Off-Page SEO Made Simple : The 2020 Guide​

Table of Contents

Off-Page SEO Made Simple : The 2020 Guide

Off-page SEO visual

What is Off-page SEO?

Off-page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your website to impact your rankings within search engine results pages. Off-page SEO involves improving search engine and user perception of a site and its author’s popularity, relevance, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness by having pages, sites, or people on the internet”vouching” for the quality of your content.
 
Your reputation online matters very much to Google.
 
Google calls it E-A-T,  Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness who measures it using and measure it using a published and often updated document named the Quality Raters Guidelines.
 
So why has Google established it?
 
3 reasons really.
 
Google does this to reduce Spam, reduce the amount of AI written articles ( yes there is such a thing!) and finally its own liability/reputation.

 

A great example is the official and live launch of the Tesla truck that took place a few months back. The event was live on most Social media channels and as Elon Musk demonstrated some features of his new truck proceeded to demonstrate how unbreakable the windows were. Unfortunately the demo went bad and these windows shattered for ll to see.
 
A disaster right ? Well one might think about right there Elon Musk filled his book of pre-orders for his truck!
 
It comes to show that with the right level of reputation, miracles can be achieved and in a similar way this is why Google cares so much about your reputation online.
 
This means that Google cares as much about the reputation of the Author than the one of the website.
 
It is also important to note that some industries are being tightly checked by Google as for as reputation goes.
 
For example anything related to Health of financial wealth where it will be much harder to build a reputation as Google will be very careful whom it will send viewers to after a search in fear of the repercussions if the advice provided happen to be dangerous for your health or financial stability.
 
This is anything related to what Google calls YM-YL, Your Money – Your Life.
 
So, the point is that it is important for you to build a reputation within your industry and within a certain group within this industry!
 
So how do you build your credibility in the face of your viewers and Google alike?
 
In other words, how do you build your audience?
 

Well, let’s show you…

5 Advanced techniques to Build your E-A-T

Technique 1 : Check what people say about your business online by using this cool trick.

Do a search and type the following in your search box :
NAME OF YOUR COMPANY -SITE:YOUR COMPANY URL
 

As an example :

Gilles Argivier LLC -site:gillesargivier.com
 
What this is going to do is look at all mentions of your business that are not on your website.
 
Awesome right? Knowing what other people are saying about you? I know it can be scary…
 
And Google states clearly in its Quality Raters Guidelines : “keep in mind that there are high E-A-T pages and websites of all types even gossip websites, fashion websites forum and Q&A pages etc…
 

So what this means is that although Google Started with being cautious with YM-YL ( Your money- Your Life), it is now expanding with its December 2019 updates to many more areas.

And this means that no matter your industry establishing your E-A-T is more important then ever.

So let’s continue shall we if my Tip #2 to establish your E-A-T

Technique 2 : Focus on these 3 areas to establish your E-A-T

First, Throughout your long form content, Link to content and authors that are perceived as authoritative themselves. If you reference in your content some other blogs, it has a different impact on the reader than if you refer to a medical research published by a renewed medical company.
 
It automatically gives a different impression to your reader about the depth of your knowledge and therefore how authoritative you are.
 
So link to really authoritative sources is key. And to find them don’t do a search In Google, but go to Google Scholar and do the same search instead.
 
In time, as your credibility starts to get established, generating your own white papers, industry reports or surveys as the industry expert will also be valuable to consider.
 
The importance of the length of your content varies according to Google and if you think about it it does make sense.
 
Google only cares about the level of satisfaction of the readers/viewers once they consumed your content.
 
What this mean is that your focus should be on making sure that your content answers very clearly the search the individual has been looking for.
 
So if your content is only 1200 words and does a great job in answering the question, it is absolutely fine.
 
On the other hand if the subject is as we described previously as a Pillar and requires, Images, videos, table tools to do a good job and end up being 4000 words so be it.
 
Second, use good grammar, which is particularly true if you publish in a language which is not your first language.
 
If you are unsure about your grammar, get it checked by a Professional, use softwares that are available to help you or ultimately get content writers to write on your behalf. There is probably no need to do this on all you create but at least until you feel comfortable doing it yourself.
 
