Google Ranking Game Changer! Disavow Links & What it Means for Your SEO
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Remember that “$100 for 500 links” deal you bought? Well, it backfired. Finally, marketers can disavow the legacy links that are weighing on your search rankings like concrete shoes. Whether created by ‘black hat’-wearing competitors, or purchased cheaply offshore, those spammy links are triggering the ‘Penguin’ Penalty. Join Alex Dunks, Senior SEO Analyst, and learn: - How to efficiently assess your backlinks and decide which to disavow - How this relates to this year’s other radical ranking changes - How to leapfrog your slower competitors and own the top search results Webmarketing123 is a Bay Area Digital Marketing Agency. Our distinctive approach: pair a metrics-rich methodology with an understanding of our clients’ unique business goals and challenges. We combine a deep expertise across industry verticals, smart use of automation, and efficient use of analytics to inform data-driven decision-making. At Webmarketing123, each client has a dedicated team employing a strategic mix of Organic Search (SEO), Paid Search (PPC) advertising, and/or Social Media Marketing (SMM) to create remarkable, results-driven marketing programs.
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Google Ranking Game Changer! Disavow Links & What it Means for Your SEO
- 1. Google Ranking Game Changer: Disavow Links & What it Means for Your SEO Alex Dunks SEO Expert & Business Development Manager Webmarketing123 @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 2. Digital Marketing Agency specializing in SEO / PPC / Social Media / Website Design Since 2004, we’ve employed a metrics-based approach to converting online visibility into measurable business results. 2012 WE’RE ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING PRIVATE U.S. COMPANIES @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 3. Some Practical Matters Yes! Just email Are the slides available? seo@webmarketing123.com Tweet today’s event using #123webinar @webmarketing123 facebook.com/webmarketing123 Stay informed by following us. webmarketing123 Ready to take the next step with us? Request a Complimentary SEO Assessment Today. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 4. Google Introduces the Disavow Links Tool @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 5. Webinar Agenda 1 Why Links Matter & What Are "Unnatural Links"? 2 What is the New "Disavow Links" Tool? 3 Build Search Rankings From the Ground Up 4 Build Links That You Won't Have to Disavow @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 6. Why do links matter? @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 7. A link pointing to a web page is treated as a "vote" for that page to show up in search results. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 8. We all know how valuable it is to rank in the first few search results. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 9. Before Google's Search Engine, you could buy placement in search results. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 10. As links became more valuable, a market developed to buy and sell them. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 11. And many tactics emerged to generate these links Comment Submissions Guest Book Submissions Paid Directory Submissions Plus... Evolution & Article Submissions & Syndication Automation of Each Low quality blogs and link farms Link Exchanges, Wheels, Schemes @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 12. But Google got progressively better at distinguishing 'natural' and relevant links. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 13. Google promises better rankings for natural links, and penalties for unnatural links. But for years, these were empty threats @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 14. But natural link-building is hard 1. It's extremely time-consuming and expensive to do the content creation and outreach to legitimately generate high quality links. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 15. But natural link-building is hard 2. When another website links to yours, it's often on your company or product name, NOT on the keywords you're hoping to rank for. What You Get: "My Company" www.mycompany.com What You Want: "Desired Keyword" www.mycompany.co @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 16. But natural link-building is hard 3. It's also common to build or buy links and gain ranking on a keyword doesn't ultimately drive conversions. "Poorly Chosen Keyword" ≠ Conversions @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 17. Facing this, many marketers bought links... This summer's Penguin update disrupted the paid link economy and imposed penalties. A drop from page 1 to page 2 is likely to cripple lead generation from Search. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 18. Marketers discovered it was: Difficult to get Google to reconsider an algorithmic or manual ranking penalty Even more difficult to get those paid links taken down @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 19. Some link providers opportunistically made marketers pay to have their paid links taken down. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 20. Webinar Agenda 1 Why Links Matter & What Are "Unnatural Links"? 2 What is the New "Disavow Links" Tool? 3 Build Search Rankings From the Ground Up 4 Build Links That You Won't Have to Disavow @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 21. Disavow Links Tool Within Google Webmaster Tools Before you can use Google's (free) Webmaster Tools, you first have to verify that you are the site administrator. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 22. Disavow Links Tool Instructions: Simply upload a text file, Either excluding all links from a particular, like this: domain:google.com domain:yahoo.com domain:facebook.com or naming specific URLs, like this: http://www.spamdomain2.com/Page1.html http://www.spamdomain3.com/Page5.html @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 23. Disavow Links Tool They recommend including notes (after a # sign), as you may be downloading, editing, and re-uploading the same document if you have future revisions. Expect the process to take a few weeks. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 24. What Does the Tool Do? It effectively adds a "no-follow" attribute to the link, neutralizing its capacity to affect ranking or trigger a penalty. