Eric Ward contributor and link builder expert, discusses why manual link building will stand the test of time, despite popular predictions to the contrary.
I recently read an article titled, “SEO Practices That Will Become Obsolete Before the End of 2016” on (what is usually) a highly respected site. The author is someone I have read and respect, but he made the claim that in 2016, manual link building will be obsolete. Since then, he has edited his article and changed “Link building Manual” to “Link Building in Volume”
This seemingly minor edit (which I greatly celebrate and appreciate) is actually at the heart of a much larger movement that seems to be permeating the SEO community.
This movement is based on the belief that doing something one at a time, or “manually,” is a waste of time, due to the large mass of the web and its links that make it impossible to impact it without resorting to automated or volume tactics. Wrong concept.
Link Building will never be obsolete.
I agree that there are many more ways to build links today than those that existed before. And I also agree that it is technically possible to do mass outreach activities.
The problem is that quality suffers, and I'm not saying this as an opinion. I see it every day in my inbox when people send me link requests that seem so perfectly designed and personalized, yet arguably they are not. They were sent en masse, and worse, they are dishonest. Dishonest how? Dishonest because these broadcast emails always say things like:
“I was reading such and such on your site.”
o
“I noticed that you are interested in online marketing and wanted to…”
Lies. All full of lies, and anyone reading this has probably received similar emails and thought the same thing. What a great way to start your relationship with me – by lying to me. It is the modern version of spam; more sophisticated with a combination of enough added personalization to make me feel special.
Except I fall, and it doesn't work with me. Delete all of them. Bragging about a 2,5 percent success rate is laughable.
People still need people
Certain aspects of the link building process have already proven to be useless and outdated. But one thing that will never change is the human desire to connect with other human beings, to share, cultivate and collect useful, valuable and useful pages, applications, or whatever digital content, one another. If that weren't the case, there would be no Twitter, which is tailor-made for link exchange.
Real Life Example: I carried out an outreach project for a large international hearing aid manufacturer. This is an issue that matters to me deeply because my 13-year-old son is deaf. The client's goal was to draw attention to their newly relaunched content areas of the site – and of course, to listen to them, and yes, to make money on them. (I understand.)
One of my recommended strategies was to identify hearing/audiology sites, associations, foundations, and others that provide resources or links to hearing loss sites. Obviously, one of our goals was links.
See the image below? That page is from the Colorado Hearing Foundation. The specific page is titled, “Useful websites for information about hearing loss.” And here is the clear example that "El link building manual is obsolete" Believers of this do not consider that: Getting a link on that page is not something that can be achieved automatically.
I did the research to identify the absolutely most suitable sites. More importantly, I had to spend more time reading the “About Us” or “Our Staff” sections so that I could find the person/people making decisions about what resources are and are not included on those pages.
Sometimes that's not easy, even when done manually. Sometimes you may even have to pick up the phone. That's right, the phone. Do not faint.
And the page above linked to us, it has the link to my client's site.
Automation will never find the perfect sites. Automation will never find the exact contact that makes the final decisions as to who to link. Automation will never be able to fool anyone into thinking that the email being sent is just for them.
Sure, automation and crawlers can find a bunch of email addresses, like webmaster@, help@, info@, questions@, etc. But emails sent to those addresses are not being received by those making those decisions. Those email addresses are spam holes.
I often make a phone call to the organization to introduce myself and ask for the name of the appropriate contact. What a surprise: actually talking to a human being.
And here's the good thing: When I'm able to find the right person and website, do the outreach activities like I just described, my success rate is close to 100 percent. That is not going to happen with volume link building. In my case, I am only in contact with a small set of highly researched sites that have perfect resource lists for the content/site I am introducing them to. So that's when success can happen.
But the most important point is, why should it happen is not 100 percent successful? If you are representing a truly exceptional piece of content, and you have taken the time to reach out to the exact person who has already demonstrated that they are curating content and links in that matter, a link is the logical and natural result of that process. .
But the more important point is, why couldn't 100 percent success happen? If you are presenting truly exceptional content, and it has taken you time to reach the exact person who has already demonstrated that they are in charge of the content and links, a link is the logical and natural result of the process.
The end game hasn't changed
This is why I laugh when I hear people say that the 2.5 percent success rate in email disclosure is considered acceptable. What a joke. Automation of disclosure is just reckless, and frankly, sad.
The Internet will always be about people connecting with other people, or with content written by people (sorry, Narrative Science). And while I agree that there are many link building strategies, tactics and techniques that must die a slow and painful death, the process of one person sharing a very useful piece of content with another is going to resonate with that person and lead to to a link that will never go out of style and will never be obsolete.
I've been doing this for 20 years. I can assure you that while the methods for identifying the right people have become more difficult, at the end of the day, the end game is still the same: I have to stay in touch with the person most likely to care about why I am sharing or looking for links.
That cannot be automated, it cannot be replicated, it cannot be syndicated. It takes a person willing to roll up their sleeves, with the acumen to identify and connect with the right person who cares about what you have to tell them.
Source: SearchEngineLand