If English is your language of choice , and honestly, it should be if you want to maximize your reach, consider also the variances between US and UK English as some expressions may mean very different things. I will refer you to the movie “Formula 51” with Samuel L.Jackson for further examples…
 

Third, interlinks between posts are also very important, not only to they help the User experience (UX) overall but it help your reader complete the picture with additional answers to new questions that may have come up while checking your first piece of content. It will also keep your viewer engaged throughout your site.

Technique 3 : Build your credibility as an Author

Sure,  you can start by writing a stellar piece of content in the “About” section of your own website but Google looks way further and searches for what the people say about you and what authoritative links are directing people to you. Only then the “About” section becomes truly useful as Google would direct whatever link you get from other Author to the About section vs other pages on your website.
 
So the key here is not to reach out to try to post on as may blogs as possible and get low quality links in exchange as they will hurt you, it is to create high quality content and volunteer to contribute to your industry with the frame of mind that you are not chasing links. This will take more time but the higher quality will grant you high quality mentions.
 
If you take LinkedIn for example, being endorsed for your Sales Skills by one of your contacts that has been in Sales for 20 years will be far more beneficial for your credibility than receiving the same endorsement from an engineer.
 

And of course, your “About” section should contain the following : credentials, experience, results delivered , industries where you have experience in and how long you have been in your field for. Both for you but also for the other major contributors to your site and/or your Business

Technique 4 : Build credibility for your website

The amount of things to establish you E-A-T varies depending of your industry, as well as the level of maturity and size of your site.

 

But there is a few critical elements to have :

  • SSL certificate : it should be free through your host, very important for Google almost as much as for your viewers.
  • Valuable links to renowned tools and resources
  • A phone number if your business requires to be contacted to
  • An Address.
  • A professional design
  • and If you run an E-commerce site, Google will look more closely at you especially your, Privacy policy, Terms of service as well as Copyright information.

Technique 5 : Choose The Right Social Media Platform for Your Business

Tip 1: Consider The Nature Of Your Business

For B2C ( Business to Consumers) companies, Facebook and Instagram are great tools to increase visibility and interact with customers.

For B2B (Business to Business),  LinkedIn is the natural choice as it both helps you target potential clients and engage further with your existing connections. It is also craving for growth right now and therefore does not impose too many restrictions, but this will change though.

Finally, YouTube works for both B2B and B2C. It has huge reach, is connected to Google and taps into the visual memory of your viewers instead of their ability to concentrate on reading text. Perfect tool to demo products for example.

Tip 2: Focus On Your Core Target Audience

Either your a running paid advertising or not, knowing your core audience is key and, let’s face it the ultimate Graal for a Marketer.

So, spend some real time constantly trying to understand your audience and where you can find them. This is not a one-off exercise but a continuous process.

This means using Google Analytics 360 tools to their maximum potential. If you identify who is visiting your site/target audience, you can them double down and produce ever more content you know is being consumed.

Keep in mind that the audience you are reaching might not be the one you want to reach but the one consuming your content.

For Paid advertising option, Google Ads PPC and Facebook are extremely good at identifying key audiences.

The great thing about social is that people are openly sharing comments about what you post, good or bad but if you provide good quality, unbiased content, the positive comments are extremely valuable as the word of mouth effect is very strong and can help you build s strong reputation online that Google will notice and reward.

Select the social media channels that suit best the type of content you are tying to post, the audience you are trying to reach, the subject you want to talk about and also the maturity of the social media platform as it will affect what you can and can not do with it.

For example, I am not certain that posting your cooking recipes on LinkedIn which is a professional network would be the best use of your time…although you never know.

Consider also that you are likely to use multiple social media platforms yourself and so does your targeted audience. So considering a few channels, as long as your have the time might not be a bad idea.

TIP 3: Consider Client Demographics

Depending on the demographics, the social channel will vary.
Here’s a table from the pew research center to help you choose :

You can also download this document here to keep as a reference.

