One Backlinking & Site Promotion Strategy I Use

[JustaWizard]

Hi Warriors!

Since discovering the WF and spending some time here, I've gotten some fantastic tips and techniques and resources, as well as having received answers to questions on my mind... so in good WF fashion, I want to give back.

Here's a simple but effective little strategy I use for backlinking and site promotion - granted this is not an earth-shattering mind-blowing technique, but it's been working well for me and gotten me traffic and assisted with ranking & SEO.

This also keeps me up to date on my area of interest - that's another benefit of this strategy.

First, I set up Google Alerts for the keywords on my site. This is astoundingly quick and easy, if you haven't done it before, it's a total breeze. Sign into your Google account and set up your alerts here: Google Alerts

I set my alerts for daily notification rather than as they happen.

When my alerts come in via email, I click each link and open up a new tab in my browser - if you hold down the CTRL key while clicking, that'll open new tabs.

Next I scan each of them quickly, first scan is just to see what the overall content is and typically it'll be a Google News alert or a blog post, so I look to see if there's a comment function - typically they're asking for name, email, URL, and comment, so for my name I also put my keyword in there in a logical natural way. If I have to sign in or create a membership, I'll usually skip it. I make a brief but relevant comment contributing to the conversation or relevant to the blog post or article also with my keywords.

In one case, I got a huge backlink from some media outlet page when I posted a comment in response to one of their articles. The higher authority/page rank the site/page has, the "huger" the link ;-)

I have 4 Google alerts set up for my keywords and my total time invested per day is literally 10 or 15 minutes tops.

Sure, I realize that some commenting is going on no-follow sites, but so what? If I get a do-follow backlink that's great, but I also get exposure and people do visit my site after reading my comments - not every time/all the time, but enough of the time to make it worth it.

So, this strategy gets me some relevant backlinks, relevant exposure, and keeps me up to date on what's happening (at least on Google) for my keywords.

I hope this is helpful to someone! ;-)

Best,
David Portney

[melanied]

That's a great strategy - it's also helping to build relationships with other site owners in your niche!

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by melanied

That's a great strategy - it's also helping to build relationships with other site owners in your niche!

Thanks!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I keep a notepad file on my desktop with my URL, email and such so I can just copy/paste over... haven't checked if google auto-fill would to that for me, but I'm very fast on a keyboard with CTRL-C, CTRL-V so that helps cut down on the time it takes to fill those forms out...

David

[Internetmoneymaker]

Nice idea,I love SEO tactics,they can only help ranking,thanks for the share.

[RayAndLisaJ]

Great stuff thank you.;

[JustaWizard]

Here's another thing I do with information I find; I use their content on my blog and use the "attribution method" so as not to steal it or break integrity. For example, on one of my blogs (Public Speaking Training) today I commented on content someone else has posted, link back to them, and make my own observations. That way I'm not having to wrack my brain constantly for new content.

If you're providing content that's "aggregated" (so to speak) then people like to check back to see what you've come up with - you're doing the research so they don't have to... and using google alerts means the content comes to you, rather than you searching for content!

[freedomguy]

Thanks David

This is a tip I've never seen before anywhere! Just gone to the top of my To Do list.

John

[AlexKaplo]

Oh wow thank you JustaWizard,

Great strategy, I never understood what Google alerts did... but I understand now how you can use it to literally spy the internet and get good backlinks. ...Awesome thanks for sharing!

-Alex

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by freedomguy

Thanks David

This is a tip I've never seen before anywhere! Just gone to the top of my To Do list.

John

Hey John - you're welcome! Luckily, this strategy is not really just another "distraction" or "new direction" to go running off in... That is to say, this does not take you away from your main strategies and pressing tasks to accomplish. It just allows you to manage content and news on your topic in a time-efficient manner.

