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Rethink Link Acquisition

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About Dustin Woodard

19991998 2000

20042002 2006

2008 2011 2013

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ReTHINK Link Acquisition

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Rethinking Links

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That’s What Google Said

“Build great content & you will be rewarded with links”

~ Not an actual Google quote

No Need for Marketing or Sales?

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Black Friday Case Study

• SCENARIO:– Blacklisted Domain– Few links– Poor content– No budget– Only 2 months to gain top rankings

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Black Friday Case Study

• STRATEGY:– Getting back in the

index– Content revamp– Survey, Predictions,

PR/Blogger Campaign

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Black Friday Case Study

• EXECUTION:– Survey– Package the data– Outreach

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Black Friday Case Study• RESULTS:– Tons of coverage +

links– #3 Ranking– Big traffic & $$– Post Black Friday

links further strengthen site

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Making the Pitch

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Making the Pitch

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Making the Pitch

Your pitch

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Making the Pitch

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Making the Pitch

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Making the PitchShift your frame:– Not an SEO Company– Links come from

anywhere, but you are giving them an opportunity to link to amazing site or content

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Making the Pitch• Be fast & novel • Shift their frame:– Give them a deadline– Have them do you a favor

• Take it away:– Have them justify themselves

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Further Optimization

SEO

SMO

Website User & Community

Optimization

Conversion Rate

Optimization

$$User &

Community Optimization

Conversion Rate

Optimization

User Optimization:Invest a piece of themselves

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User Optimization: Share Button Placement

• Floating sharebar: • 20% increase in social shares

• Pin It button placement:15% increasein pins <div style='padding-bottom: 2px; line-height: 0px'><a href='http://pinterest.com/pin/53691420530417789/' target='_blank'><img src='http://media-cache-ec4.pinimg.com/550x/45/76/16/457616a0a6e7ea800f682a9db9d6e02b.jpg' border='0' width='250' height ='250'/></a></div><div style='float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;'><p style='font-size: 10px; color: #76838b;'>Source: <a style='text-decoration: underline; font-size: 10px; color: #76838b;' href='http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bourbon-Mango-Pulled-Pork/Detail.aspx'>allrecipes.com</a> via <a style='text-decoration: underline; font-size: 10px; color: #76838b;' href='http://pinterest.com/athensdoll/' target='_blank'>Catherine</a> on <a style='text-decoration: underline; color: #76838b;' href='http://pinterest.com' target='_blank'>Pinterest</a></p></div>

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User Optimization: Data Collection

• Social Media Profiles:• Twitter• FB• LinkedIn• Tumblr

• Blog(s)

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User Optimization: Gamification

• Engagement• Motivation

Gamification engages users & changes behavior with the best ideas from games, loyalty & behavioral economics

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GamificationIndirect Link Acquisition:

Overall engagementRepeat visitsSign-ups

Direct Link AcquisitionSharesLinksEmbeds

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Gamification is not…

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Offline Gamification:

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Online Gamification:

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Intrinsic vs Extrinsic motivation

• Status• Access• Power > • Money

• Stuff

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GamificationDopamine

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GamificationPlayer Types: Achievers• 10% of population• Motivated by: winning, challenges, showing

off

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GamificationPlayer Types: Explorers• 10% of population• View, find, rate, vote, curate, review

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GamificationPlayer Types: Socializers• 80% of population• Comment, share, like,

discuss, meet up

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Gamification

• Player Types: Killers• < 1% of population• Harass, heckle, hack,

cheat

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Gamification: User Optimization• NFL Example

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Gamification: User Optimization

• NFL Example: 800% increase in site registrations

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Gamification Results

• Expect a 30% rise in engagement statistics

• Expect off-the-chart rise in community shares & links

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Cause Marketing• Film crowdsourcing experiment• Host conference• Get involved w/ charities or causes

Campaign Results:285 Backers$30,000 raised~350 Backlinks

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Thank You For Your Time

That’s What Dustin Said#TWDS