Debra O'Neil-Mastaler Interview
Thanks for talking with us, Debra. Can you introduce
yourself and tell us a bit about your background and
your current work.
Absolutely, thanks for asking Peter.
To start -and I’ll try to keep this short - born
in Texas, grew up all over the world with the largest
amount of time spent in Germany (nine years, I'm an
Army brat with a German mother) went off to college
in Norfolk Virginia and then to work in the marketing
department of Anheuser-Busch in Williamsburg. Have been
here in Virginia since 1976 and love it!
In 1997 after deciding to stay-at-home fulltime, I
discovered the Internet and started an organic food
and clothing Directory. Part of my marketing strategy
was to find promotional partners in complimentary niches
and ask them to host my link. At the time, I didn't
know I was doing "reciprocal link building" or "search
engine optimization"; to me, it was just natural
to use the sales and promotions techniques I was familiar
with. Somewhere along the line, I started reading articles
on SEO and realized what I was doing actually had a
name and was part of a growing online industry. While
I enjoyed working on and watching my Directory grow,
I sensed there was an opportunity for me in the field
of SEO so I started reading everything I could to learn
more.
Which wasn’t much in those days. Once I figured
out what I was doing had name and was an integral part
of the search engine optimization process, I contacted
one of the SEO authors I was reading (Jill Whalen) who
in turn, took a chance and outsourced her link work
to me. Before I knew it, I was in the link building
business full time.
I recently added a new Directory Submission Program
to my services, but overall, the way I link and the
tactics I use have changed very little over the last
four and a half years. Search engines come and go and
new hurdles pop up from time to time, but the core marketing
strategies I use remain the same.
<Laugh> So much for a short spiel…!
With links such an important part of search algorithms,
webmasters are always looking for ways to improve their
link popularity. Can you talk a little about your link
building tactics?
Sure! Anyone that knows me knows I love to talk links
and marketing strategy. Successfully combining the two
disciplines definitely provides a webmaster with the
potential to rank well and attract paying customers.
I follow the same outline for all the sites I work
on, it makes my job accumulating link inventory easier
and supports ongoing SEO efforts. I start the outline
process with information I glean after thoroughly researching
a site’s stats program and from the link questionnaire
I provide each client. From the stats I look for trends,
patterns and geographic opportunities, as well as what
keywords are being used and pages visited. I note any
unique and/or repetitive patterns and use this information
to search for complimentary sites to host my client’s
link.
For example, if you notice a visitation trend from
a particular Country, consider translating targeted
pages. Doing so allows you to actively solicit links
from Country specific free and paid Directories, authority
sites and submit to the appropriate World category for
another highly coveted DMOZ link. Ecommerce and/or retail
sites that typically have a harder time securing links
may find this technique beneficial.
There are many types of link building tactics currently
being used... there’s reciprocal linking, three-way
linking, submitting to directories, writing/submitting/distributing
articles, developing link promotions, promoting press
releases, creating directories, buying links, using
RSS to distribute linked material, creating/promoting
tools embedded with links for distribution etc.
I use all of these tactics (and others) on various sites
from time to time; each of them has merit in certain
situations and industries. All of the methods outlined
are fine to use and will net links but all of them become “better” tactics
when effective keyword rich anchor text is incorporated
into the campaign.
People are always surprised when I say “effective
anchor text” is the key to any successful link
building program. I think they’re convinced it’s
really some super secret HTML code we link mongers use
and won’t share, but really, it’s just about
anchor text. Even people who spam guest books understand
its power, that’s why they use it.
All of the linking strategies I use center around the
effective use of anchor text. Doesn’t matter which
one you pick, it’s always the same. Even if you
buy links, you still have to incorporate keyword rich
anchor text into them or they’re just......expensive
links!
What are some of the strategies a webmaster can use
to build links?
Basic linking strategies any website can benefit from
include buying text links, press release promotions
and Directory Submission Services. You can also get
creative and high tech using link promotions and RSS.
These types of programs help with link building and
organic content.
Regardless of the industry you’re in, there is
a general and niche directory out there waiting for
you! Finding them is relatively simple; just search
using your keywords plus the word “directory” and
they’ll appear. If you don’t have the time,
hire a link building company to do this for you. They’ll
find directories relevant to your niche and work to
secure those valuable one-way links. Either way, a well
executed directory submission service will bring you
the link popularity you want as well as targeted traffic.
It’s worth the investment in time and money.