Enjoy!
David

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by AlexKaplo

Oh wow thank you JustaWizard,

Great strategy, I never understood what Google alerts did... but I understand now how you can use it to literally spy the internet and get good backlinks. ...Awesome thanks for sharing!

-Alex

Hey Alex, you're welcome! I love it when I "finally get" something that previously had me scratching my head going "what's THIS for, anyway?" so I'm glad this put the light bulb over your head about google alerts.

I have google alerts for my name, for my product names, for keywords in my niche - that way I can keep an eye on where my products are appearing for sale (I have a publishing deal for audiobooks) and I can see when my name pops up too.

I don't think the alerts are 100% "foolproof" but they are very helpful!

Best,
David

[JustaWizard]

PS: I typically set up my alerts as phrase match -that is, I put my name in quotes in my google alerts - so I have "David Portney" and "David R. Portney" set up so hopefully I only get alerts when my full name appears, and not every time DAVID appears in google.

Again, I'm not sure alerts foolproof or perfect, but they do work.

[Baystreet]

Originally Posted by JustaWizard

Next I scan each of them quickly, first scan is just to see what the overall content is and typically it'll be a Google News alert or a blog post, so I look to see if there's a comment function - typically they're asking for name, email, URL, and comment, so for my name I also put my keyword in there in a logical natural way. If I have to sign in or create a membership, I'll usually skip it. I make a brief but relevant comment contributing to the conversation or relevant to the blog post or article also with my keywords.

This is real interesting but I'm not clear on how you use your keyword as your name and not make it look like spam. Can you give an example for the clueless?

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by Baystreet

This is real interesting but I'm not clear on how you use your keyword as your name and not make it look like spam. Can you give an example for the clueless?

Dear clueless (just kidding!) ;-) - I'm glad you asked, and glad to answer with an example:

One of my keywords is Stage Fright: so for example, I'll put in the name field:

David Portney, The Stage Fright Exterminator

So my name is there, but also my keyword and guess what?--"David Portney, The Stage Fright Exterminator" is a clickable link so for SEO purposes, my keyword is anchor text!

Ha!

Did that clear that up?

BTW: to mix it up, I'll use different "names" such as "The Stage Fright Terminator, David Portney"

[Baystreet]

Originally Posted by JustaWizard

David Portney, The Stage Fright Exterminator

So my name is there, but also my keyword and guess what?--"David Portney, The Stage Fright Exterminator" is a clickable link so for SEO purposes, my keyword is anchor text!

Did that clear that up?

Thanks for the tip and the great example. It is perfectly clear now.

[Daniel Molano]

David, nice post, my VAs have been doing that for a while now.

You are going to love this software: Comment Kahuna | Free Link Building Software

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

David, nice post, my VAs have been doing that for a while now.

You are going to love this software: Comment Kahuna | Free Link Building Software

Hey Daniel - thanks! I just downloaded comment kahuna last week and was planning to implement that soon - feel free to post any tips or shortcuts about that - thanks!

David

[tommygadget]

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

David, nice post, my VAs have been doing that for a while now.

You are going to love this software: Comment Kahuna | Free Link Building Software

Yes, I have that tool, works great.

TomG.

[sgsmorgan]

Comment Hut is another useful tool to try out as well

[kkrueger]

David,

Thank you so much for being so candid and sharing your techniques. This is such a gem!
I have used google alerts, but never heard about using it to find blogs for backlinks! And Oh Mercy, and to build a reputation too!

I am so grateful!

Karen

[Nathan Hangen]

Google blog search is also great for this.

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by kkrueger

David,

Thank you so much for being so candid and sharing your techniques. This is such a gem!
I have used google alerts, but never heard about using it to find blogs for backlinks! And Oh Mercy, and to build a reputation too!

I am so grateful!

Karen

Hi Karen, sincerely warms my heart to know this little technique will add value to you.
Best,
David

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by Nathan Hangen

Google blog search is also great for this.