Tip 4: Connect with influencers to select your channels

To see where your content get engagement, try influencer marketing. This way you can test the water and see what channels resonate most with your target audience.
 

Stay away from major influencers, instead focus on Micro influencers ( around 5k followers) that have reach across multiple social platform

TIP 5: Reverse Engineer your Competitors Channel

Draw a list of your closest competitors. Check each of their social media pages and see what content they are posting, how often they are doing so, and how many users are engaging with that content.
 

This should give you a great idea on how to proceed and what social channel to focus on.

TIP 6: Focus on Your Website First

Your website should be the first thing you do before going on social media.
 
Sure Social media platforms are quicker to use at first but the long term play is to have your own website that you develop manage and monetize.
 
It is your digital Business Card and the key to your credibility. So spend careful time crafting it, optimizing it and posting amazing content. Use social media next to expand your reach and drive traffic back to your site.
 

Finally, your site will help you build a contact list that is yours to manage unlike followers that could disappear at any time or expensive to reach with social media platforms.

TIP 7: Consider your Resources and Goals

There is also a lot of misconception regarding the quantity of posts necessary on social media to be able to build an audience.
 
First it is definitely a question of ROI of your time and/or resource spend but also let’s think about this; do you think you can build a strong reputation with 10 posts of no value every week instead of 1 good post once in a while that really brings value?
 
Easy choice !
 
Second, you probably heard otherwise from the Social media platform themselves, who need you to post more content for them to create more reach and engagement and make money out of advertising and other products. I love their business model, they actually get you to create content for free on their behalf to in turn sell your information and sell you advertising and other products. Smart!
 
The other group that will also try to convince you to post more and more often are the the SaaS companies. Since they sell product helping you to post multiple times, in multiple places automatically and on schedule for a small fee…why wouldn’t they?
 
So this is what I would recommend.
 
Test different options and figure out what works best for you considering the platforms you choose, your goals and your resources.
 
Don’t spread yourself too thin.
 
Trying to post on all channels requires massive resources and will results in inconsistency in the quality and quantity of your post.
 
Even using various tools that help you post on multiple platforms are not ideal since most social platform prefer Native content and not just a copy and paste.
 
So focus on what you can do and do it well.
 

Keep in mind that what you post will be there forever (or very difficult to get rid off), and also that it is not an instant win, I will take hard work, time, patience and yes, …years.

So that’s it for how to establish E-A-T. If you would like to read the entire document published by Google, you can download it in the toolbox section of my website by clicking here.

And you ask, Is this now we are talking about link building to build a reputation?

Yes, indeed!

Let me share my insights based on my years of experience with you on the highly controversial Link building subject:

Best Link Building Strategy in 2020

The Truth about Link Building

Link Building is very valuable for your reputation to have recognized, authoritative domains linking to your website as they will “Pass” to you some of their Authority Juice along.
 
Because of their sizes, the Authoritative domains will not link to you unless you have an extraordinary piece of content to share that they could not come up with themselves and even so, since they receive hundreds of link request per day they most likely might ignore you altogether.
 
Link building is extremely time consuming and unless you do it following a highly automated process,  and only pushing one of these extraordinary pieces of content, you better spend your time on creating quality content every single time.
 
If you create quality content, people will discover you and will naturally link to you and the time you would have spent doing link building is time you would have used to create hundreds of additional pieces of content giving you further opportunities to get discovered by Google and build authority.
 

Nonetheless, for those of you that are lucky enough to have produced this rare and unique piece of content and are willing to venture into the work of link building to increase your Domain Authority, here’s what to do to.

Understanding Domain Authority

The domain authority (DA) is calculated by third party SEO companies like Moz, SEMRush, Ahrefs. On a scale of 0-100 the score represents how authoritative a website is and is primarily based on the quality of links going to the website.
 
Remember, this score is an estimate made by a third-party company and NOT Google.
 
You can check my section on Domain Authority here if you want further information.
 

Now let’s proceed to with my 13 Tips to build quality links.

Tip 1: Link roundups

What are Link roundups?