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 25. When to Use the Tool Google suggests you FIRST attempt to manually request removal of the links, as their removal process will take some weeks. Make those manual requests and these Disavow Links Tool submissions BEFORE you submit a Reconsideration Request, and refer to your efforts in your Request. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 26. Which Links Should You Disavow? Don't accidentally disavow good links! @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 27. Bing has a comparable tool Within Bing Webmaster Tools @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 28. Webinar Agenda 1 Why Links Matter & What Are "Unnatural Links"? 2 What is the New "Disavow Links" Tool? 3 Build Search Rankings From the Ground Up 4 Build Links That You Won't Have to Disavow @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 29. Are you building your SEO strategy on a solid foundation? Red flags: • You are unsure of the keywords you are targeting or if they are "any good” • No keyword mapping • No concerted link building effort • Not tracking keywords from source to paying customer • Little to no content generation efforts that are consistent with keyword mapping @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 30. Make a Plan: First lay a strong foundation @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 31. Make a Plan: Keyword Selection @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 32. Use Tools that Google Provides Google Search: Google Keyword Tool @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 33. It's not rocket science... @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 34. Make a Plan Keyword Selection Keyword Mapping @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 35. Make a Plan Content Guidelines Key thought: Who is going to write this content?! Know the requirements before you begin. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 36. Content Mapping Document @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 37. This culminates in a link strategy document @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 38. Link Strategy Document Content is the fuel that powers a link building strategy @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 39. Planning Implementation Iteration Tracking @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 40. Transparency in Reporting Key thought: When was the last time you saw a linking report? Is your agency even adding links? @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 41. A ranking report should show steady progress over time. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 42. Benchmark so you know where you are at @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 43. But reporting shouldn't stop there. How are individual keywords performing in terms of revenue? @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 44. Which Keywords are Converting. At What Value? @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 45. Webinar Agenda 1 Why Links Matter & What Are "Unnatural Links"? 2 What is the New "Disavow Links" Tool? 3 Build Search Rankings From the Ground Up 4 Build Links That You Won't Have to Disavow @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 46. Game Plan for Link Building in the Modern Era @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 47. Three-Month Game Plan Low Hanging Fruit @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 48. Three-Month Game Plan Low Hanging Fruit Press Releases @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 49. Three-Month Game Plan Low Hanging Fruit Press Releases Images & Alt-Text Alt-text: “online presentation software” @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 50. Three-Month Game Plan Low Hanging Fruit Press Releases Images & Alt-Text Guest Blogging @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 51. Three-Month Game Plan Low Hanging Fruit Press Releases Images & Alt-Text Guest Blogging Relevant Directories @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 52. Three-Month Game Plan Low Hanging Fruit Press Releases Images & Alt-Text Social Guest Blogging Search Relevant Directories Social @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 53. Social Influences Search, and Can Earn Links @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 54. Social Influences Search, and Can Earn Links @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 55. Three-Month Game Plan Low hanging fruit Press Releases Images Guest Blogging Relevant Directories Social @webmarketing123 #123webinar 5
- 56. Key Takeaways • Remove or Disavow Problematic Legacy Links. • Don’t waste effort. Lay a strong foundation by establishing the right keyword list and checking your goal-tracking. • Use diversity as a guiding principle for keyword strategy, link sources, and your overall link profile. @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 57. WE ARE EXPERTS AT BUILDING TOP LINE REVENUE GROWTH FOR GLOBAL ENTERPRISES WITH TARGETED, COST-EFFECTIVE DIGITAL MARKETING @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 58. We invite you to… Download: 2012 State of Digital Marketing Report webmarketing123.com Talk to a digital marketing expert: SEO/PPC/Social Media Marketing Measurement/Analytics Approach Lead Gen Effectiveness seo@webmarketing123.com TEAM UP WITH ONE OF THE Questions? Feedback? alex.d@webmarketing123.com FASTEST GROWING PRIVATE COMPANIES IN THE U.S. (2012) @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 59. How does Google evaluate a link? The "anchor text" itself: The surrounding text: @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 60. How does Google evaluate a link? The overall content of the page: @webmarketing123 #123webinar
- 61. How does Google evaluate a link? The metatext, hidden code on the page that only Google reads: e.g. Page Headers @webmarketing123 #123webinar
Editor's Notes
- Client logos
- Many marketers have "Legacy links", low quality links purchased in the past, that only now are triggering ranking penalties from Google's long-awaited crackdown on linkspam. Finally, this month, they followed Bing in rolling out a tool to allow companies to disavow or disown specific links. It's like an amnesty program. And it's a way to address the occasional case when some bad actor is buying poor quality links and pointing them at your site, in the hopes to trigger a ranking penalty. Finally you have a way to control backlinks.