Hi Nathan, that's true, thanks for adding that - here's the link to Google Blog Search:

Google Blog Search

David

[Traffic-Bug]

yes forum posts/blogcommenting is a well known strategy that has been employed for ages by internet marketers. Your use of alerts to get the blogs to do the commenting on is what is unique. You can also use traffic bug to get more backlinks and traffic through other ways - pls check out my sig

[LightHouse13]

Would it not be more benificial to get a No-Foller checker plug in for fire fox and eliminate wasted time? Also those sites you have to register, they would be useful and worth the time if the were do-follow and had PR! Refine your teqnique for the most impact!

[Mangozoom]

Simple ... easy to do and effective.

I do this also one a health niche I am in. Found out about it by accident actually. I signed for Google Alerts just to help with content for my site and decided to post some messages. Quite quickly I began to see traffic coming as a direct result.

John

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by LightHouse13

Would it not be more benificial to get a No-Foller checker plug in for fire fox and eliminate wasted time? Also those sites you have to register, they would be useful and worth the time if the were do-follow and had PR! Refine your teqnique for the most impact!

I do use that plug in and keep in mind, I use this strategy not just for backlinks, but also because I get exposure on their site that's related to mine, so people on their blog see me too - exposure from highly targeted niche blogs make it worth posting even if they're a no-follow blog.

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by Mangozoom

Simple ... easy to do and effective.

I do this also one a health niche I am in. Found out about it by accident actually. I signed for Google Alerts just to help with content for my site and decided to post some messages. Quite quickly I began to see traffic coming as a direct result.

John

Hi John, it IS a cool little strategy, thanks for your post.

As I said in my original post and along the way here, this strategy is not perfect nor is it a mind-blowing earth-shattering strategy, but I've formed some alliances, gotten traffic, and gotten some very decent backlinks from doing this.

Not bad for around 10 minutes per day of my time, eh?

David

[cparker]

Great post David, thank you for that! Who does not love this forum when
everyone is so generous with their tips and tricks on so many various subjects!

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by cparker

Great post David, thank you for that! Who does not love this forum when
everyone is so generous with their tips and tricks on so many various subjects!

Hey cparker - you're welcome - dontcha just love this place?? I get so much great info here, that's why I just had to give back.

For example, go under "search" and search threads by username, and check out the thread by username jonb, the one with the title something like "how I made a membership website" the guy shows how he did it for $300!! Give me a break! I was looking at MemberGate for that and it STARTS at $4,000 USD and goes up to $30,000! I kidded with jonb I should paypal him some of the money I'll save...

We Warriors gotta stick together!
Best,
David

[hollierae]

Thanks for sharing.. I have written it down.

[JustaWizard]

Update: this strategy has garnered me some serious backlinks. I've just checked my backlinks via SEO tools xray function, and there are a ton of backlinks, even high PR backlinks, from using this strategy.

I still use it to this day - every day, Google Alerts come in and I click on each of the links, and sure, there's lots of stupid spammy blogs that ostensibly exist only in an attempt to get affiliate or Adsense click-throughs (I just close those quickly) but I also very often find those news stories and blogs that are sincere and again, no follow really does not matter, in fact, I have back links showing up from no follow blogs and sites that is ostensibly helping my rankings, since I'm #5 consistently out of 12.9 million broad match results for a very competitive keyword phrase.


Use this strategy, it works!

Catch you later,
David

[refernshare]

Thanks David for this tip.

Everyday I learn new tricks from people like you.

Great community in this forum.

[InternetMarketingIQ]

Google Alerts will send you a lot of links to Blogger Posts. So you'll need accounts to respond to those.

[JustaWizard]

At first you might try a whole bunch of target keyphrases and weed out (stop the alerts) for the ones that you feel are just wasting your time or not relevant after all.

For example, I found that for my niche public speaking, that "presentation skills" was getting me a bunch of job postings and only very, very rarely did it have to do with public speaking per se, so that was just wasting my time so I deleted that alert.