Link roundups are daily, weekly, or monthly blog posts that curate and link to quality content relative to a common topic. Being referenced by link roundups works especially well and is a key part of an effective link building strategy but should only be considered using high domain authority blogs at the risk of negatively affecting your DA.

How to use Link roundups
Step 1: found link roundups in your industry by using these search strings in your search box :
 

“keyword” + “link roundup”
“keyword” + roundup
“keyword” + “best of”
“keyword” + “this week”

Step 2: Check the Domain Authority (DA) and the Page Authority (DA) of the roundups found. This is an important as you do not want links from low DA/PA roundups.
For this, do a search on Google for Domain authority checkers, there are plenty of free tools on the web for you to use.

Alternatively, check out my list of suggested tools in my toolbox.

Step 3: Send an email to the person that runs the roundup and follow these advice:

  • Don’t be pushy
  • Make the person aware of the existence of your content and explain why it is valuable ( not to you but its genuine value proposition, meaning what additional/unique information it provides)
  • Suggest politely to get it included in the roundup

Here’s a template that worked all for me if you want to use it yourself :

Hi [Name of the roundup Owner]
I just came across your [Name of the Roundup] today. Very nice !
I’m reaching out to let you know that I just published a [Description of your content] that seems to be a good fit: [Your URL]
Have a great day, keep up the awesome work !
Cheers,
[Your First Name]”

Tip 2: Broken Link strategy

What is a broken link?
A broken link or dead link is a link on a web page that no longer works because the website is matching one or more of the following criteria. The website owner used an incorrect URL for the link or the destination website removed the linked web page, causing what is known as a 404 error.
 

Here’s an example of what it might look like:

How to use broken links strategy

Step 1: if you do not have an expensive software to lean on, add Check My Links to Google Chrome. It is a free extension that kind identify broken links for any page. if you do not use Google Chrome as a browser, I would suggest you download it as it has many extensions that you will find very useful ( you can find a list of my favorites here if you are interested).

Step 2: Do a search with the keywords you have in mind and Identify the sites with high DA/PA that come up.

Step 3: Visit the pages with a high PA (Page Authority) of these sites you just identified and run the Check My Links extension. Et voila ! Suddenly you you have identified a list of broken links.

Step 4: Contact the site owner with a personalized email to let them know about the broken link, When they answer, follow up with a second email and forward them the URL you have identified as broken. Then, kindly suggest your content as a replacement (Make sure your content is of quality of course).


The important thing here is not to be pushy and offer value first. You would have noticed that I did not send the link to my URL unless they first answered and showed interest in knowing more.

Tip 3: Build Links from Podcasts

Podcasts have not stopped increasing in numbers for the last decade to a point where as of January 2020, there are 850,000 podcast in the US alone (Podcast Insights, 2020).
 
In fact more than 50% of the US population above 12 years old listen to one! (Statista, 2019).
 
How is that for reach !
 

But I do not need to tell you how popular this marketing channel is today. It seems that they are everywhere. But let’s start be defining what they are.

What is a Podcast?
A podcast is a series of spoken word digital audio files episodes that a user can access from the internet, download or listened to (also known as streaming) on a computer or a personal digital device.The term comes from a combination of the words iPod (a personal digital audio player made by Apple) and broadcasting.
 
What you might not know though is that Podcasts are not just a format you can conveniently listen to on your way to work but also that they can be powerful organic SEO tools when leveraged properly.
 
The first reason is because of the podcast reach, where listeners can decide to search a company name or a person name, signal that is being picked up by Google.
 
The second positive impact on organic SEO is because Podcasts do not necessarily have to be hosted on aggregators like iTunes, they can also reside on any website.
 
And this is where the link building opportunity comes from since the website hosting the podcast will usually link to their guest’s website from the post for that episode.
 
At the same time, the guest and likely their followers will also link to that episode on the podcast website.
 

Hence the benefit of being both a host and guest of podcast to build quality links and also to be recognized by your industry as a thought leader.

How to Launch your Own Podcast
  • What would be the point of telling you how to get link from a podcast if I did not start first by telling you what you need to get started? Right?

