tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74909791179872896012010-05-01T08:51:14.062-05:00Questions, answers, opinion and advice on link building best practices, based on my personal experiences as a content publicist for hundreds of web sites, from 1994 to today.Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-73429592975885700502010-05-01T08:05:00.008-05:002010-05-01T08:51:14.196-05:00

I am in the process of migrating my blog from blogger to wordpress.It is my hope and expectation that the blog will remain here in this same directoryhttp://www.ericward.com/bestpractices/If this fails, you can look in eitherhttp://www.netpost.com/bestpractices/orhttp://www.ericward.com/linkmoses/My apologies for this hopefully temporary inconvenience.Eric Ward

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-16077935926832111942010-04-12T21:26:00.003-05:002010-04-12T21:32:02.814-05:00

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-10740689052081765982010-04-12T17:10:00.006-05:002010-05-01T08:20:10.151-05:00

Blogger will be discontinuing FTP support shortly, and I'm using this time to migrate over to a new blogging platform.The focus of the new blog will be much more about linking case studies, specific linking tactic selection and execution, on a site by site basis.The biggest problem in the linking and link building industry is people are confused. They've tried every tactic that every expert told

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-61898974289455831262010-01-27T10:30:00.011-06:002010-01-28T11:49:35.536-06:00

Today I am proud to announce Link Insight and the Link Insight Beta Program, offered exclusively through search intelligence firm AdGooroo.For many years I have wanted to find a way to take what I have learned over the course of 14+ years of link building and link marketing, and turn it into a diagnostic and strategic tool that can help web sites better understand links and the link building

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-63209203133856471612009-12-31T09:37:00.010-06:002009-12-31T11:57:54.500-06:00

Ahhh, Link Diversity...Linkmoses loves it when a seemingly technical and complex concept can be broken down and simplified, and Rand Fishkin at SEOmoz is one of the best at doing this. Give him a whiteboard and I do believe he could solve global warming. I've embedded a video of his that beautifully explains link diversity below.Link Diversity means different things to different people. Some

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-28158340025350799432009-12-10T01:06:00.020-06:002009-12-31T10:19:32.250-06:00

In the wake of the recent news Danny Sullivan covered excellently at SearchEngineLand in Google Now Personalizes Everyone's Search Results, some of you may be having a link building PANIC ATTACK.Don't.For the most part, high merit content owners should have no fear, because personalized search doesn't somehow turn your high-merit content into no-merit content. I feel a small sense of vindication

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-51866340425577725502009-12-03T09:53:00.003-06:002009-12-03T10:05:30.021-06:00

Many of you have already heard about BuzzStream, a wickedly cool tool for managing the processes of link building and buzz monitoring. I'm one of their advisers and have been thrilled with how they continue to improve it. To that end, this week BuzzStream announced a series of improvements and features that I wanted to share with you. I don't use my blog to tout services, so this is rare for me

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-39998343348829097142009-11-03T16:26:00.005-06:002009-12-31T10:24:53.313-06:00

I read today about how all three major search engines have removed the Geocities.com domain from their search indices. A site:geocities.com search on Google, Yahoo, or Bing shows that, as Matt McGhee illustrates here, geocities.com is "dead and buried".*Sigh*Once upon a time, in 2001, back in the day, I spent hours and hours seeking links from geocities sites on behalf of clients. It wasn't

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-75755902793362478602009-10-08T10:39:00.010-05:002009-12-31T10:24:05.781-06:00

Below are several interviews conducted this week by Businessweek's Rob Hof with key execs and engineers from Google. Rob spoke with Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Udi Manber, Google's vice president of engineering in charge of search, Amit Singhal of the core ranking team, Scott Huffman who runs the change impact evaluation team, and Matt Cutts, head of Google's Webspam team.Most SEO's would miss

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-37986418838794979442009-09-15T12:28:00.013-05:002009-12-31T10:26:02.333-06:00

If you are seeker of link building services, and are evaluating companies or persons to help with your linking strategies or link building, it's logical and reasonable to have some questions you want answers for.One of the most telling questions of all is this one:"How many links can you get for us and how much will it cost?"If you asked me this question, the best answer is the most honest answer

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-51821593942345580002009-08-31T09:34:00.011-05:002009-12-31T10:28:48.348-06:00

Hard to believe it has been over two years since I wrote Link Building's Cult Of Reciprocity over at SearchEngineLand. Reciprocal links remain a polarizing topic.Most SEM's who were anti-recip remain so, at least based on what I read on the blogs and columns. Among those who were for recips, I've read more than a couple change their position and state they are no longer of any value. Some

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-80610468942248552172009-08-06T13:01:00.013-05:002009-12-31T10:27:08.861-06:00

For backdrop, read Stephan Spencer'sLink Economics 101: A Prerequisite For Advanced SEO.When you focus and practice a specific skill set long enough, one of the unexpected benefits is you become an unintended expert in spotting those with no skills at all. In fact, at this point my bullshit meter is a finely tuned instrument.More than anything else, I wish the "sellers of the useless" in the

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-7092166676767018462009-07-30T15:17:00.013-05:002009-08-02T20:13:25.742-05:00

(Editor's note: See Peewater, as defined by Urban Dictionary)You'll hear the following question/argument asked at just every online marketing conference, discussion/forum, and I'm asked it at least a few times a month."Why should we play by the rules when it's still possible to cheat and rank?"I understand your frustration, and I can't argue your point, because every day my own analysis shows the