Glad y'all like this little tip... again, I've had really great results from it, and sometimes you really get a very high PR backlink and no hassle to post your reply.... of course, other times it's just not worth the hassle to get a no follow, no PR, backlink unless you think that the site/blog gets a ton of traffic, in that case who cares about no follow/pr because you'll still get visitors based on exposure.

Bottom line is that each day this only takes up a small amount of time, 15 minutes or so, and those small efforts over time really add up plus look natural (because it IS natural!) to Google.

David Portney

[JustaWizard]

PS: bonus tip - mix up your anchor text and also the page on your site that you backlink to.

[Schiedl]

Thanks for this great post... just found this place and can't stop reading. also set up the google alerts... how many of those make sense for you?

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by Schiedl

Thanks for this great post... just found this place and can't stop reading. also set up the google alerts... how many of those make sense for you?

Yeah, this place IS great, lots of helpful people here.

What's your question?--how many of what makes sense............??

[basmin]

I was just now searching for about this when I came by your post.
nice strategy, thanks for sharing this

[ripsnorta2]

Originally Posted by JustaWizard

I do use that plug in and keep in mind, I use this strategy not just for backlinks, but also because I get exposure on their site that's related to mine, so people on their blog see me too - exposure from highly targeted niche blogs make it worth posting even if they're a no-follow blog.

and that's a really good point, because if you're developing a relationship with the blogger by leaving good comments, and you have a quality blog, you might find yourself in the bloggers blogroll, or at the least, linked to in a post. And, IIRC, the blogroll is do-follow, as are in-post links (unless specifically no-followed.)

Then you've won a do-follow link from a no-follow blog.

[Jenie0109]

Originally Posted by JustaWizard

Thanks!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I keep a notepad file on my desktop with my URL, email and such so I can just copy/paste over... haven't checked if google auto-fill would to that for me, but I'm very fast on a keyboard with CTRL-C, CTRL-V so that helps cut down on the time it takes to fill those forms out...

David

you can use lastpass plugin or fireform that helps much faster than doing the CTRL-C, CTRL-V daily

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by Jenie0109

you can use lastpass plugin or fireform that helps much faster than doing the CTRL-C, CTRL-V daily

Thanks Jenie0109 - I typically have a dozen different specific URL's to deep link to, as well as a dozen different anchor text selections to mix up anchor text - will those auto fill programs you mention handle such a situation?

Thanks!
David

[wadboram]

Thanks David for your excellent idea ... will try it

[NetWorth]

Great Post! It is tips and comments like this that make the Warrior Forum Great!

[mayorlan]

Thanks for the share of info.I so love WF for information sharing.

[MartiG]

Hi David,

That's a great tip! Never knew how to use
Google Alerts very effectively until now.

Thanks,
Marti

[rockstaradi]

That is indeed the best of best strategies. It not only builds links but also builds relationship with others in your niche which brings in long-term profit

[JamesMSpacey]

Originally Posted by JustaWizard

Sure, I realize that some commenting is going on no-follow sites, but so what? If I get a do-follow backlink that's great, but I also get exposure and people do visit my site after reading my comments - not every time/all the time, but enough of the time to make it worth it.

And Google isn't the only search engine. Nofollow only applies to them.

[Tony Dean]

Good post!

One thing I do is to go to Google and search for local and national newspapers and find their blog. I find an article I like and give a comment on it. If they don't have html link then I just type in the comment the url I want to promote that day - with anchor text. Bare in mind that some of these newspaper blogs get moderated, so your comment should be really good so they don't mind you typed in your url.

Gets me a PR7 backlink every time!

Success Warriors.

[bellringer09]

Google Alerts is a great tool and I like the fact that you can filter for blog, discussion, news etc.

[dagaul101]

Nice tip, many folks are not utilizing the potential of Google Alerts, it is a great way of keeping upto date and as you found out getting some backlinks and exposure in the process