Step 1: get the necessary equipementSo here’s a list of the items you will need! (I will let you search the web for product reviews)

  • A microphone that can be plugged to your computer as well as your cellphone.
I would suggest a corded lavaliere model (clips to your shirt) as they work well both for audio and video, are easy to carry around, are great value for money and free your hands off holding a mic. They also often come with a foam cover, great for background noise reduction.
  • A camera! Sounds expensive? Not really you already have one. Your cellphone most likely can record in 4K, more than one is needed, so you are set there.
  • A tripod for your phone if you do video. Don’t spend a fortune there, you just need something to hold your camera that will not move during the interview. No need for this if your interview is with a guest online of course.
  • A lighting kit for on-site video. Especially important if you shoot with your cellphones as historically their sensors struggle in low light conditions and your video may appear granny. You can find a very suitable kit online with 3 light boxes, stands and a green screen for less than $170.
  • For onsite audio only podcasts, you need a software to record and edit. Audacity is free and works both for Mac and PC, Garage band comes standard with Mac and is also free. Finally Adobe Audition is another option if you want something more sophisticated, works for Mac and PC but comes at a price.
  • If your podcast are using remote interviews, Skype.com is a great choice for you.
  • For video remote interview podcasts, zoom.us is a great option.
  • Select a media host for your podcast like libsyn.com or use your own website if you have one.This is were your RSS feed will be generated and submitted to all the major directories like Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify etc…

Step 2: Follow this 10-Step Podcasting Process

  1. Record the interview
  2. Add an intro and ending part where you include your call to action
  3. Export your file as an MP3 (for audio only podcasts) or MP4 (for audio/video podcasts)
  4. Get a transcript of your file for services like rev.com, you can use it to add it to your video files.
  5. Upload your media and transcript file to your media host or website
  6. Tag your media by adding title, description, and other relevant info.This can be done through your media host or web hosting service.
  7. Schedule your release date.
  8. Publish your post
  9. Submit your Podcast to the major directories. This step is needed only once as once you are granted access by directories, your new episodes will automatically be sent out to the directory.


Here are the key directories and how to register form them:

Spotify has teamed up with podcast hosting platforms to help you make submitting your podcast to Spotify as easy.

Check with your hosting company for specific instructions on how to submit your podcast to Spotify

10. Advertise your new posts to your followers, subscribers and email list with links to the podcasts.

 
 
How to Build Quality Links with your Podcast

Step 1: Have all the technical details in place like I showed you above.

Step 2: Have a subject that people actually want to listen to. Make sure you find your niche and you identified your targeted audience, ideally what would a person listening to your podcast would be like : it is also called Persona.


To identify the subject matter, keyword research is key so that you know what people are searching for.

Good volume, low competition keywords are what you are looking for to identify your subject matter that people will want to listen to.

A well defined persona goes beyond what they like to listen to and I will cover more in the following steps but remember, if you try to appeal to everyone, you will appeal no no one.

Step 3: choose your format, meaning is this a monologue or an interview? Is this just audio or also Video? What about how long it will be?


I would recommend focusing on interview as it offers more link building opportunities, make for the podcast more natural since it is just a conversation.

Audio only vs Video? Even if you do not sound or look like Sean Connery in his young days, I would still recommend the video format.

Audio alone seems easier but still requires similar work on the SEO side with transcripts and other optimizations that it worth going the extra step to go Video. Plus it will help also with your awareness and play on both the audible and visual memory of your subscribers.

Step 4: Decide on a frequency and timing to publish your podcast. It important that you adhere to a schedule not to lose your audience craving for original and valuable information.

Also, based on your persona this may change. If your targeted persona is a busy professional that uses the 30 minutes driving time to work every day to listen to your podcast, is there a point publishing only over the week end for 2 hours at a time?

You get the idea…

Step 5: reach out to thought leaders and influencers in your niche to participate in your podcast.

Step 6: Suggest to your guest to link to their episode once it goes live and mention the episode to their followers. Often when someone is interviewed they will do so automatically, but if they don’t, there is no arm in reminding them and the best time to do so is right after the end of the interview when the excitement is still high.

And that’s how you will build quality, relevant links as a host.

