Position Your Site as Your Industry Resource : Build Links & Trust
After launching Daily SEO Tip, I wrote an article about how to turn your site into a link magnet, which makes it easier to not only attract links – but also will boost the response return on your push oriented link building strategies.
Today I would like to follow up with a very simple networking tip, and apply it to SEO and link building. Whether your website is a business oriented site or a vertical blog, you have the power at your disposal to turn your site into a networking magnet by attracting peers via positioning your company’s website into THE resource within your industry. Blogging and social media are forms of communication which open up a conversation between your company, and followers of your thoughts and ideas.
Look at SEOmoz for example. Rand Fishkin kind of got into the SEO consulting industry a lot later than most of his peers. But what Rand did with SEOmoz was create an incredibly informative and generous blog and social community around his company (paired with an outgoing & fearless personality). After a couple of years, the community and blog became so large and loyal that their entire business strategy transitioned into a way to leverage that loyalty into a membership driven B2B service and resource firm. And the rest is history.
Also, take High Rankings and Top Rank for example, the High Rankings forum & email newsletter have been around longer than Google and the Top Rank Online Marketing Blog hardly ever crosses the fine line between resource and service : and ranks #2 in Google for “online marketing”!
People link to these sites because they are resources … not because they have to ask or pay for the links.
You too can become the Lee Odden, Rand Fishkin, Lisa Barone or Jill Whalen of YOUR INDUSTRY! Just think about it.
Furthermore, from experience, I can tell you that after building Search Engine Journal, I’ve also gone out of my way to help a lot of others out over the years, giving them a voice on the blog and also helping them land positions with rather large search marketing or interactive ad firms.
I like to help people, and I know that the good faith will pay off. By positioning your site or business blog as a resource, you will attract trusted and loyal friends within your industry who you can later leverage when you need to ask for a favor.
I’ll also admit that I’m not the best networker in the world, but via social media, connections come to me and SEJ. I really don’t have to work the room at a conference or networking event. I know that SEJ and 6 years of blogging speaks for me (and our other incredible contributors).
I’ve heard the same from many bloggers, in and out of the search industry. A friend of mine named Derrick Daye runs a branding blog called Branding Strategy Insider. I don’t do much consulting, but my friend Derrick’s company The Blake Project does a lot of it. He’s told me that on multiple occassions, when pitching a company on building their branding strategy, the CMO or CEO of the company will tell Derrick how much he or she enjoys Derrick’s blog and how they feel as they know Derrick already. Not only do they feel that they know Derrick personally, but also know via his company’s blog, Facebook profile and Twitter stream that Derrick surrounds himself with branding professionals, marketing experts, has some very large and happy clients and is well connected in the social media world.
Derrick doesn’t need to sell himself. His blog has already closed the deal.
I first met Dave Dugdale about four years ago at the Fairmount bar in San Jose the day before SES West. After a couple of drinks, we got to talkin’ and he was telling me how he had taken the plunge to leave his fulltime job and concentrate on RentVine, a new home rental site he was developing. Dave decided to launch a home rental blog which covered the rental business vertical, and write about his competition and the industry as a whole. He also got involved in social media and has become a bit infamous in online marketing circles for his videos.
Via a lot of hard work and long hours, Dave has now become the Michael Arrington or Danny Sullivan of the Home Rental industry. The result of all of that hard work? Dave now competes in the SERPS with Move.com and Rent.com.
How are you positioning yourself in your industry and how does your blog assist you with attracting the right friends and colleagues to succeed and make your job easier?
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20 Responses to “Position Your Site as Your Industry Resource : Build Links & Trust”
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Daily SEO Tip http://tinyurl.com/ahe4j2 – great info on building your brand and angling your site
Hi Loren,
I loved your site and enjoyed the read. I am creating a new PPC
hybrid job board like indeed …. kinda LOL and I need a white
paper done about the technology. Can you give me a name or maybe you could do it. Please call @ 1-215-992-9719
Anthony Mari
There are thousands of industry that needed players like Danny Sullivan, Aaron Wall, Rand Fishkin, and Loren (you deserve it!) and I think the idea of emulating what they’ve done in SEO industry is a really good ones!
AmirulFaisyal’s last incredible blog post..TipJar – Bantuan Dari Google Untuk Krisis Ekonomi
I absolutely agree!
I’ve been trying to convince my partners to do this for a long time. It certainly worked for me, and since Latin America is a newborn field for internet marketing, there are a thousand opportunities around
Great advice, keep them coming and keep enlightening us
Cheers from Buenos Aires!
Tana’s last incredible blog post..Reunión IxDA Buenos Aires: un éxito
Loren Baker Reply:
March 5th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Thank you Tana! I’m excited to hear about what you are doing in the Argentinian market in regards to SEO and SEM
If I remember correctly, Argentina has the highest Internet usage numbers per user in the South American / Latin American market.
Thank you, Loren, for the article and for setting a great example. What you and Ann are doing with Daily SEO Tip, as well as Search Engine Journal, is also setting a great example for us.
