Ultimate Guide to Link Building , livre ebook

Garrett French has solidified his reputation as one of the few true, authoritative, innovative link builders in our industry. There are only a handful of marketers who have mastered and cultivated the craft of link building. Garrett is certainly one of them.
-R USS J ONES , P RINCIPAL S EARCH S CIENTIST , M OZ
Link building has always been challenging. Prior to the days of Google s Penguin algorithm, SEOs recognized that every kind of link a site could get had the potential to help improve rankings. This lead to many of us building loads of low quality links at scale. In many cases, getting a large quantity of links, even low quality ones, could really help!
When Penguin arrived in 2012, everything changed. Links are still important, but low-quality links now have the potential to actually hurt a site s rankings.
Google experimented with taking links out of the equation, but admitted that their results were much better when links were factored in. Why? Because a link is a recommendation for your website. And sites with lots of recommendations are often the best sites.
Our goal as link builders now should be to figure out what we can do to truly get people recommending our website, our business, our authors, and our content. In this book, Garrett gives us many excellent tactics to help us do just that.
Not that many years ago, it was super easy to build links that worked to improve rankings. Today, it takes skill, smart thinking, and great execution. If you want to get better at learning how to get other people to want to link to your website, read this book.
-D R . M ARIE H AYNES, OWNER OF M ARIE H AYNES C ONSULTING I NC .
This is the most exhaustive, detailed, and up-to-date resource on link building I have ever seen. It is packed with modern techniques, timeless principles and in-depth tool tutorials on how to actually achieve better link building results. It s not black hat. It s not snake oil. It s not made up theory-it s experience-backed knowledge by real professionals.
Whether you re an advanced link builder, or just getting started-this book will be your secret weapon for attaining real SEO success!
-D AN S HURE, OWNER OF E VOLVING SEO
This book packs a 40+year-link-building-experience punch! Strokes of genius emanate from deceivingly simple explanations and effortless workflows. Only Eric Ward and Garrett French could make the complicated world of link building look so crystal clear and manageable. This powerful edition delivers everything you need to be a successful link builder and leaves you wondering, Wow! Why haven t I thought of that?! over and over again.
-B RITNEY M ULLER , S ENIOR SEO S CIENTIST , M OZ
Eric Ward and Garrett French have put together a solid, easy-to-read link-building primer. The book provides simple explanations and straightforward advice when it comes to building links; chapters are well outlined and flow from point to point. If you are new to link building, this book is a great resource for anyone looking for tools, tactics, and case studies to learn from.
-D EBRA M ASTALER , P RESIDENT OF ALLIANCE-LINK.COM
Eric Ward has been a thought leader in how to build links the right way since before there even was a right way. His extensive relationship-building background, mixed with challenging projects, has given him insights and methodologies that are advanced and increasingly necessary in today s internet marketing world. He has brought his many years of hard-fought experience to the pages of this book, and I heartily recommend it to anyone seeking to grow their skills.
-B RUCE C LAY , CEO OF I NTERNATIONAL SEO FIRM BRUCECLAY.COM , AND AUTHOR OF S EARCH E NGINE O PTIMIZATION A LL -I N -O NE FOR D UMMIES
Eric Ward pioneered the practice of link building as a marketing channel and continues to be among the thought leaders of the field. His expertise and hands-on experience are virtually unmatched, and I d recommend his book to anyone who uses links to help grow their business.
-R AND F ISHKIN, FORMER CEO OF M OZ.COM
Those who want link building done right by the best in the business flock to Eric Ward and count themselves lucky that the maestro isn t booked into the next millennium.
-J IM S TERNE , TARGETING.COM , F OUNDER OF THE E M ETRICS M ARKETING O PTIMIZATION S UMMIT AND F OUNDING P RESIDENT AND CURRENT C HAIRMAN OF THE D IGITAL A NALYTICS A SSOCIATION
An SEO classic! This link-building book by far provides the very best advice, stories, and actionable white-hat link-building tips. This is the best link-building book I have ever read!
