Thread by @darth_na

1/🧵
:: "Passive link building" = wrong impression? ::

I'm not a fan of the phrase,
as it easily falls in with the concept of
"write it and they shall come".

Where as terms such as:
* Link Magnets
* Earning Links
are more ... well, Active.

>>>

#SEO #LinkBuilding #BackLinks

https://twitter.com/RossHudgens/status/1588195649798938626

2/?

A concept I seem to have to constantly repeat,
is know where the links are going to come from.

In the vast majority of cases, consumers aren't it.
(They may socialise etc., but few have sites/blogs etc.)

Thus content for:
* Peers
* Hybrids (peer consumers)
* Media

>>>

3/?

This means you need to know who has sites,
and what sort of things they are looking for.

You can group the types of content into several broad groups, including:

1) Useful
2) Ego
3) Status

Each group tends to cover certain formats/types of content.

>>>

4/?
Can you figure which of these belong to what groups?
:D

* Analysis
* Announcements/Declarations
* Cheat sheets
* Checklists
* Data
* Explorations/Investigations
* Guides/Explanations
* Perspectives/Opinions
* Research
* Reviews/Writeups
* Round robins
* Roundups

>>>

5/?

But having the right content
for the right audience,
is Not Enough!

As with normal content - you still need to Promote as well as Publish!

Socialise it.
Leverage your network.
Reach out to Journo's.

If you are smart, you may have scouted out potential sources first

>>>

6/?

So maybe you have a cherry picked list of sites/contacts to reach out to,
that happen to have a list of resources you'd be suitable for etc.

Maybe it includes sites that permit Guest Posting,
or use it as Native Ad material etc.

>>>

7/?

But the key thing is - you are Doing Something.
You are not "Passively" earning those links.
You are producing something with the intent to Earn those links.

And you don't want to rely on a single method.
Use all of them (that are applicable).

>>>

8/?

And you don't do it "just at the start".

You Promote ... and then you Promote again!
And again later.

(Please note: I am Not saying tweak the dates and pretend it's new - that's sad and pathetic. If y0u resocialise etc., declare it's old!)

>>>

9/?

And there is no harm in referencing it in community/Q&A sites - so long as it's relevant, of quality and doesn't breach their usage policies etc.

And No - it doesn't even matter if the initial link is NoFollowed.
Even if G ignores it!

You should earn secondaries!

>>>

10/?

The initial placement/link may not give you direct SEO value,
but if the initial link is on the right site, in front of the right audience,
at the right time,
and the content is valuable (useful, entertaining etc.),
others will see it, and a % will link to it.

>>>

11/?

And this should happen, naturally.
And, depending on the nature of the location, topic and content - may continue to accrue such secondary links over time.

And yes, those may generate tertiary etc.

It's not always about the immediate;
sow the seeds, reap the links!

>>>

12/?

And ... as it's SEO ... it's not just about that piece of content,
or the links too that piece of content.

In most cases, you are attempting to acquire those links to benefit other pages.

So you need to ensure that whatever topic you've chosen ...

>>>

13/?

... has some sort of relation to your Consumer content.
(Link your Peer/Hybrid/Media content to Consumer content, or parent/section pages).

These will pass some of the value along.
(same as things like consumer-news/peripheral content do)

>>>

14/?

Failing that (as some content types don't directly associate),
make sure there are prominent links to primary URLs for the consumer side (such as homepage etc.).

(and yes - you can utilise "author" here, so your peer content bolsters their profile, and thus consumer)

>>>

15/?

As you can see - there's nothing really easy, simple or passive about this type of approach.

It requires thinking, research, planning and repeat effort.

The upside is,
as you become more established,
as you get more traction,
it gets easier,
and happens faster.

>>>

16/?

And I know ... it sounds fairly straightforward.

The reality is - it's darn hard in some industries,
as they are closed/highly competitive.

In such cases, you need to look at your definition of "peer".

It's not always "competitors" !

>>>

17/?

Instead of thinking of people in the same business/market,
think of people in the same/similar role,
think of people doing the same/similar tasks.

You can produce guides etc. for people using spreadsheets, producing images, cleaning X up etc.

>>>

18/?

So - you approach it much the same way as you would normal content.
You still consider who the audience are, what their needs are, where they are etc.,
but instead of people that buy with money,
think of people that will pay with links.

>>>

19/?

Be it gratitude for your knowledge,
or for stroking their ego's,
or making them look good to others when they share your stuff,
or making their life easier,
etc.
some of them will link to you.

And ... you can milk it several times over.

>>>

20/?

And, depending on the nature of the topic,
you can have expand the content out (updates, yearly versions, groups/tiers looked at, breaking down into specialisms etc.).

And you can convert the content into other mediums and possibly formats for other channels.

>>>

21/?

So the overall "cost" of your efforts can be spread out,
whilst you increase the opportunities of the content.
(think of breaking an article down into tweets, short bites for tiktok etc.).

A little more effort, and you can make it go much further.

>>>

22/?

But, whatever approach you take,
whatever audience you target,
whatever methods of promotion/outreach you use...

... the one thing you shouldn't do ...

... is call it Passive.