Let’s now see how to do so as a guest.

How to Build Quality Links as a Podcast Guest
You already know the benefit of this : be a guest on a podcast and you will get a link from the host.
 
But how do you pitch your story to make a podcaster want to invite you?
 

Step 1: You need to know what their audience cares about and pitch why your story will appeal to them and forget about your own interest. This means doing your homework and making sure you understand the subject matter of the Podcast.

Step 2: Select the Podcasts to target by using 3 key criteria: Domain Authority of the related website, Relevance and followers base. The benefit is that you know the audience will listen to your subject matter and that it is more likely to listen, click through or even add links to your website hence passing along some high Authority juice for your keywords.

Step 3: Do some outreach to the hosts explaining how what you have to say could be interesting and valuable.


Keep it short, straight to the point, forget about paying compliments (it sounds fake to most) and do not harass them with emails. The podcasters are either interested or not.


If you have a strong social audience, it is worth mentioning briefly as for the podcaster it is a good opportunity to expand their reach through your network.

Step 4: Once you have been selected for an interview, clarify with your host the questions that will be asked as well as how much time you get per answer.


Also offer to the listeners access to special content like a pdf, guide or other kind of resources that they would not have access to otherwise.

Tip 4: Pre-Outreach

What is a Pre-Outreach?

Pre-outreach is part of an outreach strategy. It is the communication that occurs with editors, journalists and bloggers weeks or months before your content is published. Pre-outreach is done by email and occurs before the content is pitched. It is mostly effective to offer exclusive coverage and to build relationships with industry influencers.

How to use Pre-outreach in 5 Steps

Let’s take the case where you have a great piece of content and want to use out-reach to offer a “First Look” opportunity/exclusive coverage.

Step 1: Very important, make sure you only use this tactic for a high value content like an original industry research, an awesome infographic or newly developed tool for all to use. You would not want to create a hype only to disappoint your audience which in turn would hurt your credibility.

Step 2: Select your audience that can benefit the most from your content.If you already have a “Rolodex” of contacts great! If not,  you need to use an outreach tool ( you can find a list to review in my toolbox ) so that you do not spend months collecting one by one contact details for you to use.

The selection of your audience is key here as well as the niche market your content is targeting.

The wider the audience and more generic the content, the lower the conversion rate (1%-2%).

On the other hand, if you select a very small audience with a very targeted piece of content you should be able to reach in some cases 25% 30% conversion rate.


So here, the purpose of the tool is not to reach as many people as possible but isolating multiple small audiences that you can target with a personalized message and suitable value added content.

Step 3: 5 to 10 days before your content release date, send your audience an email offering a “first look” at the content to the five people who respond first.

This makes it clear that your content has inherent value that should be competed for.
In this email, you should Cleary explain what your content contains and most importantly why it is so valuable.

The use of Power words is also recommended to be more impactful. (Check out the 2020 Rocket List of Power Words here).

Step 4: Once you received responses, stagger the release time of the content, placing your top five responders at the top of your list the biggest head start.

On average 3-5 hours is enough head start three although it may vary depending on the type of content you’re releasing and the audience.


Step 5 : Release a second email announcing the release of your content in accordance with your schedule. It is important that all your audience receives it so that the individuals that missed the boat and did not answer your first email realized they missed out and are more reactive the next time around.

Tip 5: Become a resource for reporters and bloggers

I know the idea seems good but you are probably thinking, “how on earth are journalists, reporters and bloggers going to even know about me”?

Well for this my friends, you can use a service called HARO.

HARO provides journalists with a robust database of sources for upcoming stories and daily opportunities for sources to secure valuable media coverage.

And Guess what? You can also easily become one of their sources by simply opening and account and it is free! Once you are selected as a source, you will get a very valuable link !

How to become a resource for reporters and bloggers in 3 Simple Steps

Step 1: Go on the HARO website and register as a source with a free account.

Step 2:  Review the 3 emails per day you receive from reporters for sources.

Step 3: Send your pitch to the reporters whenever suitable.if reporters use your answer for their articles, they will link back to you.

Nice right?