- Many marketers have "Legacy links", low quality links purchased in the past, that only now are triggering ranking penalties from Google's long-awaited crackdown on linkspam. Finally, this month, they followed Bing in rolling out a tool to allow companies to disavow or disown specific links. It's like an amnesty program. And it's a way to address the occasional case when some bad actor is buying poor quality links and pointing them at your site, in the hopes to trigger a ranking penalty. Finally you have a way to control backlinks.
- [gotta breeze through these a good clip, Alex] But let's make sure we understand what's at stake.
- It used to be that the more votes you had, the higher you'd show up in the search results. Over time, the algorithm grew more sophisticated, and over 200 factors came into play, including how recently the page was updated, various measures of the popularity of your website overall, etc. But links still account for more than half of why a search ranking appears where it does.
- On China's Baidu, you still can.
- How? Content.
- So your site gains OVERALL credibility, but not specifically for the competitive terms that you're trying to rank for.
- How? Content.
- So let the document capture your process and commentary. It's read by the algorithm, not by humans.
- Reconsideratioin Requests are ALSO made through Google's Webmaster Tools
- If you're serious about developing a stronger presence on the search engines, don't buy cheap links. You need a coherent strategy.
- Many agencies say that their systems are proprietary... etc. They say this to make what they're doing seem more complex than it is. It's really a question of discplined execution.
- It used to be that the more votes you had, the higher you'd show up in the search results. Over time, the algorithm grew more sophisticated, and over 200 factors came into play, including how recently the page was updated, various measures of the popularity of your website overall, etc. But links still account for more than half of why a search ranking appears where it does.
- We’re looking at different types of links and a systematic approach to building them. But all of this depends on generating that keyword rich content that we discussed in the last section.
- And here’s an example of a detailed link building report that we provide to our clients. It’s not supposed to be large enough for you to read… just to get a sense of what detailed reporting looks like.[Take out a highlighter?] It has the URL of every backlink, the date created and verified, and more information about the anchor text, linking page, destination URL. In short, it’s far more information than you want. But you can see what our team is doing for your company on a day-by-day basis. We’re not afraid to practice this kind of transparency, because we work hard for our clients. You should demand this of your agency. If they balk, it may be because they’re employing automated tools or cutting corners in the ways we’ve discussed already.
- Poll Question is LoadedAnother way we recommend evaluating the success of a campaign for our B2B clients is looking at the average deal value accruing from different keywords, and the conversion rate. With this sort of view, it’s possible to identify the keywords which are the most profitable and deserving the most emphasis. Since there is a dramatic, synergistic effect of having paid search ads (some studies say a 40% increase in clicks) alongside high organic ranking, some top performing keywords may even merit bringing in a paid search strategy on those keywords.
- There’s a big difference between each ranking position…
- Write a press release around a release of a product, a milestone, or a company presence at an event. Syndicate your press release through a paid service like PR wire, business wire, or PR Web. Don’t be surprised that there’s a surcharge to have a live link in the press release. These sites are considered highly credible by Google, and your press release could be re-posted by tens or even hundreds or thousands of other websites.
- Add keywords as alternative-text to photos. This is a best practice for webmasters, since some people use browser add-ons that block images, But there’s a two nuances here. The alt-text renders as a link- so you’ve created an internal link. Share the image (with the alt-text) with partner sites (corporate parent site, conference presenter site, local business directory site) and now you’ve got an external link. I use this example because this kind of opportunity happens year-round across your company, and you’ll want to increase the SEO-IQ of your team such that you’re not letting these go by.
- Search for your field plus the words “guest blogger” and you’ll likely find more than a few site hosts eager to hear from you! It’s a lot of work to generate fresh content constantly, and bloggers are often very open to having guest posts. Giving samples or freebies to bloggers is also a standard practice.
- Since the algorithm update called “Panda”, websites with many outbound links have been held to a higher standard by Google. In the early days of search engines, Google depended on hierarchical directories to understand the web, and early rankings leaned heavily on these. But the algorithm has grown far more sophisticated, and directories have proliferated. Still, we’ve all found useful information in websites that list resources, but these tend to be all focused on a single topic. Websites with links to all different kinds of websites? This is where your “1,000 backlinks for $10”-type backlinks will end up, and the algorithm simply ignores them.
- On Bing, too.
- This is one of the key changes in the last year or so. Google doesn't just read the anchor text of link itself. It reads your entire webpage.
- It's important to note that pages are judged separately- though your site's overall authority and relevance are ALSO key variables Google considers. The age of your site, and the number of pages, and the number of internally linked pages on the topic in question are all additional ranking factors.
- How? Content.