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-502867756872952022009-07-28T13:43:00.008-05:002009-07-28T15:19:16.820-05:00

So let it begin.Over at Search Engine Land today I wrote Betting On The Link Building Boondoggle Bonanza. I mentioned a couple very specific link building tactics in that column, press releases and directory submissions. What's being sold is, to be kind, bad and worse.As for directories, some of this you surely already know. I've written about it before. A year ago I wrote Don't Blame Google

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-78351733146618528392009-07-27T09:09:00.011-05:002009-07-27T10:02:39.670-05:00

By now most who know me know the LinkMoses backstory.I retired LinkMoses 15 months ago. LinkMoses had a fabulous run, earned over 100,000 links, (smoke that linkbait) and the post LinkMoses Linking Commandments - Part I remains one of my site's top five most visited pages.So why bring LinkMoses back for thirty posts? Three reasons. First, it's easier for me to speak my mind when I'm in

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-90950930184029202432009-06-25T23:34:00.007-05:002009-06-26T09:02:55.259-05:00

The below article from Stepcase Lifehack really resonated with me from a link building/publicity perspective.Managing Your Social Network AddictionIn my earlier years, I often felt the need to sign up and create accounts every time a new social network or related venue/tool appeared. It's easy to get caught up in it all. Then, as time went by and those same hot brand new venues became ghost

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-83910774695907909692009-06-18T10:33:00.027-05:002009-08-01T10:03:04.350-05:00

(Updated August 1, 2009)Over at SearchEngineLand is an article of mine written on March 31, 2009, titled Twitter: Incredibly Valuable Or Utterly Useless As A Link Building Tool? .In the article I wrote: "Where I see the real value in Twitter as a link building tool is in recognizing that many people who use Twitter have influence in very specific subject areas. If I'm announcing a niche health

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-82126648016781068192009-05-05T08:37:00.038-05:002009-05-08T12:08:25.200-05:00

I was reading Matt Cutts post the other day titled My 8.7M Pixel Display, and it hit me.There is no site devoted to showing the various desktop rigs for those of us who earn our livings in the SE/SEO-SEM/Link Building/Online Publicity field (seorigs.com is available, btw). I've found a couple other people like Matt and Danny Sullivan who've posted pictures and descriptions of their desktop setups

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-16318022750203187562009-04-20T09:14:00.013-05:002009-04-21T13:20:53.864-05:00

Over at Outspoken, the place where I secretly wish I worked (if I was 15 years younger and had any youthful hotness remaining), there was a firestorm over Lisa Barone's post It's Not the Recession, You Just SuckSome loved it, some didn't, some seemed offended. I read it with detached bemusement, which is professionally my favorite emotional state. Being an elder statesman has it's perks and

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-9418156610955957492009-03-31T11:29:00.017-05:002009-04-01T22:45:20.938-05:00

Live now over at SearchEngineLand is this week's Link Week column: Twitter: Incredibly Valuable Or Utterly Useless As A Link Building Tool?Before you start your attack, yes, I know people are saying Twitter has already jumped the shark and become nothing more than a popularity contest. In some instances I agree it is, but from a merit based link building perspective, forget the Twitter

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-66641255906589457332009-03-24T09:30:00.010-05:002009-03-24T10:56:28.795-05:00

Every once in a while I read an article or blog post related to link building, and it's so good I nearly wet my pants. Of course, I'm in my forties so it could be incontinence, but that's a story for another post.There is a right way and a wrong way to go about link seeking and link building, and then there are ways that rise above everything else. A technique so sublime that as you read about

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-83020041921866062172009-03-17T10:17:00.005-05:002009-03-17T10:27:54.735-05:00

Live now at SearchEngineLandLinkWeekRules Of Linking Engagement As The Web Turns TwentyExcerpt:Link building is a strange profession. Link building is not something you can get lazy about. Yes, it's true I know more about link building today than I did in 1994. But...in some ways I know less about it now than I did then. If linking campaigns from 1996 were a food they'd have been a Hostess

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-1867275059659214602009-03-11T16:37:00.011-05:002009-03-11T17:13:01.986-05:00

On ShoeMoney's Blog today was written...Disa says she has enlisted Link master Eric Ward to start building her links to her new site and improve her rep management. I am still stunned that Disa doesnt understand truly how rankings work… but bringing in the Link Moses cant hurt.I felt I needed to respond, because this statement is not true.While Disa is a long time colleague and friend, I am not

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-16593050719475933542009-03-05T07:55:00.012-06:002009-03-11T12:11:49.790-05:00

I've been working quietly behind the scenes advising Disa Johnson on a link building project management tool. It's called SQuiD, and is still in its earliest stages, but functional. You can check it out at http://squid.searchreturn.comI hope to see many additional features added to SQuiD, as SQuiD has already helped me with several link building projects, and as it evolves, it will solve one of

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490979117987289601.post-28920569843791345872009-03-03T16:02:00.002-06:002009-03-03T16:05:42.326-06:00

My Link Week column for this week at SearchEngineLand is live now here. Titled Why Link Building Must Go In-House, my feelings about this subject have been known, but never written in a way that I was happy with. Please have a look.-------------------------------------------NOTE: To ask a link building related question, click the "comments" link below, or the "Post a Comment" link at the bottom

Eric Wardnoreply@blogger.com0