A couple of things you must be aware of though is that this can be time consuming as the pitch you send back can not be a single line of text.

Remember the reporter is looking for quality content and he/she has to write a minimum amount of words for their article.

This mean that your pitch has to be as detailed as possible.

Second, not all links back to you do not have the same Authority, for example a link from an .edu or .gov is far more valuable than a .com link.

So, if time is a constraint, you may want to be selective to who you pitch to.

Finally, if you want the ability to get a head start over other sources to be the first one to get your pitch if front of the reporter, or if you want the ability to share a profile automatically as well as filter through all these emails using keywords, well all of this is possible but unfortunately will come at a price .

Tip 6: Getting links from .edu resource pages

What are .edu resource pages?

.edu resource pages are web pages that belong to universities where multiple links to content are posted in order to help their students and faculty members.The .edu is the extension that identifies a university website.The .edu resource pages carry a high Page Authority and are essential to a powerful link building strategy.

How to use .edu resource pages to get links in 3 Easy Steps
Step 1: Find .edu resource pages by typing the following strings into google search using your specific keywords:
 
  • site:.edu “keyword”
  • site:.edu “keyword” + “resources”
  • site:.edu “keyword” + inurl:links
  • site:.edu “keyword” + “other sites”

Step 2:  Review the list and keep the ones related to your piece of content.

Step 3: Reach out to the person in charge of the resource page.


Here’s an example of script that you can use and has proven to be working well for me in the past :

Hello [Name of the resource page Owner]

I was doing some research on [Topic of your content] today when I the awesome resource page [Page URL] you put together.

I just wanted  to say thank you. It could not be more helpful as I would never had found the [Resource they linked to] without it.

I, myself recently published  a guide on [Topic of your content] a few weeks back that covers [short description of your topic].

Here it is In case you would like to check it out : [URL of your content].

It might be a useful addition to your resource page for your students to access.

Either way, thank you again for creating these resource lists, they are so useful.

Have a great day!
[Your First Name]

This process should provide you with links with very high PA juice, the only drawback though is that your conversion rate will rarely exceed 4%-5%.

Tip 7: The Newbie method

How to apply the Newbie method in 3 Easy Steps

Step 1: Identify a website that contains obsolete content that your own content would be a good replacement for.

Step 2: Identify the sources that link to this content using a few tools like ahrefs or others that you can find in my tools section.

Step 3: Email the owner of the site linking to the obsolete content explaining that you found it and why it is obsolete.

Suggest instead they link to your fresh new updated content instead.

Tip 8: Guest Posting

I know, I can already hear most of you saying that guest posting is no longer working since everybody does it.
 
Truth is, if your website is new and you are working on developing awareness for your site and/or yourself, guest posting absolutely works.
 
The trick though is, as usual, to be very selective with the guest posting opportunities you find and only go for the high quality ones related to your area of expertise.
 
So how do you identify the opportunities that work?
 
For this you need to use some competitive reverse engineering techniques. Why doing the ground work when someone already has done it for you?
 
Here’s how it works in 4 simple steps:
 

Step 1: Identify in your area of specialty a successful guest blogger.

Step 2: Go to their bio on the post and grab the URL of the headshot they use.

Step 3: Go to Google Image and paste the URL in the search box.

Step 4 : Et Voila! You now have a list of all the places where this photos been used, just pick the blogs that work for you.

Easy right?

Tip 9: Run an industry survey with thought leaders

This might be a little time consuming but allows you to create an original piece of content and also gets access to thought leaders networks.
 
These are the 6 Steps to run an Industry survey:
 
Step 1: Create a survey on a specific topic related to your niche that you know has potential following a keyword research.
 
Step 2: Reach out to industry leaders and experts in your field and let them know that you are running a survey and are looking for their expertise in exchange for some VIP mentions and Exclusive access to the survey results.
 
Step 3: Send them the survey, making sure it is not too long to answer and easy to compile.
For this, use a software like survey monkey or use another tool I recommend in my toolbox.
 