You’re not good at networking? Well, you sure have helped a lot of us in the industry network with Scary SEO and now IM Spring Break. So, consider yourself a catalyst that sparks the fire for more than link building.
Thanks for demonstrating best practices and sharing the principles for us to learn from and follow. Relationships and incoming links are the result!
Dana Lookadoo’s last incredible blog post..Twitter Engages Professional Cycling Fans
Loren Baker Reply:
March 5th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Heh, well, I used to not be good at networking. I think now I’m a master networker. Need to change that a bit in the post
Loren,
Thanks for mentioning me. It’s nice to be in such good company. And you’re right on as usual. We can’t forget, brands exist to meet human needs. What needs can you meet? Can you meet them as an authority/thought leader in your niche? What can you ‘own’ in the minds of your prospective customers? Start by discovering this first and then consistently deliver on what you promise. The very reason most turn to this medium is to gain understanding. Online resources meet this expectation and are rewarded with traffic and opportunity. I feel I must add – the offer of ads does not position you a resource or as an expert – focus on content that serves. It’s the sure way to win the day.
Derrick Daye’s last incredible blog post..The Past Can Power Online Brands
There is no option for hard work. with my two year of SEO career I learned that start with Onpage with very little time and give you maximum time to off page.
I never been so serious about title and meta but I always very serious about to get good and high PR link. From last some day I am getting 2 to 3 four PR one way linkback from Blog comment with my main keyword and getting good exposure in SERP gradually
Many people saying on web that blog comment is low quality and Blah Blah Blah…will you say link on 4 PR page is low Quality Link ?
No marketing / SEO / SEM / BS expert can do the marketing work for you. SEO is so simple. You just have to be creative and never stop working on getting more links to your site.
That’s all!
Timely article! Just met with a client yesterday about a web site re-design. One big source of repeat traffic for his current web site is his “Resources” page which has numerous links to weather, avalanche hotlines, and other web site relevant to his field (adventure guiding).
Loren,
Thanks for also mentioning me as well. I remember that night at the bar pretty well, I think that was my first SEO conference, it was nice to meet you back then.
The strategy of talking about my competitors has worked pretty well over the years, however I have slowed it down a lot and put the more controversial topics on another blog that my clients do not see. But my silly videos work the best at attracting links. I am starting a new rental site and of course I had to start it with a silly video.
Perhaps I will see you at SMX advanced if you are going.
Dave Dugdale’s last incredible blog post..HomeAway Starts Spending Some of That 250 Million
Loren,
Thank you for the excellent article. I am following this strategy but it’s not easy when I know that I can make more money much faster with AdSense ads that are stuck right in the reader’s face as they begin to read the article.
I am hoping that my readers will respond to being treated with more dignity and become fans of the site.
My question for you is, how does traffic automatically translate into profitability?
BNJ
John Stringfellow’s last incredible blog post..BNJ Twitter Poll . For Business or Pleasure?
I think there is a key message in your post, Loren, that deserves to be highlighted – the part about going out of your way to help others. It is a truism that if you want others to help you, you should first help others. When I say help, I don’t mean count the favors you have done. I do my best to help whenever I can. I also go out and ask for help whenever I feel I need it. I am sure there are people who have benefited disproportionately from my generosity, and I am equally sure that I have benefited disproportionately from the generosity of others. So be it.
Unfortunately, most businesses do not like their website even being seen by their “competition”. That is unfortunate, but it is a business mindset that is a thousand times deeper than their interest in SEO and rankings.
David Leonhardt’s last incredible blog post..The Bookmarketer adds Tipd, Plugim, Plime
Let me echo your thought, David. Networking becomes much easier when the network-ee is looking for help. Since we all like to help, it becomes so much easier when someone asks. As Peter Drucker said, Help is defined by the recipient. If someone doesn’t look as though they need help, you don’t want to offend by offering it. Just think of all those ugly websites out there.
Barry Welford’s last incredible blog post..Google Is Killing Its Golden Goose
Whenever a client asks a question, I write an article about it. My main source of articles is questions I have had or think a web site owner my want to know about.
it’s really great to read someone else’s theory on becoming an expert. I often pitch this idea to clients, who feel that a 3-4 page website will suffice, then wonder why they’re not getting traffic.
The future of SEO does seem like a combination of creating real value by creating real content and creating unique (by maybe useless) fun content. These days blogs are so powerful that it is just as good to create a funny viral video that is loved by bloggers as substantial content. Blogs have amazing power and the smart guys like Dave Dougdale are using viral networking to compete against the big corporations. Viral networking seems to be the tool that allows small businesses to compete against the Goliaths.
There are thousands of industry that needed players like Danny Sullivan, Aaron Wall, Rand Fishkin, and Loren (you deserve it!) and I think the idea of emulating what they’ve done in SEO industry is a really good ones!
AmirulFaisyal’s last incredible blog post..TipJar – Bantuan Dari Google Untuk Krisis Ekonomi
very helpful post, thanks for sharing.