-N ICK S TAMOULIS , F OUNDER OF SEO F IRM B RICK M ARKETING.COM
For anyone who s been hit by Panda, Penguin, or any other algorithmic update by Google, this book is a must-read. It s time to quit looking over your shoulder and start building links that will stand the test of time. Eric has been one of the foremost thought leaders on link building since before links became a dominant ranking factor, so there s no one better to train you on seeking out and acquiring the high-quality links that will bring you visibility and mindshare that go far beyond search engine results.
-D AVID M IHM , D AVID M IHM.COM , C O -F OUNDER OF G ET L ISTED.ORG
Eric Ward is the old school mac daddy link master.
-L EE O DDEN , CEO OF T OP R ANK O NLINE M ARKETING , P UBLISHER OF TOPRANKBLOG.COM
Eric s skill at website promotion is legendary. We ve been using his services since 1995 and on more than one occasion had to work closely with our hosting service to keep our servers up under the high traffic loads that resulted from Eric s publicity!
-A MY S TRYCULA , F OUNDER OF C ATS P LAY.COM
Eric Ward has been building links and educating people on how to do it the right way since before even search engines decided links were important. Read and learn!
-D ANNY S ULLIVAN , F OUNDER AND E DITOR-IN -C HIEF OF S EARCH E NGINE L AND.COM
Eric Ward is hands-down the smartest thinker in the space when it comes to link building. I guarantee this book will open up any mental blocks you ve had about where to get started and set you on a path to becoming a link magnet.
-M IKE G REHAN , P UBLISHER OF S EARCH E NGINE W ATCH AND C LICK Z. COM , P RODUCER SES I NTERNATIONAL, AND SEMPO B OARD OF D IRECTORS
If you re in SEO and take your job seriously, you know Eric and Garrett. When Eric and Garrett talk about link building, you listen. The only issue when they talk is-there s too much genius to write it all down. So, when they do the writing down for you, you buy the book and read it. Twice. At least. You won t regret it.
-J OOST DE V ALK , F OUNDER AND CEO OF Y OAST.COM
Eric is the undisputed master of quality link building. We ve worked together for years and he has frequently surprised me with new insights and little-known, and easily executed, strategies to build our customers backlink portfolios.
-R ICHARD S TOKES , CEO OF A D G OOROO.COM AND AUTHOR OF M ASTERING S EARCH A DVERTISING -H OW THE T OP 3% OF S EARCH A DVERTISERS D OMINATE G OOGLE A D W ORDS AND U LTIMATE G UIDE TO P AY -P ER -C LICK A DVERTISING

Entrepreneur Press, Publisher
Cover Design: Andrew Welyczko
Production and Composition: Eliot House Productions
2020 by Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed Entrepreneur Media Inc. Attn: Legal Department, 18061 Fitch, Irvine, CA 92614.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
Entrepreneur Press is a registered trademark of Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
ebook ISBN: 978-1-61308-409-0
Contents
Remembering Eric Ward
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Mike Grehan, CMO and Managing Director of Acronym
Introduction by Ken McGaffin, Head of Marketing at Majestic
C HAPTER 1
A Brief Introduction to Search, Links, and Link Building
A Brief History of Links and Search Engines
Enter Google
C HAPTER 2
What Makes a Website Link-Worthy?
Useful Content Earns Links
What Is a Link-Worthy Site?
C HAPTER 3
Link-Building Campaign Design
Planning Campaign Scope: Six Factors that Impact Campaign Design
Hire (or Be) a Link Strategist
C HAPTER 4
Effective Link-Building Campaign Metrics
Link Building for Increasing Search Engine Rankings
Link Building as Market Engagement
C HAPTER 5
Linkable Assets
Linkable Asset Analysis
Common Linkable Asset Categories
Identifying Competitor and Other Market-Determined Linkable Assets
Identifying and Evaluating Your Existing Linkable Assets
C HAPTER 6
Link-Opportunity Types
Going From Linkable Assets to Link-Opportunity Types
Common Link-Opportunity Types
C HAPTER 7
Conducting a Link-Opportunity Analysis for Your Keyword Space
Know Your Market-Defining Keywords (MDKWs)
Design Queries for Each Opportunity Type
Analyzing Your Results and Simple Recalibrations
C HAPTER 8
Link Prospecting
Traits of an Opportunity Prospector
Link-Prospecting Methods
Seven Types of Keywords for Link-Prospecting Queries
Anatomy of a Productive