Evaluating, organizing and building relevant, value-added backlinks by leveraging gShift Labs in the shadow of Google's Penguin.

1. London | 20–24 Feb, 2012 | #seslondon
Jeff Riddall
Client Success Manager
gShift Labs
@Jriddall
+Jriddall
Backlinking Best Practices

2. gShift Company Overview
• SEO Software for Agencies
• Founded 2009
• Krista LaRiviere and Chris Adams
– Third digital marketing software company
– Previous two acquired by Lyris
– 14+ years ‘doing’ SEO and ‘building’ software for
SEO
– Vision: “To change the way people think about
and perform organic search optimization.”
• 17 employees - 100s & 100s & 100s of
customers - 20 countries
gShift Company Overview

3. All your SEO Data in One PlaceAll your SEO Data in One Place

4. gShift in the WSI World
Prospect/Client
Data in gShift
#1: Lead
Generation
(IC)
#2: Sales
Conversation
(IC)
#3:Delivery
(Supplier)
#4: Ongoing
Keyword
Discovery (IC)
#5: Reporting
(Supplier &
IC)

5. Let’s Talk About Backlinks
1. What are backlinks?
2. Do backlinks still matter? If so, why and how?
3. Anchors Away
4. Types of backlinks – Got em, Got em, Need em, Got em
5. Beware the Deadly Penguin
6. Cleaning out Your Closet
7. Finding what You Need
8. Good Content = Good Backlinks
9. What should you link to?
10. Backlink reporting?
11. Questions?

6. What are backlinks?
Backlinks or inbound links are any links to your
website or your client’s website from third party
domains.
Solicited or otherwise.
Image courtesty http://baldwinitsolutions.com/blog/wp-
content/uploads/2013/05/backlinking-org.jpg

7. In a word…Yes.
Backlinks help to validate a website’s existence
and establish its authority.
But they admittedly may not matter as much as
they used to and you should certainly be careful
about how you procure them.
Do backlinks still matter?

8. Anchors Away
Anchor Text are the words through, which
backlinks are directed. Google pays attention to
anchor text in relation to the pages to, which the
links are pointed.
The same is true of anchor text used for internal
website links.
Anchor text should be keyword rich and varied.
e.g. Barrie condos, condos for sale in Barrie, Barrie
condominiums

9. Got Em, Got Em, Need Em, Got Em
Backlinks ya got.
Backlinks ya need.
Followed Backlinks – SEO and referral value
Non-Followed Backlinks – Referral value only
Types of Backlinks

10. Identifying your existing backlinks can be a tricky business and there is
no definitive source:
- gShift
- Blekko
- MOZ (formerly SEOMoz)
- Google Analytics referral data
- Download as a CSV file
- Verified backlinks (coming soon)
- Google Webmaster Tools
- Bing Webmaster Tools
Seeing What Ya Got

11. Beware the Deadly Penguin
Penguin 1.0 – April 24, 2012
Penguin 2.0 – May 22, 2013
Image courtesy of http://webdigia.com/blog/3-crucial-google-penguin-seo-tips

12. London | 20–24 Feb, 2012 | #seslondon
Cleaning out Your Closet
• Identify potentially damaging backlink sources
• Make every effort to have the offending backlinks removed by
contacting the site owner directly
• If no response is received or backlinks are not removed within a
reasonable amount of time consider using the Disavow Tool in
Google Webmaster Tools
• Request removal of single URLs or entire domains

13. Finding What You Need
Organic backlink research
• Look for relevance, reputation and authority
• Start with the SERPs – gShift Top 50
• Competitors backlinks in gShift
• Industry sources
• Local sources
• Syndicated Press Releases (e.g. PRWeb.com)
• Varied Domains and Anchor Text

14. Optimized Content Marketing = SEO
Create and distribute/socialize value-added content
people want to read, like, share & link to.
Best Link Building for Local SEO: None
Inorganic versus Organic Backlinking Strategies: Getting
Back to Basics
Good Content Leads to Good Backlinks

15. What Should You Link To?
• The most relevant pages in relation to your
anchor text / keywords.
• Support pages with position / momentum.
• Cross link between pages via anchor text.

16. • Record backlink creation as activities
• Upload a CSV of backlinks from other data
providers (Google, MOZ)
• Validate backlinks as you create them (coming
soon)
• Report monthly or quarterly backlink growth
in Comparative SEO Report
Backlink Reporting in gShift

18. Thank You
jeff.riddall@gshiftlabs.com
@Jriddall
+Jriddall
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jeffriddall/