Step 4 : Compile the results in a document with great format using a lot of graphs. Make sure it looks really professional and use tools like canva.com or infogram.com of if you prefer third party services if needed such as upwork.com so that a Pro does it for you for a few bucks.
 
Step 5: Implement the Pre-outreach strategy we discussed above to tease bloggers and reporters even mentioning some names of key contributors that accepted to participate if this helps.
 
Step 6 : Publish your content with exclusivity first to the experts contributors that answered your survey and to the top 5 reporters that volunteered. In turn you will get links, mentions and social shares from all of them.
 
The trick is really in the quality of the hook you use to convince industry leaders to participate.
 
You will find the higher the position they have to more elevated the subject needs to be.
 
For example, if your targeted contributors audience is CEOs, a State of their industry is really impactful.

Tip 10: Host a virtual summit

At the risk of repeating myself, make sure that not only the subject you pick is interesting but that your keyword research told you in was hot.
 
 Also it is to be very niche and specific so that you get quality out of it.
 
This is how to host a virtual summit in 6 simple steps :
 
Step 1: Select a Webinar platform that suits your needs such as GoToMeeting (check a full list here) and ensure you do dry runs so that you know how it works and what features you can use.
 
Step 2: Invite participants, either being industry leaders, influencers as long as they have authority in the domain as well as a strong base of social followers.
 
Step 3: Select a format for this event, would this be interviews, slideshow, tips and tricks? Make sure you prepare the participants ahead of time.
 
Step 4: Promote the event prior using all your tools as your disposal : social media, Email, push notifications.
Make sure all this content allows you to collect email addresses of attendees.
Provide these announcement posts to the participants ahead of time so that they can share with their followers and networks prior to the event.
Ensure to emphasize in the announcement, the main subject of the events, what people will get out of it, like what they would learn but also what things they will be able to download after the event.
 
For example, a recording of the event to replay on their own time, a pdf of the presentation used, transcripts of the conversation, cheat sheets, step by step guides, “Rolodex” of exclusive links from the participants etc…
 
Step 5: assemble all the element that people can download or get after the event on a nice landing page on your site
 

Step 6: Make some time at the end for Q&A to make it interactive

Tip 11: Leverage Maps

Maps are definitely worth investing in. For some amazing reasons, they fascinate people. A simple search in Google for maps will show you what I mean. Tens of thousand would appear.
There are all kinds of maps, you can find. So what you need to do is to create an interactive map and post it on your site and promote it. Since the map will be ever changing, visitors will come back over and over again.

Tip 12 : Leverage Tools/calculators

Like maps, making tools and calculators available for all to use is extremely powerful as it creates returning visitors.
 
Unlike infographics that are a one time view kind of deal, these tools and calculators can be used repeatedly for a long time and people will share them and link to them.

 
Sure it can be a little expensive to develop your own tools but they are some resources where you can buy some very affordable ones.
 
And you do not have to pay a fortune for them.
 
For $20-$30 you can get very good tools that you can install on your website and which will bring you a lot of recurring traffic.

 
Check out EnvatoMarket, a resource I use myself and that will save you a lot of money

Tip 13 : Check out your Brand mentions

This is when you have been established for a while and a powerful tool to leverage.

 
It is very possible that people have already mentioned your brand online without necessarily linking back to your site.
 
If you find them, you can then reach out and suggest them to link back to you.
 
These are the 3 Steps to follow to check out your brand mentions:
 
Step 1: Go to Google Alerts ( free service) or use other services like BuzzSumo or SEMrush.
There you can create alerts to let you know when your brand or you get mentioned online.
 
Step 2: Check the authority of the pages you have identified and select the best ones.
 

Step 3: reach out to the individuals that have mentioned you and suggest a link for them to post (this way, you can even suggest what keywords they can use that would be even more relevant to your site).

 
 

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About Gilles Argivier

picture of Gilles Argivier standing with crossed arms

He is an International marketing expert and visionary entrepreneur.

For over 20 years, he has been entrusted by world class organizations as a driver of top and bottom line growth through transformational business development, brand’s sustainable strategy, product innovation and powerful online customer centric experiences

He owns and operates his marketing consultancy firm out of the US.

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