This document provides guidance on link building strategies that comply with search engine guidelines. It begins by establishing the author's expertise and then discusses proper ways to obtain links, such as through high-quality infographics and guest posts on other sites, as well as strategies to avoid like press releases, widgets, or automated link exchanges that are not genuine endorsements. The key principles are that links must be natural citations and not manipulated or bought in any way in order to build useful authority and avoid issues with search engine algorithms.

1. No Virginia, Link Building Is Not Illegal

2. First Off... Who Am I?
 Co-author: The Art of SEO
 CEO: Stone Temple Consulting, 30+
person Digital Marketing and SEO firm
 Columnist:
 Interviewer:

3. Matt Cutts on “Link Building”
“It segments you into a
mindset, and people get
focused on the wrong
things”
July 9, 2012 interview
With Eric Enge
@stonetemple / + Eric Enge

4. ‘Cause
Matt
Cutts
Said
So

5. Links Must Be Valid Citations

6. You Can’t Vote For Yourself

7. You Can’t Stuff the Ballot Box

8. Not Bought

9. Not Bartered

10. Not Stolen
Anonymous said:
:
Cheap Viagra
Cialis
Levitra
Add your comment here

11. Press Releases - DO

12. Press Releases – DON’T

13. Widgets – DON’T
Why? Links not seen as valid citations

14. Infographics - DO
If they are:
• Accurate
• Relevant
• High Quality Info

15. Infographics – DON’T
If they are:
• Not Accurate, OR
• Not Relevant, OR
• Not High Quality Info

16. Matt Cutts on Panda/Penguin - Infographics
“I would not be
surprised if at some point
in the future we did not
start to discount these
infographic-type links to
a degree.”
July 9, 2012 interview
With Eric Enge
@stonetemple / + Eric Enge

17. Manage The Relevance Chain

18. Syndication - DO

19. Syndication – DON’T
• Don’t forget to do at least one of the
following:
– Noindex the page on the site receiving the content
– Rel=canonical the page back to the original page
– Include a link on the duplicated page back to the
original page

20. Guest Posting – DO Columns

21. Guest Posting – DO High Quality One Offs

22. Guest Posting – DON’T
Think About Maximizing The # of Domains

23. Guest Post – DON’T
Implement Stupid Links Like This

24. Guest Posting - DON’T
Unrelated Content Using Rich Anchor Text

25. Guest Posting – DON’T
Related Content Using Rich Anchor Text
How to Get the Best Travel Deals
• Book early. People who wait until the last minute almost
always pay higher prices.
• Use the Internet. Websites such as travelocity can help you
save hundreds of dollars on air travel and hotels.
• Try a vacation rental rather than a hotel.
• Look for travel package deals to help cut down the overall
cost of both airfare and hotels combined.
This guest post was provided by Sarah Smith an avid traveler
who also blogs for www.Travelocity.com.

26. Guest Posting – DON’T
Rich Anchor Text in Attribution
Susie Powers writes about wealth automation
software for The Acme Software Company.

27. DO
Aim High

28. Cultivate
Author
Authority

29. Five Judgments of Link Quality
“Would you have invested time to get this link if Google
and Bing did not exist?”
“Would you proudly show this to a prospective
customer pre-sale?”
“Would you show it to your children?”
“Did the person giving you the link mean it as a genuine
endorsement?”
“If you have to argue it that it’s a good link, It’s NOT.”

30. Thank You!
Eric Enge
eenge@stonetemple.com
@stonetemple
+Eric Enge
(508) 485-7751
www.stonetemple.com