sure that you are being consistent.

+++

Katie Saxon

The essential one day Hallam Search Engine Optimisation seminar focused on improving your rankings in the search engines, solving your SEO problems and answering your search marketing questions.

This independent, practical and highly enjoyable SEO Training course is a must for businesses owners and managers who want to get Found in Google.

This course has been designed for business owners and managers who need to understand what is involved in search engine optimisation.

Many attendees are senior managers who are working with an Internet marketing agency and want to get a better understanding of what they are getting for their money, and to be sure they are receiving a high quality service.

Or, you may want to be undertaking the SEO (search engine optimisation) yourself, and want to sharpen your skills to improve your rankings in the search engines.

You will learn how to:

• Diagnose your website problems
• Create an SEO plan of action for your website
• Use search engine optimisation tips and tricks to increase your rankings and traffic
• Understand why some sites rank so highly
• Measure your SEO success

Date

23rd February 2010

Times

09:00 – Registration & Coffee
09:30 – 16:30 Course
16:30 – 17:00 Informal Q&A

Location

Hallam Training Suite
2 King Street
Nottingham NG1 2AS

Fee

£395.00 + VAT
Includes comprehensive course notes, lunch, drinks and snacks.

Select the “Other Payment Options” if you would prefer to pay by cheque or pay by invoice.

Click here to book your place now via email

About this Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Training Course

This course has been designed for business owners and managers who need to understand what is involved in search engine optimisation. You may be doing the SEO yourself, or you may be working with an agency and need to be sure you are getting value for money, and that they are delivering a high quality service for your business. We are assuming that you already have a website, or you may be planning a new website and that you understand the basics of how search engines work.

You will leave the day with a written plan of action detailing the specific steps you need to take to optimise your website.

Susan’s workshop materials are constantly updated as the industry shifts and changes, and this workshop will reflect the latest strategies to reflect the evolving search engine optimisation marketplace.

You will be provided with a comprehensive set of course notes, articles and reference guides. Following the course, you will have access to Hallam’s password protected online library of SEO support resources.

Seminar Programme

• Update: the lastest news in search on the Internet
• Principles of SEO: content, links and relevancy
• Jump starting poorly performing websites
• Producing keyword rich webpages
• How and when to use keyword analysis tools
• Copywriting perfect webpages
• Understanding Google Page Rank
• Innovative techniques for getting inbound links
• How to use Blogging as an SEO tool
• Your Google Toolbox: Webmaster Central, Local Search & More
• Google Analytics: What to measure, and how to interpret your web statistics
• Staying out of trouble with the search engines
• Researching your competitor’s SEO campaigns

The Trainer

Susan Hallam one of the UK’s leading Internet marketing trainers and consultants, with more than 20 years experience in the information industry.

She is a regular speaker at conferences including Search Engine Strategies, InternetWorld, and is a Qualified Google AdWords and Google Analytics consultant.