I’ve never used any of the text link ad agencies
that buy/sell links so I can’t speak directly
to their effectiveness, but I do know it’s fairly
easy to buy links on your own. If your budget doesn’t
allow for large ad spends, consider buying text link
ads on topically focused blogs and directories in your
industry. Typically these locations cost less than mainstream
sites but still attract relevant visitors.
One of the techniques I’m known for is securing
one-way links through creative link promotions. This
tactic uses special offers such as free shipping, free
software, product discounts, coupons etc as a hook to
secure one-way links. This method’s success rate
skyrockets when the special offer is something unique,
in demand or available for a limited time and can be
blasted through an RSS feed to a wide but topically
relevant audience. As far as I’m concerned, RSS
is golden!
And finally, an oldie but goodie - press release distribution.
Did you know 98% of today’s journalists go online
to find their news, stories and facts? With that many
reporters surfing around for relevant content, you want
to have keyword rich press releases highlighting your
company and its products “out there” to
be found.
There are a handful of press release distribution and
archive services on the Web, just run a search for “free
press release distribution” or “press release
submission” for a list. Include keyword rich hyperlinks
within the release and optimize if for your keywords.
Writing good press releases is an art form, so if you
don’t feel you’re up to the task, hire someone
who can. Be sure the release is about something noteworthy
and then send it out! You’d be amazed at what
links back as a result.
Not all links have the same value. What are some of
the traps that webmasters should be aware of when
acquiring links?
Since most link building campaigns are done to support
ongoing ranking strategies, it’s important to
know where and how to look for “traps” that
keep you from your SEO goals. Sites that employ the
use of robots.txt, JavaScript or certain redirects should
be avoided as well as sites that show no meter of Google
green.
Avoid non-hierarchical sites/directories. You want
sites that are easy for both humans and bots to navigate,
it’s important to secure links from a venue a
search engine can spider.
Links from sites outside your industry niche won’t
hurt you but they don’t help by reinforcing
your keyword relevance. Stick with getting links from
sites with similar or complimentary content and provide
the link and descriptive text when possible.
Alternate your link text and descriptions to take advantage
of all the keyword phrases you’ve optimized your
site for and link internally not just to the main page.
Using the same anchor text and URL over and over doesn’t
establish a “natural” linking pattern and
could set off filter or link alarms to the engines.
Use all your phrases and the pages they correspond to.
If you’re going enter into reciprocal or three
way linking agreements, be sure your URL ends up where
you agreed to place it, and not hosted on a third (or
fourth!) party site or 50 pages deep. Right click and
take a look at the Properties to be sure the link is
where it’s supposed to be.
And finally, don’t fall into that “buying
links is bad” camp. There is nothing wrong with
buying text link ads that incorporate your message and
work to drive traffic to your site. However, as with
any link, you’ll receive greater benefit if the
link is on a topic relevant page using keyword rich
anchor text links and optimized descriptive verbiage.
If you’re going to pay for them, they should say
exactly what you want!
Indeed - it’s just another advertising
spend.
I think your earlier point about obtaining links from
on-topic pages is an important one and webmasters new
to the link-building field would do well to understand
this aspect. Many commentators talk about how the search
engines look to identify communities of interest, and
calculate the degree of relatedness between two separate
pages.
You’re right, it’s important to obtain
links from similar pages, both from marketing and a
search engine’s point of view. Link building is
all about establishing collaborative partnerships between
companies in similar/complimentary industries to leverage
what each can bring to the web-table. It’s about
making the right connections to benefit your website
in terms of brand, ranking and revenue growth.
So, when looking for link sources, webmasters should
look for pages that are on the same topic and/or have
a similar semantic theme? This aspect is perhaps more
important than, say, PageRank scores?
Yes, I believe they should look for sites in the same
or complimentary industries in order to establish logical
and profitable relationships. But it doesn’t hurt
to look for high PageRank scores in the process. I don’t
suggest anyone focus on the scores alone as criteria,
but I wouldn’t overlook them either. PageRank
may not be the force it once was, but it’s still
part of Google’s algo, therefore I continue to
read the meter of green when applicable.
How do you see search marketing world developing over
the next couple of years?
I believe the search engine marketing and search engine
optimization industries will “live long and prosper” because
our search engines and web clients continue to do the
same. After all, we’re here because of them so
we’ll continue to follow their growth curves and
development.
Given the continuing advances in artificial intelligence
and computing science methods these days, I think we’re
in for exciting search engine times in the future!!
And happily, for as long as there are websites, search
engines, a World Wide Web and the Internet, linking
will be an integral part of any online mix... which
is a good thing because I’ll continue to have
a job! ;)
Debra, thanks for sharing your link building tips and
strategies
My pleasure Peter, thanks again for asking.
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