Market Research for Link Building
When you perform keyword research and start building inbound links to your site, your goal is to boost your site in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Easily obtained links don’t pass on much Google juice, for the most part.
Debra Mastaler writes about performing market research prior to inbound link building in her article Get in Touch With Your Inner Link Self:
…your keyword lists don’t tell you about people’s loyalties or personal preferences which is what you need to know before engaging in the more promotional link building.
Her article may give you some new ideas on what the people who are likely to buy your products or services are looking for, and how they search for it.
Don’t assume your customers think like you do, or search like you do because they DON’T.
Tags: inbound links, link building, SEO
Very true, I have fallen for this a few times and I have to learn my lesson.
Even now I’m getting links upon links and SERPs are not happening quickly. But I’m getting smarter and smarter about a pretty competitive field…
Tertiuss last blog post..Getting website maintenance done… With a plan
Debra is right. The savvy links are the gems. Working with local contacts is typically the best way to get some really good links, especially if your business is local.
Ryan Martins last blog post..Lake Padden Best Jogging Trail in Bellingham
It’s true low quality easy to find links don’t do much for page rank even if you get a large amount of them. Getting relevant links with good PR works the best even in low quantities. Just make sure to deep-link your internal pages as well.
@Tertius – link building is time consuming and a lot of work if done right.
@Ryan – if your business is local that’s exactly right. Not-local is much more difficult, unfortunately.
Don’t discount “low quality” altogether. A PR 0-1 or so is not going to stay there forever, and age does count.
As for deep linking, I got that covered pretty well…..
Dennis Edells last blog post..Oct.’08 Post Round-Up for Direct Sales Web Marketing
Dennis – it’s good to have a mix of PR level links, and you’re right, low PR sites usually gain over time. I agree about age counting, too.
I know, you’re the king of deep links!
King? No. Jester perhaps, but I’m workin’ on it. LOL
Dennis Edells last blog post..Oct.’08 Post Round-Up for Direct Sales Web Marketing
I agree that high quality links can be hard to get, but you also need to factor in theme. You want to get links from related sites as much as possible. I would even go so far as to say that related links are more important than PR for Search rankings.
Nice blog you have here…. the best of success with it!
Georges last blog post..How To Create Online Videos That Sell Your Products And Services
Thats a given, that easy links like from directories are bad. It’s just too bad it’s getting harder to develop backlinks to your sites.
All links should be from related/relevant sites, as per Google.
Dennis Edells last blog post..Do You Have Good Follow-Through?
@George & Dennis – I agree, related links are very important. But this article is more about learning the keywords your clients actually use to find your product or service, as well as the forums and blogs they visit. These factors aren’t always as obvious as they seem.
@Erik Z – it is hard, and it takes more research.
SEO Diva,
Most of the comments were about link building and I was really addressing those comments in particular the one about multiple PR levels.
Georges last blog post..How To Create Online Videos That Sell Your Products And Services
@George – I understand; I was trying to get comments pointed back in the direction of the article. I strongly agree with you that related links are more important than PR.
BTW, I like your blog too – great information on it!
Thanks for the kind words. And I do agree that learning about your target market is an important aspect of keyword research. Although it depends on your goals. If you are just putting up adsense sites, then knowing your target market isn’t as important as knowing what keywords will drive traffic to your site.
Georges last blog post..How To Create Online Videos That Sell Your Products And Services